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Bongo 2026 Collection

Fretless Bongos and first post

bassmonkeee

bassmonkeee

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
4,628
Location
Decatur, GA
Howdy, everyone. This is my first post, even though I've been lurking for a month, or so.

I've never been a big fan of Stingrays or Sterlings, so I have never really followed Music Man basses in the past.

But, that all changed when I first saw the Bongo. I'm now the happy owner of a Black Sapphire 5 string with H/H/P pickups and a tort pickguard (replacing the original black ice).

This be it:
Bongo_close_tort_borg.jpg


And, here's an mp3 of the Bongo in action live:
http://www.mindspring.com/~jshew2/tunes/Jabla/W_A_O_W_Bongo.mp3


The other pickup on there is to drive my VBass. You want to really go nuts then you should hear the Bongo tone mixed with a small hollowbody and driving a Big Muff. As if the Bongo by itself isn't enough to beat most guitar players into submission....

As of last Friday, I also have a white fretless 5 string Bongo on order from my local GC (my go to guy gave me an amazing deal and I got the 15 months same as cash!). I ordered the bass with a SC/H/P pickup config and an abalone pickguard. Its tentative arrival date is July 9th.

I had planned to order it with a tort guard, but I opted for the abalone since I have the tort on my Black Sapphire Bongo. I have a feeling, however, that I'll be ordering a tort guard for the fretless and a white ice for the fretted.

Who knew I could have as much GAS for pickguards as I do for Bongos?

I'm really frightened that I am going to seriously neglect my other basses (some really out there custom stuff, I might add) when the fretless shows up. The fretted has already become a main stay at my jazz gigs when I originally only planned to use it at blues shows.

I'm in the process of recording some sound clips of my fretted 5 string with fresh TI Powerbass strings.


As for the fretless, is this the first fretless Bongo being produced for the public? Grasshopper at BC wasn't even aware they were available in fretless yet, and I can't imagine any of the GCs in the country ordering a fretless for stock.

So, did anyone beat me to the ordering punch for a fretless, or am I going to have one of the first, if not the first one out there?

Who else wants a fretless Bongo?

Anyway, I'm glad to be here, and I am glad to see Jack is keeping things in check. So, now I just need to get that "junior" removed from my name. It's been a long time since I was a "junior" anything..... :mad: ;)
 
Welcome to the board! Thanks a lot for your Bongo sound clip! I've played it before, but only in load and annoying Guitar Centers, where loud music from the radio was blarring and guitarists all over the place were doing their own little riffs. :p Your clip really makes the Bongo shine! The sound is very clear and not muffled by even your fellow band mates! Once again, thanks!

Edit: I don't want to be a pushy person, but could you also post some clips of your Bongo in different EQ settings? I really like that bassy sound you've got in this clip, but I'm also curious as how the various tones that the Bongo can get sound in a clean, clear audio environment. :)

As for the fretless Bongo, I do believe you're the first! So far no one on this board has mentioned that they have a fretless Bongo in their possession... I bet you'll get a very interesting sound from that! A Bongo with 'mwah'! :p
 
Last edited:
Hello, and Welcome to the Forums. Your Bass is Beautiful and keep us updated on pics of your bass.
 
Welcome Newbie! Or should I say veteran? From the sound of your mp3 I'd say that's more appropriate!:cool: Great band! Great bassist! Great Bass! Isn't life GREAT?:p
 
Welcome Bassmonkeee but actually, you have been beat to the punch, sorry, ;)
I was gonna keep it a suprise but the Desert Gold HH Bongo 5 (tort pick gaurd)on it's way to me is a fretless. I think I'm gonna love it, the fretless I have now is a great sounding bass but doesn't have quite enough lo/lo-mid to hold itself in more than a duo or acoustic type setting, I'm hoping the Bongo will still sing but have more girth to holds it own in more settings and still be fretless, along the lines of Tony Franklin and Jeff Ament.
Great Bongo btw and great track too!
we'll have to swap fretless meanderings :cool:

welcome officially to the forum though and keep the mp3s coming!!

peter
 
fretless basses NEED to be strung with round wound strings...:mad: and don't forget it!! If you want to sound like an upright then GET ONE OF THOSE!


:D


was that a little too harsh?? Sorry if it was Jubs, it's not you, it's me, it was a long day today. ;)
 
well
the q and a says that they can be strung with flat wounds but there harder on the fret board
and tit has to be refinished more
 
Thanks for the welcome, guys.

Psychicpet--I am glad that I'm not going to be the only fretless Bongoian out there. The HHP Desert Gold was the close second to the specs I ended up going with.

I chose the SC after Jack got his newest Bongo and mentioned that it could do a passable Jazz tone. I also use some eBow live, and the neck humbucker on my current Bongo is too powerful for me to really use it much. The SC should be more managable.

I'll be putting TI Powerbass strings on the Bongo as soon as I get it, I'm sure. Does it ship with flats? I've never really played any fretless Musicmans in the stores, so I don't know what they ship them out with.

I'm also going to be dropping a Roland GK-2B pickup on the new fretless when it shows up. I've found some really great sounds with the Bongo and the VBass--I can't wait to do it with a fretless!

I'm going to Vegas for a long overdue vacation, but when I get back I'll be posting about 10-15 different pickup/sound combinations that I've been recording. With the right blend of mids and pickups (neck humbucker and piezo) I can get some really impressive PBass style tones.

Tone lives in the mids and the Bongo gives you a lot to work with.
 
Hey bassmonkee,

I really want to thank you for posting that mp3. You say you're gonna post more! Wow! Thanks a lot! I really wish companies would do these things themselves, like G&L does. In a lot of cases, you find the bass being drowned out by everything else - including its own effects. Your recording was really practical and gave a very clear idea of one sound you can get from the Bongo. Thanks a lot! I'll be looking forward to those 15 (15!!! :eek: ) other recordings you've been working on. :)
 
bassmonkeee said:
I'm going to Vegas for a long overdue vacation, but when I get back I'll be posting about 10-15 different pickup/sound combinations that I've been recording.
Click to expand...

When are you going to Lost Wages? I'm flying out Sunday to go there. Staying at the Alladin until Wednesday.

Welcome to the forum! Loved the clip!

Larry
 
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