Converting bongo 5 to bongo 6?

[Aboy]

Hi, I've been considering getting a music man bongo bass. My only problem is that I want a 6 string but I also really want the piezo pickup in the bridge. I heard recently that it's possible to convert a 5 string bass to a 6 string, so I was wondering, if I bought a bongo 5 with piezo, and converted it, would their be any way of keeping the piezo bridge? Thanks for the help everyone!

[IronLung1986]

well you can certainly convert a bongo 5 to a bongo 6. that's basically what john myung does, he's got a bongo 5 with 6 strings. keeping the 5 string piezo bridge seems a lot less doable though. i'm not an engineer but i'm having a tough time visualizing a good way of doing that :/

[Aboy]

Dam, I REALLY want the piezo, but I also want the bongo 6, needless to say, I don't have enough money for two bongos! :/

[Musicman20]

Sell your 5 and buy the 6.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Yeah, I am pretty sure it would be cheaper to buy a 6 than convert a 5. Where and how would you get the extra tuner on there? Where would you get a new bridge from?

John Myung has a 6-string with 5-string spacing (so, a 5-string neck). But that was made specially for him and is not a commercially available bass.

[Aboy]

You know, it isn't actually that hard to convert a 5 string to a 6 string, look it up, there's plenty of posts on here about it. About buying the parts, that's relatively easy to, all you need to do is order one from a website like allparts or even go to your local music store and ask to order one.

[ggunn]

You won't be able to get 6 pole MM pickups, though. MM won't sell you a pickup unless you send them the one you are replacing, and it has to be exactly the same pickup.

[NicJimBass]

I don't think EBMM gives the option of piezo's on the 6, hence the OP's question. My best suggestion is to buy a 6 and either swap the bridge or the saddles, and find a Bongo pre with the piezo option. Then again, all the pre's might be the same, you'll just have to add/subtract the piezo components.

[Aboy]

Ok, that sounds like a rather big pain so maybe I won't do that :/ but I'm still interested in the idea of converting a bongo 5 to a 6, I like the idea of having the strings closer together and the smaller neck. The one thing that I was wondering about that is, if I were to do that, the stock pickup's magnets would not be properly lined with the strings so would the sound still be even across or would some areas be quieter than others?