(new) BONGO piezo - trimmers

[and lombardini]

Hi

my new olive gold sparkle single H piezo BONGO arrived yesterday and I fell in love with it. It's a fantastic suonding, superb creaftmanship instrument.

Piezo is really part of my sound and I needed one so now I'm really at home and I'll give the Sterling a rest...

here's the question: under the back little cover I found several trimmers...are there for fine tuning the piezo volume?

better asking before messing with the electronics (did I mention how well the eq is voiced? perfect!)

merry xmas to all!

andrea

 

[Sonnyonbass]

The rule: no pics , no bass. Still counts ;-)

 

[mynan]

here's the question: under the back little cover I found several trimmers...are there for fine tuning the piezo volume?

Yes, but it would be impossible for you to use them because they don't exist because we haven't seen pics...no pics, no bass.

 

[Stoo]

Congrats!

(and yes, proof of this new acquisition is mandatory...)

Yeah, the preamp for the piezo (and the bass in general,) is really well-done. Kudos for the time spent in the R&D of that, as it shows to be well-thought out, rather than a hasty, gimmick add-on.

With that in mind, even though I'm a tinkerer, I'm quite content to trust they've done their homework on it and go with the factory settings, as there's still plenty of room to shape the sound without altering the factory settings.

In fact, in 7 years, I've never even peeked under any of the plates on my Sterling, which is saying something, as every other bass of mine has been pretty much been dismembered a time or three.

It's my 'quit while I'm ahead...' bass, I guess

Best Wishes

 

[and lombardini]

here is it...

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Bravo Andrea che bei bassi che hai! Divertiti.

 

[oli@bass]

Beautful colour! Congratulations on your new Bongo!

 

[syciprider]

WOW! Olive gold just made it to my must check out colors! Gorgeous!

 

[kylierider]

Super nice bass. (All 3 of them actually) I really like the bongo color, expecially with that pickguard choice. I'll bet that will be one of those really cool colors that everyone talks about but unfornately gets discontinued quickily. Like the Trans White..Making yours that much more desireable. mmmmmmmmm Hp

 

[and lombardini]

Super nice bass. (All 3 of them actually) I really like the bongo color, expecially with that pickguard choice. I'll bet that will be one of those really cool colors that everyone talks about but unfornately gets discontinued quickily. Like the Trans White..Making yours that much more desireable. mmmmmmmmm Hp

here is the story...as you can see my instruments are really "classic" looking (and the 64P-bass is not in the photo...) and I went fo the new bongo with some fear of a "too much" look (both the bass and the color)...

buuuuuut

it is really wonderful! the sparkle is really soft and classic like an old jazz drumset (which I see most of the time being a jazz player)

also my wife said that's wonderful

the piezo pu sounds really good and now is the time to give my hollow body a rest so I can just use une bass to cover all my needs...meanwhile I am waiting for Big P to investigate further with the hollow body patterns hoping they will put a piezo on the 25...

andrea

p.s.

my only complain is that I was late for going to the rosewood neck...besides that you all really should check that color.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Well I know nothing about the Bongo Piezo trimmers but on my Albert Lee (with piezo) I placed a dot of snow pake/tippex at 12 o'clock before changing them - that way I could always go back to factory defaults.

 

[strummer]

Well I know nothing about the Bongo Piezo trimmers but on my Albert Lee (with piezo) I placed a dot of snow pake/tippex at 12 o'clock before changing them - that way I could always go back to factory defaults.

And the result, spud? Did you go back?

 

[and lombardini]

ok...so if the trimmers are:

1-general
2-G
3-D
4-A
5-E

6-B

I have some troubles since the E string is still louder than the others....even with the trim all counterclockwise...

any suggestions? It is normal that the trimmer does not cut off completly the volume when closed?

am I doing right?

thanks

and

 

[and lombardini]

sorry for the bump...any further help?
a.

