BassBeast Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Good evening. Simple question: Does anyone have any direct experience using both of these basses? I own the Bongo (2004) but often find it is too powerful for my Scarlett 2i2 at 18v and can easily distort. I also have a Stingray at 9v that never distorts. I have an itch to ditch my Bongo for a Stingray Special also at 18v. Is it as hot as the Bongo or have they changed the output at all to stop this? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 No experience with a bongo, but I did not find the Stingray Special 18v pre to be especially hot. The 18v is only headroom really, and at extremes of EQ it may be louder. The Neomydium humbucker is more likely responsible for the clout, but nothing the Scarlett shouldn't be able to handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBeast Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Kev said: How’d you compare the experience compared to a 9v version? No experience with a bongo, but I did not find the Stingray Special 18v pre to be especially hot. The 18v is only headroom really, and at extremes of EQ it may be louder. The Neomydium humbucker is more likely responsible for the clout, but nothing the Scarlett shouldn't be able to handle. Edited January 25, 2023 by BassBeast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 If you like the Bongo then get hold of a Behringer DI box, one of the silver ones. There are two 20dB pads on them which you could use to damp down the Bongo output. I used to think that going from 9v to 18v would bring THE TOOOOOONE!!! I paid handsomely to route another 9v hole in my bass so that my EMG eq ran at 18v. Was there any discernable real world difference? Nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Can you swap the Scarlett to Line level rather than instrument? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 25/01/2023 at 19:33, BassBeast said: Good evening. Simple question: Does anyone have any direct experience using both of these basses? I own the Bongo (2004) but often find it is too powerful for my Scarlett 2i2 at 18v and can easily distort. I also have a Stingray at 9v that never distorts. I have an itch to ditch my Bongo for a Stingray Special also at 18v. Is it as hot as the Bongo or have they changed the output at all to stop this? Thank you. I have both types. I would say they’re somewhat different from each other in a number of ways. However both pack, in my opinion a bigger signal than a 9v Stingray (dependent on EQ setting) to the extent I lower the input gain a little to avoid the amp clipping, based on playing the 18 volt basses hard compared with playing a 9 volt Stingray hard - another thought - perhaps because of the increased headroom I don’t play the Stingray Specials as hard… The main differences:- The Bongo EQ is 4 band (includes upper and lower mids) whereas the Stingray Special is 3 band. However the Stingray Special, like the Bongo, has a lot of boost available - very noticeable on the bass control (much more than a 9 volt Stingray). An HH Bongo has a pick up blend control - the SR Special has a 5 way switch allowing selection of either or both pick ups in their entirety, or combinations of single coils per pick up. Although we all know body wood makes no difference 🤪 (various long running internet forum threads show this), the Bongo is designed around a basswood body and painted maple neck - it has a different sound from a Stingray Special and even played acoustically the sound produced has a different timbre. In my view the Stingray Special can sound just like a normal Stingray - the Bongo does not particularly in my view. I think the Bongo is a great bass - I wouldn’t be without mine but there again so is the Stingray Special - I would err on the side of having both if it’s possible. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 7 hours ago, drTStingray said: I would err on the side of having both if it’s possible. Has Basschat ever been expressed so succinctly? 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBeast Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 26/01/2023 at 09:29, fretmeister said: Can you swap the Scarlett to Line level rather than instrument? Possibly but not sure it can be done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom.android Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 Press the button marked ‘inst’ next to whichever input you’re using to switch between line or instrument level. Turn the gain knob right down. Should be more than possible to get a clean signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBeast Posted January 28, 2023 Author Share Posted January 28, 2023 What I’m wrestling with is that with my Stingray 9v at max Vol on the far left pot I never clip or distort unless the Scarlett gain is too high. With the Bongo max vol on the left bass pot is often too high. I want to know if the Stingray Special Vol pot would behave like this because it’s also an 18v preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 2 hours ago, BassBeast said: What I’m wrestling with is that with my Stingray 9v at max Vol on the far left pot I never clip or distort unless the Scarlett gain is too high. With the Bongo max vol on the left bass pot is often too high. I want to know if the Stingray Special Vol pot would behave like this because it’s also an 18v preamp. Do you mean the volume control on the bass itself on full? If so, where do you generally have the Bongo EQ controls set? My experience has been the Bongo signal and the Stingray Special signal are fairly similar, based on the EQ settings at centre. The 9 volt Stingray is somewhat less hot in that sense, to the extent I would never activate the ‘active’ button on an amp with a 9 volt active bass, just adjust the input gain to suit - however I would with an 18 volt bass (although having used an ABM 500 at a jam session with both the Bongo and Stingray Special I didn’t press the active button and controlled it with a combination of lowering the input gain and lowering the volume on the bass). Note also that active basses often work better without the volume control on full (the exact opposite of passive basses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBeast Posted January 28, 2023 Author Share Posted January 28, 2023 5 hours ago, tom.android said: Press the button marked ‘inst’ next to whichever input you’re using to switch between line or instrument level. Turn the gain knob right down. Should be more than possible to get a clean signal. Engaging the instrument button adds lots of boost to the signal. Too much with the Bongo. When I do this I can barely have any signal coming from the Bongo. I’m so used to having my Stingray 9v vol all the way up to max without clipping or distortion even with the Inst button engaged. One person said not to engage the inst button instead of Line on the Scarlett if the Bongo is connected. Are you saying that it is better to have the inst button engaged? If so, please tell me why you think so… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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