I just don't think it is a good bass for rock. Prolly doable, but if you want a solid rock tone, why not go with a sterling? Just like if you are choosing between a jazz and a pbass, but you want a good punk tone, you'd go for the pbass.
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Question for EBMM users
- Thread starter Mayers
- Start date
if someone has no knowledge of what they are talking about, then their opinion is invalid. i'm saying this in general, not specifically to you. that is where i felt bovine was coming from, he was questioning the credibility of your statement.
that is an entirely different debate.
Actually, I own a sterling 4HH pretty much I can do w/e genre I want to in this bass..
I think that video will inspire you the versatility of sterlings..
I would love to own a bongo 6 too..
I think that video will inspire you the versatility of sterlings..
I would love to own a bongo 6 too..
Reasonable. Opinion, but reasonable.
Subjective, subjective, subjective. Just because it's the popular choice doesn't mean it's better than anything else, or that it's necessarily the best choice for me (or anyone else). It's all opinion.
Plus, if you haven't played one on a gig, how would you know it doesn't work for that genre? Maybe you couldn't get the tone you're used to using, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work in a different way once it was in a real mix. The store and the stage are two very different environments for a bass.
These are valid points. I should've restated with a TBQH, IMO, IMHO or whatever to state this is what I think whether it is agreed with or not. I realize this but if something doesn't preform a certain way at the store, what makes you think it will preform better on stage, I'm lead to believe it would preform worse. Like a car and the handling sucks when you test drive it, you wouldn't buy it thinking "Well it might do better once I own it." Not going to happen.
Let me put this in big words to make sure no more confusion is had.
In no way am I hating on the bongo, I think it is a great bass guitar, but it isn't what I would personally (IMO) choose for rock/metal type music.
Happens to me all the time. Typical P bass tone is pretty boring to me on its own, but it really shines in a mix. Fills it out and sounds just right with all the other instruments around it. Lots of instruments out there are the opposite way for me - they sound great on their own, but they sound crappy to my ear in a mix. Like I said, two very different situations to be testing a bass in. The Bongo may well sit in a mix in a way you can't really predict until you try it.
See I understand what you're saying but it's all opinion. I think pbasses have one of the best funk/slap tones out there. I don't I've really played a bass before that sucks alone but shines on stage. Well I don't really like the Tbird tone but it really cuts through, so I can see what you're saying. But that's not generally thee case. Most basses are good soloed and they could (or could not) have problems in the live setting. Take Ibanez basses, they sound great (well I'm taking the SR500 as the example) but (from what I've been told) they don't cut through very well. It's all perspective on the player.
One thing about the Bongo that hasn't been mentioned is its preamp. It has a low AND high mid cut/boost as well as it being a 18V system (the Sterling is 3 band 9V). I do not have experience with a single humbucker version, but if an HH version is any indication, it sounds like a ton of bricks! If you decide to go the Bongo route, don't worry that it won't fit for your situation.
Both the P and the Jazz are great punk basses. There are TONS of punk bands that use a jazz. The Dead Kennedys and Rancid pop to mind immediately but there are a crap ton of them.
Y'know, there's a band in Poland, called Vader. Death metal. Thier previous bassist played Bongo 5. Kicked Ass. Thier current bassist exchanged some kind of BC Rich for... Bongo 5. Also kicks ass.
Based on large amount of their gigs i were at.
That is for another time, but I have to say, jazzes will pull it off but as far as classic "go to" it would be the pbass.
OPINIONS thats what most of this IS!!!!! ANY darn BASS will work for ANY darn music IMO/IME. I've been gigging for 35+ yrs & for MOST of that time I used a Precision, then an Ibanez 5 str (SR405) after my stuff was stolen- both basses worked FINE for all the music I played- ranged from Country, to jazz to punk & Metal. Tone is far more due to how U play, where U play on the bass etc.....
Now back OT...... I've owned a EBMM SR5 for a few years & did 100's of gigs w/ it. SUPERB bass & like a STERLING, IT had the 3 pos switch(was a single H model) so- single coil/series/parallel. & the range of tones outta just that switch is quite vast- the snap of a single coil, etc.... SO A Sterling would be certainly able to cover a lotta ground.
I also own a Bongo (a HH ) & again a VAST array of tones available just from the onboard pre. It's a very powerful pre-amp so a small adjustment will alter yr tone a lot.
I think it's a matter for the thread starter- to go & PLAY both as much as poss. & decide on what he likes best. BOTH basses WILL do the job & IMO neither will do it "BETTER" than the other- just slightly differently.
Goodluck
Now back OT...... I've owned a EBMM SR5 for a few years & did 100's of gigs w/ it. SUPERB bass & like a STERLING, IT had the 3 pos switch(was a single H model) so- single coil/series/parallel. & the range of tones outta just that switch is quite vast- the snap of a single coil, etc.... SO A Sterling would be certainly able to cover a lotta ground.
I also own a Bongo (a HH ) & again a VAST array of tones available just from the onboard pre. It's a very powerful pre-amp so a small adjustment will alter yr tone a lot.
I think it's a matter for the thread starter- to go & PLAY both as much as poss. & decide on what he likes best. BOTH basses WILL do the job & IMO neither will do it "BETTER" than the other- just slightly differently.
Goodluck
All of this "good for rock" and "good for metal" nonsense is based on the very narrow-minded view that there is only one acceptable bass tone for any given style of music. This is utter bollocks. The current craze in "nu-metal" and other contemporary rock styles seems to be for basses with a huge midrange bite at the expense of low end, and gritty amp settings. But if you listen to decades of "rock" leading up to March of 2010, you will find a ridiculous variety of bass sounds used in the genre's history. None of them is more "good for rock" than another. What's "good" for any style of music is finding a tone you like and setting yourself in the mix with your bandmates.
I play a Stingray 5 fretless set up with a fairly aggressive tone in a country/folk setting. I get great comments on my sound all the time.
But if I asked around here at TB, most people would say "a fretless Stingray 5 is not 'good for country.'"
I think such pronouncements are only applicable to players with mediocre skills and immature ears. If you've got the chops, you can make just about any bass work in just about any situation.
