I really like my Geddy Lee jazz. Was never crazy about active basses I owned, really like the organic passive tone of a jazz. Figured I'd shake things up by buying something I've never owned/played -- a 5 str fretless. Ordered a Bongo HHP 5 fl and it arrived yesterday.
I don't know what made me flip a switch and consider a Bongo. I think it was researching particular tones I liked, and I kept coming back to Tony Levin's fretless tone. Started to listening to some samples and the stuff coming out of the Bongo really intrigued me, moreso than a SR. When it first came out I thought the Bongo looked a little nutty, but the modern retro styling started to grow on me.
Waiting before UPS arrived, I started to doubt myself -- how could you buy a bass you've never heard, let alone play? I was dialing down expectations. But I've ordered a handful of other $1000+ basses sight unseen and the world didn't stop spinning.
UPS arrives. I open the case.
I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS*.
I do own a SX fretless but never put more than an hour it, and I've never played a 5er but for once in a noisy GC. Experiences below.
The talk about EB's being the best production bass out there isn't nutty talk. Demonstrably better quality than my Jazz and equal to or better than a lot of customs I've played.
5 str -- I think I played a 5er at a GC once, which kinda cemented my view on 5ers -- didn't like them. It was an Ibanez flavor of the month bass with the pencil thin necks. B string sounded and flopped like a wet fart. This thing is tight and full. Strangely, I really thought the additional string was gonna eff me up but there was almost no adjustment. Kinda hard to explain, but the 5 is more useful for fretboard positioning and not having to reach with certain things (and going down to low notes occasionally is cool too). I won't say playing a 5 is second nature for me, but it feels completely natural and definitely opens up the board to me. Me likey.
Fretless part -- doesn't sound like a fretless, but it does, it's really hard to explain. With really good intonation/fingering you'd be hard pressed to tell it's even a fretless; let some notes sustain (especially higher up on the neck) and the notes start to sing a little with that fretless 'mwah'. The thing I like is it isn't this full time fruity fretless mwah thing going on like its some kind of Newport Jazz festival. The fretless part on the lower registers give it a kind of growl since there's no sharp intonation from the fret... not an overdriven growl but an organic grit (can't really explain it better). It's pretty much everything I had hoped for, a kind of Tony Levin fretless tone.
Keeping the glisses/slides to a minimum and just laying down a nice groove with punctuated runs, this bass just brings out the 'me' in my playing like no other bass I've played. This is the bass I've been waiting for!
Tone -- you know how you wanna smack people that tell you how hard it is to be rich, or good looking or whatever? This thing has too much tone. I spent three hours flat out before even playing it just exploring the active eq. The only knob I could figure out was the dang master volume! I finally got a hold of an EB wiring diagram. There's almost too much here, but I'm not complaining -- having both a low mid and a high mid eq band on this thing is almost criminal. Jacking the mids on this thing makes a freaking growl monster that I love. It's kinda a pain tho because I'm constantly diddling with knobs trying to find a tone because they all sound so good. With other jazzes it's just set and go, with this I almost feel like I'm exploring too much, "for this tune I need to dial in some mids around 400k, just a little boost and then dial in a bit of the piezzos for a little of that..." and I gotta say stop! It drives me nuts! It all just sounds so great. I can't rave enough about the 4 band in this bass.
Playability -- maybe this thing plays like a dream, or maybe the jazz needs its action adjusted, but this thing is flat out fun and effortless to play. Don't know the nut width or string spacing, but this is perfect for me (NB: I don't slap)
Gotta say it again -- I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS!!!* I never 'got' the EBMM thing. Hate sounding like a fan boy, but it's pretty much EBMM for life. And I'm a sucker for matching headstocks and painted necks.
Now I want a fretted.
I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS*.
I don't know what made me flip a switch and consider a Bongo. I think it was researching particular tones I liked, and I kept coming back to Tony Levin's fretless tone. Started to listening to some samples and the stuff coming out of the Bongo really intrigued me, moreso than a SR. When it first came out I thought the Bongo looked a little nutty, but the modern retro styling started to grow on me.
Waiting before UPS arrived, I started to doubt myself -- how could you buy a bass you've never heard, let alone play? I was dialing down expectations. But I've ordered a handful of other $1000+ basses sight unseen and the world didn't stop spinning.
UPS arrives. I open the case.
I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS*.
I do own a SX fretless but never put more than an hour it, and I've never played a 5er but for once in a noisy GC. Experiences below.
The talk about EB's being the best production bass out there isn't nutty talk. Demonstrably better quality than my Jazz and equal to or better than a lot of customs I've played.
5 str -- I think I played a 5er at a GC once, which kinda cemented my view on 5ers -- didn't like them. It was an Ibanez flavor of the month bass with the pencil thin necks. B string sounded and flopped like a wet fart. This thing is tight and full. Strangely, I really thought the additional string was gonna eff me up but there was almost no adjustment. Kinda hard to explain, but the 5 is more useful for fretboard positioning and not having to reach with certain things (and going down to low notes occasionally is cool too). I won't say playing a 5 is second nature for me, but it feels completely natural and definitely opens up the board to me. Me likey.
Fretless part -- doesn't sound like a fretless, but it does, it's really hard to explain. With really good intonation/fingering you'd be hard pressed to tell it's even a fretless; let some notes sustain (especially higher up on the neck) and the notes start to sing a little with that fretless 'mwah'. The thing I like is it isn't this full time fruity fretless mwah thing going on like its some kind of Newport Jazz festival. The fretless part on the lower registers give it a kind of growl since there's no sharp intonation from the fret... not an overdriven growl but an organic grit (can't really explain it better). It's pretty much everything I had hoped for, a kind of Tony Levin fretless tone.
Keeping the glisses/slides to a minimum and just laying down a nice groove with punctuated runs, this bass just brings out the 'me' in my playing like no other bass I've played. This is the bass I've been waiting for!
Tone -- you know how you wanna smack people that tell you how hard it is to be rich, or good looking or whatever? This thing has too much tone. I spent three hours flat out before even playing it just exploring the active eq. The only knob I could figure out was the dang master volume! I finally got a hold of an EB wiring diagram. There's almost too much here, but I'm not complaining -- having both a low mid and a high mid eq band on this thing is almost criminal. Jacking the mids on this thing makes a freaking growl monster that I love. It's kinda a pain tho because I'm constantly diddling with knobs trying to find a tone because they all sound so good. With other jazzes it's just set and go, with this I almost feel like I'm exploring too much, "for this tune I need to dial in some mids around 400k, just a little boost and then dial in a bit of the piezzos for a little of that..." and I gotta say stop! It drives me nuts! It all just sounds so great. I can't rave enough about the 4 band in this bass.
Playability -- maybe this thing plays like a dream, or maybe the jazz needs its action adjusted, but this thing is flat out fun and effortless to play. Don't know the nut width or string spacing, but this is perfect for me (NB: I don't slap)
Gotta say it again -- I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS!!!* I never 'got' the EBMM thing. Hate sounding like a fan boy, but it's pretty much EBMM for life. And I'm a sucker for matching headstocks and painted necks.
Now I want a fretted.
I flipping *LOVE THIS BASS*.
