Dingwall Owners Club

[AB Nate]

Has anyone here swapped out a DG tone capsule for a regular preamp? I’m finding its inherent tone a bit dull.

That’s interesting. I think that is the first time I’ve ever heard it described as dull.

Of course we gotta put out there the questions of strings on the bass, pick up height, gear it’s paired with. Etc.

That said it should be a pretty clean swap to convert one though. Which bass is it in?

 

[xnewyorka]

Has anyone here swapped out a DG tone capsule for a regular preamp? I’m finding its inherent tone a bit dull.

Interesting - dull is not a word that came to mind for me with the DG preamp. What comprises the rest of your signal chain, including strings, cables, pedals, amp, and cabinets?

When you say regular, you mean Glockenklang? The DG adds some coloration to the tone, whereas I would characterize the Glockenlang as more transparent and non-coloring.

And how would you describe the sound of your bass in passive mode?

 

[xnewyorka]

That’s interesting. I think that is the first time I’ve ever heard it described as dull.

Of course we gotta put out there the questions of strings on the bass, pick up height, gear it’s paired with. Etc.

That said it should be a pretty clean swap to convert one though. Which bass is it in?

Holy cow Nathan, that is crazy. I just scrolled up on my phone and see your reply, and how similar it is to mine. That is uncanny. I had not seen yours when I sent mine because I was in the middle of typing it on the phone and doing other things when you sent yours. I guess great minds think alike.

 

[AB Nate]

Holy cow Nathan, that is crazy. I just scrolled up on my phone and see your reply, and how similar it is to mine. That is uncanny. I had not seen yours when I sent mine because I was in the middle of typing it on the phone and doing other things when you sent yours. I guess great minds think alike.

Lol. Yes. I had similar thoughts when I saw you post.

 

[AB Nate]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

Solo
Cover band
Metal
country
Multi bands??
Etc.

Most recently I was in a thrash type metal band for 12 yrs or so in which my guitarist was my primary music teacher. Ie. Keep up or else!!! Lol. Jk. Great great friend he is. I resigned from it early this year as I need to do other things and I think I held myself back by commiting to them and held them back by not fully commiting at the same time.

I have now revived a project I was in about 10 yrs ago that I do a bunch of the writing in with the original members.
It’s kinda tough to describe but I would say it is influence by rush, primus, tool, maybe a Shriners circus and everything else.

Soo. There’s my story. On a side note I was more into the party then the playing probably up until about 6 years ago.
Dingwall was a spark that fueled my passion to do more and become better and now I have a hard time going a moment not wishing I was playing one.

 

[Selta]

I'm in two theatrical metal bands.
1) Ara'Kus (no, not to be conflated with Arrakis), coming up on 8 years in this one. We perform on stage with medieval combat re-enactment (using real weapons and armor, and period-correct swordmanship etc). We finished running our original production and are knee deep in a radio drama and writing our 2nd stage production now
2) The other one is just getting off the ground, no name yet. Similar idea as Ara'Kus, but, instead of on stage it's all animation. Think of it like a pretty fancy anime I suppose.

Then I do a bunch of various recording things, often times as a hired gun or volunteer with little to no credit. Small TV spots, promotional material (books, products, etc).

I also am starting to get itching to write stuff with my wife (classically trained violinist, opera soprano, pianist -- among other instruments). That keeps taking a back burner though.

 

[packrat]

Wait a minute! Is that bass in your profile picture the artist Prima that the bass shop seattle had a few months back?

 

[Selta]

Wait a minute! Is that bass in your profile picture the artist Prima that the bass shop seattle had a few months back?

Indeed. It is mine now, and forever I posted a few pages back when I bought it (well, wife bought it for me) with pictures etc.

 

[Charlzm]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

All original prog/hard rock band with a dash of metal. More Rush/Tool/King's X/Led Zep/Fates Warning than Dream Theater. Almost done recording our second album. At least half the album is my AB1 and Combustion, though there is also a Warwick Katana NT, Rickenbacker 4003, custom fretless, Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and a Kiesel Icon 5 on there as well.

 

[Flabzilla]

That’s interesting. I think that is the first time I’ve ever heard it described as dull.

