Has ANYBODY done this besides me?

[barkatozz]

When I started playing MM a little over 2 years ago I abandoned my Fender J-bass & played MM exclusively for 2 years. About 6 or so months ago I got a good deal on a J-Retro & was happy with the sound it produced...BUT...I had a few years ago tempted to strip the paint on J-bass body & paint it a diff color. Well I kinda ruined the body. Last week i was able to acquire another body & p/g to make it look like it was when I first got it. I played it at my last show & really liked it again. Although I play 5'ers now I can't pop or slap on them(I can't do it well at all but the 5 I do it even more awful). I bring a 4 with me for the few songs I can go off like that on(I don't like bringing the white Bongo out that much because I don't want any "road scars"). So being it's a MIM jazz it's sort of a beater (although I will take better care of it this go'round).
So my question is.....Has anybody started playing their previous main bass & started liking it again after "not so liking" it previous?"

 

[AnthonyD]

Sold my main bass when I found Music Man - haven't looked back.

 

[bovinehost]

I'm sure some people think of me as a shameless Company Man and that may well be true, but only because the basses are so damned good.

I've tried a plethora ("Look, Carl, that Bovine guy said 'plethora' on the internet!") of other basses over the last few years.

Laklands. Some of them were really good. The hollowbody is a fine piece of work and I liked the Jerry Scheff a lot (earning me the temporary moniker, 'Lipstick Boy'). I also had 55-94s and a couple of other Skylines.

Then I'd pick up a Bongo or a Stingray and think, "Well, that's better, then."

I've had Fenders. The Mike Dirnt P and a Jazz and a couple of Hot Rod Ps, too. Some of them were fine instruments, too. All gone now.

Mostly at rehearsal, I'll break out a non-MM bass and play it and everyone nods their heads, "Yeah, that sounds pretty good." For the last hour, I strap on a Bongo and we all agree - that is OUR sound.

I think it's great that you guys have other basses. It really is all about choices, selection, having different colors to paint with. For me, I get all I need from a single H Bongo, a Stingray 5, maybe even that 30th Ray I'm waiting on now.

Hell, I even finally got rid of my Reverend, and I liked that bass a LOT.

Not a Bongo, though, poor thing.

Cheers, Knuckleheads!

Jack

 

[bdgotoh]

Has anybody started playing their previous main bass & started liking it again after "not so liking" it previous?

You're asking the wrong crowd - that would involve us actually keeping a bass that we don't like

 

[soniq]

Yes, and I was still not happy. I have a F*nd*r Geddy Lee and installed an Audere pre in the hopes of getting a decent tone out of it...no joy. I'm at the point of diminshing returns so I give up. It's a goner. My SUB sounds way better.

 

[bonzo]

Yes

I have but this a EBMM forum so I won't go into it but I will say my main bass these days is the Sterling I just purchase recently. I dig it a lot

 

[Oldtoe]

Sorry. I just keep going back to that Pearl Blue Bongo 4HH every single time. And I have (currently only two) really nice other basses, but they don't come near doing what the Bongo does for me.

 

[phatduckk]

well my beater, frankenstein is my first bass ever! ill always love it. ive gone mod happy on that guy over the years b/c i want it to be playable/decent... so in an attempt to make polish a turd every part on that thing except the body has been replaced with pretty high quality stuff. after each mod it gets a lot of playing time then back into retirement shortly thereafter.

its fun to play something new/old/different. fact is that variety is the spice of life. but for me, in the end, its all about the sterling.

 

[RockinRayDuke]

I have gone Bongo nuts, don't play anything else.

 

[soniq]

Ditto!

I have gone Bongo nuts, don't play anything else.

