REVIEW: Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo bass
The Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 bass is weird. If you’re used to more vintage-style basses, or even the legendary EBMM StingRay and Sterling models, the Bongo probably looks like it’s from outer space. It has an odd shape, unusual bevelling, a rather unique headstock… but as we’ve seen amply demonstrated time and again, Ernie Ball Music Man doesn’t make bad instruments, and they don’t make derivative instruments – everything they do has a purpose and a philosophy. And while the Bongo may have to fight extra-hard to win over some players due to the sheer force of its originality, you know before you even open the case that you’re in for something pretty interesting whenever you pick up an EBMM.
The Bongo 4 starts with a basswood body. Often used in hard rock and metal guitars, basswood has a relatively even tone with tight bass, and it tends to smooth over the edges of playing dynamics to a degree, which makes it especially prized by shredders who need even volume from note to note when playing at a bazillion miles an hour. The body is finished in high-gloss polyester, which will further even out the corners of the tone and dynamics if my limited understanding of physics is anything to go by.
What’s Ernie Ball up to now?
Check this out, from the Ernie Ball Music Man forum. Sterling Ball writes:
“Ok Scotty Ball and Dudley were having a good old chat and it turned into…”What if” And guess what What if is what is….I will be feeding you info on a need to torture basis….This is not a Music Man….it is the first of a new line called Ball Family Custom Guitars. If you are a shorter scale neck through or set neck this is a absolutely stunning guitar to play and features Dudley’s pick ups that are crazy.”
Here’s another pic:
REVIEW: Ernie Ball Music Man Luke True Gold
Steve Lukather is unquestionably one of the world’s finest guitarists, from his work with Toto to his countless studio sessions and his brilliant solo work. (He’s also a great interview and a hilarious dude). Luke’s guitar requirements are quite demanding and he swears by his Ernie Ball Music Man signature models. The Limited Edition BFR (Ball Family Reserve) True Gold is only available to dealers within EBMM’s Premier Dealer Network, a select international group of high-end retailers with access to special instruments. This guitar is limited to only 200 instruments, each hand-signed by Lukather himself. The thing abut Premier Dealer Network instruments is you really have to be on the ball (pun not intended but gleefully acknowledged) when it comes to ordering one before they’re all snapped up, but each instrument made available to the Premier Dealer Network is a fine showcase of EBMM’s craftsmanship and designs. For instance, this BFR Luke True Gold gives you a great overview of the Luke model as a series, as well as what you can expect from an instrument sold through the exclusive Premier Dealer Network. So if they’re all sold out by the time you scape together the cash, despair not – use this review as a guide to what to expect from a Premier Dealer Network instrument.
The Luke True Gold’s body is made of alder, with a high-gloss polyester finish bringing out the awesomeness of the finish. The bridge is the standard Music Man floating two-point fulcrum design, made of hardened steel with bent steel saddles. The tuners are Schaller M6-IND locking models. Unlike the first incarnation of the Luke model many years ago, there’s no locking trem: these days Luke feels that a vintage style tremolo bridge and locking tuners are more than stable enough for his whammy needs.
REVIEW: Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Special
The Silhouette has been a mainstay of the Ernie Ball Music Man line-up for decades now, and over the years it’s found its way into the hands of players as diverse as Keith Richards, Vinnie Moore and Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden. (Personally I’ve had an unnaturally heavy crush on an all white one with a maple fretboard and Floyd Rose ever since I saw it in an issue of Guitar Player back in the day). It’s a workhorse design whose looks can suit shredders, rockers, blues and country players and fusioneers.
A few Silhouette Special specs are standard: alder body, high-gloss polyester finish, a 25 1/2″ scale length, select maple neck with a 10″ neck radius, 22 high-profile medium width frets; gunstock oil and hand-rubbed wax blend finish on the back of the neck; Schaller M6-IND locking tuners; adjustable truss rod wheel down at the body end of the neck; five-bolt neck attachment for extreme stability and transfer of vibrational energy; and 250kohm volume and tone pots (which soften the treble a little compared to 500kohm pots). But because this is EBMM there are plenty of options available. The Silhouette Special can be ordered with either a standard string-through-body bridge or an optional two-point Music Man vintage tremolo, each with bent steel saddles. Or if you wish you can order a piezo bridge with solid steel saddles and an extra volume control for adding an acoustic sound to your sonic arsenal. You can also choose between a select maple or rosewood fretboard and a matching painted headstock, and you can select between HSS (humbucker/single coil/single coil) or SSS pickup configurations. If you go down the HSS route, your pickups are a DiMarzio Virtual PAF and two custom DiMarzio single coils. If you choose a SSS model, you’ll be rocking three DiMarzio custom singles, my friend.
INTERVIEW: Dream Theater’s John Petrucci
When Mike Portnoy quit Dream Theater a year ago, it could have been a disaster for the band. Instead they went into audition mode, recruiting former Extreme/Steve Vai drummer Mike Mangini to record A Dramatic Turn Of Events. The new album is classic Dream Theater, with odd time signatures, clever arrangements, genre-hopping, long instrumental sections and plenty of shred. Mangini proves he’s the perfect man for the job, and the entire band sounds energised and inspired by the new, more democratic approach to composition. It’s their most varied and creative work since 1999′s Scenes From A Memory.
The first impression I had of this album was “This reminds me of something. What is it? Oh! Dream Theater!” It really brings back the things I really loved about the Images & Words era.
Cool! We were definitely conscious to look at our goals for the new album and really talk to each other beforehand. I had a lot of conversations with Jordan (Rudess, keys) about the compositional direction, and trying to hone in on the elements that make the band special in our eyes. We had a conversation with James (LaBrie) about where we wanted to take the vocals melodically, and conversations with John Myung (bass) not only about the album but each song. We had a very focused general outlook of the entire writing process. And not only that but as a producer what it was going to sound like when it was all said and done. So that probably helped keep it in that direction.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com