IvanBassist
Commercial User
- Jun 8, 2008
- 3,743
- 11,118
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- Content Manager at Darkglass Electronics, Dingwall Guitars Artist
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Dingwall Owners Club
- Thread starter FroggyOne2
- Start date
Where the heck do I find the upgrade kit to turn a standard combustion into a 3 pickup model?
I can only find ng3 kit and that comes with a neck pup, not a center.
I can only find ng3 kit and that comes with a neck pup, not a center.
They might be putting the neck pickup in the bridge position and moving the bridge to middle. Saw one on Reverb and I am sure @bebass could get you one. The NG kit is the same really.
The thing that worries me is all the NG-2's have a bridge middle, the kit adds the neck pup, I have a Bridge and neck. Also, don't these pickups need to be phase matched? $160 isn't drop in the bucket for me, I had to finance the bass in the first place.
Also you guys are giving me purple envy
Also you guys are giving me purple envy
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
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- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
The thing that worries me is all the NG-2's have a bridge middle, the kit adds the neck pup, I have a Bridge and neck. Also, don't these pickups need to be phase matched? $160 isn't drop in the bucket for me, I had to finance the bass in the first place.
Also you guys are giving me purple envy
Talk to Jeff at Dingwall. They should be able to let you know what you need, and make things happen smoothly.
The thing that worries me is all the NG-2's have a bridge middle, the kit adds the neck pup, I have a Bridge and neck. Also, don't these pickups need to be phase matched? $160 isn't drop in the bucket for me, I had to finance the bass in the first place.
Also you guys are giving me purple envy
I ordered it direct from Dingwall- cost 160 bucks, and they made sure that I got the phase-correct (middle) pickup and rotary switch. Just email them.
Thanks guys. I might go with the P pickup instead... But I don't know, never had a 3 pickup bass before.
Still loving mine!!
It is a smart move from a practicality standpoint. Litigation is very expensive, even if you win the suit. It is much cheaper to make one of your own design. You don’t need to change much. The only people who really win are the lawyers when it comes to litigation, unless there is something really valuable at stake.Yeah, it looks to me like @Sheldon D. has just decided to step out of the fray. Probably best. I think the new design looks more Dingwallish anyway.That said, I do like my DB Standard a lot.
However, it really sucks because Sheldon did such a fabulous job on that model.
The fact is, Gibson will lose if there is a brave soul who wants to spend the money to beat them. The protection for features of utilitarian devices is extremely thin. Any functional aspects of a utilitarian device are going to be almost assuredly functional as well, and that’s true if even if there are other ways to them. Only the purely aesthetic can be protected using trademark/trade dress law.
Gibson sued PRS over their single cut that looked just like a LesPaul. The district judge ruled in favor of Gibson, and was duly reversed by the Appeals Court as well as the Supreme Court. He got the law totally wrong. BUT, that was a long and very expensive road for PRS and I’m sure no one wants to to do that.
Gibson must have a nice war chest and figured they can chase out other luthiers who have no desire to litigate like PRS did. The transaction costs are just not worth it. Especially for a foreign country, who might be sued at the FTC because they are being imported. Ugh.
Anyway, so I don’t blame Sheldon one bit for just altering his design. He’s an amazing luthier/manufacturer and he doesn’t need that headache.
I looked into the Gibson Thunderbird. Went to several stores and played half a dozen. That pretty much cooled my jets. Especially after trying one with a strap.
I haven’t played a Dbird yet, but I expect my experience would be similar to getting my first Super J. At the time I had a Fender J.
Picking up the Super J, I was blown away at how every detail had been refined. All the fat and flab was trimmed away. The Super was several pounds lighter. It played better, and it sounded so much better.
The Fender went up for sale that day, and after taking pictures for the ad, I went ahead and packed it up in the box the Dingwall arrived in.
I’m sorry to see the Dbird go this way, after all the design and development work, not to mention tooling up for production. I hope the current production will make it to the folks who have ordered.
Who knows, perhaps these will be the next collectible “lawsuit” bass.
I haven’t played a Dbird yet, but I expect my experience would be similar to getting my first Super J. At the time I had a Fender J.
Picking up the Super J, I was blown away at how every detail had been refined. All the fat and flab was trimmed away. The Super was several pounds lighter. It played better, and it sounded so much better.
