Music Man Bongo

Music Man Bongo

The Bongo bass guitar was introduced on March 21, 2003 at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA by Music Man, a division of Ernie Ball. Ernie Ball president Sterling Ball designed the guitar in conjunction with the Music Man Research and Development department and BMW's Designworks team. It boasts an 18-volt 4-band preamp (except on the single-pickup model, which has a 3-band preamp; single-pickup models with piezo bridges have a 4-band preamp) designed by Dudley Gimpel with help from Cliff Hugo and other Music Man artists. It also sports a sleek, carved basswood body with high-gloss polyester finish and a satin-finish painted 34" scale maple neck with rosewood fingerboard (pau ferro on lined or unlined fretless) featuring 24 high profile wide frets and crescent moon-shaped position inlays. These basses are generally known for their dual humbucking pickup configuration, as they are the first twin humbucker-equipped models released by Music Man since the introduction of their Sabre and Cutlass bass guitars in the late 1970s.

The Bongo is available as 4, 5 and 6-string (since January 22, 2008) versions, fretted and fretless lined or unlined, with neodymium H (single humbucker), HS (bridge humbucker/neck single-coil) and HH (dual humbuckers) pickup configurations. A bridge with piezoelectric pickups is available on all models except left-handed and six-string versions. On all multiple-pickup models there is a blend control rather than the selection switch found on other Music Man basses (piezo models have an additional blend control for the piezo bridge).

The pickup placement on the H model is in the "sweet spot" that is characteristic of Music Man basses. The placement on the multiple-pickup models, however, differs from all of the company's other basses. Both the bridge and neck pickups are set closer to the bridge, probably in part because of space constraints due to the Bongo's 24-fret neck.

The combination of a relatively lightweight, resonant basswood body, neodymium pickups and 18-volt preamp give the Bongo a distinctive tonal character that is markedly different from other Music Man basses, which have none of these features.

Some popular artists who play the Bongo bass guitar include Dave LaRue, Cliff Hugo, Tony Levin, John Myung, Colin Edwin, Jari Kainulainen, Greg Christian, Phil Chen, Zach Fowler, Marc Languis, Henry Selva, Carlitos Del Puerto, John Pierce, Will Turpin, Yovannis Roque, Ken Farrell, Dave Marotta, Jason James, Stan Sergeant, and Marcin Nowak.

Music Man's other popular basses include the Stingray and the Sterling.