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Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

NBD! My First Bongo!! (Warning..... Battered Bongo content inside)

TommyK-Stingray

TommyK-Stingray

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 23, 2010
Messages
78
Location
Dorset (South) UK
Well you've just got to try one at some point have you not? This was just too good an opportunity to miss. A Bongo 5HH for £700!!;)

Of course there are issues..... To say it has not been looked after is an understatement!! Big chunks out of the paintwork, no pickguard, random strings and someone has scratched allsorts of random musings on it with a compass at some point:eek:

The most important thing is it all works fine. TBH I bought it as I have always wanted to try one but thought it was a bit too out there for me design wise to warrent buying a nice one, only to find out i didn't like the sound of it...

Here is the absolute revelation for me. I plugged it in just to check everything worked etc.. and despite awful strings and the worst set up i've ever seen on a bass, it sounds brilliant! Infact my 5 minute check turned into an hour!!! I would go so far as to say, sonically and ergonomically it buries every bass i have ever played!!:D:cool:

Can't wait to give it a good old clean up, get some new EB strings on it and set it up proper like.:) Also i have a pickguard en-route, which should cover most of the nasties..

Anyway I know its "No pics = No Bass" So here are some as it is now pics:
Will post some after pics too when I'm done:)
Bongo004.jpg

Bongo005.jpg

Bongo006.jpg

Bongo011.jpg
 
Last edited:
bassmonkeee

bassmonkeee

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Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
4,628
Location
Decatur, GA
It doesn't look too bad. Pickguards are cheap and plentiful. Throw a vintage pearl on there, and go to town!

Enjoy it.
 
sometypeofplay

sometypeofplay

Active member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Messages
34
Location
Nashville
That color has REALLY grown on me recently. Awesome find and congrats! You're gonna love the bass. Wait til you get to give it a whirl in a band situation.
 
KevinM

KevinM

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Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
841
Location
SoCal
That's not in too bad of shape. I was expecting to see something like "A monkey with a screwdriver that had been smoking something did the custom routing" from the Stingray abuse thread.

As long as the hardware is solid the paint can be redone and you've got a great find on your hands.

Congrats!
 
DTG

DTG

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Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
1,759
Location
Ireland
After you have seen koogs bongo everything else looks like minor scratches :)
 
nicjimbass

nicjimbass

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
223
I'm almost positive this is my old Bongo! I bought it from the Guitar Center used site back in 2007, IIRC. The pics weren't great, but the description said the volume knob had broken... took a chance on it (got it for a pretty good deal even then), then discovered that the broken knob wasn't the only issue... it originally came with a White Ice pickguard, which covered the paint damage near the neck... when I found the damage, I almost called GC to get a refund, but figured they had no idea about it either, and played it anyway.

BTW, I put the new volume pot in when I got it. Also, the missing paint on the bridge end of the bass was a spot where it looked like it had fallen on something, but then was only chips in the paint. This poor thing has had a hard life, but I'm glad she's still getting some love. It's one of the top 3 basses I regret selling to this day!

BTW #2- this had a tort guard on it when I sold it, and it looked awesome.
 
AlexBongoCrazy

AlexBongoCrazy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
125
Location
Paris, France, France
You guys might hate me for saying this but I actually kinda like it without the pickguard. Of course I'd rather have two of every bongo one with and one without a pickguard :p
 
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