Dingwall Owners Club

[Hambone70]

The other piece of ergonomics (and I was looking at this again today while I was seated and doing my morning online-browse and finger-exercises)... is that the neck of the bass should be something like a 45 degree angle extended from your body rather than parallel to your front (working in 3 dimensions). This also changes wrist and hand position. This of course moves your left arm forward, changes your elbow, wrist and shoulder joint angles a bit.

Excellent advice. Shortening the strap eased the wrist pain, but caused elbow pain. Tilting the bass forward 30-45 as viewed from above certainly helps with the elbow.

It's all getting better.

Thanks!

 

[singlemalt]

A good starting point is setting the strap up so it hangs the same as if it were sitting on your leg in a straight chair. The bass stays in the same place when you stand.

If you practice sitting mostly, this will help when you have to stand. As others have said, let the bass neck move forward away from you to somewhere between 30 and 45 degrees on the vertical access.

Strap too high and the right wrist is all T. rex cramped for finger style and pick. Too low and you’ve got fretting hand contortions. We’re looking for the Golidlocks spot.

If you are a dedicated slapper, wearing it on the high side is normal.

I buy Italia straps and once I’ve dialed it, I’m not shy about putting in new holes and trimming off excess. Then I put the strap locks on. I’ve got one strap for the Supers. With the AB I’d customize the strap and leave it on the bass. I made the strap hole super tight and didn’t use straplocks. So, bass and strap went right in the case or bag.

In the picture, it looks a bit on the high side, to my eye, so trying a couple inches longer and working back towards were it is might help. An inch is a lot. I almost always end up making new holes to get it just right.

Hang in there!

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

YES, in other words, a 45 degree angle as viewed from above in case that wasn't clear.

And what is the length of your strap? Like the others said, it looks a wee bit short. I found 42.5" works well for me. Everybody is different, and you need to experiment with it, which you are doing, which is great. Would you mind humoring me and just giving it a try at 42.5" and see how it feels? Maybe slightly less if you are less than 6' tall.

This strap length is 47.5" strap pin to strap pin. I am 6 ft tall on the nose. If I needed access to all 24 frets, I light raise it a couple of inches to maybe 45", but I rarely play much above the 20th fret, at least on the B string. This angle I find to be perfect. I used to try and play it more parallel across my body, until I finally figured out that it is engineered to be played at this angle.

BTW, I have found that I can gain access to the last 4 frets by simply nudging the bass a bit upwardly and to the left as needed.

 

[Lowendtech]

View attachment 2940623

This strap length is 47.5" strap pin to strap pin. I am 6 ft tall on the nose. If I needed access to all 24 frets, I light raise it a couple of inches to maybe 45", but I rarely play much above the 20th fret, at least on the B string. This angle I find to be perfect. I used to try and play it more parallel across my body, until I finally figured out that it is engineered to be played at this angle.

BTW, I have found that I can gain access to the last 4 frets by simply nudging the bass a bit upwardly and to the left as needed.

I dunno Bob, if I had that bass strapped to me, I’d have a wicked grin on my mug.
You look a bit glum there. Maybe you should lend it to me for a couple of days for a reboot.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I never felt the extra length/reach of the long scale Dingwall to be problematic, although now that I spend 95% of my time on my SJ5, I can certainly feel it, especially when standing up.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

I dunno Bob, if I had that bass strapped to me, I’d have a wicked grin on my mug.
You look a bit glum there. Maybe you should lend it to me for a couple of days for a reboot.

I was glum because of the old man who was wearing my bass and staring back at me!! I have no idea who that guy is! But any time you want to stop by, you are welcome to give her a go.

 

[Matt Dean]

I was glum because of the old man who was wearing my bass and staring back at me!! I have no idea who that guy is! But any time you want to stop by, you are welcome to give her a go.

I feel ya.... I turned 60 last year and never feel that old, unless I look in the mirror. Even my onstage photos don’t bother be as much as looking in the mirror.

 

[AB Nate]

I feel ya.... I turned 60 last year and never feel that old, unless I look in the mirror. Even my onstage photos don’t bother be as much as looking in the mirror.

Damn you guys are really bringing me down.

If it makes you feel any better my career has made me feel 60 most days. I've actually gave myself a retirement date from this line of work because of it No matter what the finances are like

 

[spiritbass]

I was glum because of the old man who was wearing my bass and staring back at me!! I have no idea who that guy is!

That (trans-black?) finish is gorgeous.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

That (trans-black?) finish is gorgeous.

Actually, that is a crappy pic of the bass. The lighting was is not that great for the bathroom. These are much better! I believe this is a bleached maple burl trans natural to blackburst. Or something like that.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

Of course, this one is no slouch in the looks department. It is kind of cool that if you overload it with light, the green kind of disappears and it seems to glow.

