THE BONGO CLUB (Part 2, 3 and infinity)

[cchorney]

I played at a studio jam last week. I had all sorts of pedal board problems and finally bypassed it entirely. Then I had a farty tone that was entirely displeasing. Figured it was the batteries and popped out the old ones. The backups I keep in my case had a manufacture date of 2005. Well that's not good but maybe the batteries still are. Nope, one had a swelled base and the other was barely holding a charge. Played the session with my nearly dead batteries sounding like I was going thru blown speakers. Fart fart fart. The next day I picked up new batteries and installed them. Bass sounds like angels again and pedal board has no problems. Lesson learned - replace the batteries annually regardless of need, and cycle thru the backup in the bass case so the backup will be good if I need it in between swaps.

I know adding an active/passive switch is impossible in this instrument but a "hey idiot your battery is getting low light" would be a nice and probably possible upgrade.

 

[bassmonkeee]

So, I did a thing...

I've had this Bongo since early 2004. I ordered it the day that fretless Bongos were announced. The fretless neck currently lives on my Daphne blue Billy Bongo which is HHP. This neck was sent off to Pat Wilkins and refinished in a cigar leaf color.

Shortly after I got it, the electronics (5SHp) started to exhibit gremlinsand make scratchy or loud popping sounds. New bullet jack, same problem. It actually went back to Musicman and they couldn't find anything. The problem persisted. More trips to local repair guys and it would work fine for a while, and then the crackling would commence again. No, it wasn't the batteries. Believe me, I tried everything.

I could minimize the problem by soloing the bridge pickup, but that wasn't the sound I wanted.

I Have been playing a lot of PBass, so I decided to exorcise this bass and start fresh. I still have two other Bongos with the full electronics packages, and I wanted this one bulletproof. So, out came the pickups and the electronics. Piezo bridge is now just a bridge that happens to have piezo elements in it.

The pickup was made by my buddy, Al Avedissian here in Atlanta. It's a proprietary design he calls the P-Bird. It's a dual coil humbucker with some secret sauce inside. To go with my passive bulletproof theme, I opted for no knobs and with military grade switches. The recessed nature of the controls works great with the switches.

So, from top to bottom:
1- north coil/humbucker/south coil
2- a .50 mfd cap on/off
3- a .047 mfd cap on/off
4- master kill switch on/off

The humbucker wide open is like a cross between a PBass and a Ric with all sorts of clonk. I love it. The two single coil settings are interesting and sound great with a pick. The two different cap values take off different amounts of high end. I might change out the cap values, but I need to play it with a band first.

Clips will follow eventually. But, I am very very happy to have this bass back in rotation. And it is like having a new bass.

 

[coyoteboy]

I just purchased a 5 HH. Any string recommendations?

Currently running Cobalt Flats. Love them. Pickstyle? Fuggedaboutit!

 

[JeroB666]

Dude wow! Thats quite the change! I cant wait to hear the clips

 

[SteveBassJr]

I picked up in Egyptian smoke colored Bongo. Fretless HSP. I need to replace the volume pot. Does anyone have any experience replacing one?

 

[AB Nate]

Last time I had a bongo I didn’t know TB was a thing..... I’ve been chasing a bongo six for a while again and low and behold the fates put it all together yesterday..... Valentine’s Day of all days.... I love my wife. She’s tolerant

i had a 6 stealth for 2 weeks but it vanished as quick as I got it as it was the only bass that would be taken on trade for a game changer bass(not the actual game change) at the time.

anywho, with our further ado is there numbers up in this beeeaatch?!!

Case and candy included shwankiest case I’ve ever seen. Not the sturdiest mind you but it sure looks freakin saweet!

 

[SteveBassJr]

Last time I had a bongo I didn’t know TB was a thing..... I’ve been chasing a bongo six for a while again and low and behold the fates put it all together yesterday..... Valentine’s Day of all days.... I love my wife. She’s tolerant

i had a 6 stealth for 2 weeks but it vanished as quick as I got it as it was the only bass that would be taken on trade for a game changer bass(not the actual game change) at the time.

anywho, with our further ado is there numbers up in this beeeaatch?!!

View attachment 4169099 View attachment 4169100 View attachment 4169101 View attachment 4169102
Case and candy included shwankiest case I’ve ever seen. Not the sturdiest mind you but it sure looks freakin saweet!View attachment 4169103 View attachment 4169104

Beautiful!!! What a bass that must be!

 

[AB Nate]

Beautiful!!! What a bass that must be!

Oh yeah!
It’s actually got a bit of a cat and mouse story too. I’ve chased it on and off for 4-5 yrs. it’s just been sitting since new. Covered in dust and film....unplayed.

gave her a nice bath and set up last night with another tweak this morning and some new strings. The old ones were the originals I believe. And under all of the grimes, not a scratch. Dead mint!

Still had the plastic on the pick guard.....I had to take it off!!! Toiled with leaving it but.... gross.
I’m very stoked to add this one in particular to my collection.

 

[BassJuju]

Yep... that one is special. I really dig the color... like it can’t make up its mind. Does it have a name?

 

[AB Nate]

Yep... that one is special. I really dig the color... like it can’t make up its mind. Does it have a name?

Not yet. It’s still getting settled into the family.
The color is called Rootbeer. The gold hardware really sets it off too!

 

[PrimitiveMan]

Not yet. It’s still getting settled into the family.
The color is called Rootbeer. The gold hardware really sets it off too!

Gold can be hit or miss but it looks great here! Congrats

 

[AB Nate]

Gold can be hit or miss but it looks great here! Congrats

I agree. Thanks!

 

[velalv]

Just wondering, has anyone just kept the stock electronics, but put in a coil tap into their Bongo? There is part of me that really wants that Jazz bass with a pick sound, but would rather put into my Bongo, which is my go to the grave bass.

 

[Hendricks97]

I thought my Bongo was my forever bass, but I traded it in on Monday. Now I'm waiting for its replacement to come in the mail. The new bass is a BFR Bongo

 

[coyoteboy]

Likely more trouble than its worth, but I bet a set of Delano Xtenders w coil taps would look and sound great in my Bongo.

 

[Nakoatron]

I can't stress how much I LOVE the feel and playability of my bongo.
However I am really, really struggling with the pickup positions and my b string striking the magnetic poles under heavy slap playing (it's going to be near impossible to retrain my technique to play lighter just for this bass).

I've got my pickups extremely low, to where it's almost useless for anchoring while playing the b.

Anyone else deal with this issue? How did you fix it? I want this bass to work out so freaking bad.

 

[coyoteboy]

Maybe a string change? Perhaps something stiffer would be less prone to this issue.

 

[Nakoatron]

Turns out not being on talkbass for a few days is super productive, got the set up a bit more dialed in and not having the issue any longer.

 

[AB Nate]

Turns out not being on talkbass for a few days is super productive, got the set up a bit more dialed in and not having the issue any longer.

I was gonna say, if you check some Omnific vids they have electrical tape over the first couple poles and wonder if it was for the same reason.

 

[Nakoatron]

That was my next step hahah. I kind of wish ebmm would have went with a full rectangle pup mount on these, it would be much easier to throw in some covered emg replacements and never deal with it again.

I was gonna say, if you check some Omnific vids they have electrical tape over the first couple poles and wonder if it was for the same reason.