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bongo 6 advice

L

ludwig109

Oct 24, 2005
353
0
38
ireland, waterford
#1
thinking of buying a bongo 6 string around christmas, i wont have a chance to try one out before buying it so wondering what difference the different the pickup configurations have, i play a bit of everything slap and a nice clear fingerstyle tone would be what im after mainly.

also the site im buying it off has the option of matched headstock for 80 euro more.... ive never seen a bongo without a matched headstock, can someone show me a picture to see if its worth 80 euro.
 
#2
ludwig109 said:
thinking of buying a bongo 6 string around christmas, i wont have a chance to try one out before buying it so wondering what difference the different the pickup configurations have, i play a bit of everything slap and a nice clear fingerstyle tone would be what im after mainly.

also the site im buying it off has the option of matched headstock for 80 euro more.... ive never seen a bongo without a matched headstock, can someone show me a picture to see if its worth 80 euro.
Click to expand...

Bongos only come with matching headstock - so you shouldn't have to pay extra. My Bongo 6 is an HH - double humbucker. Great sound. I prefer the HH config over all others - close second is the HS with Piezo - but you can't get piezo on the 6er.

Some people think the neck humbucker impedes slap and pull - which I don't do much of - but those that are proficient say it doesn't take long to get the feel of it on the HH.
 
#3
oh good so yeh it just has all the options maybe theyre only for the 4 strings casue they have a piezo option too, bad website design.

im sure i could adjust to avoiding the pickup anyway i wouldnt say thatd be a problem i have an ibanez with soapbars in similar placements.

you said you ddont slap much but does the h hava good slap sound? ive watched a video review and it seemed very nice but it wasnt great quality so hard to tell
 
#4
I have a Bongo 5 HH and at first I did find the pickup got in the way of popping but you do get used to it. I love the slap sound from each pickup and to be honest, i don't favour one over the other, they're both great. Also, the preamp is very versatile.

The 5er neck is very comfortable, i've never played the 6 but if it's the same but wider it should be great. Out of interest, where do you plan on buying it? I found Irish and european stores a complete rip off so in the end I imported it from the US and even with taxes and shipping it worked out a lot less.

Any more questions?
Just ask.

Cheers,
John.
 
#5
cool cool,

yeh prices suck over here thomanns even getting expensive now.. cheapness was all they had going for them(i had a bad experience withthem)
Invalid Link Removed
thats the best price ive found it comes with a hardcase and shippings only 25euro so not toobad.
ive always avoided ordering from america seems like alot of hassle with the import tax and all that, but how much did yours come to and whered you get it from.. i was looking at musiciansfriend i think it was 1300 without tax etc, its crazy.
im looking into ordering it from a shop down here aswell tho i dont expect much as theyre usually way too expensive but who knows, trading in a sub.


they all come with the parametric knobs i assume too websites seem to not mention them is all.
 
#7
ludwig109 said:
cool cool,

yeh prices suck over here thomanns even getting expensive now.. cheapness was all they had going for them(i had a bad experience withthem)
Invalid Link Removed
thats the best price ive found it comes with a hardcase and shippings only 25euro so not toobad.
ive always avoided ordering from america seems like alot of hassle with the import tax and all that, but how much did yours come to and whered you get it from.. i was looking at musiciansfriend i think it was 1300 without tax etc, its crazy.
im looking into ordering it from a shop down here aswell tho i dont expect much as theyre usually way too expensive but who knows, trading in a sub.


they all come with the parametric knobs i assume too websites seem to not mention them is all.
Click to expand...

I got mine from basscentral.com . Great service. It was a second hand model in perfect condition and a rare colour (white). The bass was $1300 and shipping was $300 which seems expensive but i got it in 2 days and could track it every step of the way. I had to pay about €180 import duty and I paid that to the DHL driver in cash so i didn't have to sort out any paperwork or anything.


They don't have parametric EQ. The EQ is 4 band with fixed boost/cut frequency points. The controls are volume, balance, low mid cut/boost, high mid cut/boost, bass cut/boost and treble cut/boost. It's a very musical preamp and it's incapable of a bad sound IMO.

As far as i know you can get a 3 band EQ on the single humbucker only models if you want, other than that they're all 4 band.

Cheers,
John.
 
#8
ludwig109 said:
thinking of buying a bongo 6 string around christmas, i wont have a chance to try one out before buying it so wondering what difference the different the pickup configurations have, i play a bit of everything slap and a nice clear fingerstyle tone would be what im after mainly.

also the site im buying it off has the option of matched headstock for 80 euro more.... ive never seen a bongo without a matched headstock, can someone show me a picture to see if its worth 80 euro.
Click to expand...

I would recommend the HH configuration in the Bongo 6 - there is a somewhat narrower gap between pickup and neck in the 'sweet spot' for plucking (compared to a Fender or Warwick) but it's quite doable with practice.
I personally think the fingerstyle and plectrum tone of the Bongo is matchless in its price range, and one reason is the dual humbucker array with the 4 band EQ. Exquisitely variable with subtle adjustments.

All Bongo 6's have matched headstocks and necks to the body color...Charging extra for that is a scam, IMO.
 
#9
ah righteo thought i heard someone talking about it being parametric, the stacked knobs confused me obviously, sounds good anyway id prefer a four band eq id say. that sounds good ill look into that. how do they decide import duty? were you told how much itd be beforehand or was it just once it got here
 
#10
darkblack99 said:
I would recommend the HH configuration in the Bongo 6 - there is a somewhat narrower gap between pickup and neck in the 'sweet spot' for plucking (compared to a Fender or Warwick) but it's quite doable with practice.
I personally think the fingerstyle and plectrum tone of the Bongo is matchless in its price range, and one reason is the dual humbucker array with the 4 band EQ. Exquisitely variable with subtle adjustments.

All Bongo 6's have matched headstocks and necks to the body color...Charging extra for that is a scam, IMO.
Click to expand...


yeh everyone seems to leen towards the HH so id say ill go for that so.
i dunno if they were meaning to charge it might just be a thing on every bass they sell so you can customise them as you wish and is just irrelevant on this one, ill email them anyway just to see what they say.,
 
#13
yeah these things are great, i play in 2 different bands
one is a funk/jazz style lot of slap&heavy lines
also play in a alt/ele band lt of highend fast fills and line anyway what im saying is this bass has ton of different sounds clean, slap, (god forbid but pick sounds good too) very clean very true sound.
duel hums is my choice too. the pickups are active 9v each so plenty of power if you think the pickups get in the way you can crank them down into the body and have plenty of room for slap or to really dig in. does not effect sound and volume is not noticable trust me this will be the most powerful sensitive bass u have played.

(my opinion)

hope it helps
 
#14
ludwig109 said:
ah righteo thought i heard someone talking about it being parametric, the stacked knobs confused me obviously, sounds good anyway id prefer a four band eq id say. that sounds good ill look into that. how do they decide import duty? were you told how much itd be beforehand or was it just once it got here
Click to expand...

The calculate import duty by adding together the cost of shipping and the insured value of the item and then getting 21% of that figure so you have a fair idea of it before you get it.

Some places will let you tell them the figure to put down for the insured value so you pay less duty but then if anything happens during shipping you only get back the insured value, not necessarily the actual value.

Cheers.
 

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