Dingwall Owners Club

[Bassheart365]

I've sent my ABHS off to Mo's Shop for Nordstrand Jazz pickups and medium jumbo frets. It's a passive bass. My first passive bass other than my Clement fretless. I'm thinking about having him put in a Nordstrand 3b preamp to make it active. Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

 

[Subscript]

Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

It's not that I prefer passive basses, it's just that for me I don't think it's worth any extra money for an on board preamp. If I really want a preamp that bad I think the money is better spent on a pedal for all my basses to enjoy. If a bass already includes one then for sure I'd be happy with that.

 

[The_Owl]

I've sent my ABHS off to Mo's Shop for Nordstrand Jazz pickups and medium jumbo frets. It's a passive bass. My first passive bass other than my Clement fretless. I'm thinking about having him put in a Nordstrand 3b preamp to make it active. Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

I do. I tend to think basses sound better, more raw in passive mode. I also can't live without having a passive tone rolloff. Yes, I know a lot of active preamps have them. I just prefer the simplicity of passive.

 

[IvanBassist]

I do. I tend to think basses sound better, more raw in passive mode. I also can't live without having a passive tone rolloff. Yes, I know a lot of active preamps have them. I just prefer the simplicity of passive.

Same here. There's also less chance of faulty electronics and less batteries wasted for the environment

 

[Randy W Lopez]

I've had single and double Hercules stands back about 5 years ago and while I liked them, the found the gravity mechanisms for closing the fingers to hold the bass in were not robust enough for gigging. Both of them eventually broke and then they were useless.

Since then, I've gone with one of these to eliminate the mechanism:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sup...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=31Z1MGT4HP61722TKR94

They also have one like the Hercules that closes with gravity. Not sure how those things hold up these days to the riggers of the load in and load out.

I do still have this one from Hercules and it has held up really well. I like it when using more than one instrument. Someone would have to crash into it to knock the guitars off with its low center of gravity.

https://www.amazon.com/Hercules-GS5...AB31QBJ8GWA&psc=1&refRID=F3CPJJXGRAB31QBJ8GWA

I've had the opposite results with both stands. Used the Ultimate for about 2 yrs, gigging every weekend 2-3 days. The bottom set screws broke off or stripped out on those. Got the Hercules about 5-6 years ago. Been touring and playing local 2-3 shows a week and they are slightly beat up and fully functional

 

[Thumper]

I like the sweet organic tone of my passives. If they didn't sound so good passively, I would have gone with another brand. Plus there's the weight penalty of a battery and the need to always unplug a cord.

 

[The_Owl]

I like the sweet organic tone of my passives. If they didn't sound so good passively, I would have gone with another brand. Plus there's the weight penalty of a battery and the need to always unplug a cord.

Which is easy to forget with the Neutrik locking jacks.

 

[Waltsdog]

I've sent my ABHS off to Mo's Shop for Nordstrand Jazz pickups and medium jumbo frets. It's a passive bass. My first passive bass other than my Clement fretless. I'm thinking about having him put in a Nordstrand 3b preamp to make it active. Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

I like having the active option, the preamp gives you options without having to change amp settings or fiddling on the floor with pedals. I would also always prefer to have passive roll off when in passive mode.
Personally, I would only add a preamp to a passive Dingwall if it could be done without the need for additional routing. Battery boxes ruin the look of many active basses IMHO and Sheldon went a long way to make the battery compartment on Dingwalls be more functional and better looking than the standard.

 

[AB Nate]

I've sent my ABHS off to Mo's Shop for Nordstrand Jazz pickups and medium jumbo frets. It's a passive bass. My first passive bass other than my Clement fretless. I'm thinking about having him put in a Nordstrand 3b preamp to make it active. Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

I respect the simplicity of passive basses but definitely prefer the options and dynamics available at your fingertips with a pre.

 

[Thumper]

I respect the simplicity of passive basses but definitely prefer the options and dynamics available at your fingertips with a pre.

I respect your opinion, and it's possible we play different genres of music. I find the 4way rotary more useful than the pre's in my active basses. Having said that, I do also use a para eq, and Phat Phuk to good effect.

 

[AB Nate]

I respect your opinion, and it's possible we play different genres of music. I find the 4way rotary more useful than the pre's in my active basses. Having said that, I do also use a para eq, and Phat Phuk to good effect.

And visa versa. That said I can go from aggressive metal tones to nice scooped slap tone to a nice rolled off warm and mid present smooth jazz almost fretless tone with a quick on board tweak. The passive roll off, switches, and selector cannot achieve the same thing. They are definite options that add tones of variety but not of the same variety the pre can.

I only recently got into pedals after many years of never having a need.... still don’t, but I found that they can be a lot of fun and so the toy colllecrion has begun. Still for my band situation I don’t use them aside from a comp now but all I ever “need” is my bass and amp and can do wonders with the pre from there.

As an added bonus both the Darkglass and glockenklang provide amazing individual accents to the tone. I’ll often jump to passive to give it a try and find wonderful tones but I can always get something more desired with the pre amp.

 

[Thumper]

And visa versa. That said I can go from aggressive metal tones to nice scooped slap tone to a nice rolled off warm and mid present smooth jazz almost fretless tone with a quick on board tweak. The passive roll off, switches, and selector cannot achieve the same thing. They are definite options that add tones of variety but not of the same variety the pre can.

I only recently got into pedals after many years of never having a need.... still don’t, but I found that they can be a lot of fun and so the toy colllecrion has begun. Still for my band situation I don’t use them aside from a comp now but all I ever “need” is my bass and amp and can do wonders with the pre from there.

