Dingwall John Taylor Signature: 2nd Opinion

[Dr. Cheese]

Last year, it seemed that I felt this bass awkward and Thunderbird style Dingwall style Dingwall was the one with which I connected. Looking the video, the opposite was true. I got around fine on the Taylor model and I loved the tone. I may have to order one of these when I retire next year.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I wonder how I'd get along with the fanned frets, but it sure is purdy! Sounds great, too.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I wonder how I'd get along with the fanned frets, but it sure is purdy! Sounds great, too.

I notice that stretch, but it is playable.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad sounding Dingwall, but if you can adjust to the scale length and fan frets is really up to the individual player. I think anything can become more playable the more time spent with it. But will it be comfortable and non hindering over the long run is something only time will tell.

 

[DeltaPhoenix]

Join us in the Dingwall Club, Dr. Cheese. You will have one in no time

 

[Snake101st]

Get a reach reducing flush strap lock pin added to the back of the body like the Dingwall Z's have, and the reach suddenly gets much easier I'm almost always using the one on my Z3

 

[57pbass]

We saw Duran Duran at Forest Hills and he was playing his Dingwall Basses. They sounded amazing.. he had a few different Dingwalls and we weren’t close enough to see the differences..
If Duran Duran ever comes to your area you should try to see them..really great live band.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

Dingwall makes amazing basses. I also wish that they offered customization on scale length though as the reach is too much for my left hand personally.

The JT is a stellar bass

 

[DeltaPhoenix]

I have had a 34” 4 string Alembic that had a longer stretch to the first fret than my 5 string long scale Dingwall. I don’t use the reach reduction pin but it is cool that it is available.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I've played a couple of full-length Dingwalls (as opposed to the somewhat shorter scale Super P and Super J). To my surprise, I could get around in the lower register well enough (I do not have large hands!), but the upper register was awkward as hell because the highly slanted frets turned my box patterns into diamonds and I got confuzzled. I don't play up there all that much, but it is necessary at times.

I've had mild GAS for a Nolly NG3. If I pulled the trigger and woodshedded on it then I believe my fingers and brain could adjust. However I'm a K.I.S.S. kind of guy, and have decided to stick with traditional frets.

No disrespect intended whatsoever. I was enormously impressed with the tones and build quality of the Dingwalls I've played.

 

[five7]

The main issue for me with fanned frets is when playing in the key of C at the first fret my index finger is on the nut. Gets uncomfortable quick.

 

[BGroovy]

Dingwall makes amazing basses. I also wish that they offered customization on scale length though as the reach is too much for my left hand personally.

The JT is a stellar bass

Super P, Super J, new SP1

SP1 is 34.25 - 32, doesn’t play any longer than a normal 34” IMO

 

[singlemalt]

I have longscale Dingwall four strings, 36.25” on the E string. I also have a beautiful 35” scale Cirrus.

The reach to the lowest frets is actually longer on the Cirrus.

Dingwall pushes the bridge as far as possible to the end of the bass. Many other builds waste a lot of real estate beyond the bridge.

After playing the longscales the Super series feels very compact, even more compact than other FSO’s.

The Dbird sits and hangs further to player’s right and doesn’t feel as long as the other longscales. Probably because of were the recessed strap connections are located. It does not neck dive. It does, however, tend to roll out away from your body when on a strap. It is comfortable to play sitting. The Dbird has less frets than the other longscales, 21 or 22. Not that you would be able to reach them (on the Dbird) but I would have liked to be able to slap on the 24th and closer to the pickups. A minor quibble.

The AB-1 and Super P both weigh in at 7.5 lb. The Dbird is 8.5.

 

[maarten9273]

I own the Seafoam Green John Taylor Dingwall 5 string. Very happy with it!
The sound options are very versatile with the quad selector and active/ passive modes. Got used to the fanned frets within a very short timeframe.

 

[5StringPocket]

I've played a couple of full-length Dingwalls (as opposed to the somewhat shorter scale Super P and Super J). To my surprise, I could get around in the lower register well enough (I do not have large hands!), but the upper register was awkward as hell because the highly slanted frets turned my box patterns into diamonds and I got confuzzled. I don't play up there all that much, but it is necessary at times.

I've had mild GAS for a Nolly NG3. If I pulled the trigger and woodshedded on it then I believe my fingers and brain could adjust. However I'm a K.I.S.S. kind of guy, and have decided to stick with traditional frets.

No disrespect intended whatsoever. I was enormously impressed with the tones and build quality of the Dingwalls I've played.

