Wireless for Bongo?

[Mu5icM@n]

I love my Bongo 4 HS, the bass sounds incredible. I use a Sony digital wireless and even with a -20 db attenuation kicked in the Bongo can still overload the transmitter if I really dig in, resulting in an loud, UGLY distortion sound getting sent to the amp, monitors, and FOH. I've traced the problem to the wireless, meaning this never happens when I play through my rig with a cable. It also happens only with the Bongo--my SR and SR5 are fine.

So, what wireless system do you Bongo owners like? Any issues with the Bongo's output level? I'm looking for digital or analog, it just has to sound good and have a range comparable to others on the market.

Thanks!

Tom

 

[nhbassguitar]

This sounds to me like a classic gain-structure problem. Even with a 20 dB cut, a dimed Bongo is a crapload of level to be sending anything that "anticipates" a signal at roughly preamp level. Crank a Bongo and we're talking levels that could easily drive a power amp directly. Cut the Bongo's volume control to the halfway point or less and you should be fine.

 

[OldManMusic]

I've been using a Line 6 G30 for about 8 years when I'm playing out and I've never had a problem with my Bongo's sound breaking up. But I rarely dime my Bongos. I'm probably at about 75% volume on the Bongo preamp. I'm sure it's gotten dimed a time or two, but I've never noticed any nasty sounds using the wireless through my rig or in the FOH. YMMV

 

[oddjob]

Biggest thing I had to get my head around is that the volume knob is more like a line level. You can't open it totally up and expect it to function properly. You find the sweet spot and work it from there. At any given time, I usually have mine set from 50-75% depending on the room and the rig. Bongos left wide open generally destroy lots of things!

 

[oddjob]

(FYI, I use a Shure SLX with a -10 pad with little to no issues)

 

[Golem]

This sounds to me like a classic gain-structure problem. Even with a
20 dB cut, a dimed Bongo is a crapload of level to be sending anything
that "anticipates" a signal at roughly preamp level. Crank a Bongo and
we're talking levels that could easily drive a power amp directly. Cut
the Bongo's volume control to the halfway point or less and you should
be fine.

Agreeing. Never had a problem with my rather ordinary Line-6 wireless
and HH5 Boingo. I don't usually play large rooms ... usually just dining
room sized audiences, pizza joints etc but I do love to go out into the
house if we play a huge hall so I can hear what the audience hears. In
one instance I ran the Line-6 into the house system for a giant hall but
also had hooked up a Fishman Platinum EQ-Pre as my control of what I
fed into the house board.

While on the one hand this represents a whole lotta pre-amp stages if
you consider the Boingo's pre, the Fishman, and the board itself, the
Fishman may have provided a degree of compression ... or something
like that.

And acoarst I'm sure I never cranked the boosts on the Boingo. Who,
in the service of the song, would do THAT ! ? ! ? Well OK I have some
friends who WOULD do such a thing, but I never attend their gigs :-(

 

[Mu5icM@n]

I don't dime the entire preamp, that's for sure, because I do like the glass to remain intact in the windows of the venue. Most of the time. I run the bass and low mid slightly boosted and occasionally the high mid and highs slightly boosted, but that's it. I do tend to run the volume knob all the way up, and the only way I avoid the awful distortion is to back it off slightly. If that's truly the answer then that's what I'll have to get used to, it's not always easy to remember in the heat of a gig.

td

 

[nhbassguitar]

By "dimed" I mean the volume control. That's the term's traditional meaning. Sorry for any misunderstanding. If your volume control is all the way up *and* you're also boosting the tone controls, well, I'm surprised the wireless transmitter hasn't started on fire yet, let alone distort. But yeah, back the volume way off. I don't understand "in the heat of the gig" part. Are you messing with the volume control while you're on stage? If you absolutely have to do that, you might be able to arrange some sort of visual cue as to where the control needs to be. On my SR, I found the spot where I like to run the volume (about 2/3), then I repositioned the knob on the shaft so the setscrew faces me directly. Also I can feel the setscrew hole with my thumb, so there's also a tactile check available if I can't look down, or the lights haven't come up yet and I can't see the knob so well, like just before stick/click count. Not sure if this is possible with a Bongo.

 

[five7]

I found that a rubber washer out of a garden hose fits perfectly over the volume knob on a bongo and fits in the body just tight enough that it will turn but will slightly lock it in place. Kept me from bumping the volume and turning it all the way up. I use to run mine at about 7.

 

[JayDawg]

I use a Sure digital wireless with all of mine and love. I've never had a single issue.

 

[Mu5icM@n]

Yeah nhbassguitar, I was just clarifying what "dimed" meant. A lot of guitar players "dime" their amps by turning every knob all the way up, which would definitely start shaking the ceiling apart if I ever did that on a Bongo. I'm just talking about the volume knob too.

By "in the heat of the gig" I mean that during a gig I frequently turn the volume knob all the way off betweens songs, etc. and when we start up the next one sometimes I just quickly turn the volume all the way back up--a habit from over 25 years of playing basses where that's just what you do--it's just muscle memory. I've gotten a practiced move for all my basses that just turn the volume knob up until it stops. So I just have to adapt, I guess. Probably a good thing to have some headroom there anyway.

td

 

[Mu5icM@n]

Spent a little more time with the Bongo and tweaked the pickup height, which was a little too close to the strings. Seems to have made it so that spike isn't killing the wireless transmitter. Also developed a new move to turn the volume up from between songs--all the way up followed immediately by a little jog back and it seems to put the volume knob consistently in the same place, which is what I need.

It's a lot cheaper than buying a new wireless....

Tom

 

[Craig0316]

I've never understood why some players "Dime" everything. I practice through a Phil Jones Basshead and set my knobs where the bass sounds best (to me) and every bass I have the setting is different...also do the same when playing through an amp...I use a Line 6 G10s wireless and I do get break up if I do dime the volume so I've learned to dial it back

 

[MaxKlein40]

http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-basses/68684-project-advice.html

check this thread on almost the exact same issue.

 

[danny-79]

I found that a rubber washer out of a garden hose fits perfectly over the volume knob on a bongo and fits in the body just tight enough that it will turn but will slightly lock it in place. Kept me from bumping the volume and turning it all the way up. I use to run mine at about 7.

That’s a good idea !
The volume pot on my Bongo is pretty loose (easily moved) so going to give that a try.
At the min I use the alan key hole as a marker (as I do on all my basses) don’t turn the volume any more than 70% (think I use a bit less) and all is good

 

[Golem]

`

Black knobs, white nail polish.
Visible in near total darkness.
Boingos have black knobs.

Two dollars at WalMart. I can
not take credit for this level of
geniusness. I hadda consult an
actual Rocket Scientist :-/

Click the pic if your eyes are
as old as mine ... old eyes that
can still easily see white dots
on black knobs:



No it's not black sparkle. It's a
crackle finish black EB SUB

Notice that the mids knob has
both a main and an alternate
setting. IOW two dots, thanks
to my Rocket Scientist friend.
Alt setting is yellow, an extra
two dollars, but nothing is too
good for my baby ... born on
my birthday !

.