Picked up an Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 5 HH/p Fretless in Egyptian Smoke....on the cheh-eep due to minor flaws.












Case is cracked a bit.



Typical headstock bump

DO IT! You need an active fretless HH fiver.

HAIL, yes! I'd get it if it weren't going in the wrong direction.

BTW - you're a minor flaw.

ohh...sweet.


So, uh, how cheap is cheap?

Congrats! I think theye are kind of funny looking but I like that color. Definately one of the better looking bongo basses I've ever seen. How's she play and sound?

Not the first time I heard that....today.


Pmed



I was definitely one of the nay-sayers of the Bongo, but I actually really dig it in person. It's one of the best sounding/feeling basses I've played; and as soon as I figure out what all these knobs do, I'll be able to give more specifics

I hated the Bongo at first but it's grown on me. So where'd you find it? Not that I'm gonna bird dog you or anything, I'm just....curious.

This was on Musiciansfriend's Scratch n' Dent list for what seemed like forever. It was bought, then subsequently sold back to MF. That's where I came in

Edit: the body is a lot smaller than the pictures indicate, it fit's rather nicely standing or sitting.

That's hideous. I hope it sounds good and plays well.
How many basses are you up to now?

I know that the Musicman Sterling was named after Ernie Ball's son, Sterling Ball.

Does he have another son named Bongo?

I heard the Sterlings were not that good. Bongo must be liked more, just uglier. Daddy is playing favorites!

I had a Sterling bass for a while (a Fretless). It was a great bass. I sold it when I got my Wendler.

Opinions are like.....well you know. That is just what I heard or read somewhere. Maybe something about the electronics being sketchy. I don't know, I tend to not give a rats behind about random peoples opinions. If I like it, I like it. This forum is a little different than someones opinion or review on guitard centers website.

A fretless 5 string Musicman is nothing to be ashamed of, whatsoever. Enjoy it, Rizz. I know that I love mine.

I remember in one of my earliest posts here that I mentioned I wanted a Bongo. I've been struggling to regain credibility ever since.

Enjoy your new fish!

In celebration of your new avi, I have only one word for you...

KINNNNNKyyyyy....

Congrats I like that colour Egypt Smoke....nice.

Nice catch Anthony. The Bongo has started to grow on me as well and the main thing is how it sounds anyway. Looking forward to a further review.

I hope you love it. Some aspects of that bass look ghastly, in my opinion. But looks and my opinion mean very little. I think if the paint was a different color, I could overlook other things. Truly trivial damage.
Play your a** off and have a good time with it.

i could never get comfortable with the HH sound, but there's no denying the comfort of playing a bongo.

the name comes from its design. ernie ball hired some BMW designers to do a test design, and the project was named BONGO. it stuck.

robb.

The more I play it the more I like it. Construction is superb and the sound, well, it definitely can do it all. I am indifferent on the color, and I may flip it for a fretted 5 in the future. I know these are not stocked in many stores, but if you can get your hands on one, you will definitely be impressed.

After fiddling around, knob configurations works as follows (I think):

First knob: Volume
2nd stacked: top - Piezo blend; bottom - bridge/neck pu balance
3rd stacked: top - treble cut/boost; bottom - high mids cut/boost
4th stacked: top - Low mid cut/boost; bottom - bass cut/boost

My favorite position so far is the bridge pickup soloed with a little high mid boost, piezo full on, everything else flat.

you can always paint it yourself. Go wild and use the current finish as a canvas to design upon. Or you can go the punk route and cover it with stickers. How about black gaffer tape?

If the sound and playability are there that's all that matters, even if it is fugly.

That "Egyptian Smoke" looks better in person. In the photos it kinda looks like primer.

Never cared for the looks of a Bongo bass, but if it float yo' boat, more power to ya.

Egyptian Smoke is neither loud, nor fast. Nor does it allow you to play like Jeremy C. What good is it, then?

Peace.
--s-uu

Valid points. Bass is officially on the selling block.

Tell me you're kidding, you just bought the thing! YOu won't get what you paid, and you won't get another one like it for the same price.

Sarcasm FTW...

I kid, I kid, but I probably can get more than I paid...and I like how you called it a thing


80% sarcasm, 17% truth, 3% parsley

I used thing because I forgot the name of the whatchamcallit.

That's a "wotsit" for our friends across the pond, BTW.

That is so hot. Congratulations.

Quite awesome. Love the color. Make it sing!

Sold yet?

Peace.
--s-uu

Pending payment on the 'bay, El Superfly.

