Rosewood Neck Bongos

[JOEinCA]

I see there is some stock available at some of the online music stores for some 100% rosewood neck bongo 4hh out there. Any thoughts on this configuration? What tonal differences have you noticed between these and the standard bass necks on this basses.

thanks,
Joe

 

[sanderhermans]

It should sound a bit warmer. But ive heard from some people here that the main difference is in the feel of the neck.

 

[Gravesend Black]

Rosewood feeling is a sheer delight as for me Too bad I can't say anything about rw bongo sound. Got only SR) And you may experience some drawbacks with rw neck. Yeah - now I must be taken to the underworld for such heresy =)

 

[bassmonkeee]

And you may experience some drawbacks with rw neck. Yeah - now I must be taken to the underworld for such heresy =)

Only if you make such a statement and don't bother to, you know, actually explain what you think those "drawbacks" are. Some people don't like glossy finished necks, either. Doesn't make it wrong.

So, what are these drawbacks that you are experiencing?

 

[Gravesend Black]

Only if you make such a statement and don't bother to, you know, actually explain what you think those "drawbacks" are. Some people don't like glossy finished necks, either. Doesn't make it wrong.

So, what are these drawbacks that you are experiencing?

Glossy finished neck? Aaaand... No. I wanted to mention the buzz. Sometimes with rw neck it appears even with pretty high action. + when you are adjusting the neck - you may rotate the rod up to the end with no actual adjusting and then you start adcjusting the neck but it feels like you are going to brake it. that is what I'm experiencing with my rw neck and a couple of owners I talked about it . I do not say that every rw neck is like that. But, go ahead, troll as you always do =)

 

[bassmonkeee]

Glossy finished neck? Aaaand... No. I wanted to mention the buzz. Sometimes with rw neck it appears even with pretty high action. + when you are adjusting the neck - you may rotate the rod up to the end with no actual adjusting. that is what I'm experiencing with my rw neck and a couple of ppl I talked about it. I do not say that every rw neck is like that. But, go ahead, troll as you always do =)

I don't think asking for clarification of a nebulous "drawbacks" is trolling, Mr Sensitive. I'd say your experiences are in the minority with regard to rosewood necks with regard to buzzing and non-working trussrods, but hey--you are obviously the expert.

 

[Gravesend Black]

I don't think asking for clarification of a nebulous "drawbacks" is trolling, Mr Sensitive. I'd say your experiences are in the minority with regard to rosewood necks with regard to buzzing and non-working trussrods, but hey--you are obviously the expert.

If you will read carefully - you will find that the only thing I stated - that this MAY happen. That is all.I would not write about that if my axe's neck was not ok. But it is OK. It tunes well and work as it has to. So the only reason I see - some rosewood issues. But I have to admit again - as you said "your experiences are in the minority" but minority does not mean "0". But since you are the experts expert - who cares?

 

[Gravesend Black]

To the OP - rw neck sounds fantastic anyways.

 

[sanderhermans]

Glossy finished neck? Aaaand... No. I wanted to mention the buzz. Sometimes with rw neck it appears even with pretty high action. + when you are adjusting the neck - you may rotate the rod up to the end with no actual adjusting and then you start adcjusting the neck but it feels like you are going to brake it. that is what I'm experiencing with my rw neck and a couple of owners I talked about it . I do not say that every rw neck is like that. But, go ahead, troll as you always do =)

what does a rosewood neck have to do with fret buzz? the only thing that can cause that is not enough bow in the neck, too low action or bad frets. the back of the neck should have nothing to do with it... as about the trus rod, it is possible that you have to adjust it so much that you actually run out of thread. this can happen on any bass or guitar neck, the material hes nothing to do with it. but i have heard from quite a few ebmm users having eighter a stuck trusrod or one that is maxed out. wondering if this is a problem they can tackle... I guess if you have both fret buzz and non working trus rod, you've had bad luck. I would contact cs if I where you. but imo the rosewood has nothing to do with both these issues

 

[Gravesend Black]

what does a rosewood neck have to do with fret buzz? the only thing that can cause that is not enough bow in the neck, too low action or bad frets. the back of the neck should have nothing to do with it... as about the trus rod, it is possible that you have to adjust it so much that you actually run out of thread. this can happen on any bass or guitar neck, the material hes nothing to do with it. but i have heard from quite a few ebmm users having eighter a stuck trusrod or one that is maxed out. wondering if this is a problem they can tackle... I guess if you have both fret buzz and non working trus rod, you've had bad luck. I would contact cs if I where you. but imo the rosewood has nothing to do with both these issues

I'll PM you about the thruss rod and the other stuff if you do not mind. No need to dump this thread I guess

 

[Tollywood]

Rosewood feeling is a sheer delight as for me =)

I love the feel of the rosewood necks, too. They feel very, very nice.

