Dingwall Owners Club

[Flabzilla]

I might be doing a thing.

For Sale - Dingwall Z3 buckeye burl

Listed it 5 min ago.

Beautiful.

 

[Selta]

I did a thing with the messagaing and the words. Oof. haha

 

[AB Nate]

Dang that's a beauty

Oh Yeah. And the pics just don’t do it justice.

 

[djaxup]

I've read somewhere about Dingwall NG3 conversion kits - is this a thing or just rumors?

Some days ago I took of the pickguard off my NG2 and messed around with the pickup positions. I tried the three possible layouts and made simple recordings to be able to compare later. The combustion layout with the two outer pickups sounded awesome in parallel. I loved that sound so much. But I'm not willing to let go of the middle/bridge sound, so I figured I need a third pickup.

Now, the options that I want are not possible with the standard Dingwall 4-position knob. They sound interesting, but two of the best tones from my little testing session are not part of the usual D-bird / NG3 layout.

Well I guess I need the third pickup and some way to wire them as follows... in order of importance:

neck/bridge in parallel - middle/bridge in series - neck - bridge - all three ( - middle - )


I've played a Music Man Big Al once and absolutely loved the way they handled the three pickups: each pickup has a button to switch it off and on, they are always in parallel. So you can easily choose the configuration. If you switch them all off, the middle and rear pickup get wired in series for that MM bark. That worked so good.

 

[been_effected]

I've read somewhere about Dingwall NG3 conversion kits - is this a thing or just rumors?

Some days ago I took of the pickguard off my NG2 and messed around with the pickup positions. I tried the three possible layouts and made simple recordings to be able to compare later. The combustion layout with the two outer pickups sounded awesome in parallel. I loved that sound so much. But I'm not willing to let go of the middle/bridge sound, so I figured I need a third pickup.

Now, the options that I want are not possible with the standard Dingwall 4-position knob. They sound interesting, but two of the best tones from my little testing session are not part of the usual D-bird / NG3 layout.

Well I guess I need the third pickup and some way to wire them as follows... in order of importance:

neck/bridge in parallel - middle/bridge in series - neck - bridge - all three ( - middle - )


I've played a Music Man Big Al once and absolutely loved the way they handled the three pickups: each pickup has a button to switch it off and on, they are always in parallel. So you can easily choose the configuration. If you switch them all off, the middle and rear pickup get wired in series for that MM bark. That worked so good.

That's a tough one.

Only way I think you could do that would be if you could add a couple of series/parallel switches. Aaand I don't know anything about how that'd work with the TC preamp.

Some of the more electronics-focused guys will have a better idea than me.

 

[J Posega]

Might be worth looking at something like the digitech drop? Not sure how good the tracking is for bass but it could be an option to get those lower tunings without messing around with special strings.

The Digitech Drop works, for the most part. It really depends on how much of a stickler you are about digital artifacts. From my usage, I find the Drop pedal is acceptable for a half step down, usable for a whole step down, and useless any further than that. I play, mostly, 5-string basses B-G. I’m probably going to put mine back on my board, since we are now only doing a couple of tunes that I need to tune down a whole step for.

I’d never record with a Drop pedal, but it’s close enough for government work to use it live, as long as you don’t try to go lower than a whole step...

I’d use the Drop if I was going down a half or whole step, but no further, and definitely only in a live situation. I just really want to try the low F# string.

I was on the prototpye Payson .170, and use the production version now. It's a fine string - it's gone through a couple of iterations, but I feel the latest ones a very solid. I use it on an Afterburner 1 and am quite happy with the feel and tonality of it.
I wish I could continue recommending Kalium. It seems that they treat their friends and artists well... but there's a lot of normal, every-day buyers out there complaining about delivery, service, product etc. I still have no personally had an issue with them, but, I fall more in the former category than the latter (I've known Skip for years).

Yeah, I got my first order from them as Circle K something like 5 years ago when I got my first ABZ5. No issues. After that, plenty of problems. Can’t recommend them to anyone because you never know if they’ll get the order or respond to emails.

I had no real issues going E-C on the Super PJ 5. A tiny open string rattle on the G in the former D slot, but I just slid a small piece of heat shrink tubing over the string, positioned it in the nut slot, and let the tension hold it. The heat shrink just happened to be handy. I didn’t actually heat it.

BSO.com sells single C’s for $4-5. I used DR Pure Blues VW set with a .030, or TI flats 344 with a .030.

Some intonation adjustment, and it set up really nice and low.

Hadn’t thought about heat shrink tubing, thanks.

