Setup my Bongo HH pickups to kick @$$

[tunaman4u2]

Got my Bongo 5 HH new from Amazon & the sound was all messed up vs a fantastic used Bongo I sold to get this one

At first I blamed the strings, amp etc until I noticed something.

My neck pickup was fairly recessed into the body. The bridge pickup was above the body (Like it should be)

I did 3 things

1: Neck pickup flush with the body (Screw heads)
2: Raised the neck side of the bridge pickup a hair
3: Lowered the bridge side of the bridge pickup a fair amount (Emphasize the magnets in the more traditional musicman spot)

Now all is well with the world... The excessive grind I was getting is now smooth Bongo Bliss. I also find myself enjoying the blend toward the bridge side of things more as well

Party on

PS. It still doesn't even come close to beating my Sterling HH

 

[keko]

OK, ...than Party on!

 

[Oldtoe]

Found this in the FAQ:

The factory specifications for the pickup height is 6/32" or 4.76mm from the top of the plastic pickup cover to the bottom of the G string. The angle of the pickup is set fairly level, so the larger strings are naturally a bit closer. If you haven't already adjusted the pickup or changed to a very heavy gauge string set, you shouldn't have to do any adjustments on the pickup.

On the 2-pickup basses the measurements are virtually the same on the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is further away, about 8/32" or 6.35mm from the bottom of the string to the top of the pickup cover.

On the new 3-pickup basses the measurements are (starting from the bridge pickup) 6/32", 7/32", and 8/32"; or 4.76mm, 5.56mm, and 6.35mm respectively.

 

[five7]

Got my Bongo 5 HH new from Amazon & the sound was all messed up vs a fantastic used Bongo I sold to get this one

At first I blamed the strings, amp etc until I noticed something.

My neck pickup was fairly recessed into the body. The bridge pickup was above the body (Like it should be)

I did 3 things

1: Neck pickup flush with the body (Screw heads)
2: Raised the neck side of the bridge pickup a hair
3: Lowered the bridge side of the bridge pickup a fair amount (Emphasize the magnets in the more traditional musicman spot)

Now all is well with the world... The excessive grind I was getting is now smooth Bongo Bliss. I also find myself enjoying the blend toward the bridge side of things more as well

Party on

PS. It still doesn't even come close to beating my Sterling HH

How are your pickups adjusted on your sterling.

 

[tunaman4u2]

How are your pickups adjusted on your sterling.

You made me check... funny you should ask

My neck pickup is flush, just like the bongo BUT my rear pickup is just slightly above the body (and even height front & rear) vs the Bongo's bridge pickup which is pretty high over the body on the front side, fairly over on the rear side

At the time I was looking for a warmer tone... as I was playing church gigs with it but I'm actually going back into rock... may raise that bridge pickup a tad for some more grit but I will keep it even unlike the Bongo

 

[plchung3]

Do you mind to post a picture of your current pickup heights?

I got a Bongo 5 HH from basscentral years ago and the B string sounds very boomy and unclear but the other 4 strings all sound great.... tried replacing strings (using rotosound 665 now) and playing with different EQ but still doesn't help.

My neck pickup looks like a bit lower that what i've seen on other people's pics. Would raising the neck pickup get a "clearer" B string sound??

Got my Bongo 5 HH new from Amazon & the sound was all messed up vs a fantastic used Bongo I sold to get this one

At first I blamed the strings, amp etc until I noticed something.

My neck pickup was fairly recessed into the body. The bridge pickup was above the body (Like it should be)

I did 3 things

1: Neck pickup flush with the body (Screw heads)
2: Raised the neck side of the bridge pickup a hair
3: Lowered the bridge side of the bridge pickup a fair amount (Emphasize the magnets in the more traditional musicman spot)

Now all is well with the world... The excessive grind I was getting is now smooth Bongo Bliss. I also find myself enjoying the blend toward the bridge side of things more as well

Party on

PS. It still doesn't even come close to beating my Sterling HH

 

[tunaman4u2]

Your best bet is to keep trying a few different combos. The good thing is you can be playing sitting down & adjust on the fly. I'm not sure any pictures would come out better than the description.

Experiment a bit, dont go crazy though as extremes will put the magnetic field in the wrong place

 

[plchung3]

Your best bet is to keep trying a few different combos. The good thing is you can be playing sitting down & adjust on the fly. I'm not sure any pictures would come out better than the description.

Experiment a bit, dont go crazy though as extremes will put the magnetic field in the wrong place

Thanks. I raised the neck pick up a bit and now the B sounds more solid and louder to my ears

 

[Golem]

`

Make of this what use you may: I almost always tilt my PUs to
emphasise the high strings with the neck PU and emphasise the
low strings with the bridge PU. I like my lows played nearer the
bridge and my highs players nearer the neck ... cuz I don't like
boomy lows and I don't like spanky highs [I never slap]. Your
own taste in tone may require you to tilt your PUs the opposite
way than mine, if you dig some boom and spank, but what I'm
trying to esplain is that you can left-right [or bass-treble-side]
tilt your PUs to control which strings get more neck tone and
which strings get more bridge tone. This trick does put limits on
your use of the fader/balancer knob [if you've got one] such
that you'd pretty much never toadally dial out either PU. Rather,
you use the fader to fine-tune your tonal balance. For me, I'm
dialing in the most even sounding voice across the string set. If
you tilt opposite as me, you'd be dialing in a degree of contrast
between your boom and your spank. And, yes, I also do this on
basses that have no fader. Unable to tweak my result with the
lack of a fader, I get kinda fussy about tweaking in just the
right amount of tilt/height adjustment to balance the voicing. I
think that if you go for the opposite, for boom and spank, it'd
be less fussy to set up the tilt/height thing.

 

[Soulkeeper]

you can left-right [or bass-treble-side]
tilt your PUs to control which strings get more neck tone and
which strings get more bridge tone. This trick does put limits on
your use of the fader/balancer knob [if you've got one]

I'm fairly new with two-pickup basses, and will try this. Sounds like a great trick.

 

[tunaman4u2]

I'm actually going to reverse some of my previous adjustments as now I'm looking for a more aggressive tone. Its a really neat trick to just get a bit of kick in the tonal direction you want