The Bongo imitation thread

[Joe Nerve]

I don't mean basses that imitate Bongos - but what you can do to get your Bongo to immitate other basses. I thought this might be a helpful and fun thread. Let's say for now that we all have dual Humbucker Bongos. How do you set the EQ and where do you play the strings to get it to sound like a Stingray, a Jazz, a new P, an old P, a semi hollow body, any other bass you know of? I'll start with this...

Jaco like Jazz sound:

Balance - bridge pickup
Low mid - 10
High mid - 0 (or tweak from 0-3)
Bass - 5
Treble - 10

Fingered above the bridge pickup of course.

Feel free to agree or disagree also and add yer own tweaks to what anyone else posts.

 

[Psychicpet]

Here are some sounds I worked up with my dualH Bongo 5:

“From Broomstick to Bongo”
an evolution of tone



Tune - Blend - HiMid - LoMid - Bass - Treble

Monk Neck cut cut Noon cut
Patsy
Pickett
Jamerson
Beatles


Zep 2 o’cl 3 o’cl 1 o’cl 1 o’cl cut


Superstition Neck Noon Noon 1:30-2 cut


Come On Favour cut max-ish 10 o’cl cut
(my Jaco) Bridge

Peg Noon 11 o’cl Noon 11-10o’cl cut
Don’t Give Up Noon cut Noon Noon cut


Cowboys Noon cut cut Full Full
from Hell
Plush Noon same as Cowboys but not as maxxed


Isobel Neck almost cut cut boost cut
(Bjork tune)

Exploder Favour BOOST 2 o’cl 2 o’cl almost cut
(Audioslave) Neck


...just some ideas........

 

[bovinehost]

Good Lord, you guys actually notice - and WRITE DOWN - where your knobs are set?

I don't know whether to admire you or stop hanging around with you.

 

[JB1]

I'm heading over to camp B on this one Bov!













J/K fellas!

 

[Psychicpet]

ya, ya, ...... I can take it, well, not really but
The main reason I did such extensive research was because it was a part of a clinic/product demo that I worked up for the Bongo and did a bit last Fall, just to show the versatility of the bass BUT when it comes to "real world" playing the most I ever do is either solo the neck p/u for a P-Bass sound or roll off the treble.

I'm really not a knob tweaker, er... well.... you know what I'm gettin' at right?... aw man, I'll just shut up.

 

[cgworkman]

I don't know whether to admire you or stop hanging around with you.

 

[Joe Nerve]

I am very proud of my bass geekdom.

I am a bass geek extrodinaire.

I am obsessed with all things bass.

I take a bass, not a magazine into the bathroom with me.

That's the first time I ever wrote anything of the sort down however.
I'm just curious actually how you guys think Bongos sound most like other basses since I never owned a Ray (only a Sterling - and quite honestly the Bongo sounds a lot different, mayby the maple neck has something to do with it) - and I'm not exactly sure what people consider a "Classic" P bass sound.

 

[bovinehost]

I am very proud of my bass geekdom.

As are we all, or else we wouldn't be here. Now I've never taken a bass into the bathroom, but I have taken Bass Player magazine. (Okay, okay, AND Musician's Friend.)

I don't really think Bongos sound like other basses. The dual bucker model can do a pretty good Stingray, a decent Jazz bass (sort of) and sort of a pissed-off Precision, but mostly it just sounds like a Bongo. Which as you know, is big and bad and capable of destroying coastal cities in Japan, if need be.

Classic P bass sounds are everywhere. Almost any early to mid 60s Motown recording will be a P bass. Pink Floyd - P bass with a pick. Most classic R&B was recorded with a P bass.

We are just now capable of really kicking a P bass in the head.

 

[midopa]

I find I usually end up with the pickup balance near or all the way to the neck in band settings, even if I like the mid-rangey sound (read: Jaco-like) from the bridge pickup when playing by myself. With the neck p'up dominating, I bump the high-mids a bit, cut the bass just a tiny fraction, and fool around with the treble, depending on what style I'm playng. With no treble and fingerstyle over the neck pickup, you get an awesome growly, thick sound!

So practically:
P'up Pan: All neck p'up or neck p'up dominating.
Treble: Depends on current style of playing, usually cut entirely for the praise team I'm in.
High mids: Bumped a bit.
Low mids: Usually flat.
Bass: Cut just a tiny bit. Man, oh man. That bass knob is deadly!