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Differencw between MusicMan Stingray and Bongo?

#22
The Stingray is a classic. Generally an ash body, choose your fingerboard, go for the extra pickups if you feel you need it. I like my Stingray with one big old humbucker. (Beware of 'one trick pony' canard.) It's a Stingray. You've heard them slapped, you've heard them played fingerstyle, you know who Tony Levin and Bernard Edwards are, it's a Stingray. When someone tells you they're "too bright", show them your tone controls. Or buy them a set of flats and tell them to learn some Motown.

The Bongo is a great bass. No translucent finishes, but EBMM has just come out with some new colors so you get extra choices. Basswood sounds great. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. (Ask them why Leo Fender chose ash and alder, and don't accept anything other than the truth.) It's an extremely versatile bass. Lots of pickup configurations. Opinions are just that, and so subjective, but I've owned a metric f-ton of basses, including ye olde high-priced Fender clones and so on, and the Bongo does what I've always wanted a bass to do, plus I LOOK COOL with a Bongo.

Yes, even playing rockabilly or blues.

Have you played both?

Jack
 
#25
I've had both, and like them both. Like Joe Nerve said, the SR sounds funkier, but the Bongo is versatile as hell. I have used it for rock, blues, funk, I've played it with my kids indie band. There are a lot of guys in Nashville touring with Bongos. I put flats on mine and gave it a completely different vibe in a good way. Hard to explain what something sounds like in a forum post. I love mine.
First time I saw one, I was in Bass Central in Orlando, I thought it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. Played it for 5 min. and changed my mind real quick.

"Pretty is as pretty does"
 
#30
Thanks for all the answers. I really want a Bongo 6-string, but it's quite expensive. Does anyone know what it costs in the US? In Norway, I have to pay about 4,500 USD for it ... (25000 NOK). But I also like the 4-string and thought that the Stingray could be an option.

Someone mentioned that they are good to slap on, anyone got experience with that?
 
#33
I played a couple of Bongo's and around half a dozen Stingrays just this past weekend. I found the neck on the Bongo to be thinner and faster than the Rays. I also found that the tone of the Bongo lent itself to more of a piano sound than the Ray.
Ergonomically speaking, I felt the Bongo to a more comfortable body and I also felt that the string tension on the Bongo was tighter than the Ray.
I hope this helps?
fishheadjoe
 
#34
I just heard a Bongo about a week ago, and I love the sound of it. I'm thinking about trying to get one, but there isn't any store near me that sells Music Man basses so I will have to order it off line. I have small hands and was wondering what the neck was like. I've tried a Warwick, but i didn't like the neck. I am using a Schecter Elite 5 right now and want to up grade.
 
#35
I have longed to own a Bongo HH since they came out. Alas, I have been unable to afford one. I have played several as there is a small dealer about 50 miles away from me, Nice Music, and he stocks quite a few Bongos, Stingrays and Sterlings. Everytime I go to his store and pickup the Bongo, I end up spending an hour or more in the listening room just in awe at the tone the Bongo has.

Why oh why does it have to cost nearly $2000?!?
 
#40
The Bongo, in my opinion, is the most versatile bass on the planet -- bar none. It's also the most comfortable bass I've ever played. And let's face it, there is nothing out there that looks like it. In coolness factor alone it rules. And this is coming from someone who prefers short scales (go figure).
 

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