Body by BMW? Looks more like an American Standard design to fit oblong bowls.

What counts is that people who own Bongos dig them. I just can't get past the body. Good on you Rizzo! Enjoy the bass, or the next one.

God, I would love one. I love the way they sound (and look). I ABed one against a Stingray recently... it was Bongo all the way for me.

If they made one in natural finish I'd sell one of my current three basses to get a solid 5er in my stable. Fretless too perhaps...

*drooling*

It's hard to make non-wood materials look like a natural wood finish.

Basswood isn't wood?

I was under the impression that they were synthetic materials. I could be wrong.

Basswood.

"None of the (non-wood) materials panned out, but it's still my dream to find new ways to tune the resonance of an instrument. I also met with Callaway Golf to explore titanium but that didn't work out. We tried ash and basswood - I think we tried alder, too - and the basswood was the most balanced wood. It just clicked."
-Sterling Ball

Gotcha.

I was thinking of a musicman SUB bass!

Actually I have also heard that Sterlings have a consistent problem... I think it was a consistent dead spot or something. Weird because short scales should probably have fewer...

SUB Basses should be fine, insofar as I can tell; I liked the ones I tried as much as any Stingray.

Sterlings are not short scale. They are 34".

StingRays and Sterlings are both said to have dead spots on the G string around frets 5-7 more often than many other makes.

The Sterlings are very similar to StingRays but with a more jazz-like neck and the 4-strings have the 3-way pickup selector switch unlike the StingRays.

Peace.
--SW

My bad. Unless you read up on a brand a lot I think it's easy to get mixed up and contribute misinformation. Sorry to be "one of those" people.

Okay, GAS pains rising!!! That is sweet but I need the metal cross thingys you press down behind.

Brocko

As do I. I'm on the hunt.

More often than the telltale Fender dead spot? Out of the countless Fender basses I've played I can only remember finding a handfull that didn't have an obvious dead spot at the 7th fret on the G string.

I agree with you except for when they introduced lighter tuners. I found a lot fewer of those with dead spots.

Sorry to be so late to this. A few comments....

Rizz - congrats - nice deal. Fine instrument and I've never seen or heard of any construction issues on those. Quality!

When we talk of Sterlings, we're now in deep trouble. Unless I missed it, we need to adopt a linguistic convention (cue CMDN to tell me I'm a linguistic convention). There is now a bass "model" called Sterling (the one we've known for years) and "line of basses" called Sterling. I recommend we talk about "Sterling Brand basses" when we're talking about the new foreign-made line that just came out.

I've liked the Bongo, and played a very nice dark red 4 that had lots of variety in sounds. The price was probably worth it but more than I wanted to spend.

I can't help but think that if they started the Bongo marketing years ago with smoke, dark red, and dark blue (instead of orange), it would have de-emphasized the shape and might have been more accepted.

I must disagree with my brother moderator about the color of this bass. He is correct that it isn't fast or loud or able to make you play like JeremyC (all valuable traits). But it's Egyptian Smoke - it has the wisdom of the ancients and the mystery of the middle east. It can charm asps, allow for cool jewelry (like those golden armbands), and compliments the building of great structures (isn't an amp stack really just a way to say "I'm great" like the pyramids?). Yes - the color has a mysterious quality that will enhance the player's music.

Or maybe in Rizzo's case, it will be gone as quickly as the sands shift in the desert.

Tom

DING!

...and I vote for "MM Sterling" as the differentiation.

Correct (as the new owner in Ames, IA can attest).

I apologize I do not have a prize to offer you, but I hope the pictures of the next fish will suffice.

Wow - moved it already? You're a wild and crazy guy!



We need two terms - you gave one without further definition. Thanks for amplifying the problem - feel free to try again.

Tom

We were figuring out how to distinguish Sterling from Sterling so I suggested calling one the MM Sterling. It would make sense to call a bass by make and model. If there isn't anything else out there that can be confused with it, it can be called by just the model name like "Ergodyne" with basses or "Camero" with cars. Until recently we could just call a bass a "Sterling" and know that it was a MM but those days are behind us. However, calling a car a "240," one could be referring to a Nissan, Datsun, Volvo, Lotus, etc. so a 240 must be qualified with the make as well as the model. Accordingly, I think the basses should be called MM Sterling and Sterling *insert model here*.

Sorry for the confusion. I thought this was common sense.

Is that the Chevy Camero or the Toyota Camero?

Camero vs. Camaro

It's in the details. You'll get it.

It's spelled "Camero" but it's pronounced "Barracuda". The "t" is silent, like in "fox".