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BONGO SOUNDCLIPS!

Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

TalkBass' resident Bongo + cowbell player
Nov 10, 2000
6,935
155
59
Bucaramanga, Colombia, South A
#1
Hi again.

I've spent the whole weekend playing and listening to my new Bongo and today I decided to record some sound clips with different settings for you TalkBassers to hear. By clicking on the YouSendIt link below, you'll download a .zip file with several recordings of my Bongo plus a pdf file explaining what I did (please read it first).

I'm still messing with the action (the saddles, not the truss rod - the neck is OK), so that's why the fret buzz is noticeable. I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the only way to get zero buzz from a bass is:

1. Set the action sooo high and/or
2. Play with a very light touch

So my basses always buzz, but I think there's a limit in which that buzzing is acceptable: If it isn't noticeable when playing with a band. Maybe in these recordings the buzz is more noticeable than I'd like (I'm not sure), so please let me know how "annoying" is the fret buzz in these recordings to you.

I hope the traffic in this thread will be as high (or higher) as in my previous Bongo one. If that's the case, this YouSendIt link will be dead very soon. Please let me know when that happen, so I'll repost it. Or does anybody know where to host the file? I have a Geocities website, but I can't upload it there.

Hope you enjoy this stuff and find it useful, folks. I highly appreciate your opinions.

Link:
Link Removed
 
#2
Hey Alvaro, and thanks for the soundclips.

I've never experienced fret buzz from my fretted bass, and i have moderate action, and a pretty heavy fingering technique.

Not meaning to flame you or everything, but i believe your truss-rod are too tigth, so you get not enough relief? Fret buzz should never be a concern with a properly set up bass and average technique :)

Great sound by the way!
-Erlend

EDIT: When listening closely to the soundclips, i must say that thats *too much* fretbuzz to me. Where are the fretbuzz coming from? What frets seem to buzz? :)
 
#4
Alvaro Martín Gómez A. said:
Hi, Erlend.

The only way I have to determine if the neck is fine is the Gary Willis method: Press the A string at the first fret and use my right elbow to press it at the 24th fret. Then I lightly tap the string against the fingerboard. It moves just a little bit in my Bongo. Isn't that OK?

Thank you for your comments!
Click to expand...

Well, i have no idea what the Gary Willis method is, hehe :p . We'll leave that question to an experienced luthier\technician!

When you play, you should be able to see where the string is buzzing, rigth? If it's buzzing on a particular fret, then you migth need some fret dressing, or what?

Atleast i know, from my experience with my fretless, that when i had too much relief in the neck and adjusted the action lower, the string buzzed towards the ends of the neck, and when i had to little relief i got buzz on the middle of the neck.

Declaimer: I'm just a poor norwegian kid. 'nuff said :D
 
#6
Alvaro Martín Gómez A. said:
I can't tell you. Almost anywhere! It seems that the thicker the string, the louder the buzz.
Click to expand...

Well, just asking, do the bass "buzz" when somebody else are playing it? It *could* be your rigth hand technique, without assuming anything :). To avoid fretbuzz, it's adviceable to set the string in a "sideways" motion instead of hitting it "on the top".

Try giving the trussrod some more relief, and be careful about your technique. I'm no pro, but i do my best to help! :hyper:

-Erlend
 
#7
Erlend_G said:
Well, just asking, do the bass "buzz" when somebody else are playing it? It *could* be your rigth hand technique, without assuming anything :). To avoid fretbuzz, it's adviceable to set the string in a "sideways" motion instead of hitting it "on the top".

Try giving the trussrod some more relief, and be careful about your technique. I'm no pro, but i do my best to help! :hyper:

-Erlend
Click to expand...

Well, I never thought about it. I'm going to ask a friend to play the bass to see what happens. After plucking the strings in many different ways, right now the only way I get no buzz is playing VERY softly.
 
#16
Alvaro Martín Gómez A. said:
takk for klemmene Alvaro :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Uhm.... that means "thank you for the hugs Alvaro"

.... now let me try to translate something into spanish, and see if the "free translator" works! :hyper:

"Sí, sé que Alvaro quiere los abrazos. Pero hago no, desde que algunas personas a menudo tienen mierda en sus caras. "

I'm not sure if it works, but hey :)
 
#18
dude.. what were you playing for the slap clips? and the harmonics? and and, dude...


have you tried raising the bridge saddles? it could be as simple as that. my neck is flat (on an ibanez) and all I did was raise the bridge saddles, (could of been the heavier playing style tho)

I'm so easy ;)
 
#19
Alvaro Martín Gómez A. said:
Yes. It's "Linus And Lucy". Glad you liked it. I have it written in standard notation. Do you need the tab? If so, please give me some time to write it down (I'll have it tomorrow). :)
Click to expand...

hey! really enjoye dthe clips, thanks! any chance I could get the notation for Linus and Lucy? :cool:

Seems like you might need some more neck relief.. as Munji said, great playing, needs a professional set up. :)
 
#20
Thanks, its good to see how the Bongo sounds, with respect I still cant get over the Bongos looks but this has got me curious about an SR5 with dual humbuckers when they come out. BTW your bass needs a pro set up, thats more fret buzz than I would be prepared to put up with. Congrats on your new purchase - enjoy.
 

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