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Dingwall Owners Club

Another "office" shot...

View attachment 3407771

Really diggin' these basses! They sound amazing, and they're fun to look at! It makes for a fun night's work.

Just for reference sake, nothing sitting on top of my cab has anything to do with my sound, that's my IEM rig(Shure wireless, Denon mixer, Carvin power strip). This is my bass rig...

View attachment 3407780

Top row is always on. The rest is salt and pepper, but I get to leave it all on, thanks to the ES-5! I'm thinking about replacing the Ampeg with a Bergantino HG cab, either a 410 or a 412. I may wait until after my ABZs show up...:thumbsup:;)
First time I've seen a mini power amp like that. How do you like it?
 
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First time I've seen a mini power amp like that. How do you like it?

I like it! It's the Straight Ahead Mini Power Amp. It's been rock solid since I got it! It's 500w@4 Ohms, which was pretty decent with my 4 Ohm Genzler BA410, but I'm having some issue with that cab, so I reverted to my Ampeg PN-410, which is an 8 Ohm cab, so it's only getting 300w. The 300w is getting it done, but I don't have anymore headroom, so I have to be a bit more judicious with my settings, which isn't my favorite thing to do. Overall, it's definitely a winner, and I'd encourage anyone looking for a small, lightweight, fairly powerful, and pretty inexpensive, power amp to take a look at these. I tried to record a video Saturday night, but the SD card was full, so I got nothing. I emptied it today, so I should be able to get something this weekend.

Having said all that, I'm giving some serious consideration to getting a GSS Sumo for a couple of reasons. 1. It's got more POWA'! 2. It comes with a transport case, which would allow me to... 3. Not have the power amp mounted to my board, therefore, allowing me to go to a smaller board. I'm fairly certain that I could mount it on my current board if I smushed everything together, but the thought of downsizing my board makes me smile, LOL! It would also allow me to mount the SAMPA to my acoustic show board permanently, since I have to move it from board to board currently.

The con of the SAMPA is that it's only 500w. The con of the GSS Sumo is the 10" depth. The biggest con of both is that they're 4 Ohm minimum and can't be modded, which limits cab configs. This is also on the table at this moment, the RAD 1000P. It's WAY more expensive than the other two, but it can be modded to work at 2 Ohms.

TL;DR- The Straight Ahead Mini Power Amp is super cool. It's not perfect, but it is surprisingly good! If you're interested in going the mini power amp route, there are some killer choices available....:thumbsup:
 
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Has anyone upgraded their NG-2 to a NG-3 using the "official" upgrade kit? I have a question regarding the pickup wiring, everything else is pretty much self explanatory. The kit has a sheet inside describing the process. Last sentece: "Solder green and black together on each pickup."

The single pickup that came with the kit already has that done, it has the following leads:

- red
- white
- clear
- green and black as one, isolated


The NG-2 stock pickups look different, both are:

- black and white as one
- red and greed as one
- a thicker black one (clear?)


I have both the DB and the 3X switch and want to put in the 3x. Can anyone help with the pickups leads? If I read the instructions correctly I need to break up the black/white and red/green leads on the exisiting pickups. Why is that? I like knowing what the effect is.

I've moved the existing NG-2 pickups from bridge/middle to middle/neck and put the new pickup in the bridge position.

Here are the instruction sheet and a pic of the different leads


Joining the Black & Green together puts the pickup in series, thats not in series with any of the other pickups.

Each pickup has two coils in it so these two coils can be series wired OR parallel wired.

I can't yet comment on the difference it'll make to the sound but I'll probably try the experiment.
 
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I like it! It's the Straight Ahead Mini Power Amp. It's been rock solid since I got it! It's 500w@4 Ohms, which was pretty decent with my 4 Ohm Genzler BA410, but I'm having some issue with that cab, so I reverted to my Ampeg PN-410, which is an 8 Ohm cab, so it's only getting 300w. The 300w is getting it done, but I don't have anymore headroom, so I have to be a bit more judicious with my settings, which isn't my favorite thing to do. Overall, it's definitely a winner, and I'd encourage anyone looking for a small, lightweight, fairly powerful, and pretty inexpensive, power amp to take a look at these. I tried to record a video Saturday night, but the SD card was full, so I got nothing. I emptied it today, so I should be able to get something this weekend.

