Why should I get a Bongo?

[bassmonkey]

I've now had my fretless Stingray 4 for a few months and think it is a fantastic instrument. I'm considering getting a fretted bass to keep it company. I was going to get another Stingray, but a lot of people seem to like the Bongo. In my part of the world there are no dealers with Bongos in stock so I'm unable to try one out. So the question is, why should I get a Bongo over a Stingray?

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

Cus they taste great....

 

[bassmonkey]

Cus they taste great....

LOL!

Like chicken?

 

[SteveB]

Dude would certainly know... he licks an awful lot of things...

 

[adouglas]

-24 frets (I do need this for a few songs my band plays).
-More tone variability (though the new pup configurations on the other MM basses alter the picture some). The 4 band EQ is pretty cool.
-Conversation-starting looks. SRs are cool, but they're yet another variation on the Fender bass.
-Bongos make good covers for your naughty bits. Just ask Joe Nerve.

 

[AnthonyD]

Not exactly sure...

The 24-fret neck, it's looks and multiple pick-up configurations (including the piezo bridge) with the 18v pre-amp make it stand-out from the rest of the EBMM line.

But that line has become a wee-bit fainter, in that Stingrays & Sterlings are now available with multiple pick-ups too.

Hmmm... Choices, choices...

 

[Psycho Ward]

Why should you get a Bongo?

Because if you have a Bongo you’ll be a “bad mofo”, that’s why I bought one. I’ve always wanted to be a “bad mofo”.

I don’t have my Bongo yet but I’m already feeling like a “bad mofo”.

This morning I was such a “bad mofo” that I had to hold a gun to my head while I was shaving, just to keep me from cutting my own throat!

 

[adouglas]

This morning I was such a “bad mofo” that I had to hold a gun to my head while I was shaving, just to keep me from cutting my own throat!

Dammit, you made me spray coffee all over my keyboard!


Thanks for starting my day off with a good laugh.

 

[Big Poppa]

YOu can buy a Stingray and be really happy until the urge for a sterling takes over and then you realize that the Bongo is the answer .

help feed my family and go through the routine or just go straight for the Bongo and save yourself the struggle.

 

[spectorbassguy]

Since you are considering a fretted Ray, I'll throw my $.02 in. Before I bought a fretted Ray I had a Bongo 5 H/SC for about a year which I loved dearly. Then I picked up a fretted SR5. I already owned a lined fretless SR5 so I knew they were great instruments. I really love the SR5 tone. Seems more old school than the Bongo and the tone just seems fatter and more natural IMHO. Don't get me wrong, the Bongo is a great bass with lots of tonal options but I guess I'm just a Ray kind of guy. Probably be best for you to try both if you can and see which you like better. Good luck & God Bless!

 

[mike not fat]

Get a bongo to get something different from the SR, but that you're sure will also sound great.
It looks different, sounds different (with more versatility) but ahas that "something" that makes it an EBMM, plays different (I prefer the Bongo neck, but thats a matter of taste).

And if you don't like after all, there are a bunch of a** who will explain you how to make some first class toilet seats with it (and you'll join the IK*A forum to show some pics and explain haw you made such a nice toilet seat named böngö).

MNF

 

[strummer]

SR=Old stuff
Sterling=Newer stuff
Bongo=Good stuff

 

[AnthonyD]

Tough call without being able to actually get your hands on one.

The Stingray neck is the most "chunky"...
The Sterling neck is the most "perfect"...
The Bongo neck is somewhere in between...

(But that's based on my hands - ymmv)

If you're liking the feel of the Stingray neck and don't need the additional frets (I mean, who really plays up there anyway!), then go for a fretted Stingray and take advantage of the newest pick-up configurations.

My 2¢...

 

[SteveB]

So the question is, why should I get a Bongo over a Stingray?

So you're one step closer to being as cool as Jack "Lord Bongo" Williams?
Hey, I'd buy one for that reason alone..

 

[adouglas]

.... then go for a fretted Stingray and take advantage of the newest pick-up configurations.

Wondering what the diff is in electronics, Bongo vs. new dual-pickup Stingray. Isn't the Bongo preamp something very different and unique to the Bongo? It's not only the number/configuration of pickups that matters, right?

 

[AnthonyD]

Wondering what the diff is in electronics, Bongo vs. new dual-pickup Stingray. Isn't the Bongo preamp something very different and unique to the Bongo? It's not only the number/configuration of pickups that matters, right?

True, the Bongo's pre-amp is unique to the Bongo... All 18v of it!

 

[Dr. Nick]

YOu can buy a Stingray and be really happy until the urge for a sterling takes over and then you realize that the Bongo is the answer .

help feed my family and go through the routine or just go straight for the Bongo and save yourself the struggle.

But the Sterling feels SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!

Am I wrong? Is this to be a forbidden love? I'm a just a simple man with simple wants: a great sounding bass guitar to share my life and grow old with.

Spirits begone!!! Torment me no more!!! I cannot forsake my Sterling!!! I cannot!!!

bassmonkey, you just listen to your heart! (how's that for a platitude?) You really can't go wrong, can you?

 

[Psychicpet]

asking "why a Bongo" is like asking "why breathe today?" the answer to both:

BEACAUSE IT'S GOOD FOR YOU! and you'd end up brain-dead in the very least if you didn't do either



trust me, I've monkeyed (pardon the pun) with my Bongo enought yet it still stands head and shoulders above other basses and most importantly IMHO, the feel and playability of the Bongo is uniquely it's own.

 

[adouglas]

Here's another:

With a Bongo, you get to "drive" a BMW.

 

[oddjob]

I truely asked myself the Bongo, Sterling, SRay question a hundred times before I took the plunge (if you want to call my EBay experience that). I think it is about personality and feel. I get the "what in the hell is that" question from other players at least once a week. The Bongo is an attention grabber. It invites conversation. It evokes opinions (good and bad... until they actually sit down and play one). It is the guest that drinks all of your beer and refuses to leave. It IS the bad MOFO that begs to be taken in the studio and on stage. While the Rays and Sterlings are both beast in their own rights... they just don't offer any of that. So I refused to follow the "cycle" that BP talked about and I am just feeding his family by buying multiple Bongos (guess it could be worse).

Trust your gut, your eyes and your ears they won't steer you wrong (and in this case you can't go wrong).