Rolls Burgundy Bongo?

[mynan]

This is on a Sterling, but should give you a pretty good idea of what the piezo does.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rNKuYuex1I]YouTube - 2001 Sterling H with piezo bridge[/ame]

The Bongo with the piezo has a pan knob (magnetic/piezo), so you can blend the piezo with the magnetic pups...there is only one jack. The pan is before the eq section in the preamp, so it is eqable.

The nick in the headstock is something that almost every Bongo has...it is often referred to as a trademark.

Not sure about the Bongo pictured below...especially with the tort guard, but the Sterlings are a pretty good representation of Saphire Black. BTW, the Bongo is an HHP

 

[adouglas]

There's only one jack. The piezo signal is mixed in with the magnetic pickup signal. If you look closely at the pic of the Bongo below you'll see that the pickup blend knob is stacked, like the tone controls...the larger (outer) knob is the same as the regular neck/bridge pickup blend, while the smaller (inner) knob controls balance between the piezo and magnetic pickups. Roll it all the way towards the bridge and you get zero magnetic pickup signal. Roll it all the way towards the neck and it shuts the piezo off entirely.

As far as what the piezo does.... well, it does NOT make your Bongo sound like an acoustic bass (a common misconception about piezo pickups). It DOES add a different and distinct character to the sound that many of us really like. Describing it is difficult, but I think of it as adding a little spiciness to the tone.

When trying this bass out, remember... the Bongo preamp is capable of leveling cities, denuding forests and causing severe genetic damage if you use extreme settings.

First, turn the bass EQ all the way up and make things walk off tables. Now that you've got that out of your system, get down to work.

Start FLAT and go slow. A little goes a LONG, LONG way.

Make sure the batteries are good.

If it's anywhere close to being a reasonable deal, grab it. HHp basses are not that common and they really do sound different. The piezo is a significant upcharge on the regular bass...some hundreds of dollars.

 

[Big Poppa]

nice AD you ever think of a career in copy?

 

[adouglas]

Funny man......

 

[Aussie Mark]

I am just not confident in buying from abroad because a) I won't be covered by a warranty and b) if anythings goes wrong I can't exactly get on a plane to go and sort it out.

At least if a UK person sells me a "moody" bass I can go round his place and feed it to him.

I highly doubt that you'd get stiffed by a forum regular if they sold you a used Bongo, that's the benefit of having a For Sale section here for the use of this closeknit EBMM community. On the off chance that someone did sell you a lemon, there are plenty of people who live closer to the seller than you to assist in "sorting it out".

I've bought around 30 used basses from various parts of the globe sight unseen since Al Gore invented the internet, and I've yet to buy one that had any major problems.

I can understand your caution, but once you pop your global trading cherry you'll understand how easy it is.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Thank you all for your tips, I will give it a thorough check after the weekend but first I have a few busy days sailing / docking / sailing / river passages / busy ports of call. I hardly get to see my cabin if only to sleep a few hours, and the StingRay5 is there waiting...

 

[Aussie Mark]

That looks like a nice roomy cabin! And I spy a Tascam mp3 trainer - very handy unit, I have one myself.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Yes it is a Tascam trainer, nothing better to keep a good bass company at sea. I have uploaded 100s of backing tracks and some very hard songs that I can slow down and learn bit by bit.

Well done for spotting it

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Love that bass...
The SR5 looks so good in trans red!

I can understand your disappointment in not getting the Rolls Burgundy Bongo, but why not just get another one? Surely that is not the only Bongo available in London. Even if you don't get one used or from outside of the UK, there must be others you can get.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Love that bass...
The SR5 looks so good in trans red!

I can understand your disappointment in not getting the Rolls Burgundy Bongo, but why not just get another one? Surely that is not the only Bongo available in London. Even if you don't get one used or from outside of the UK, there must be others you can get.

That is the idea, S. Bass the UK distributor is being a real star with me, in view of my bad experience he has already found me 2 Bongo's for me to chose between, they are both new one is in a shop in UK (North somewhere between Newcastle and Liverpool) which is a Saphire Black, sadly shop soiled with a small chip or dent by the volume control, and that is a 5HH with 2 pickguards a black ice and an abalone one.

The other is from their own stock which is another black Saphire with a piezo in it. Also this one bears a small scracth on the headstock. Moneywise the 5HHp is the better of the 2 deals. So I am having this last one sent to me, so I can have a close up look, and I will be able to test it and see if I like it, if I do like it then it won't go back to Strings and Things but it will stay in the Captain's Cabin together with the "Red Leader™" my StingRay5 nickname

You never know perhaps this fairy tale might end up with the handsome prince (yours truly) living happily ever after with the randy maiden (the Bongo)

 

[the unrepentant]

Hey wait a minute, i know that bass! Did you buy that from Asomodai on here?

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Hey wait a minute, i know that bass! Did you buy that from Asomodai on here?

No it can't be, I bought brand new from the Bass Centre in Wapping in 2000

~~~~~~~~~~​

So.... this is what happened today:​

I finished work at 2am, disembarked from the ship and rushed home, I managed to get a few decent hours sleep and bish-bash-bosh I was up again at 09:00am.​

Following a tip received by Pete of Strings and Things, a Bongo 5HH was waiting for me at Chandler Guitars in Richmond.

I s___, showered and shaved and I was out again like a shot, when I got there, a private soundproof room was made available for me to try the bass with a range of different amps from vintage valves to modern solid state. I was in seventh heaven.

This was finally the fantastic experience I was looking forward to, the Bongo sound is as big as a house and can be quite scary too. Plus I have to add that this one is the one with peizo fitted in the bridge saddles, which makes the whole thing more intersting as it adds a definite "zing" to the overall sound when used.​

Before my arrival there, those fantastic friends at Chandler Guitars had done a pre-delivery check-up on the bass, tweaked everything ship shape, but not just that! oh noooo, to my surprise they had even touched up the tiny bit on the headstock where the paint was chipped and I have to admit it, if you look at it now, it's very hard to see where it was chipped. I was chuffed that they did that without me even asking.​

What great people they are, I tell you. I am sure that this particular surprise must have been arranged for me by Pete from S&T, Thanks Pete, once again you've proven to be worth your weight in gold.​

I want to thank Paula, Al and Neil at Chandler Guitars, Pete at S&T, Beth for being extremely supportive, and last but not least BP for being the "Don Corleone" of EBMM, You all rock!

"no pics no bass... I hear you say"

Here it is:

Picasa Web Albums - Francis - Bongo

 

[the unrepentant]

Very nice! Glad you're sorted now, you gonna drop some money then?

 

[Duarte]

The mother of all bongos! Nice work, captain.

 

[mynan]

I love a happy ending. Looks great with the Moonstone PG and all 7 knobs appear to be straight. Congrats.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I love a happy ending. Looks great with the Moonstone PG and all 7 knobs appear to be straight. Congrats.

Is it really Moonstone or Abalone? the shop told me it was Abalone?

 

[the unrepentant]

Doesn't look like abalone to me, that's more green/purple
Check out the musicman website, you can look at all the pickguard colours if you click on the little thumbnails when you're looking at a model. That one you have there is moonstone, and very nice it is too.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

 

[ekb16b]

Definitely Moonstone and congratulations on finally getting a bongo, and fretboard wonderwipe that bad boy.

 

[RobertB]

Moonstone. Gorgeous, Congrats.