Having said all that, I'm giving some serious consideration to getting a GSS Sumo for a couple of reasons. 1. It's got more POWA'! 2. It comes with a transport case, which would allow me to... 3. Not have the power amp mounted to my board, therefore, allowing me to go to a smaller board. I'm fairly certain that I could mount it on my current board if I smushed everything together, but the thought of downsizing my board makes me smile, LOL! It would also allow me to mount the SAMPA to my acoustic show board permanently, since I have to move it from board to board currently.

The con of the SAMPA is that it's only 500w. The con of the GSS Sumo is the 10" depth. The biggest con of both is that they're 4 Ohm minimum and can't be modded, which limits cab configs. This is also on the table at this moment, the RAD 1000P. It's WAY more expensive than the other two, but it can be modded to work at 2 Ohms.

TL;DR- The Straight Ahead Mini Power Amp is super cool. It's not perfect, but it is surprisingly good! If you're interested in going the mini power amp route, there are some killer choices available....:thumbsup:

Would the SAMPA fit in a 1 unit rack space, do you think?
 
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Joining the Black & Green together puts the pickup in series, thats not in series with any of the other pickups.

Each pickup has two coils in it so these two coils can be series wired OR parallel wired.

I can't yet comment on the difference it'll make to the sound but I'll probably try the experiment.


Thanks, that was my guess. Since the manual basically asks me to do this, does that mean that the 3 pickup NGs have the pickups wired in series? What about the D-Bird Standard?

When I compare my NG-2 in passive setting with the D-Bird (passive only), the NG is much clearer sounding. Is that because the D-Bird has its pickups wired in series?


If that's the case I'd rather wire the pickups parallel, at least bridge and middle.
 
Another "office" shot...

View attachment 3407771

Any chance you might A/B the NG vs DBird? I'd love to hear the difference

Really diggin' these basses! They sound amazing, and they're fun to look at! It makes for a fun night's work.

Just for reference sake, nothing sitting on top of my cab has anything to do with my sound, that's my IEM rig(Shure wireless, Denon mixer, Carvin power strip). This is my bass rig...

View attachment 3407780

Top row is always on. The rest is salt and pepper, but I get to leave it all on, thanks to the ES-5! I'm thinking about replacing the Ampeg with a Bergantino HG cab, either a 410 or a 412. I may wait until after my ABZs show up...:thumbsup:;)
 
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The D-Bird Standard has the humbuckers wired in series, here is a gutshot:
 

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Would the SAMPA fit in a 1 unit rack space, do you think?

I don't believe it will. I think it's 2" tall, which would make it .25" too tall to rack.

None of the mini power amps seem to be rackable.

Speaking as a shameless cab slut, I would have dumped the Ampeg for a Bergie or two before ordering the ABZ’s!

Believe it or not, The Ampeg Pro Neo's are actually pretty decent cabs. I've also got a Genzler BA410, which I love, but I'm having trouble with it. In all actuality, if I want to add more cabs, the most cost effective thing to do would be to add an Ampeg PN-210. Those Bergantino cabs look amazing! I may do a total Cab makeover after the basses show up.


I was planning on capturing both the D-Bird and the NG-3. I will do my best to get that done this weekend.
 
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Believe it or not, The Ampeg Pro Neo's are actually pretty decent cabs. I've also got a Genzler BA410, which I love, but I'm having trouble with it. In all actuality, if I want to add more cabs, the most cost effective thing to do would be to add an Ampeg PN-210. Those Bergantino cabs look amazing! I may do a total Cab makeover after the basses show up.



I was planning on capturing both the D-Bird and the NG-3. I will do my best to get that done this weekend.
I had two Ampeg 410 proneo cabs and they are very good cabs. However, I did sell them after I got my Bergantino HDN212. That is the perfect cab for me.
 
For those who have had a custom build done, how long does it actually take to do the build? I know the wait time is 16-18 months, but how far into that do they actually start work on it?
I want to say 6-7 months from due date, not sure though. If you want to make changes just contact them (or your dealer) and ask. I took over a custom build order last month that Jason had through Fret Nation and I changed everything but the color. :laugh: Should be ready Oct - Nov.
 
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