Up Against The Wal, Bongo Mofo

[bovinehost]

I have the good fortune to be comparing these two basses today.

Well, not just today, but for the next week or two. So far, that nasty old mass-produced Bongo is holding up extremely well to the hand-built, made to order Wal.

Plus you could buy four Bongos for the price of one Wal.

Man, these Bongos are good.

 

[jongitarz]

I think the Bongo looks better too.

 

[bovinehost]

Boy, you'd get some arguments out of some people I know.

But not me.

 

[jongitarz]

The same people waiting for quadraphonic 8 tracks to come back

By the way, the title of this thread made me laugh...I needed a laugh!

 

[Chet the Jet]

I like the looks of the Bongo too.


Gonna get me one.

 

[Mobay45]

That is a pretty piece of furniture but I think I would rather have four bongos. 5HH, 5H, 5HS, 5HSPiezo fretless. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[bovinehost]

Larry, bleeb me now when I tell you that is more than a nice piece of furniture, but I'm with you. I mean, I am a caveman.

Gimme the four.....wait, hell, I already have four Bongos.

But no kidding - that Wal is a nice bass. Very aggressive in the mids, kinda like a...well, a Bongo.

 

[Morrow]

There are not too many Wals around, - you are lucky to get your mits on one.The pickups look interesting......So far I have been able to resist the lure of the boutique basses that I have played ( although I did have a couple of restless nights when there was a fanned fret Dingwall Afterburner sitting in a local shop with a surprisingly low pricetag) The Wal looks like it might be stunning in the flesh.I am not surprised to hear that the Bongo is holding up ( I think EB are probably making the finest production instruments in America today) , but I don't think it's a fair comparison.Production instruments are priced to go and you pay a lot for that extra attention to detail that you get in a handmade boutique instrument.

 

[Mobay45]

Hey, I didn't mean to cast stones at the Wal at all. It really is a great looking bass and I'm sure it sounds great.

But if I spent that much money on one bass, I would make sure that everyone used coasters to keep rings off of it.

 

[prickly_pete]

I've had a Ken Smith 6 string, Spector NS5 (American), Modulas Quantum 5, "real" steinberger, etc... I'll take my SRs over all those basses! None of the basses above have the tone or character of my SRs I do want a Bongo, though


btw, I believe that the attention to detail is just as good, generally, with my EBs as any of my former rain forest basses. Really, all there is to a fine bass guitar is quailty wood, solid electronics, and smooth fretwork, and EB gets this as right as any of the exotic companies.

 

[spectorbassguy]

I've had a Ken Smith 6 string, Spector NS5 (American), Modulas Quantum 5, "real" steinberger, etc... I'll take my SRs over all those basses! None of the basses above have the tone or character of my SRs I do want a Bongo, though
btw, I believe that the attention to detail is just as good, generally, with my EBs as any of my former rain forest basses. Really, all there is to a fine bass guitar is quailty wood, solid electronics, and smooth fretwork, and EB gets this as right as any of the exotic companies.

Right arm PP! I'm with you! I swore that my Ken Smith BT5G would be the last main bass I would ever own. Then I wanted a fretless so I bought a '91 SR5 fretless, got involved on the forum, succumbed to Jack's Bongo 5 insanity then had to have a GrapeRay 5! The Ken was an excellent bass but just can't compare with the Bongo's and SR's tone. There's just an extra edge to the Music Man tone that I haven't found with any other bass. I sold my Ken to a friend and play it once in a while. Just doesn't have the guts, growl or clarity of a Bongo or SR.

 

[jongitarz]

I mean, I am a caveman.

Jack...I have a great screen name for you. Fret Flintstone. THANK YOU! GOOD NIGHT!

 

[tkarter]

Billy Gates created the four ways to get to any end. The bass world just follows. Now what is the best way? I choose EB every time. I have sold too many other brands in quest of my sound.


My SR 5 looks good and fits me like a glove. My sound is what I want. Now if I could get my love life up to the same standards. LOL

BTW that too is good, so should I just retire or die? Why do we look for something better even when we have found good? Me thinks being human is a quandry!!



tk

 

[Franky]

I've had a Ken Smith 6 string, Spector NS5 (American), Modulas Quantum 5, "real" steinberger, etc... I'll take my SRs over all those basses! None of the basses above have the tone or character of my SRs I do want a Bongo, though


btw, I believe that the attention to detail is just as good, generally, with my EBs as any of my former rain forest basses. Really, all there is to a fine bass guitar is quailty wood, solid electronics, and smooth fretwork, and EB gets this as right as any of the exotic companies.

how did the Q5 compare to a Ray? mids, bottom end and highs? how do they compare?

 

[prickly_pete]

how did the Q5 compare to a Ray? mids, bottom end and highs? how do they compare?

The Q5 was very different than than the SRs. The overall tone of the Q5 was very compressed. When you dig in on a Stingray, or a Jazz bass, you can get a nice growl; the Q5 didn't have that. The Q5 was very even across the neck, and in its frequency response, but because of the compressed tone, it had an overall dark tone, that for me, didn't really cut through in a live situation. Because the Q5 was a two pickup bass, it could get more of a Jazz bass tone than a Ray (soloed neck pickup), but unlike a Jazz bass, it sounded very sterile (not as dynamic). I liked the neck on the Q5 overall. The neck pickup soloed really got lost in the mix. The Q5 did not have the hi-fi tone of a Steinberger, and it did not have the warm dynamic tone of a SR/Fender; it was somewhere in the middle. I played the Q5 for a while, and wound up trading it for a brand new SR5, which I later sold for some reason -- this was about about 13 years ago. The Ken Smith was a much better sounding bass, btw!


One other thing: One of the reasons I like the SRs so much is their one pickup design. Really I'm looking for ONE good tone, that stays good switching between finger style playing and slapping -- I switch back and forth in the middle of songs and don't have time to fiddle with knobs in between. All these two pickup basses -- for my style of playing -- have to be dicked with to get a good finger tone and a good slap tone. On a two pickup bass -- a Jazz Bass for example -- the finger style tone I like is the bridge pickup soloed, but that tone sounds awful for slap. The SRs sound great for finger style and slap style without twisting any knobs or flipping any switches in between; I haven't found a two pickup bass yet that can do this.

 

[Franky]

One other thing: One of the reasons I like the SRs so much is their one pickup design. Really I'm looking for ONE good tone, that stays good switching between finger style playing and slapping -- I switch back and forth in the middle of songs and don't have time to fiddle with knobs in between. All these two pickup basses -- for my style of playing -- have to be dicked with to get a good finger tone and a good slap tone. On a two pickup bass -- a Jazz Bass for example -- the finger style tone I like is the bridge pickup soloed, but that tone sounds awful for slap. The SRs sound great for finger style and slap style without twisting any knobs or flipping any switches in between; I haven't found a two pickup bass yet that can do this.

+1

thanks for the info aswell