The Fender went up for sale that day, and after taking pictures for the ad, I went ahead and packed it up in the box the Dingwall arrived in.
I’m sorry to see the Dbird go this way, after all the design and development work, not to mention tooling up for production. I hope the current production will make it to the folks who have ordered.
Who knows, perhaps these will be the next collectible “lawsuit” bass.
Looks like Dean is gonna fight Gibson Dean Files Countersuit Against Gibson, Seeks Trademark Cancellations | Guitarworld
The real shame here is the huge amount of work that Sheldon and his team put in to get the D-bird design to work, only to have to tweak it again so soon after getting them rolling out the door.
I hope the new design does as well if not better than the old D-bird.
Gibson sucks. That said, I actually like the D-Roc better.
I adjusted my pickups today- huge improvement, the high end was about 1.5-2 mm fretted instead of 3 and bass end was even closer. Love that it has machine studs, no more grunting and stripping Philips heads.
And yeah, this bass essentially killed my desire to buy a standard bass ever again, in fact, if I did't love my other 3 basses they would be gone right now.
Well I just e-mailed about the conversion parts, I would be happy with a 3 pup rig, but I really would like to a reverse P-J give the low end more burp and the high end more warmth by putting the treble pup closer to the neck.
I adjusted my pickups today- huge improvement, the high end was about 1.5-2 mm fretted instead of 3 and bass end was even closer. Love that it has machine studs, no more grunting and stripping Philips heads.
And yeah, this bass essentially killed my desire to buy a standard bass ever again, in fact, if I did't love my other 3 basses they would be gone right now.
Well I just e-mailed about the conversion parts, I would be happy with a 3 pup rig, but I really would like to a reverse P-J give the low end more burp and the high end more warmth by putting the treble pup closer to the neck.
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I totally get that. I have a 76 Mustang that I bought in horrible condition, refinished and toured Japan with, which is never leaving me. A bass that I started making about 6 years ago that needs to be finished and will not have a resale value. And a Squier SS Jag (modded with a mustang pickup) that would be perfect for kid(s) to learn on in future. But everything else is going to go on the block (eventually).
GOOD!!! Dean May have more at stake, so it may be worth it to them. Sheldon has such an incredible lineup of clearly original work that making some changes on one model is just not going to affect him much. Dean on the other hand, has been selling their clones for a long time. So maybe they feel they can’t afford to give in.
Like I said above, Sheldon has the additional headache of having to deal with an action first by the FTC, before it would even get into the courts. Of course, Dean may be manufacturing overseas and thus they will deal with the FTC as well.
Sounds like Dean is starting with cancellation proceedings at the Patent and Trademark Office. That can stay litigation over federal trademark and trade dress infringement while those administrative proceedings can drag on for years at the PTO. Gibson could still file an action on the basis of Federal and state common law theories. But I just do not see much of that surviving for long.
in the end.... Gibson isn’t gonna win from this. They won’t sell more birds because of it. They will lose sooo much respect in the industry between other brands and musicians alike. Imo. This is an attempt to patch a hole in a sinking ship. It’s really unfortunate as mentioned for every builder who had a bird designed bass but if anything it will make other brands stronger like Dingwall. Never liked Gibson and this is just another reason to hold steady.
If anything other manufactures selling cheap copies gets companies like Gibson and fender more business because once a new player out-grows the cheap copy, they will want to get the real deal.
Unfortunately Gibson does spotty work at exuberant prices, so maybe they are on to something
All I know is my Bro's 1000 series eclipse LTD and Edwards Explorer sh-t all over Gibson's at $3000.
Unfortunately Gibson does spotty work at exuberant prices, so maybe they are on to something
All I know is my Bro's 1000 series eclipse LTD and Edwards Explorer sh-t all over Gibson's at $3000.
...Oh my...
THAT is KILLA'! I'm super stoked for you, my friend, and I'm even more stoked for ME! LOL! I'm so glad I went with the Blacked Out Neck option on my order. Did you order this one or did you score that beauty from a store?
I also think that the D-Roc shape is a bit more aesthetically pleasing, at least to me. I'd definitely consider swapping my D-Bird for a D-Roc...
Look at the website. Looks like the D-Roc custom still has the edges on the headstock.
