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View Full Version : Music Man Bongo 4 string... Thoughts????



Kuroth
12-29-2012, 09:47 AM
Heard a lot of good things about this bass...

Any thoughts?

TobiasMan
12-29-2012, 11:07 AM
Musicman basses have their own, fairly unique tone. If it's your tone, then they are wonderful!

Elmeaux
12-29-2012, 11:37 AM
We have quite a few Bongo people here. I'm sure you'll get some good opinions.

Nicki
01-03-2013, 01:39 PM
They're impossible to find? :p They're on my short list of basses I'm dying to play, but alas...I've never found anyone who carries them around me.

Kuroth
01-04-2013, 06:17 PM
I just got a MM Bongo 4 String H yesterday.. I love it.. Not only the sound and tones but the feel of it and the Neck.. And the frets are a little closer together then the bass I was using so its easier for my "New" hands to finger the frets..

Kuroth
01-04-2013, 06:21 PM
Added a Pic of it..

TobiasMan
01-04-2013, 09:15 PM
Hmmm . . . since the neck has 24 frets on a standard, 34" long neck, that may be why the frets are closer together.

Elmeaux
01-05-2013, 01:38 AM
Added a Pic of it..

What a gorgeous ax! Love the colour!!

Elmeaux
01-05-2013, 01:42 AM
Hmmm . . . since the neck has 24 frets on a standard, 34" long neck, that may be why the frets are closer together.



http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/techtips/d--07/16/2002

bassischill
01-05-2013, 07:57 AM
What a beaut! I love that color. The matching headstock makes it so gorgeous!

Kuroth
01-05-2013, 08:32 AM
What a gorgeous ax! Love the colour!!

Thanks.. And it sounds and plays, and feels as good as it looks.. I am in love LOL

Ditto
01-05-2013, 10:42 AM
Very nice, that is a coool color. I like that link explaining the 22 vs 24 fret guitars.

TobiasMan
01-05-2013, 11:37 AM
http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/techtips/d--07/16/2002

Thought about that after I posted. Did some measuring on my 34 and 35" scale basses, as well as my 43" scale upright.. On the 34" Tobias, it is about 48mm from the nut to the middle of the first fret. On the 35" MTD it appears to be just over 49mm. When I measured the first fret distance on my 34" Fender P, with 21 frets, it was also just about 48mm. My NXT upright has a 43" scale with 24 fretting locations and the first position distance is a whopping 60mm.

Scale is determined by measuring the distance from the nut to the 12th fret and doubling that distance. The total free length of the strings (nut to bridge) is usually just slightly more than the scale length.

On a 34" scale bass that measurement would be 17", so 12 fret spaces fit into 17". On a 35" scale bass, it would be 17.5", so 12 frets fit into a 17.5" length (so, longer fret intervals). Basses with the same scale length will have 12 frets in the same nut to 12th fret distance, so the same fret interval distance. Going from 20 or 21 frets to 24 frets on the same scale bass has no impact on the fret interval. It simply means that the neck extends further down towards the bridge to accommodate the additional frets.

When I measured my 34" scale basses, the fingerboard on the 24 fret Tobias was 25.5" long, while the fingerboard on the 20 fret Fender was only 23 5/8" long. The fret intervals for the first 20 frets was identical. The fingerboard on my 35" scale, 24 fret position MTD bass was 26.2" long but the fretting location intervals were larger.

A short scale bass (eg. 30" scale) would have the same 12 frets over a 15" distance, considerably closer intervals than a 34" scale bass.

So, to answer my own issue, the number of frets on a bass does not affect fret interval distance, but scale length does.

What was the scale length on the original bass you were using? It must have been more than the 34" scale on the Bongo if the fret spacing on the Bongo is shorter.

Sometimes a thick neck will make it feel like the fret distances are larger, simply because you have to reach around a larger hunk of wood to reach the frets.

Nicki
01-07-2013, 07:24 AM
Wow, she is a beaut! I love that icy color!

5Slinger
01-08-2013, 07:05 AM
Oh Yeah!! that is nice.

Dos Miguel
08-15-2013, 02:30 PM
Oh yeah!!! I love this guitar. I've been looking for the 5 string dual humbucking pickup version. I found it on musicians friend for about $1700.

Nicki
08-16-2013, 07:17 AM
Oh yeah!!! I love this guitar. I've been looking for the 5 string dual humbucking pickup version. I found it on musicians friend for about $1700.

I finally found a Bongo to play when I was in New York, and it was a 5 string dual humbucker. It was used, and the guy who owned it put strap buttons in weird places all over it. IIRC, it had 5 strap buttons, including one on the front.