The best tone ever bass is my Sadowsky NYC PJ5 but I really like my modified Dingwall NG3. I also get confuzzled in the upper registers but rarely go past the 15th fret and never solo up in the dusty end. The lower 12 fret region where all of the action is provides outstanding response and keeps it in the stable.

 

[Rockgeezer]

Long write-up here but wanted to share my Dingwall experiences which hopefully may help anyone take the leap. I got the Dingwall NG3 5 string in the gold matte last year. Took very little time to feel comfortable on the fanned frets and scale length. The bridge and strap pin configurations allow it to sit a bit farther back to my right side which allows fingering to the lower notes toward the nut to remain easy. Not an issue, at least for me. Yes you can feel the nut toward the G string side when fretting down the low notes but the nut is smooth and nicely rounded and doesn’t pose a problem and I got used to it quickly. I liked the bass so much I wanted a companion to it for backup and multiple nights. I got the John Taylor signature 5 string in the primrose finish which is a nice cream color with those subtle stripes. The feel to my NG3 is similar as expected, no surprises there. The tonal difference is a bit different between the two. The two factors contributing to this are the preamps and body wood. The NG3 wood is alder and I have always heard a bit more midrange with these bodies as opposed to some of my swamp ash basses which to my ear sound a bit more mid scooped with enhanced bottom end. The JT model has the Nyatoh body which to me has a bit flatter response across the frequency range. The mids are not as pronounced as the alder body but not the mid scoop either. One thing I noticed is the JT model with nyatoh body is slightly heavier than my NG3 model, maybe 5 or 6 ounces more but I haven’t weighed them. The Darkglass Tone Capsule on the NG3 is 3 band with low, low mid and high mid. The chosen frequencies work well in dialing in a great piano bell tone for my needs. The JT model has the Neve Design preamp which is a 2 band eq. It also has a passive tone (high rolloff) knob which works either in passive or active mode. Both of these Dingwall have the toggle switch for active/passive operation. One thing I do like on both basses, either preamp dials in subtle tonal variations. Some basses preamps have huge boosts and cuts that sometimes are simply unusable tones whereas these two Dingwall preamps have great sounds regardless of extreme knob positions. More preamps should follow this and provide useable tones through the cut and boost sweeps. Long review here but I am extremely happy with both these basses. They stay in tune, feel super comfortable, look great and offer most any tones you’re looking for. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and stay very positive on these basses. One last thing to mention is I have tried many of the newer multi scale string sets on these basses to find a set I like. I’ve tried the DR Dragon Skin multi scale, both nickel and stainless steel, the Dingwall sets in both nickel and steel which may be made by d’Addario, the Payson sets in nickel and steel and the Dunlop brights in nickel wound over steel. For me, I’ve settled on the Dunlop’s. They are a bit smoother feeling than the others, provide a tone I prefer which is the piano tone with decent high end “zing” and last a reasonable time although here in SW Florida, every string I’ve used starts going dead quicker than when I was up north. As an added bonus I got these Dunlop’s from Jason at Fret Nation and they are much cheaper than the others I mentioned above. Took a while but my dual Dingwall collection have satisfied my every need.

 

[Cory rich40]

It is truly a great bass. I just looked on Sweetwater and regretted it. The shop where I purchased mine had old stock and I paid $2695 for it. That same color is around $3700 at sweetwater. The DRoc is around $2700, and I paid $1900 for it back in September. Maybe sweetwater made a mistake. They have gone up since yesterday.

 

[ModuMan]

They've definitely gone up since they were released. Slowly and steadily at first and now... well, a lot more.

I have the 5-string version, very punchy.

 

[Jamie_Funk]

Adding the "reach reducing" inset straplock on the back of ny NG made a noticebale difference - if you are fairly handy, this is an easy install (I did mine msyelf). In fact, I find my NG and easier reach overall now than any standard 34" scale parallel fret bass, as the positioing of the NG farther to the right more than offsets the longer scale for me.

@Dr. Cheese - the Dingwall did require me to clean up some bad self-taught left hand habits down in the 1-5 fret area - didn't take long to adjust though, even afer 40+ years of those bad habits

As always, YMMV.

J

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Adding the "reach reducing" inset straplock on the back of ny NG made a noticebale difference - if you are fairly handy, this is an easy install (I did mine msyelf). In fact, I find my NG and easier reach overall now than any standard 34" scale parallel fret bass, as the positioing of the NG farther to the right more than offsets the longer scale for me.

@Dr. Cheese - the Dingwall did require me to clean up some bad self-taught left hand habits down in the 1-5 fret area - didn't take long to adjust though, even afer 40+ years of those bad habits

As always, YMMV.

J

There is a good chance I willl pickup a Dingwall when I retire because I love the concept behind them and they sound good too. I will see what 2026 brings.