First gig w/ BONGO

[giddy4geddy]

I don't have that much time to write so I'll just be brief now and elaborate later (gotta go to work)

HOLY S**T this bass rocks! Amazing playability. There is SO much tone control in the EQ it's ridiculous. I got every sound I wanted, plus more, without even tweaking the bass amp EQ. Dual humbucks are SO FREAKIN LOUD. I just left the pan control in the middle all night long.

More later.....

Chris in Tokyo

 

[bovinehost]

Glad to hear it, Chris. I took my desert gold 4 out in public last night and not only did it sound and play better than any other bass I've ever played, it got a lot of attention.

I find that for rockin' stuff, I crank the blend back towards the bridge for that Mean Attack Bongo Tone.

For mellower stuff or traditional blues, I lean it forward to the bridge pickup for that I'm Not Mad At You Anymore tone.

But yeah, straight up, that's good too.

 

[fifthorange]

thats awesome
i remember my first show with my new musicman. i have a stingray 4, but it was amazing. it felt perfect and sounded perfect. my show was actually the day right after i got it.

 

[giddy4geddy]

OK, as promised here's some thoughts on last night's show and the Bongo.

First of all, this bass is lightyears ahead of anything I've been graced to own and play, so take heed to that fact before analizing if the Bongo is right for you......just don't give it too much weight.

Having not owned a MM bass before I'm at a loss to compare it to a Sterling or a Stingray, which BTW was what I was looking to buy when I walked into the music store the day I bought the Bongo. Yeah, I've picked 'em up before and tooled around for minutes at a time, but never had a solid try at one over a long period of time. This could very well be best described as a testimonial to what kind of quality instruments EB makes as opposed to a Bongo review, but of course everyone knows that so...

Playing the Bongo was a delight. Think of a great bass player (or guitar player for that matter) that, as they are performing on stage, seem as though they are putting absolutely no effort into that awesome sound that's coming out of their instrument and just seem to be having a good time with the band. That's one feeling that I got while jamming with this bass on stage. Moving around the neck was like butter......making bass playing hilariously easier.....and mo' fun.

Even the weight of the Bongo is very well balanced when strapped on. I think in that Bass Player review the article mentioned that, when playing while sitting (bass resting on your leg), it's a bit heavy at the end of the neck and the head will tend to dive toward the floor. That's true. But it's not a hinderance at all. When it's strapped on your shoulders however you can't feel any imbalance.

I can say that coming from a jazz bass to the Bongo will feel something like getting out of a Lincoln and comfortably settling into a Lexus. It's that good.....though I'm sure there will be times you'll want to take the Town Car around the block a time or two again.

As I said before, tone control is amazing with the 4-band EQ. EB sure did their homework on honing down the right frequency bands to select for these 4 ever important knobs, not to mention all of the electronics inside that make purely magical sounds fly off your fingers (or pick). I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to play with the pan control between the humbuckers to find all kinds of new and interesting sounds, but for last night I left it in the middle, which pleased me very much.

One last thing. This bass very well may change the way bass amps are built, because from now on there will need to be three inputs instead of just two.

1. Passive
2. Active
3. BONGO!!!

Chris in Tokyo

 

[jubjub721]

why are u in tokyo?

 

[giddy4geddy]

I fly for an international cargo company. Our airplane is based here. I fly over here for two weeks, then go home to ATL for two weeks, then back here.....etc.

 

[oldbluebassman]

So you're gonna have a Bongo in each port eh! lol

 

[giddy4geddy]

Actually, I leave all of my music equipment here since the guys that I play with live here. It would be way too much stuff to be haulin' back and forth like that. Plus, I've got enough to do with the family and house when I get back home each time...

How I would love to get out and play in Atlanta though.... lots of great venues to be had.....

 

[oldbluebassman]

Well if you ever get to fly to London, drop me a mail and come and jam here.

 

[giddy4geddy]

OK, will do. We have an airplane that flies around in Europe too and every few months a crew will take it to Cambridge for routine maintenance and sit there with it until it's done (usually about a week). I normally work over here in Japan but if I ever get over that way.....

How close is Cambridge to Surrey?

 

[oldbluebassman]

Well compared to distances in the US it's near, but I'm about 120 miles diagonally the opposite side of London so it's 2-3 hours by car.

I'm glad you like your Bongo because I ordered one through BassNW last week. All I got to do now is wait 2-3 months!!

Just FYI you'll find me at www.oldbluemoses.info

 

[Psychicpet]

Actually, I leave all of my music equipment here since the guys that I play with live here. It would be way too much stuff to be haulin' back and forth like that. Plus, I've got enough to do with the family and house when I get back home each time...

How I would love to get out and play in Atlanta though.... lots of great venues to be had.....

for sure, I did some gigging last summer in ATL for the National Lutheran Youth Sinnid(sp?) , anywho, lots of teeny bopper Christian kids walking around in "Hooters" T-Shirts... still haven't figured that one out... but Atlanta was a blast, we stayed downtown and got to get out to Five Points and all the fun stuff, got to have the most amazing bar-b-q I've ever had except being that I'm Canadian... the collard(sp??) greens did a number on my stomach, and exits, but the trip was a ton of fun and I'd love to get back there sometime.

 

[LeftyLB]

Just FYI you'll find me at www.oldbluemoses.info

Just read your biog Dave, which gave me a good laugh!

The BBC is looking for sitcom writers!

 

[oldbluebassman]

I'm effectively retired but I'll tell Ron who rewrote my original, maybe he's looking for a change of career. In fact both Martin and Ron would be good candidates although I'm not sure the UK is ready for them just yet.

I was interested in one of your other posts about how much music work you're doing. Where do you find all these lucrative gigs, or is that a secret, and what sort of music are you playing?

 

[Psychicpet]

Dave,
if you've got time check out www.theblessedmisfits.com for some added fun, it was written by a fellow Brit who is now,thankfully for us, a Canadian.

peter
a.k.a. Popsicle Pete

 

[oldbluebassman]

it was written by a fellow Brit who is now,thankfully for us, a Canadian.

and a good job too. We've more than enough of that sort of humour round here thank you.

Seriously though, excellent Pete. I'll forward the link to our scribes.

 

[Psychicpet]

glad to see you liked it! and yes, Graham often laments that he has to go back home to be reminded that he is funny instead of being the only one laughing in a crowd of Canadians when a visiting fellow Brit throws a word like "a bunch of birks" into a sermon...
anywho, glad you liked the site.

popsicle