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The Bongo has landed - HELP

oldbluebassman

oldbluebassman

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2004
Messages
539
Location
Surrey UK
At last my 5-HH Bongo landed this morning. First impressions are that it lives up to all the praise that I've read here and in the pit. It feels like I'm playing an SR5 with a slightly smaller body.


HOWEVER

I am seriouly concerned about the difference in levels between the front and rear pick-ups. Wind the balance knob fully forward and the front pup is loud and clear, wind it back and the rear pup is at a much, much lower level. You can hear that there is some output because it has that SR growl.

I've lowered the front pup and raised the rear but I can't balance them out. Tap the rear pup pole pieces with a screwdriver and yes you get a clicking noise so it is connected.

Please can Jon/Juan/anyone advise if this is normal or not and what should I do?


bongo02.jpg
 
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The Ernie Ball Emergency Response Team (EBERT) has been notified vial electronic mail. Given the time difference, we at Camp Bovine are fairly certain that the Head of EBERT, a certain Jon/Juan person who may or may not know a bit about shrubbery, remains in bed at this time.

We expect a response directly after coffee.

Dave, there is a slight difference in the output strength of my double bucker Bongos, but it isn't anything dramatic at all. I'd say that some variance, given the placement of the pickups, is normal. I gather that what you are experiencing is somewhat more dramatic?
 
As it is very difficult to trouble shoot an electrical problem across the big pond, I will brainstorm with Dudley and see what we can come up with.

Jon

P.S. Jack...haven't seen it yet
 
Hi Jack, Jon

I've just had another look. Front pup is fine. Just out of interest I screwed the bridge pup back down again and the output level seems to come and go. If I push it in and depress the springs the level comes back to what I would expect, push it again and it goes again. It might be an intermittent connection or a dry joint under the pup or even a faulty pup. I think I'll have a look inside the back cover and maybe take the strings off and unscrew the pup to see if there is anything obvious. The fact that I can make it go good then bad is at least a step forward.
 
Dave....my take on the matter.

Sounds like some asshat was tinkering with it between EB and you.

Try a standard pup setup.

Depress E string at last fret. For BOTH pups...measure between top of magnets and string...4/32". Other side, the same but 3/32". End result is neck pup slightly lower than bridge pup. Also, both pups will be slightly higher on the G string side.

.
 
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Thanks Gav I'll do that but the level change is more fundamental than just the pup height. There's a definite intermittent. I'll do it anyway. FYI Serial Number is F10041. (Oh damn now Jon knows where I bought it!)
 
Hey guys. Remember when I asked about putting magnets on the pole pieces a while ago? I tried that on my ESP B205. Granted, the ESP doesn't have exposed pole pieces, but they are under the cover. Anyway, I bought a tiny disc magnet and placed it over where one of the cover pole pieces was. Sound was greatly boosted on that string and on that pickup!

I guess this could be a last resort? The additional magnets do interfere with the way the strings vibrate, but I'm sure a thin disc magnet is good enough for a healthy sound boost.
 
Jon

I've had the back cover off and everything looks OK in there. No loose wires or any supect joints. I've also had the strings off and removed the bridge pup. The black/white twisted pair that takes the signal to the pre-amp were caught up in the coil spring but no obvious sign of damage. It was very tight into the pu though. I've freed it up and replaced everything and it's still not right. I set the height of the pup quite high and when I press up and down on the single screw end the signal comes and goes in level. It also gets noisy and slightly microphonic which makes me suspect the pup itself or maybe the wires going into it that might have become damaged because they were so tight.

Where do we go from here?
 
Dave...Got the faulty p/up back today...Along with the Cd's...VERY nice. Thank you so much for sending them!

Jon
 
Now you see?

I go on and on about stuff, but here is a prime example of why we love Jon.

Also, he has gardening skills.
 
The Bongo is now A1 OK. I won't go into what the problem was because it doesn't serve any purpose to dwell on it. What stands out is the excellent support I got from Jon. Thanks a million.

I finally managed to take it out and use it last night at a jam. The sound is something else isn't it. I going to be spending many hours exploring the Eq possibilitity. That 18-volt pre-amp sure kicks some. You can just dial in any sound you like, my problem is now relating sounds to the numbers we do.

There were many nice comments on the sound and on the styling. Nobody said they didn't like it.

We've got a big festival gig next month so I'll try and get some pictures of it in action.

Thanks Bov for alerting the response team and thanks again Jon for the prompt action.
 
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