# Spector Euro 5LX vs Ernie Ball Musicman Bongo 5



## JoshuaLogan (Jan 30, 2009)

Looking to get a nice bass for recording and have pretty much narrowed it down to trying to pick up one of these used.... just looking for some opinions either way..... both seem to sound great, but I'm leaning a little towards the Spector right now because it has a 16" radius, which is much flatter than the 11" radius on the Bongo... and flatter tends to be better for me in guitar world haha

what do you guys think? any pros/cons of the two?


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## F1Filter (Jan 30, 2009)

To my ears anyway. The Bongo is an extremely boring basswood bodied bass that relies a lot on it's electronics to sound good. Every one I've tried just sounded flat and uninspiring until some playing around with the tone controls to get a workable tone. 

Never tried the Spector Euro though. Although I've heard nothing but good things said about them in the past.


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## F1Filter (Jan 30, 2009)

Just asked someone I know who recently sold his Bongo if he'd get another one. He said 'no', but he'd look at a Stingray or a Sterling if he'd ever buy EBMM again.

It's a bit odd that EBMM used basswood on that bass, whereas all their other ones are either ash or alder.


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## eleven59 (Jan 30, 2009)

Yeah, that's true, I'd prefer a Sterling or Stingray from EBMM. I just know I've heard some great tones from Bongos (mainly from Porcupine Tree, though he also switched to Spector).


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## Six6VI (Jan 30, 2009)

While I don't have a Bongo I do have a Musicman Sting Ray, as well as a Spector. I've owned the MM the longest but when I got my Spector it was over (and it's just a Korean import even). I still dig my MM but the next bass I buy will surely be a Euro 5LX.

Lee


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## EliNoPants (Jan 30, 2009)

a buddy of mine has 2 Bongos and claims that they sound like god coming out of his amp, and doesn't use his amp EQ at all anymore

i still haven't gotten around to trying them to see if their necks play better than those awful awful Stingray necks do though


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## Harry (Jan 30, 2009)

The Spector will kill the Bongo.
The flatter fretboard contributes to a smoother playing surface to me.
Every Spector I've played is inspiring and every EBMM bass I've played is fairly average.


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## JoshuaLogan (Jan 31, 2009)

How do the cheaper Spectors with the EMG HZs sound? I've seen Dan Briggs of Between The Buried and Me playing one... the Legend 5 custom, I believe.


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## Ramsay777 (Jan 31, 2009)

Josh, I pretty sure Dan uses an expensive American built one, I'm not sure what series though


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## eleven59 (Jan 31, 2009)

See, personally, I love the growl of a good EBMM and the overall high-end response (but then, I like a bright bass tone with lots of string noise). Everything I've heard from a Spector sound darker and warmer than the EBMM, which is great for some people, but they almost sound _too_ good and clean. I like a dynamic, dirty, nasty bass tone


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## Brendan G (Jan 31, 2009)

I played a Spector Euro a few months back and it was probably the best playing bass I've ever played, and it sounded damn good!


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## JoshuaLogan (Jan 31, 2009)

Ramsay777 said:


> Josh, I pretty sure Dan uses an expensive American built one, I'm not sure what series though



maybe so in studio, but I know he uses the cheap spector live a lot


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## thedonutman (Feb 1, 2009)

eleven59 said:


> See, personally, I love the growl of a good EBMM and the overall high-end response (but then, I like a bright bass tone with lots of string noise). Everything I've heard from a Spector sound darker and warmer than the EBMM, which is great for some people, but they almost sound _too_ good and clean. I like a dynamic, dirty, nasty bass tone



I go for a similar tone, and I find that Spectors do the slightly overdriven growl sound perfectly, and EBMMs slightly less so.  I find that Spectors are generally brighter because they are mostly maple.

Having said that, both are great basses, and will be great for most styles.


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## Six6VI (Feb 1, 2009)

JoshuaLogan said:


> How do the cheaper Spectors with the EMG HZs sound? I've seen Dan Briggs of Between The Buried and Me playing one... the Legend 5 custom, I believe.


 
I love the way mine sounds and plays! I obtained it from a guitar player friend who was sick of it taking up room in his closet. While I had always liked the way Spectors looked I had never spent much time playing one but once I had it in my hands I all but ignored my MM! It has a very nice mid-range growl with pleanty of bottom and clear highs. For a Korean import you wouldn't think it'd be all that great but at the price they go for you can't go wrong.

Lee


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## JoshuaLogan (Feb 1, 2009)

Six6VI said:


> I love the way mine sounds and plays! I obtained it from a guitar player friend who was sick of it taking up room in his closet. While I had always liked the way Spectors looked I had never spent much time playing one but once I had it in my hands I all but ignored my MM! It has a very nice mid-range growl with pleanty of bottom and clear highs. For a Korean import you wouldn't think it'd be all that great but at the price they go for you can't go wrong.
> 
> Lee



Yeah, I'm guessing they would play pretty well, but I wasn't sure about those EMG HZs


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## Six6VI (Feb 3, 2009)

I'd stay away from the cheap bolt-ons though. I played one in a store not long ago and I was not impressed. I couldn't even believe it came from the same company. But, to each their own, of course.

Lee


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