Music Man Bongo 6 - Overview and Best Prices
- 1 Prices - New from $3,099 >
- From Music Man's 2018 Bongo Collection series
- Made in United States
- 6 strings
- 34"'' scale
- 11" Fretboard Radius
- Basswood body
- Select maple neck neck
- Ebony fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Music Man Humbuckers with Neodymium magnets (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Music Man Humbuckers with Neodymium magnets (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 3 tone Dome knobs
- Standard - music man chrome plated, hardened steel plate with stainless steel saddles (stealth black & titan gray finish feature matte black hardware) bridge
- Bass Music Man Standard Bolt-On neck
- 24 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Custom Music Man, lightweight with tapered string posts and ergonomic design tuners
- Weight around 10lbs (4.5kgs)
- Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
| Music Man Bongo 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Music Man | |
| Year: | 2018 | |
| Configuration: | HH | |
| Strings: | 6 | |
| Made in: | United States | |
| Series: | Bongo Collection | |
| Colors: | Black, Green, Red, Gray | |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | |
| Body Material: | Basswood | |
| Bridge: | Standard - music man chrome plated, hardened steel plate with stainless steel saddles (stealth black & titan gray finish feature matte black hardware) | |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | |
| Tuners: | Custom Music Man, lightweight with tapered string posts and ergonomic design | |
| Fretboard: | Ebony | |
| Neck Material: | Select maple neck | |
| Decoration: | Custom Half-Moons | |
| Scale Size: | 34" | |
| Shape: | Bass Music Man Standard | |
| Frets: | 24 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel | |
| Fretboard Radius: | 11" | |
| Nut: | Compensated | |
| Nut Width: | 57.2mm (2.25'') | |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | Music Man Humbuckers with Neodymium magnets (Humbucker / Passive) | |
| Neck Pickup: | Music Man Humbuckers with Neodymium magnets (Humbucker / Passive) | |
| Switch: | 0 | |
| Knobs: | Dome | |
| Volume Controls: | 1 | |
| Tone Controls: | 3 | |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | |
| Hardware Color: | Black | |
Our Scores and Tone Evaluation
- Heavy Metal
- Hard Rock
- Jazz
- Blues
- Funk
- Country
Music Man Bongo 6
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Compensated Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Active Preamp
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock
Price Overview
Its average competitor's price is $3100, which means that the Music Man Bongo 6 is within the average price asked for this kind of bass. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in United States.
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User Reviews & Feedback
Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!
Weight
VoteTuning stability
VoteNeck speed (thickness)
VoteNeck access to high frets
VoteNeck profile shape
VoteFret edges
VotePickups noise
VotePickups power
VoteOften Compared With
Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Music Man Bongo 6's construction is balanced for most hand sizes.
Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this bass—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.
Beginner Friendliness
The Music Man Bongo 6 meets 3 out of our 6 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.
New Player Friendliness
Music Man Bongo 6- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
Videos
How Lightweight is it?
We found that the Music Man Bongo 6 weighs around 10lbs (4.5kgs). This was recorded from some online retailers that publish the weight of the instruments they sell.
Playability
Scale Length
Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.
Here's the Music Man Bongo 6's 34" scale length compared to other common sizes:
This is considered a long scale bass, and it's the most popular choice for several reasons. Even though it might be more difficult to play than short scale basses due to their increased string tension, their punchier low-end results in a clear and defined bass tone that can cut through in a mix, making them well-suited for genres like rock, metal, and funk.
Neck Profile
The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.
It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.
Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.
Fretboard Radius
When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.
The Music Man Bongo 6 has a 11" fingerboard radius.
Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Music Man Bongo 6 has the same radius across the board.
Playability compared to main competitors
Nut Width
The Music Man Bongo 6 has a nut width of 57.2mm (2.25''). This is considered a wide width for a 6-string bass. A wider nut provides more space between the strings, making it easier for players to execute techniques like slap bass and tapping, which require extra room for precision. However, players with smaller hands might find it challenging to comfortably reach across the wider fretboard, as it requires a wider stretch between the fingers.
Frets
The Music Man Bongo 6 has 24 frets. A lot of people mistakenly believe that having more frets will always be better because it gives you a higher octave. This is certainly an advantage, but there's also a disadvantage to this.
Since the fretboard will be longer, the neck pickup will need to be placed closer to the bridge. And as you may know, the further away the neck pickup is from the bridge, the warmer it sounds. This means you'll have a brighter-sounding neck pickup when using a 24-fret bass, even if you use the same pickup on a 22-fret bass.
Finally, these are stainless steel frets. They're the best fretwire available. This means you won't need to change your frets since they should last as long as your bass. Some people also feel easier bendings after swapping to stainless steel.
Fret Size
Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.
The Music Man Bongo 6's frets are Medium Jumbo size. These sit somewhere between a Jumbo and a Medium fret. They're not quite as tall as a full Jumbo, so you'll still feel the fretboard, but you won't feel it as much as with medium frets. This is a good size if you want to make it easy to press the strings but would also like a little bit of ''feedback'' to know when to stop pressing so the notes don't go out of pitch.
Playability Score
Tone
Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.
Wood
Basswood Body: This is a soft type of wood that is very light and easy to work with. It's cheaper than many other kinds of wood used for guitar building, but it doesn't mean it's low quality. In terms of sound, it accentuates the mid-range, which matches the frequencies that a Humbucker produces.
Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.
Ebony Fretboard: This is one of the most expensive woods there is, which is why it's mostly used for fretboards. It is dense, heavy, highly resistant and comes in a really dark color that gives any guitar a classy touch. Tone wise, it helps the high side of the spectrum and provides good sustain.
Pickups
This bass comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Music Man. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.
These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.
Preamp
The preamp is an electronic circuit that serves as an intermediary between the bass's pickups and the amplifier. Its primary function is to boost and shape the bass's raw signal before it reaches the amplifier. This allows for greater control over the bass's tone, volume, and other sound characteristics. Preamps often include tone controls, equalization settings, and sometimes even onboard effects, enabling bassists to tailor their sound to their preferences and the musical context.
This bass has a Active preamp. Unlike passive basses, which rely solely on passive pickups and tone controls, active preamps require a power source, typically a 9-volt battery, to operate. The active preamp offers several advantages, including the ability to boost or cut specific frequencies, resulting in a more versatile and customizable tonal palette. Active basses are favored in genres where precise tonal sculpting and extended tonal options are essential, such as jazz fusion or progressive rock. However, they do require occasional battery replacement or recharging to ensure optimal performance.
The Music Man Bongo 6's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.
More with the same pickups
Versatility
Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.
What music genre is it good for?
As a 6 strings, Solid Body bass with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Heavy Metal or similar. However, you can use almost any bass for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.
Sound Score
Build Quality
Country of Origin
Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.
The Music Man Bongo 6 is made in United States. Guitars made in the USA have the reputation of being the best instruments you can get. This statement isn't as accurate as a few years ago, but you should still expect top-quality from a guitar made in this country.
Bridge
Standard - music man chrome plated, hardened steel plate with stainless steel saddles (stealth black & titan gray finish feature matte black hardware): The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.
Nut Material
Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your bass. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.
In this case, the Music Man Bongo 6 has a Compensated nut. It's cut in a way that makes each string have the correct length for perfect intonation across the fretboard. It provides excellent tuning stability.
Neck Joint
The neck joint is the part where the neck of the bass meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.
This bass has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.
