Sterling Bongo...worth the wait?

[jd56hawk]

https://sterlingbymusicman.com/collections/bongo

Good price. I was expecting $999.99

[Duarte]

Far out, I never thought this would happen. I've owned a heap of Bongos and they're so good. Render me intrigued.

[neepheid]

What price are you seeing?  According to Andertons, they'll be £999 here in the UK.  Honestly, SBMM can just eff off with their UK/EU price hikes.

[crazycloud]

US $700/780 for 4/5.

 

If there was a 6 in sparkly pink, I might be tempted.

[NancyJohnson]

I'm a huge Bongo fan, I owned a 5HH and loved everything about it aside from the ridiculousness of the preamp output level; I did post here years ago enquiring whether there was a route to make it passive.  You'd start a gig with a beautiful balanced tone, but inevitably you'd just keep nudging the controls up and an hour later [it] would be mush.  It was hard to keep under control.

 

Loved the quirky design, the neck carve, the string spacing, the colour and if I had £3-4k down the back of the sofa I'd consider another.

 

These, though?  I'm not saying no, more nah.  At present, I'm fairly uninterested.  I'm not saying Sterling kit is awful, far from it, but having witnessed a few bands supporting us where the bassists were using Sterling Stingrays, these instruments were some way off what they were copying.

 

 

[prowla]

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[HeadlessBassist]

A second hand 'real' Bongo would seem to be a better option. I keep hearing that the SBMM pickups and electrics are nearly, but not quite like the real thing. I'd hate to lay out a grand while all the time wishing I'd bought the real OA Music Man model.

[Duarte]

11 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

A second hand 'real' Bongo would seem to be a better option. I keep hearing that the SBMM pickups and electrics are nearly, but not quite like the real thing. I'd hate to lay out a grand while all the time wishing I'd bought the real OA Music Man model.

 

These are ceramic pickups with 2 band EQ, so yeah, their electronics are definitely not up to the real thing. Still, I'm interested to hear one.

[Terry M.]

6 minutes ago, Duarte said:

 

These are ceramic pickups with 2 band EQ, so yeah, their electronics are definitely not up to the real thing. Still, I'm interested to hear one.

I've had a few different EBMM SR5s and always preferred the ceramic era pickups over the alnico ones. My Warwick Thumb and Streamer have MEC pickups that use ceramic magnets and to me they're absolute tone monsters especially the Thumb. Bartolini US pickups use pretty much ceramic magnets exclusively.The famous MFD pickups in Leo's G&L L-series use them also. I guess I'm curious as to why ceramic generally gets a "lesser" reputation on the market over other alternatives?

[HeadlessBassist]

21 minutes ago, Duarte said:

 

These are ceramic pickups with 2 band EQ, so yeah, their electronics are definitely not up to the real thing. Still, I'm interested to hear one.

 

True, but often the 2-band instruments sound better than the 3/4 band ones. Definitely worth a look, I'd say.

Edited yesterday at 11:28 by HeadlessBassist

[Duarte]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

I've had a few different EBMM SR5s and always preferred the ceramic era pickups over the alnico ones. My Warwick Thumb and Streamer have MEC pickups that use ceramic magnets and to me they're absolute tone monsters especially the Thumb. Bartolini US pickups use pretty much ceramic magnets exclusively.The famous MFD pickups in Leo's G&L L-series use them also. I guess I'm curious as to why ceramic generally gets a "lesser" reputation on the market over other alternatives?

 

True, my 93 Sterling is a ceramic pickup and sounds phenomenal. The Bongo has always been neodymium though so it's interesting they've made that change. Looking forward to hearing one for sure.

 

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

True, but often the 2-band instruments sound better than the 3/4 band ones. Definitely worth a look, I'd say.

 

The 2-band Stingray is a beast of its own, it'd be interesting to hear a Bongo with similar voicing!

[HeadlessBassist]

8 minutes ago, Duarte said:

 

True, my 93 Sterling is a ceramic pickup and sounds phenomenal. The Bongo has always been neodymium though so it's interesting they've made that change. Looking forward to hearing one for sure.

 

 

The 2-band Stingray is a beast of its own, it'd be interesting to hear a Bongo with similar voicing!

 

Agreed - my 2-band 1995 Stingray is a monster. I guess that's really the proper original Stingray sound.

[Terry M.]

8 minutes ago, Duarte said:

 

True, my 93 Sterling is a ceramic pickup and sounds phenomenal. The Bongo has always been neodymium though so it's interesting they've made that change. Looking forward to hearing one for sure.

I had a 5 string EBMM Sterling with the single H which is what some say the ceramic SR5 always was. Anyway I'm still scratching my head over why I got rid of it as I preferred the smaller body and more traditional looking oval plate. They rarely pop up for sale these days.

[Musicman20]

https://www.andertons.co.uk/sterling-by-music-man-bongo-5-bass-in-firemist-purple-satin/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20740064305&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqebEBhD9ARIsAFZMbfzluWZstvyIdzYnPqDNx6l7fI3In8OhC-FjCSDIYJ7fkQSrM-QdHFQaAvZVEALw_wcB
 

Wow!

