Good to see them back, and great starter price. Don't foresee that going lower; if anything, higher over time.
Raz
Raz
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40" scale Quake bass in production (2000USD)
- Thread starter ixlramp
- Start date
As someone who's played Dingwall's long scale offerings for a few years, I can definitely see the appeal of going even longer. I've actually got an Ibanez BTB7 strung F#BEADGC with a .170 D'addario nickel. It's only a 35" bass, and I'm already thinking of stringing my Dingwall ABZ6 to F#BEADG when I get back to CNY later next year. I'd love to hear one of these Quake's, recorded well in a real studio by an experienced engineer tuned down an octave (E0).
That said, the headstock is ugly, the pickups just look cheap, the placement of the pots isn't aesthetically quite right to me and that limited edition inlay at the 12th fret is just ugly (it clutters up the fretboard in a displeasing manner) and those X's at quick glance look like an extra pair of K's. All in all, I guess I just don't like the way they look.
They've essentially done what Dingwall has been doing for years by shifting the position of the bridge farther to the right of the players right hand to bring the nut closer to your left shoulder, lessening the reach. It's something that EVERY manufacturer of >34" scale basses needs to get through their thick, money grubbing heads. You can't just have the nut an inch farther from your left shoulder and end up with an ergonomically pleasing instrument to play.
That said, the headstock is ugly, the pickups just look cheap, the placement of the pots isn't aesthetically quite right to me and that limited edition inlay at the 12th fret is just ugly (it clutters up the fretboard in a displeasing manner) and those X's at quick glance look like an extra pair of K's. All in all, I guess I just don't like the way they look.
They've essentially done what Dingwall has been doing for years by shifting the position of the bridge farther to the right of the players right hand to bring the nut closer to your left shoulder, lessening the reach. It's something that EVERY manufacturer of >34" scale basses needs to get through their thick, money grubbing heads. You can't just have the nut an inch farther from your left shoulder and end up with an ergonomically pleasing instrument to play.
Pretty sure it was explained in the first post man, go Google it.
In essence, thinner strings at longer scales have a much clearer tone at lower tunings. So on that bass you could tune a .105 E string down to B and it’d sound awesome.
Or use like Argon or Xenon for heavier tone.No, it IS an input jack: that's where you pump the HELIUM in...
Or use like Argon or Xenon for heavier tone.
Dude. Yes.
Also, helium can make your phone not work, apparently.
Helium implicated in weird iPhone malfunctions
Guitar Manufacturers *makes a 9 string guitar*
Quake: Hold my beer
Quake: Hold my beer
But you have less bass frequencies with thinner strings tuned down...
If you want more clearance you just use thicker strings, with more tension, on a regular scale...
What style of music are these basses used for? I'm skeptical that even 1% of discerning bassists listening to two clips of the same bassline in a mix could distinguish between a 40" bass and a 34" bass, nevermind the general listening public, unless it was a solo recording and some cool experimental music.
Not to be a negative Nancy; this thing is, in a vacuum, cool.
Not to be a negative Nancy; this thing is, in a vacuum, cool.
On a 34” scale bass you might be correct, though drop D usually sounds as beefy or more than low E. With the much longer scale you will have more low frequency clarity and content because the thinner strings are being pulled tighter, nothing like a standard 34” scale being drop tuned.
Thicker strings do not give you more low frequency clarity on any of the fretted notes. They may give more initial attack for a tubby short scale style sound, but the decay is more rapid and the overtones are diminished. There is no gauge of string that can give the low B, and the fretted notes on the low B, the clarity of the E string. That is the idea behind this bass, beside extreme low tuning.
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I think the biggest benefit to the longer scale is the enhanced clarity of the low register. I saw a video a few months back of Christopher Carbone playing one tuned to standard five-string tuning; his low B was a 118, and it sounded just as clear as the A or D string on a bass with a 34" scale, even far up the neck.
Chef
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