After having lived in central FL for almost three years, I finally got my ass over to Bass Central. I walked into the store, was greeted by Mike, asked what I was interested in, and then it began.....
I said I had come by to check out a Dingwall, to see if I could hang with the fanned fret thing. I made it perfectly clear that today's mission was a recon mission, gathering intel for a possible future purchase. With that as my serve, they returned with "I think we have one in the warehouse" and proceded to open up a brand new, boxed and cased Afterburner for me to check out. That move, quite honestly, floored me. I plugged it it, played a few notes up and down, 'cupla octaves. My wife asks "why is it buzzing so much". I reply "because I suck, and the spread down low is wider than I am used to". I have to say, the strings are VERY even, the tone is very nice, articulate, lots of midrange cut. The bass overall felt like it weighed nothing. I was especially impressed with how NOT neck heavy it was, it's almost as if the neck is hollow and full of helium! I quickly put the Dingwall away, fumbled with a Lull for a few seconds, and got into a discussion with Beaver about the business end of running a business. I very briefly checked out a WAV 4 from NS Designs, kinda cool. Must have.... I was about to leave and take my wife to breakfast when the FedEx guy brought in two boxes. They were the MTDs Mike posted today, from NAMM. STUNNING basses, really. In person, they are amazing to look at.
So, to review: the guys there are great. I was welcomed, told to play anything I wanted, and then LEFT ALONE (in a good way). No hanging around in that "so, y'gonna buy something" way, and yet they were always at arms reach, or perhaps at a short yell across the store, if I had any questions. When I was done, I said thanks and I'll see you later. Mike asked if that was all I wanted to check out, but not in a "dude, aren't you gonna buy something" way. It was more of a "dude, you made the trip, why not play some other basses" thing. I told him I didn't wanna get my drool on all his basses. I was there on a mission, I got the info I wanted. I would have liked to hear the 1210 or 1212 they had, but I'll save that for next time. BC, it seems, is about ten minutes from the Federal Courthouse, where we had just been to swear my wife into the Federal Bar. Something tells me I'll be in the area again......
I did have something of an epiphany while there too, but it didn't hit me 'till we were sitting at breakfast. At first touch, the Dingwall was somewhat disappointing. Not that it isn't a GREAT bass, but I guess I had expected to hear angles sing, and have a religeous experience when playing it. I didn't. Was it the bass?? Was it me?? It came to me, several of my basses I have today are already pretty damn good! The Dingwall does have the even tension/tone thing, and is VERY comfy to play. The Lull felt a tad better than my current J5s, mostly in front-to-back depth , neck wise. Aside from that, I wasn't blown away by either of these two basses. Again, I am NOT criticizing the basses at all, just noting that the ones I own today aren't so bad after all!
Great bunch of guys, GREAT selection of basses, enlightening GAS reduction/redirection as well.
Lee
I said I had come by to check out a Dingwall, to see if I could hang with the fanned fret thing. I made it perfectly clear that today's mission was a recon mission, gathering intel for a possible future purchase. With that as my serve, they returned with "I think we have one in the warehouse" and proceded to open up a brand new, boxed and cased Afterburner for me to check out. That move, quite honestly, floored me. I plugged it it, played a few notes up and down, 'cupla octaves. My wife asks "why is it buzzing so much". I reply "because I suck, and the spread down low is wider than I am used to". I have to say, the strings are VERY even, the tone is very nice, articulate, lots of midrange cut. The bass overall felt like it weighed nothing. I was especially impressed with how NOT neck heavy it was, it's almost as if the neck is hollow and full of helium! I quickly put the Dingwall away, fumbled with a Lull for a few seconds, and got into a discussion with Beaver about the business end of running a business. I very briefly checked out a WAV 4 from NS Designs, kinda cool. Must have.... I was about to leave and take my wife to breakfast when the FedEx guy brought in two boxes. They were the MTDs Mike posted today, from NAMM. STUNNING basses, really. In person, they are amazing to look at.
So, to review: the guys there are great. I was welcomed, told to play anything I wanted, and then LEFT ALONE (in a good way). No hanging around in that "so, y'gonna buy something" way, and yet they were always at arms reach, or perhaps at a short yell across the store, if I had any questions. When I was done, I said thanks and I'll see you later. Mike asked if that was all I wanted to check out, but not in a "dude, aren't you gonna buy something" way. It was more of a "dude, you made the trip, why not play some other basses" thing. I told him I didn't wanna get my drool on all his basses. I was there on a mission, I got the info I wanted. I would have liked to hear the 1210 or 1212 they had, but I'll save that for next time. BC, it seems, is about ten minutes from the Federal Courthouse, where we had just been to swear my wife into the Federal Bar. Something tells me I'll be in the area again......
I did have something of an epiphany while there too, but it didn't hit me 'till we were sitting at breakfast. At first touch, the Dingwall was somewhat disappointing. Not that it isn't a GREAT bass, but I guess I had expected to hear angles sing, and have a religeous experience when playing it. I didn't. Was it the bass?? Was it me?? It came to me, several of my basses I have today are already pretty damn good! The Dingwall does have the even tension/tone thing, and is VERY comfy to play. The Lull felt a tad better than my current J5s, mostly in front-to-back depth , neck wise. Aside from that, I wasn't blown away by either of these two basses. Again, I am NOT criticizing the basses at all, just noting that the ones I own today aren't so bad after all!
Great bunch of guys, GREAT selection of basses, enlightening GAS reduction/redirection as well.
Lee
.