 

I’m sure you can get a second hand USA model for £1500-1700.

[Misdee]

10 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I've had a few different EBMM SR5s and always preferred the ceramic era pickups over the alnico ones. My Warwick Thumb and Streamer have MEC pickups that use ceramic magnets and to me they're absolute tone monsters especially the Thumb. Bartolini US pickups use pretty much ceramic magnets exclusively.The famous MFD pickups in Leo's G&L L-series use them also. I guess I'm curious as to why ceramic generally gets a "lesser" reputation on the market over other alternatives?

There's nothing at all wrong with ceramic pickups, but in this instance the point is that neodymium pickups are the essence of the Bongo's unique tone. It was the first EBMM bass to feature those magnets, and was probably one of the first basses anywhere with that type of pickup. Allied to that four band preamp, those pickups give the Bongo it's incredibly powerful output and tone. Without that formula you are may well be left with just a funny-shaped bass that ain't that cheap. 

 

I love the Bongo, always have done. At these prices, like others have suggested, I'd look out for a used USA one. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Misdee

[Terry M.]

7 hours ago, Misdee said:

There's nothing at all wrong with ceramic pickups, but in this instance the point is that neodymium pickups are the essence of the Bongo's unique tone. It was the first EBMM bass to feature those magnets, and was probably one of the first basses anywhere with that type of pickup. Allied to that four band preamp, those pickups give the Bongo it's incredibly powerful output and tone. Without that formula you are may well be left with just a funny-shaped bass that ain't that cheap. 

 

I love the Bongo, always have done. At these prices, like others have suggested, I'd look out for a used USA one. 

I've had a Bongo 5HH so I'm totally aware of the differences between them and this SBMM one. I was asking in general about the perception of ceramic magnets. It's a try before buy thing I think,weirdly enough I didn't get on with my Bongo tonally so it had to go.

[BassApprentice]

10 hours ago, Musicman20 said:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/sterling-by-music-man-bongo-5-bass-in-firemist-purple-satin/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20740064305&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqebEBhD9ARIsAFZMbfzluWZstvyIdzYnPqDNx6l7fI3In8OhC-FjCSDIYJ7fkQSrM-QdHFQaAvZVEALw_wcB
 

Wow!

 

I’m sure you can get a second hand USA model for £1500-1700.

It's a bit of a weird one from a market segment POV.

 

Ernie Ball will know the price of used basses. A new USA MM of any sort has gone up a fair bit, with Sterling being "premiumised" and the SUB being not so budget anymore. So you can have a new Sterling for the same price as a used US model, in probably more interesting colours.

 

They are probably getting it right, but the best selling bass from Music Man recently was the Joe Dart budget range...make of that what you will.

[HeadlessBassist]

14 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

They are probably getting it right, but the best selling bass from Music Man recently was the Joe Dart budget range...make of that what you will.

 

The Joe Dart budget model effect is like the "Access" Trim level Dacia Duster with the steelies and zero equipment. We've mostly all got a modern car with literally everything in it, but that stripped out, bare bones approach is somehow inviting and cool. 

Edited 4 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[Misdee]

2 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I've had a Bongo 5HH so I'm totally aware of the differences between them and this SBMM one. I was asking in general about the perception of ceramic magnets. It's a try before buy thing I think,weirdly enough I didn't get on with my Bongo tonally so it had to go.

Fair enough. All I can say is that ceramic magnets certainly wouldn't put me off any bass in any price range.

 

The think about ceramic pickups, like any other pickup,  is the magnet is only part of the equation. The wire, bobbins and shielding can also influence the tone. I've got an EBMM Reflex bass that  has ceramic magnets like a  USA Sterling with Stingray wire wound on Bongo bobbins going into a tweaked Bongo preamp that's switchable between series/ parallel and active/passive. Not surprisingly, it sounds  unique.

[Misdee]

Regarding the pricing if USA EBMM basses v the import ranges ect, it's a complicated situation. So much is about marketing rather than what you are actually getting for your money. 

 

Manufacturers are becoming more aware that part of what gives their instruments value in the minds of their potential customers is charging a high price for them. Putting up the price can actually attract punters to buy your goods  because of the new way they perceive them. It's all about how you present the package. EBMM tweaked the Stingray into being the Stingray Special and simultaneously put about another 30-odd percent on the price. They wanted to start putting their  USA-made instruments in a different marketplace and the redesign gave them the perfect excuse.

 

[Jolltax]

You can pre-order on Andertons, I've always wanted to try a Bongo, so weird looking ..

[Terry M.]

3 hours ago, Misdee said:

Manufacturers are becoming more aware that part of what gives their instruments value in the minds of their potential customers is charging a high price for them. Putting up the price can actually attract punters to buy your goods  because of the new way they perceive them. 

This is an excellent point. Not sure what that says about us though as a species 🤔