 

[walkerci]

ok...so if the trimmers are:

1-general
2-G
3-D
4-A
5-E

6-B

I have some troubles since the E string is still louder than the others....even with the trim all counterclockwise...

any suggestions? It is normal that the trimmer does not cut off completly the volume when closed?

am I doing right?

thanks

and

I am having the same problem.

I was able to get the E string quite a bit lower in volume, but it needs to go lower.

The other trim controls don't seem to do very much at all.

The H pickup does not have this problem.

Also, I checked the intonation and it is dead on except for the G string which is very slightly off, barely noticable. Not a problem, its a fretless.
I'll wait until I need to restring to make it perfect.

FWIW, battery is brand new.

 

[Golem]

ok...so if the trimmers are:

1-general
2-G
3-D
4-A
5-E

6-B

I have some troubles since the E string is still louder than the others....even with the trim all counterclockwise...

any suggestions? It is normal that the trimmer does not cut off completly the volume when closed?

am I doing right?

thanks

and

Yes, normal .... these are trimmers, not volume pots.
They only do about +/- 6db.

 

[walkerci]

Yes, normal .... these are trimmers, not volume pots.
They only do about +/- 6db.

So what is the solution then?

With the E string noticably louder than the others when panned all the way to the piezo, this effectively renders the piezo pickups worthless. I would call it a product defect.

I don't want to try to EQ the problem away on the amp either because:

1. I need to change the panning live.

2. I will switch between the SR5 fretless and my L2500 fretted when gigging.

I can't be walking over the amp to change the EQ mid performance and I'm not about to buy pedals to compensate for this either.

 

[Golem]

So what is the solution then?

With the E string noticably louder than the others when panned
all the way to the piezo, this effectively renders the piezo pickups
worthless. I would call it a product defect.

.........

Piezos are finicky buggars. Since you previously mentioned that
the H PU does NOT suffer from Loud E-String Syndrome, [LESS]
it seems clear enuf that it's not your string set thaz causing your
LESS problem. So .... tricks to quiet a single string would not be
helpful, as then you'd have QESS playing the H-PU [Q="Quiet"].

So, the only option is to address the way the E-string's piezo is
responding. The trim pots are rather twitchy, sometimes jumpy
in their response to small adjustments. They're not wire wound
resistor pots but are "carbon pots" [or something similar], and
the wiper is tracking across a very small distance. Did you try
pot spray, or tuner cleaner, or any such cleaning product ? I'd
try that, first thing.

The piezo saddle elements respond to vibrations, but they are
"preloaded" by the constant pressure of the string. Sometimes
messing with the break angle [string crossing the saddle] will
tame this effect .... sometimes. You can't re-angle the saddle,
but you can make sure that the thick string is not arcing over
it rather than laying along it.

You can also use small scraps of shielding foil [aluminum or
copper adhesive foil] to "pad" or cushion the contact area of
the string along the piezo element. This should not have a
detectable effect on the unplugged loudness of the string, so
you're NOT damping the string [which would provoke QESS
with the H-PU]. You're only reducing the degree of direct
pressure the string exerts on the piezo, thus reducing the
"pre-loading" effect.

Nothing else occurs to me. There's always EBMM customer
service .... piezos are finicky, which is sometimes a PITA.

 

[walkerci]

Thanks for the long explanation. I'm of the engineering mindset, so what I could understand of your reponse made sense to me.

Those preamp "boards" are WAY to small for me to be fooling with.
I can't even tell if the trim pots are sealed or have an opening.

I probably should have gone with an SR5 HH, but I was simply taken with this bass.
When I tried it out I used the wrong approach.

I fooled with the controls until I could get several tones that I liked.
Must have been with the piezos panned out partially.
I should have spent more time with it and several other basses before deciding...

 

[Golem]

`

Do spray the trim pots, esp the E.

Remember, pots reduce volume by bleeding
signal to ground. IOW the position of LEAST
resistance is the quietest, NOT the loudest,
cuz the position of least resistance bleeds
off MORE signal to ground. If the pot is not
clean, the position of least resitance has
more resistance than intended by design.