Of course we gotta put out there the questions of strings on the bass, pick up height, gear it’s paired with. Etc.

That said it should be a pretty clean swap to convert one though. Which bass is it in?

Interesting - dull is not a word that came to mind for me with the DG preamp. What comprises the rest of your signal chain, including strings, cables, pedals, amp, and cabinets?

When you say regular, you mean Glockenklang? The DG adds some coloration to the tone, whereas I would characterize the Glockenlang as more transparent and non-coloring.

And how would you describe the sound of your bass in passive mode?

Nicely synchronised responses!

The AB HS. There’s a drop in volume from passive to active which is also weird. In passive mode the sound is more growling and aggressive.

To be clear it’s not an awful sound, but it does seem to take the edge off as far as my ears are concerned.

I’m comparing it to my ABI which has the Glock (what I called regular). Going from passive to active on that one there is no change in volume, very little change in tone, just the ability to EQ things a bit.

 

[xnewyorka]

Nicely synchronised responses!

The AB HS. There’s a drop in volume from passive to active which is also weird. In passive mode the sound is more growling and aggressive.

To be clear it’s not an awful sound, but it does seem to take the edge off as far as my ears are concerned.

I’m comparing it to my ABI which has the Glock (what I called regular). Going from passive to active on that one there is no change in volume, very little change in tone, just the ability to EQ things a bit.

Do you have a VOM or a battery tester? Can you measure the voltage of your battery, or put in a known fresh one and see what happens? With the three tone controls at their center detents, there should be virtually no difference between active and passive. Maybe a very small bit of tone difference, but no volume difference.

 

[Flabzilla]

Do you have a VOM or a battery tester? Can you measure the voltage of your battery, or put in a known fresh one and see what happens? With the three tone controls at their center detents, there should be virtually no difference between active and passive. Maybe a very small bit of tone difference, but no volume difference.

Yep, checked that first up with a cable plugged in so that the preamp was on and got just above and below 9V both times I did it.

I have been having email chats with both Darkglass and Dingwall; everyone’s very helpful but hasn’t come across this sort of thing before.

I’m happy for your suggestions though as operator error is still the most obvious cause...

 

[NaH]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

I'm on the worship team - I pretty much play every week.
In addition, my wife and I play for evening services once or twice a month. She is on piano, I'll swap between keyboard and bass depending on the songs.
I also write original tunes/songs which I've played or used for video contests, etc.

 

[NaH]

I also am starting to get itching to write stuff with my wife (classically trained violinist, opera soprano, pianist -- among other instruments). That keeps taking a back burner though.

This. Take the time.

 

[IvanBassist]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

Solo
Cover band
Metal
country
Multi bands??
Etc.

Most recently I was in a thrash type metal band for 12 yrs or so in which my guitarist was my primary music teacher. Ie. Keep up or else!!! Lol. Jk. Great great friend he is. I resigned from it early this year as I need to do other things and I think I held myself back by commiting to them and held them back by not fully commiting at the same time.

I have now revived a project I was in about 10 yrs ago that I do a bunch of the writing in with the original members.
It’s kinda tough to describe but I would say it is influence by rush, primus, tool, maybe a Shriners circus and everything else.

Soo. There’s my story. On a side note I was more into the party then the playing probably up until about 6 years ago.
Dingwall was a spark that fueled my passion to do more and become better and now I have a hard time going a moment not wishing I was playing one.

I do a lot of writing/playing for a reggae (10 piece) band and a rock/heavy metal band. There's also the occasional gig for a pop singer here and there

 

[Selta]

This. Take the time.

Oh, we do. And we're both musically involved in other ways (we're in Ara'Kus together, etc). It's more of a good way to waste time than an actual project or strong desire.

 

[IvanBassist]

I just had an idea. Would it be possible to have two push/pull knobs that work like series/parallel switches?
For example on my SJ:
- Vol (neck pickup: down - parallel/up - series)
- Pickup selector
- Tone (Bridge pickup: down - parallel/up - series)

or am I just dreaming?

 

[djaxup]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

Solo
Cover band
Metal
country
Multi bands??
Etc.