As an added bonus both the Darkglass and glockenklang provide amazing individual accents to the tone. I’ll often jump to passive to give it a try and find wonderful tones but I can always get something more desired with the pre amp.

I'll cede to that, especially if you're recording. I'm just a meat and potatoes, low frequency gigging bassist, different tools and needs. Back in 2 bands though, but Hard Rock and Classic Country suit my tools, plus, my Roscoe Signature SKB 3005 is active if need be.

 

[AB Nate]

I'll cede to that, especially if you're recording. I'm just a meat and potatoes, low frequency gigging bassist, different tools and needs. Back in 2 bands though, but Hard Rock and Classic Country suit my tools, plus, my Roscoe Signature SKB 3005 is active if need be.

Honestly, Up until not long ago I was pretty much a straight thrasher. With that I had dialed in a very .... lovely.... sound for the band that I hardly ever modified aside from dialing up the bass periodically for a moment here or there.

I still loved the flavor that the 3 band glock allowed me to have but in that case there was a good chance I could have been content with passive.
Now though I feel tone has become that much more critical from song to song in the jazz/Latin situation I’m in.
One day perhaps I’ll even ascent to pedal utilization the way @BurningSkies does..... hopefully. That some cool stuff and now playing music were it’s more relevant .... dare to dream. Lol.


I think it would be great to get my hands on a nice 6 string passive abz for a gigging work horse on the heavier side of things but I’m sure that would be some truly unneeded excess to my finances.

 

[Thumper]

Exactly!

In a perfect world, Dingwall would make an import Super Series so I could have a 3rd to leave at Hard Rock practice (SJ5XXX stays at home, SPJ5 stays at Country practice). Now days I don't gig enough to pay for a Canadian build in under 5 years. Being retired, a $4000 + bass is not doable, and used Super 5s are practically unobtainable.

 

[Waltsdog]

Exactly!

In a perfect world, Dingwall would make an import Super Series so I could have a 3rd to leave at Hard Rock practice (SJ5XXX stays at home, SPJ5 stays at Country practice). Now days I don't gig enough to pay for a Canadian build in under 5 years. Being retired, a $4000 + bass is not doable, and used Super 5s are practically unobtainable.

Buy a Combustion, tune it down a step and capo the 2nd fret, problem solved

 

[Thumper]

Old dog, new tricks Good try though. Fortunately, I have a very nice TI strung VMP5 which i can happily leave and use there. Not a perfect solution, but no extreme stretch walking bass lines in Hard Rock.

 

[BurningSkies]

Honestly, Up until not long ago I was pretty much a straight thrasher. With that I had dialed in a very .... lovely.... sound for the band that I hardly ever modified aside from dialing up the bass periodically for a moment here or there.

I still loved the flavor that the 3 band glock allowed me to have but in that case there was a good chance I could have been content with passive.
Now though I feel tone has become that much more critical from song to song in the jazz/Latin situation I’m in.
One day perhaps I’ll even ascent to pedal utilization the way @BurningSkies does..... hopefully. That some cool stuff and now playing music were it’s more relevant .... dare to dream. Lol.


I think it would be great to get my hands on a nice 6 string passive abz for a gigging work horse on the heavier side of things but I’m sure that would be some truly unneeded excess to my finances.

Our whole band has been slowly bending the reality of our music as we write and grow. Also, with a few exceptions each time I've gotten something new on my board there's been a good place to try it. Out of all the pedals on that board, all but two are used nightly...and one is used regularly depending on situation. The only one that doesn't have a full setting yet is the Future impact, but the issue is more about the fact that it has 99 sounds on it...I've tried it here or there but I think it's a pedal for when I know what I want to hear and dropping it in.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

I've had the opposite results with both stands. Used the Ultimate for about 2 yrs, gigging every weekend 2-3 days. The bottom set screws broke off or stripped out on those. Got the Hercules about 5-6 years ago. Been touring and playing local 2-3 shows a week and they are slightly beat up and fully functional

Go figure! Somewhere in at least one of the other universes, the math suggests I'm probably playing a guitar! I'm sure that I had at least something to do with the lack of longevity of the Hercules stands I once had.

 

[NaH]

I've sent my ABHS off to Mo's Shop for Nordstrand Jazz pickups and medium jumbo frets. It's a passive bass. My first passive bass other than my Clement fretless. I'm thinking about having him put in a Nordstrand 3b preamp to make it active. Do some of you prefer passive basses? If so, why?

Some of you prefer Medium Jumbo frets. Why? I love my Banjo frets and I wish I could get an AB w/Mandolin frets. I have a Super that has them and I love them.

 

[AB Nate]

Our whole band has been slowly bending the reality of our music as we write and grow. Also, with a few exceptions each time I've gotten something new on my board there's been a good place to try it. Out of all the pedals on that board, all but two are used nightly...and one is used regularly depending on situation. The only one that doesn't have a full setting yet is the Future impact, but the issue is more about the fact that it has 99 sounds on it...I've tried it here or there but I think it's a pedal for when I know what I want to hear and dropping it in.

I like that you get to do that and your pedal board is like 10 levels beyond me. Lol. Mine is quite simple but I’m very proud of it as I LOVE what I’ve got on it. The problem is I’m sure I’m using it to about 7% of what I could. It’s just for home noodling but now have the intent for that to start to change. I’m gonna build a mini board to start with.