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Greg Suarez

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Mar 25, 2014
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194
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Dayton, Ohio, United States
stealth back too it was one we scratched our heads on and wasnt sure and Randy has great instincts it was killer

BP - this is what I was referring to. I'm sure if I had a name like "John Petrucci," I could convince you to take a huge risk on a radical new guitar design. And if I were Randy Jackson, I could make a Stealth Bongo with a maple board and stealth neck happen.

As far as my Myung comment, I read a recent interview with him in which he claimed ash was the best wood with which to make a bass guitar. The dude plays nothing but Bongos. So, I'm assuming he's having Bongos made that have ash bodies. I can't believe a bass player of his stature and means is playing an instrument that is not completely to his preferences.
 

muggsy

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Nov 19, 2004
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Alexandria, VA
The video clip was cool, thanks for that. Amazingly, I could hear the bass with no problem even on my crappy computer speakers. That is a true testament to the power of the Bongo.
 

uOpt

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Aug 2, 2008
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377
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Boston, MA, USA
what difference does it make? Is an endorsement a bad thing? But to keep the conspiracy theorists at bay..Randy Jackson can play anything in the world he wants.....He has been a bongo fan from day one and has bought several...boith for himself and as gifts...lst year he was into Sterlings but now he is as he calls him self...Bongoman.

What am I missing? Randy is playing our basses on national television....

Endorsements are good things. As long as I know whether the person parading the thing on TV in front of me gets payed for it.

Also, can't help noticing that options-wise these artists get customizations that are not at all new inventions of their own. How many here begged MM for more flexibility with the Bongo choices? Maple fretboard. More things in the stealth line. No go for us, the paying customers. But apparently what we want isn't quite all *that* pointless, now is it?

So, no, Randy is not quite playing *our* basses on TV.

Also, seconded on the Myung wood choice question. Now I'm tempted to see whether he had the bridge pickup in the same position as me do.
 

Big Poppa

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Feb 9, 2005
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18,598
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Coachella & SLO, California
Just for fun who do you think in the business is getting paid?

Also we cannot make individual instruments for everyone.....I can make one for a guy who has hosted the most viewed television show in history....Also keep in mind that these aritsts that we work with many times inspire things that make it into production.....

Also we learn from great artists....we learn from customers also....many things discussed here have made it into production In fact there have been models made exclusive to the forum.

Remember it is a production guitar or bass. Remember that what Randy Jackson wants may have more legs in the future than random public.

But heaven help if its an endorsement.....
 

uOpt

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Aug 2, 2008
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377
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Boston, MA, USA
But heaven help if its an endorsement.....

You are turning around what I said.

I have no problems with endorsements. I have a problem with undisclosed endorsement, especially in the context of TV shows (which BTW is illegal in some countries).
 

Mabongohogany

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Oct 26, 2009
Messages
407
Location
Vegas, Baby.
I have a Bongo ( a nice one too, HH and all that:D).

I've played a very few larger gigs, outdoors etc. inc. Piccolo-Spoleto Festival in Charleston SC that was a BLAST- Once- almost got to play at Wembley Stadium opening for UB40. Uh, almost, which counts for exactly -nothing!

So right now, on a good night, I may get to play for a couple hundred people, generally less; small -medium clubs, bars and such.

OTOH, besides being a phenomenal bassist for years with an amazing resume as player/producer-
AI has made Randy Jackson one of the most recognizable TV personalities of the last few years.
Good for him the man deserves all that and more. He can play. SO nice to see bassists like himself and Ricky Minor get some well-deserved acclaim from the public at large, not just the niche field of fellow musicians/artists.

So yeah, Randy should get ANY Bongo or Big Al or Sterling he wants. It speaks well of EBMM basses that he chooses them; I have no doubt any builder would leap high buildings for him to show love for their builds.

Randy has spoken for and been seen with a couple other high-end builders I can recall, but he has a propensity for sticking around with MM basses, and if he's the "Bongo Man" I can totally understand why!
 
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KevinM

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Feb 24, 2011
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841
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SoCal
Randy does have a very impressive resume.
To have him endorsing MM basses, and especially the Bongo to help get it out in the public eye, imo would be well worth GIVING him a custom Bongo.
IF that's the case, it is BP's business and not ours but anything he can do to increase market share and value only makes my basses more valuable.
 

Mabongohogany

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Oct 26, 2009
Messages
407
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Vegas, Baby.
How sick was that Camo bass for Kid Rock, & the recent Elton John Bassist stuff; someone not as lazy as I am right now PLEASE post pics of the other Rock-Star etc. one-off basses that MM has made for high-profile players!!

Almost worth becoming a rock star to get one, except I would get tired of hearing the screaming fans and being chased by gorgeous groupies and such... Hey wait....:D
 

steevo

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Oct 1, 2009
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395
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West Midlands, UK
Whatever agreement, if any, an artist has with a manufacturer is of no business to anybody. If you choose to buy an instrument because you've seen somebody famous playing one then that's your own choice.
I personally take each instrument on its own merits and not just because it has a signature on it. The brian may guitar is a prime example, lovely looking instrument and he is my hero but I would never buy one because its not my cup of tea.
 