I play in a gothic rock band, we write all our stuff and every musician composes his own parts. Female vocals plus guitar, awesome keyboard, drums and bass. The Dingwall fits into this rather full mix so good. The guitar needs to have grit/bite so needs quite a lot of space, and the keys define most of the songs and also need space. So sonic space is limited for the bass in most songs. But boy, that NG-2 is just as perfect as my Spector Rebop for this type of mix. You can easily hear the bass parts while not overpowering anyone else. While the Spectors tone is a bit cooler and more recognizable, the NG-2 delivers absolute perfect pitched notes and the keyboarder loves this. We have quite some long notes together and that's where it really shows. Up to the 16th fret every single played note is dead on. I've never owned a bass with that level of intonation. The Dingwall has become my favorite bass due to this, and I have quite some nice basses to compare it to.

 

[Flabzilla]

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

Solo
Cover band
Metal
country
Multi bands??
Etc.

Most recently I was in a thrash type metal band for 12 yrs or so in which my guitarist was my primary music teacher. Ie. Keep up or else!!! Lol. Jk. Great great friend he is. I resigned from it early this year as I need to do other things and I think I held myself back by commiting to them and held them back by not fully commiting at the same time.

I have now revived a project I was in about 10 yrs ago that I do a bunch of the writing in with the original members.
It’s kinda tough to describe but I would say it is influence by rush, primus, tool, maybe a Shriners circus and everything else.

Soo. There’s my story. On a side note I was more into the party then the playing probably up until about 6 years ago.
Dingwall was a spark that fueled my passion to do more and become better and now I have a hard time going a moment not wishing I was playing one.

Another worship team player here.

Interesting hearing about people’s various musical exploits; great post @AB Nate !

 

[J Posega]

I don't have any plans to put it as a reverse P.

I put round wounds on it last night and I am still getting used to the sound. I have not A/B'd it directly with my SJ5 (P/J) yet, but my first impressions are that it sounds similar but different (which is what I was expecting). The treble strings sound thinner (D, G) than the SJ5 and the E-string stands out a bit more relative to the other strings. I may have to play with the pickup heights a little.

I am not sure I like the "tone fusion" tone control either. I like the idea of the mid scoop, but in reality I don't know that it will be that useful for me. I notice an immediate and pronounced effect when turning it off of the centre detent. I think I would prefer a more standard tone control, but with a linear control. The standard tone controls seem to have most of the effect in the last quarter turn. Anyone have any suggestions on a tone control model and source?

I'd like to A/B my SP5 against an SJ with FDV pickups at some point.

Definitely take some time and dial in the pickup heights. I found I needed the P considerably lower in order to jive in terms of volume with the FDV.

I'm also not thrilled with the Tone Fusion. I'll be swapping it out just as soon as I find the right one; I'd like to find something with a nice, even sweep.

Random thought for the Dingwall wall playas in this room. Just for fun anyone care to share what you do???

Solo
Cover band
Metal
country
Multi bands??
Etc.

Most recently I was in a thrash type metal band for 12 yrs or so in which my guitarist was my primary music teacher. Ie. Keep up or else!!! Lol. Jk. Great great friend he is. I resigned from it early this year as I need to do other things and I think I held myself back by commiting to them and held them back by not fully commiting at the same time.

I have now revived a project I was in about 10 yrs ago that I do a bunch of the writing in with the original members.
It’s kinda tough to describe but I would say it is influence by rush, primus, tool, maybe a Shriners circus and everything else.

Soo. There’s my story. On a side note I was more into the party then the playing probably up until about 6 years ago.
Dingwall was a spark that fueled my passion to do more and become better and now I have a hard time going a moment not wishing I was playing one.

I'm mostly just noodling around at home. Lately, my musical endeavours involving others have me working as mix/master engineer remotely. Not having an amp has actually been good for me the last couple months once I passed my differentiation for my PhD, since I've now got the time to practice and really hone in on technique. I've finally figured out double thumbing (elusively difficult for someone with a "regular" thumb; most of the videos online are from players with a seriously bent hitchhikers thumb).

I'll be glad to get my amp out of storage when I'm back in the US and start to play out again.