Hah! I mean, I like Stingrays just fine, but Bongos actually tempt me.
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They better be fun as hell to play and sound like they are out of this world, cuz the design does nothing for me. it reminds me of a cinnamon roll that somebody ripped a piece off and it is sticking out of the main bun area, , above the pick ups.
Or
They look like a hatching egg to me, but hey, thats. just me. I have seen unglier (not much) but I hvae sen uglier
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LOL I love Musicman basses so much, they are heavy as all shit! But! They are such a dream to play, I’ve only demoed them at music shops anytime I went & the Bongo is absolutely no exception.
The thing is a beast but I definitely could understand where you’re coming from on the looks of it, even when I was in my teen years the looks didn’t appeal as much. Though now I don’t mind it, actually even dig it on some level a little bit.
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I’m not really a classic look kind of guy; I think it looks like twice as good as a normal Stingray (which already look great).
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Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. They remind me of a tapir. Not the prettiest animal in the world either.
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I am not really a classic look sort of a guy either (yeah, like Stingray is not a Classic Look) BUT when the classic look is Punk AF, I have a hard time straying.
I wold hardly call a Bongo a classic look however, and I am sure there are some that thought they should have called it a Bozo instead of Bongo LOL
You all know I only speak for myself, and I am not one to berate anybody that has different taste them myself, I love that peopls have different tastes.
Sometimes it is a great way to get turned onto something new, and many other times it is worth a good laugh or thousand. so it is always a win win.
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The pickguard is nice, Toby . . . 
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that’s why I keep saying they are the most polarizing bass there is, and I’m serious. every time EB puts out a bongo press release the hate for it is amazing. you either love them or hate them and I’m perfectly OK with that 
when you play one, NOBODY confuses it for something else 
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I’m not sure why people always say MM basses are heavy, unless they’re playing an old one. sting rays are 9 lbs and bongos are 8, what are you guys playing that is so much lighter???
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I love them even more now
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Ibanez Sr is like a feather. Where as the Rick would anchor a battleship
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Yes you’re absolutely right it was an older one so I just assumed they are all going to stay that way since I thought that was their thing. I used to always wonder how guys tour with those & their poor backs.
I will check out the new ones once I’m at a music shop next then, pleasantly surprised to hear they went that light later on.
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Welcome @jcromp4! We actually also have a thread for posting first basses (created by me) if you want to cross-post!
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Will be trading this one
The Ray4HH I never found that special connection with
Plus this one. Remember the Epiphone EBO that popped out of the Gig bag I bought for $50 bucks. It needs some neck work, needs new action, which really means it needs a new bridge, I HATE THE GIBSON / EPIPHONE wrap around Crap Point Bridges, but it has KILLER TONE.
I just don’t know when if ever I will get around to that project, but it now has value in my trade
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for this beauty.
The guy that I made the deal with is out of town until Thursday, but should be bringing it over Thursday or Friday, for the swap.
From his profile picture, he looks like possibly a luthier, if not a full blown one, probably at least a technician that can probably handle everything that Epiphone needs, and he wants the BRAND new Music Man.
I have wanted to play a G&L for a while, and even tho this is an HH and what I did not like aobut the Ray 4HH was the fact it was HH.
But I have further come to believe it is because is is a HH with two very mediocre pick ups. I may have loved that if I put two Aguilar, wired in Parallel (at least the bridge pick up), or any number of pick ups, and possibly upgrade the pre-amp.
But, because it is an HH, it cost more then the cost of the bass for a Pre-amp and 2 pick ups (unless I used certain made in america, and sold for discount priced pre-amps (Tone Monster) and the pick ups they made, I still may have gotten away with $175 to $200.
But I was unwilling to spend that much to upgrade a bass that I would possibly like, maybe even probably like, but still.
With the G&L, from the reviews I have seen, even tho it is the tribute (Korean made or Indonesian, but I think Korean) and not the CFL made in the old Fender Factory right up the road there in Fullerton, CA, I beleive the pick ups are at minimum, decent quality, but IIRC, they are better then that, and I beleive the stock pick up is pretty nice too.
So, I will test the “will I like an HH if it has better pick ups and pre-amp” theory with this bass.
Now, it won’t be an apples to apples test, first, the middle pick up is more of a middle body pick up then a neck pick up, where the Ray4HH is a Neck pick up, and that was one of the reasons I didn’t like it. Pick up in the way of my fingers, but I am sure I can get past that.
Another difference is the neck, this is just about a P bass neck.