 

[JOEinCA]

It should sound a bit warmer. But ive heard from some people here that the main difference is in the feel of the neck.

By saying its a bit warmer does that mean less growl? Why would one opt for this configuration over the standard neck? I suppose feel has something to offer there but warming up a MM ...i don't know..is that a good idea?

 

[sanderhermans]

If you are talking about the bongo. It will have verry litl sound difference. All ebmm active basses but especially Bongos depend on their electronics for tonal shaping. The woods used only change the sound slightly (but they do). This is why in bongos they use basswood wich is verry neutral sounding and lighter and cheaper. So if you are going to pay extra for a rosewood neck. Buy it for the feeling of it or as collectible. But not for a spectacular sound difference. Ps if you really want to know what subtle differences there are, only one way to find that out....

 

[sanderhermans]

I should ad that the body wood of ebmm basses do make a difference in sound. Many people like the mahogany bodys on bongos and stingrays because it makes the bass sound deeper. The growl should still be there. Just not as sharp.

 

[eliasmereb]

I love rosewood necks! they are my favorite! I love the feel and call me crazy, but when I compare them to my other maple neck bongos, I think the RW are more percussive, higher mids maybe...hard to describe...

 

[Golem]

`

IOW it sounds [OK reads ... ] like changing string type
is way more adventurous than changing wood species.
Yet changing strings is cheaper and fully reversible.

BTW if you run outa rod threads on an EBMM, just add
a fender washer [lower case 'f'] behind the wheel. You
may or may not need to add a bit of extra clearance in
the access hole. If you do need to add some, remove
the PG, butcher the wood [or do it neatly if you are the
neatnik type] and then hide your "craftmanship" under
the PG. It's far easier to VERY NEATLY shave a bit offa
the PG than to shave the wooden hole underneath, so
just chop out a bit more room than you need and then
let the PG overlap, and thus hide, your wood butchery.
No Harm No Fowl, as 'they' always say ;-)

FWIW I do bleeb I hear some difference in wood types.
EBMM SUBs with poplar bodies are more mellow than
equivalent electronic configs in regular EBMM basses. I
base this on my many Rays and Sterlings compared to
my two SUBs. Only one SUB still on hand, Sterling type
with 3-band. My Ray type was replaced by an SR30th,
which is I owned concurrently with that 2-band before
deciding the SUB was redundant to the SR30th earwise.

One wood "formula" I can hear very definitely but that
MM doesn't offer is 100% hog, nose to toes. Got a few
of these, and so I can say that they constitute a genre
tonewoodwise. IOW, all my hog basses share a certain
"family" tone, despite various other large differences in
builds, electronics, and in string types.

 

[JayDawg]

There is a slightly warmer or lower end tone to my rosewood Bongo 4H as compared to by BFR Roasted neck Bongo 4H. It is very slight though.

 

[sanderhermans]

There is a slightly warmer or lower end tone to my rosewood Bongo 4H as compared to by BFR Roasted neck Bongo 4H. It is very slight though.

So a similar difference could be achieved using the eq?

 

[eliasmereb]

So a similar difference could be achieved using the eq?

No in my experience.

I have 4 bongos:

Standard maple neck/rosewood fretboard
Neptune roasted maple/rosewood fretboard (this one has a mahogany body so it's totally different)
All rosewood neck
Dargie delight 2 maple neck/ebony fretboard

And I can't replicate each others sounds using the EQ...the just sound different....VERY different...

 

[JayDawg]

So a similar difference could be achieved using the eq?

It's hard for me to say? You can probably get close but not exactly 100% the same. Maybe I'll have to try and duplicate the tones on the basses and see how close I can get.