Greg Suarez

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Mar 25, 2014
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194
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Dayton, Ohio, United States
But heaven help if its an endorsement.....

I don't understand what's wrong with an endorsement. I can't for one second believe that your relationships with John Petrucci, Steve Lukather and Steve Morse are anything but monumentally beneficial to both sides. They get to have instruments built to their exact specifications and they get more exposure, and you get to put their names on the guitars you sell.

I don't believe in 99% of the "signature" instruments out there. When you're looking at a Clapton Strat or a Slash Les Paul, what you're getting is a basic instrument the company already makes, just with a specific set of pickups in them. I could go buy a black Strat and a set of Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups with a preamp, or a tobacco burst Les Paul with a set Seymour Duncan ALNICO II pickups, and basically have the same instruments for far less money. I might not have the signatures matted on the headstocks, but so the hell what?

What's more, I think guitarists should find their own "voice." I believe buying signature guitars to chase tone is a mistake many new guitarists make. It's awesome if you are really inspired by this guitarist or that guitarist. But don't become these people. Those guitar heroes already exist. Do your own thing, create your own sound and your own style.

All that said, I think there is a major difference between something like an Eric Clapton Strat and signature guitars created by MM. Going back to the EVH guitar in the early '90s, all the way to the Steve Morse, Steve Lukather and John Petrucci models, these were pretty much all built from the ground-up to be unique: body style, electronics, etc. EVH didn't just take a Silhouette, remove the middle pickup and slap on a Floyd Rose. At the sake of sounding like an advertisement, these are guitars that were envisioned by guitarists for guitarists. It wasn't just Fender going, "You know, that John Mayer is sort of popular and he plays a Strat. Let's put some different pickups in one of our Strat models, throw his signature on the headstock and charge a premium."

What's more, something like the JP models (and especially the Majesty) are extremely diverse, with the addition of the piezo system and pre-amp boost. Again, they're not just existing models with a signature on the head. One of the only other non-MM signature guitars I can think of that was designed with a similar philosophy is the Phil Collen Jackson PC-1. It's unlike anything else in the Jackson family as far as design. Plus, it has a sustainer, which is pretty unique, especially for Jackson. The PC-1 (and the MM guitars, of course) is how you do "signature model" correctly.
 

steevo

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Oct 1, 2009
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395
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West Midlands, UK
The fender stu hamm urge 1 was a good example of a newly created instrument made for an artist. New shape, good electronics and versatility and it looked and played well. Just a shame they were a bit costly.
Looking at the MM guitar range its a surprise really to see so many signature instruments and how they dominate the range but its a testament to the artists who inspire them and the build quality and design of MM because they are obviously very popular instruments.
 

Kong

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Jun 26, 2011
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Germany, Baden-Württemberg. South Germany, near to
I never bought anything because "somebody" plays it. I feel like Randy Jackson deserves all the love he can get from EB, so I like the looks of his bass but am not gasing for a Bongo like that.

To me it feels like "the bass finds the player", not the other way round. All basses from the same production line do have subtile differences in Sound, and if you like a special finish, go for it!

But for my newest aquisition I played al least three Ray Classic 5 in Tobaccoburst, some white and some blue ones, and I gut stuck with a beautiful tobacco burst one. It has a beautiful all maple neck, but I didn't buy it because of its looks. The way the whole bass resonates made it "my bass", and I knew I had to go for it, just before I plugged it in.

Same thing with my first EB-Bass, the SR 5 I have bought in 2001. I was not looking for a special colour or anything, but for a good 5-string-bass. Some Warwick, two Zon and a number of Fender stayed in the shop, and I grabbed me my SR 5 in natural finish with rosewood fingerboard because I liked it the best. Don't ask for the differences to the other two Stingray 5 that stood there in my favourite shop, but the natural one made it.

Slightly different, I call it luck, with my SR 4. I swaped it with a fellow bassman from a German bassmens website. I had an old Fender Mustang I found in an abandoned house me and my father had to put down. I never had any use of this bass, 30'' is to small for a big guy like me. So I posted it in the "buy and sell"-compartment of our site, and the guy asked if I was willing to swap with his SR 4. I felt no need for a 4-string, because I have some realy fine 4-string basses. So I thought about selling it by my own, a SR 4 is like currency in my aerea.

But I took it out of the case and.... Wow! What a bass! Just got new strings on that honeyburst beauty, and there it was, my new Stingray. This has to be called real luck! :)

Although I have 11 basses I don't collect them. I drag 'em all on stages around in Germany, Austria, Italy and Swizzerland, this year we will go East, like Poland and Czechia. So all my basses have some serious wear and tear - but they get better every time I play them, especially the Music Man basses. I travel with 4 basses, two 4-strings and two 5-strings. This year there will be three MusicmanBasses - and my good, old, beloved 1964 Precision.

So if you are into Musicman basses, go and make your bass find yourself! There are so much out there, and all of them are beautiful in their own way. No need to be jealous about Randys Bongo, or John Myungs wondeful instruments. Some of the great artists get their instruments made for their personal needs, spme of them represent EB in public. Unless you are not famous, think about all those other beautiful finishes EB has for their instruments. You will find your bass.

Or should I say: Your bass will find you? ;)
 
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