I have been wanting to add a P bass to my line up, and at first, I would have balked at the fact I would want to play anything with a thick neck, those were my Ibanez days, adn even in my Ray4 days when I discovered the Ray34 was a much thicker neck.
Well, I started playing my Dean Metalman M when I realized it was the only bass I have that is passive. The neck is like a plank of wood, wide at the nut and flat and chunky like a plank of wood. I expected to hate it, but for certain types of music, it works just fine, I don’t even worry about the neck.
I may be limited a little to what I play on the G&L, at least at first while I am still in late beginner, early intermediate stage, but I might grow fond of it for the neck alone.
I found that the wide neck, with large string spacing allowed me to play some 3 and 4 string rolls better then I can on my stingray, because my fingers naturally want to drop down a little wider then the string space on the Ray4. At least that is the reasoning that makes most sense to me.
But yeah,
I am stoked to get a chance to own and play another Fender creation, adn a damn fine looking one at that.
I am a little sad that it is not one of the other colors that this model comes in, the translucent Amber, see thru Orange if you will, I would have had a mini stroke if I got a chance to trade for that one.
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Really interested in how this plays
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@T_dub I know your other bass has sentimental value to you but if I didn’t know about that then I’d imagine you’re getting a steal of a deal. I would go for that swap in your position any day.
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Which bass are you talking about? both of these basses I am trading I have no sentimental attachment to at all. I have been trying to sell the Ray4HH for a couple months, and the Epiphone, it was a beater that I may have gotten to one day and either fixed it up with a better bridge adn some neck work, or tried to franken bass it, either way, it had been hidden in a closet for 4 plus months
Yeah, I am really happy about this trade.
there is another trade in the works, but I am having more a difficult time with that one, cuz the guy wants the AMP that took me months to find. It is not much, but that one has huge sentimental value to me.
Many would think I am crazy,
The trade is a 2008 German made Warwick Corvette. it has a ding in it, that looks kind of significant, but then again, it is zoomed way in to see it, but its one of those, I will have to see it to decide.
He wants $600 (already down from $1200 cuz he has been trying to sell it for 8 months), so he wants my SWR WorkingMan10 amp. I spent a long time looking for that, and I bought a practice amp the day before I found it, so I sold the practice amp to my friend for the same I paid for it, and picked up this amp the next day. I have the SWR WorkignMan 15, and the Workingman Cab 4x10 and the WorkingMan10. I just found a guy practically giving away a WorkingMan12, so I think I am gonna complete the set.
The problem is, that the Working 12 and Working 15, I can find a dime a dozen. you will see them on Reverb from anywhere between $249 and $449 and then either local pick up or $80-$100 to ship. However, I can also find them a dime a dozen locally, and this WorkingMan12 that I am thinking to get from one guy is $70 and it looks from the pictures as clean as a 20 plus year old amp can look.
I also see the WorkingMan15 in good condition all the time local for from $125 to $250.
Thing is, if I were to let go the workingman 15, I can replace it pretty easy if / when I want to. but the working 10, they never show up locally, well, almost never, and the 3 that they have on Reverb (and that is alot, often they have none or 1), all 2 that are PRE FENDER, made in Sun Valley, CA not Mexico or China (nothing really wrong with them, but they do have a different sound if you can hear it) and the newer one, do not look as good as mine and are in decent condition, the one listed as good (with no power cord) is $160 with $85 ship, so $245 and the other one that has lots of dog hair on it and a bit dirty, but listed as EXCELLENT (but I can see something broken in the SEND of the FX loop, and it is going for $224 with $80 ship , so $304 and the last one, the newer one, but not as nice looking of shape as mine is going for $329.99. with a $13.99 ship, so so $344, and all of them would be PLUS TAX.
This amp originally retailed for $579 in the 90’s
And yes, I got it for $100
So I trade it and some cash and get the German Wick Corvette.
This one I am having trouble with over a $100 amp.
and the fact I don’t really have alot to spend right now.
After tax return I have a bit of money to spend, so I will revisit it
But I will only do it if he takes $350 in trade
I was trying to get him to trade me for a Ray34 straight across, but he doesn’t want any basses, just my little amp.
Plus I am up in the air about the wick. I played my friends (who he loves it, says it is the best built bass he ever played, and all other basses feel like toys to him now, but then turns around to me and says, why can’t I get that bass to sound like my Ray. I love that bass, but I can’t get the sounds I want out of it). So yeah, I played it for a while, not really paying attention to the sound, but just the feel of the bass.
1/2 of it feels like gold, the other half I am undecided on, so IDK, not sure, I need to sleep on it more.
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