Temporary trade feeler? Bongo HHp for Big Al SSS, a couple of weeks

[adouglas]

Thanks, Bill!!!

Ooh. Chowder on the menu… Not the hippest of venues, but a gig's a gig…..

 

[keko]

UGH ...what's this, BFR roasted?

How does it feels (I mean,finished neck)?

The most interesting on BA5 SSS to me are middle and bridge S together, both, serial and parallel, ...can You describe briefly this two switching positions, please?

 

[adouglas]

Well, it feels pretty much like any other finished neck. The feel of the back of the neck has never made much difference to me, so I don't pay a lot of attention to stuff like that. I liked the satin finish on my Bongos when they were new, but after a year or so that wears as smooth as any finished neck and it's fine too.

The series position (default, all buttons up, which is middle and bridge in series) in active definitely has the trademark Music Man sound. In parallel it's thin for my tastes and I find myself not using that position much.

What really makes this bass special to me is the passive tones… middle and neck pickups are perfect for old Motown and R&B. When you want to cut more it's easy to get back to the active MM vibe.

 

[MingusBASS]

I like the hat.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I also like all pickups on.

So, now with the orange on order, did you end up deciding if you were going to keep the second Bongo?

 

[cellkirk74]

The series position (default, all buttons up, which is middle and bridge in series) in active definitely has the trademark Music Man sound. In parallel it's thin for my tastes and I find myself not using that position much.

neck and bridge in parallel grew on me in active mode with a good mid and decent treble boost. That gets pretty close to the 2-band Stingray sound and fits pretty well in the band mix.

 

[adouglas]

I also like all pickups on.

So, now with the orange on order, did you end up deciding if you were going to keep the second Bongo?

Final decision will be after the new bass arrives. I have a personal rule of thumb… if I don't use something, I should get rid of it. No case queens for me. We'll see if it winds up not getting used.

It'll also depend on the state of my finances… but I had some gear rental deals come in (I rent my Bose gear out) and that's going to help a lot.

 

[adouglas]

neck and bridge in parallel grew on me in active mode with a good mid and decent treble boost. That gets pretty close to the 2-band Stingray sound and fits pretty well in the band mix.

I was using bridge and neck with a lot of treble for slap-happy stuff (which I suck at, but others seem to like it). Haven't quite got the mids dialed in on that… Please tell me more about how you set the hi and lo mids.

 

[OldManMusic]

I sat in with some locals who do covers of Motown, Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears type music last week and took my BA along for the gig. I found the BA in passive mode with either the neck, middle or neck + middle really fit well. When I'd go active, I'd roll the low mid and high mid down about an 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn. But it seemed like I'd get lost with the horns and keys, so I'd pop back to passive. Pasive just killed and hit the spot.

It's funny because the BA doesn't fit as well with my normal band as it did with this cover band last week. With my regular band (Irish folk/punk/country), I use my Bongo H with flats, but figured the BA with rounds would sound fantastic with the cover band's material.

adouglas, if you end up with a BA in your arsenal, you won't regret it and it won't be a case queen. You'll just have to get one of those dual bass gig bags.

 

[projectapollo]

The Big Al loaner has come to a happy conclusion with the bass back on it's wall hook at home. Glad AD was swayed to the Big Al swiss army knife utility. And he looks good playing one.

 

[cellkirk74]

Haven't quite got the mids dialed in on that… Please tell me more about how you set the hi and lo mids.

Sorry AD- I am a little late on this because I was on a little family vacation for some days and did not go online at all.

Neck and bridge at least on my SSS tends to sound less direct, so I boost the low mids somewhere between 50 and 75% and the high mids about 30 % and reduce the volume to be not too loud.

Some friends ofmine who had some calles that the alembic sound because it reminded them of their long gone series 2 basses.