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Is this a legit MM Bongo?
- Thread starter Aggy
- Start date
I am a novice regarding MusicMan basses in general, amd Bongos in particular and one cam see that the upper horn is nothing like that of a legitimate Bongo.
To elaborate on this one:
- Wrong bridge. All Bongos have the older EBMM two large side bolt that is now standard on the higher end SBMM basses
- Pickguard is flat on the bottom instead of a round egg-shape
- Knobs are in the wrong location and do not appear to be evenly spaced
- Incorrect controls for the pickup configuration unless someone changed preamps
- Body contours aren't quite right
- Wrong rear control cover
- Wrong battery boxes
- Necks attach with 5-screws and a nice contoured plate
- That neck heel is a disaster
- Double moon inlays are too far apart and too close to the edge of the fretboard
- Moon inlays are not right. They should be closer to a half circle instead of full-on moon shaped
- Headstock looks to be a little too long and tuners are not quite in the correct positions
- Logo on the back of the neck is not quite in the right position
- Older models did use elephant ear tuners. All newer ones have the nice ultralight tuners
With all of these issues noted, that is still the best looking fake I've ever seen, at least from the front. Outside of the pickguard and bridge being dead giveaways, it is otherwise pretty darn close and I can understand how someone who is not as familiar with them could be duped.
- Wrong bridge. All Bongos have the older EBMM two large side bolt that is now standard on the higher end SBMM basses
- Pickguard is flat on the bottom instead of a round egg-shape
- Knobs are in the wrong location and do not appear to be evenly spaced
- Incorrect controls for the pickup configuration unless someone changed preamps
- Body contours aren't quite right
- Wrong rear control cover
- Wrong battery boxes
- Necks attach with 5-screws and a nice contoured plate
- That neck heel is a disaster
- Double moon inlays are too far apart and too close to the edge of the fretboard
- Moon inlays are not right. They should be closer to a half circle instead of full-on moon shaped
- Headstock looks to be a little too long and tuners are not quite in the correct positions
- Logo on the back of the neck is not quite in the right position
- Older models did use elephant ear tuners. All newer ones have the nice ultralight tuners
With all of these issues noted, that is still the best looking fake I've ever seen, at least from the front. Outside of the pickguard and bridge being dead giveaways, it is otherwise pretty darn close and I can understand how someone who is not as familiar with them could be duped.
No hate, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’m just surprised that they succeeded in making the Bongo look weirder.
Quite literally yesterday I was thinking about the Bongo bass and a passing thought I had was, "It's so ugly and unique no one would bother bootlegging it!"
Clearly I underestimated the bootleggers.
Clearly I underestimated the bootleggers.
New Bongos retail for about 3K so makes a lot sense that they make fakes.
I've seen quite a few online
I still stand by it being an odd choice to clone. It's a very difficult design to copy right while keeping the "flattering" parts of it, as evidenced by this awful bootleg posted. It's not an FSO or anything else very easily copy-pasted, so I have to think most people buying these bootlegs are either taking the piss or trying to scam others.
If you are ever tempted again, see if the seller will give you the SIN# and run it through Music Man's data base. I bought a Stingray on Kijiji a few years ago. Sin was visible in the pics. I ran it and it told me the year, model, colour and even where it was originally delivered to. Good info to have when substantiating a used purchase. Serial Number Database | Ernie Ball Music Man Unless, of course, it's an obvious fake. Then, scroll on.
Wait...there are flattering parts of Bongos???
Well, the Bongo i had was surprisingly light and the back of the neck was smooth?
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