 

[IvanBassist]

Just came back home from Groningen, Netherlands, where I taught I bass workshop at the conservatory. All the students got to play with my SJ and they were all pleasantly surprised how easy it is to play with fanned frets

 

[Bassheart365]

Kinda feeling like it's useless to discuss and give advice on ergonomics at this point without seeing pictures of the player standing with bass on? The traditional strap positions and hang on a Dingwall is a little bit to the right of a traditional P/J, but not that far off, and it actually brings the nut closer to the player, not farther away.

A couple more pictures of traditional strap location in standing playing situations:



In this one, compare how the Dingwall 'hangs' compared to where the two guitarists' guitars hang...not really any different.



In other news, I'm going back to the FD-3 in neck position from the P-Tone. Lesson learned...just like what the FD-3 in neck brings to the table a bit more than the P-tone.

I've tried all the available pickups in my Sj5 x3. Came with the FD-3s. But I had those in my Z3 and wanted to try something different so I bought a set of the FDV (alnico 5s). I recently took the neck FDV out and replaced it with a P-tone ( I think I even did that the same day you did). Now that I have done that, I want to change back to my FD3s in the middle and bridge position because the FDVs and the P-tone are kind of redundant. I need to play in a band context with the P-tone before I make my decision about it. If it doesn't float my boat, all be back were I started - the original FD3s x3!

 

[BurningSkies]

I've tried all the available pickups in my Sj5 x3. Came with the FD-3s. But I had those in my Z3 and wanted to try something different so I bought a set of the FDV (alnico 5s). I recently took the neck FDV out and replaced it with a P-tone ( I think I even did that the same day you did). Now that I have done that, I want to change back to my FD3s in the middle and bridge position because the FDVs and the P-tone are kind of redundant. I need to play in a band context with the P-tone before I make my decision about it. If it doesn't float my boat, all be back were I started - the original FD3s x3!

Yeah, I'm back to original FD-3 setup and also original 3X switching. I found the reverse switching was hugely unbalanced. While I probably won't use the series bridge/middle very much, I guess it's a good option to have.

 

[Musicman1901]

Hey guys, never posted in this thread before but I need some advice. I just ordered a set of Dunlop Straplocks and was bummed to find they don’t fit on my Dingwall. The screw is too long and won’t go in all the way, I tried using the screw that was in the bass but the head of the screw is too big to pass through the opening on the Straplock. Does anyone here know of a straplock brand that fits on Dingwalls. Extremely agitated about this, never had an issue with any strap lock system on any bass before this.

 

[BurningSkies]

Hey guys, never posted in this thread before but I need some advice. I just ordered a set of Dunlop Straplocks and was bummed to find they don’t fit on my Dingwall. The screw is too long and won’t go in all the way, I tried using the screw that was in the bass but the head of the screw is too big to pass through the opening on the Straplock. Does anyone here know of a straplock brand that fits on Dingwalls. Extremely agitated about this, never had an issue with any strap lock system on any bass before this.

Which bass?

I just put a pair of stock Dunlop straplocks on my NG without difficulty. You may have to wax/soap the screw threads, but I didn't even drill out the holes.

 

[Musicman1901]

Which bass?

I just put a pair of stock Dunlop straplocks on my NG without difficulty. You may have to wax/soap the screw threads, but I didn't even drill out the holes.

Really?! Mine is an NG. That’s weird. I didn’t wanna have to drill the holes out if I didn’t need to. I’ll try to wax the screw when I get home. That’s weird that it’s the same model and I’m having problems with it.

 

[Bassheart365]

Hey guys, never posted in this thread before but I need some advice. I just ordered a set of Dunlop Straplocks and was bummed to find they don’t fit on my Dingwall. The screw is too long and won’t go in all the way, I tried using the screw that was in the bass but the head of the screw is too big to pass through the opening on the Straplock. Does anyone here know of a straplock brand that fits on Dingwalls. Extremely agitated about this, never had an issue with any strap lock system on any bass before this.

I've done the straplock switch on several basses. I just drill the hole out a little longer and presto, the screw fits like it should.

 

[BurningSkies]

Really?! Mine is an NG. That’s weird. I didn’t wanna have to drill the holes out if I didn’t need to. I’ll try to wax the screw when I get home. That’s weird that it’s the same model and I’m having problems with it.

Try some soap on the threads to lubricate them. At worst grab the drill and figure out the same bit used and just go another 1/4" or so. Tape off the bit if you need for a guide-marker of depth.

 

[Musicman1901]

I've done the straplock switch on several basses. I just drill the hole out a little longer and presto, the screw fits like it should.

I was surprised to see how short the Dingwall screws were. The screws to all my other basses are significantly longer