 

[Musicman Nut]

When I started playing MM a little over 2 years ago I abandoned my Fender J-bass & played MM exclusively for 2 years. About 6 or so months ago I got a good deal on a J-Retro & was happy with the sound it produced...BUT...I had a few years ago tempted to strip the paint on J-bass body & paint it a diff color. Well I kinda ruined the body. Last week i was able to acquire another body & p/g to make it look like it was when I first got it. I played it at my last show & really liked it again. Although I play 5'ers now I can't pop or slap on them(I can't do it well at all but the 5 I do it even more awful). I bring a 4 with me for the few songs I can go off like that on(I don't like bringing the white Bongo out that much because I don't want any "road scars"). So being it's a MIM jazz it's sort of a beater (although I will take better care of it this go'round).
So my question is.....Has anybody started playing their previous main bass & started liking it again after "not so liking" it previous?"

Nooooo ****, are there really other bass companies out there??? hm

 

[barkatozz]

My main bass (as of now) is my Bongo 5. I'm sure the fact that I just restored my jazz will wear off but as I said I don't want to take the chance of dinging up my white Bongo 4 when I'm in a 4 string mood at a gig...that Bongo is the only MM 4 banger I have & I know it's sort of a collectors item. I'm sure I'll play it once in a while at a gig...esp if I'm being recorded..audio or video...BUT at times we have some friends come out who may want to get up & NONE of them can play a 5 so if I have a 4 on the stand they'll want to play that instead & I don't like people playing the white Bongo. Once let a guy use it & within seconds he turned on stage & clipped a mic stand w/ the headstock.....after that....NO MORE!! It is kinda is funny when all I have is 5'ers with me & they can't play them right & they sound like sh*t. I am sick & twisted at times.

 

[Bill]

I love the way my Jazz sounds with flats, so I take it out often & wank on it a bit. I even play it for 4 or 5 songs at some gigs. But there's nothing like my Stingray. That thing just feels right & sounds like a mighty thunderstorm.

 

[Eggman]

I have two non-MM basses left. But these will be sold soon.

Amazing - I have been all around the bass circle and never really considered MM - but now that I play them - I am hooked. Great presence out of these basses. Not too long ago my bass family picture included 6 jazz style basses - soon down to only one (1963 F*nder - a collection piece)

 

[SharonG]

I had to pull out my old p-bass once recently for a rehearsal and I was flooerd how much I didn't care for it any more. It had been my one and only for 20+ years. I'm thinking of selling it at this point. I'm totally in love with my Bongos.

 

[prickly_pete]

I usually don't sell anything these days. Certain basses fall out of favor for a while, but then they come back in eventually. If I liked a bass enough to buy it in the first place, it is a good instrument.

 

[leftymike]

I bought my first Stingray around 1998-99. At the time I had a G&L SB1 and and AMerican P-bass. I quickly put the Fender and G&L in their cases and never looked back. A year or so later I got divorced and sold them all. The only one I truly missed was the Stingray. My next bass was an American Jazz which was super sweet. Then I picked up another Stingray. WOW! Why didn't I remeber this when i dropped $1200 on the Jazz! I loved the feel and sound of the Jazz but when I strap on a Stingray everything jells. It's truly amazing. So, I sold the Jazz and I'm ready to get another Stingray (a 2005 LE lefty) and will have no qualms about gigging with it. MMs are like heroin.

 

[fly]

Sold my main bass when I found Music Man - haven't looked back.

ditto...............and never will go back.

 

[TSanders]

I have tried every kind of bass Ive wanted to try.

At the end of the day, the StingRay 5 is home for me, even when I have other EBs.

Every so often I have a fling with a good P-Bass or P style bass, but they always wind up getting sent off.

 

[high mileage]

I bought my Stingray in a pawnshop in '88 and it's always been my favorite. For the last ten years I seem to be only playing 5's (Modulus then a Lakland). I always looked forward to the parts of the set list when I can pick up the Stingray - just a killer bass. It's kind of beat from all the gigs it's been on but it just delivers.

Everything just changed though - my Bongo 5H '06 LE came on Wednesday last week. Went to the first gig last night. I think the herd's gonna get culled soon...