Currently living in the UK means BSO is a bit out of my price range given exchange rates, shipping and VAT. Bass Direct stocks Payson and I could really use virtually any 4 string set plus a C. I might even go for something extra light for funsies.

I had a MM Bongo 6 that I had F#-G installed on, nut filed. Didn’t work on that bass so I put the B-C strings back on with no noticeable buzz that I remember.

Thanks for the info; it’s often hit or miss whether buzzing will happen or not

Thanks.

So, for those of you who have gone from a Super series to an NG, is it worth taking the leap?

Are you considering totally ditching the Super for an NG? Because if you can afford to keep both, I’d recommend that, because then you get the best of both worlds. I love how my SP plays and sounds, but whenever I go back to my ABZ, I’m floored by the extra clarity. If I were only going to be playing music that required a ton of extra clarity in the low end, I’d only play long scale Dingwall. Also realize you’ll probably never score a Dingwall as cheap as you can today, since the popularity is skyrocketing while new and used prices continue to climb. So if you flip your Super now, you’ll pay more for another down the line.

 

[bebass]

I've read somewhere about Dingwall NG3 conversion kits - is this a thing or just rumors?

...

Not rumors. They have been delayed but are a thing.

 

[packrat]

I'm waiting for one out here. Do we have any details on the delay?

Thanks

 

[bebass]

I'm waiting for one out here. Do we have any details on the delay?

Thanks

I asked this week. ETA mid-June.

 

[spiritbass]

Well, it took longer than expected, but my ears finally got to taste the tone of FDV's in my four-string NG-2 and they are diggin' what they're hearin'. I hard-wired both pickups in series (my favorite). Though the dimensions of the pickups were in spec according to Dingwall, the bridge pickup was a few fractions of a millimeter too wide (Jeff thought it possible that the cavity had shrunk a bit) and would not fit into its cavity. A few minutes with a metal file to remove the flare at the bottom of the pickup (which occurred during potting) was all it took to enable proper fitting. I've been playing with the pickups in parallel into my 800+ powering a MAS 1,8 w/tweet and it's sounding sweet. I usually play my basses in rotation and this one's turn was last Sunday. I may have to give it double time and bring it with me again tomorrow so I can hear it through the Reeves/Bodai rig...

 

[NaH]

I did a thing with the messaging and the words. Oof. haha

I think I know what that means... little short on cash now?

 

[Selta]

I think I know what that means... little short on cash now?

No. Someone else already had dibs on it, so I missed out. Still keeping my eye out for other used Z's though

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

That said. I prefer the 18mm spacing long scale over the 19mm super scale.

Sounds.... the long scale all the way for me. I love the clarity.

+1

 

[singlemalt]

I could see picking up an NG2 four string, once prices on the used market settle down a bit.

What’s weight running on the NG’s?

I’m sticking with four strings from here on out.

I sure like my Super P 4. Does just what I need for pretty much everything, without too many knobs and switches. Simple.

And I’m digging my Cirrus 35” four string. Wonderful E and A, good enough D and G. Running a compressor and the active pickups and pre make up for fixed scale issues. For well under $800, it’s a great bass.

After playing Dingwall longscale basses, I really notice inherent weakness of a fixed scale length and the difference in string tension across the board.

I could go back and forth between the AB-1 and the Super P fives and the biggest difference in feel, for me, was the string spacing.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I could go back and forth between the AB-1 and the Super P fives and the biggest difference in feel, for me, was the string spacing.

Same here. The string spacing is the biggest adjustment for me as well.

 

[reddavid]

Agree with string spacing. Slowly moving back to long scale.

 

[spiritbass]

Everyone knows how great the 37" B is. The first time I rested the upper horn of my four string NG to play acoustically (and rattle my brain in a nice way ), I was noodling around, having fun on the A, D, and G strings. Then I hit that open 36.25" E. I was amazed at the power. My brain didn't turn to jelly, but wow. I love it. It sounds right good amplified too. String spacing? I'm not sure. I adjusted the Payson where it felt good to me, but I didn't measure it...

 

[IvanBassist]

There's something interesting I've noticed about the string spacing between my Lakland and my SJ. Both of them are listed as 19mm at the bridge but the SJ definitely feels narrower.
A couple of friends have noticed it, too

 

[xnewyorka]

There's something interesting I've noticed about the string spacing between my Lakland and my SJ. Both of them are listed as 19mm at the bridge but the SJ definitely feels narrower.
A couple of friends have noticed it, too

If you measure with a ruler or micrometer from E to G at the saddles, what readings do you get for each one?

 

[Selta]

Might be edge-to-edge vs center-to-center measuring, too.