Dingwall Owners Club

[NaH]

Maybe the they do. I was just comparing the Standard.

Ah - didn't realize the original D-Bird standard had the edges like that.

 

[MGBR]

...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?

It's this one Invalid Link Removed

 

[spiritbass]

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.

Under the shell, FD-3 pickups are in a 'reverse P' configuration...

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

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.

I don't know about that. Being super litigious hasn't hurt Rickenbacker and their QC is one of the few that is worse than Gibson's. Unfortunately, being an a-hole just isn't grounds to stop people from doing business with you. If it was, most of the top companies would probably stumble much harder. Even at a local level, some of the most successful companies around here have some of the absolute worst reputations. I doubt my small city is an anomaly.

 

[AB Nate]

I don't know about that. Being super litigious hasn't hurt Rickenbacker and their QC is one of the few that is worse than Gibson's. Unfortunately, being an a-hole just isn't grounds to stop people from doing business with you. If it was, most of the top companies would probably stumble much harder. Even at a local level, some of the most successful companies around here have some of the absolute worst reputations. I doubt my small city is an anomaly.

I don’t disagree. I still hope your wrong.
Another reality though already is I don’t see or know many Gibson bass players these days. They aren’t crushing the competition by any means. I k ow what you mean about ric and I get why people love them and the QC I have seen from them in recent history is absolute garbage. L and M barely even wants to stock them here locally due to poor quality and terrible return policy on defective goods.

I just think that anyone with internet access has seen a far superior bird bass created by a smaller builder and knows there is better options..... or was.

Again, they aren’t offering up anything magical and by restricting builder from offering up a better option, since they don’t emphasize innovation, ergonomics or more importantly, quality I think they are hurting themselves but monopolizing..... on a shape.


Either way, it’s a weak mannered maneuver.

 

[Wyvern]

The fact that they refuse to use a volute and continue to use an unstable bridge and neck (on the guitars at least) goes to show they are staying traditional for the sake of tradition.

Same goes for Ric's. It's a sad day when a smaller outfit like Dingwall is able to make it's Chinese versions higher quality than sought after Murican made instruments, but slack-jawed individuals will go with the American made instrument regardless because its American, regardless of how good or terrible it may be.

Which brings me back to this point, People are going to continue buying the real deal, a $400 Indonesia Dean is not going to take business away from a $3000 American made Gibson, The same way a Brice isn't going to steal business away from Dingwall.

 

[NaH]

The fact that they refuse to use a volute and continue to use an unstable bridge and neck (on the guitars at least) goes to show they are staying traditional for the sake of tradition.

Same goes for Ric's. It's a sad day when a smaller outfit like Dingwall is able to make it's Chinese versions higher quality than sought after Murican made instruments, but slack-jawed individuals will go with the American made instrument regardless because its American, regardless of how good or terrible it may be.

Which brings me back to this point, People are going to continue buying the real deal, a $400 Indonesia Dean is not going to take business away from a $3000 American made Gibson, The same way a Brice isn't going to steal business away from Dingwall.

I was always wanting to buy American (not that I could afford them initially). After I finally got there, then I played a Dingwall and said to myself, "I am buying American. North American."

Comes down to quality.

I'm surprised they didn't go to these other dealers and try to work out a licensing deal. Then again, when you haven't been paying one and now be asked to you're not likely to appreciate it. Better than being sued though.

 

[Wyvern]

[QUOTE="NaH, post: 22856470, member: 165989"

I'm surprised they didn't go to these other dealers and try to work out a licensing deal. Then again, when you haven't been paying one and now be asked to you're not likely to appreciate it. Better than being sued though.[/QUOTE]
Gibson is just trying to flash it's chode and throw around its weight.
I wonder if they even gave the other brands an opportunity to use the shape, or they just went right for the throat.
But enough of that.
I'm slightly worried about playing my Combustion, with small frets I'm afraid to practice an hour or two daily, so I've been playing my other basses and only playing the Dingwall for 15 minutes- already noticed cosmetic fret wear.
I don't want to wear out my new toy, I would hate to re-fret it and I can't afford another one for a long time.

 

[xnewyorka]

I'm slightly worried about playing my Combustion, with small frets I'm afraid to practice an hour or two daily, so I've been playing my other basses and only playing the Dingwall for 15 minutes- already noticed cosmetic fret wear.
I don't want to wear out my new toy, I would hate to re-fret it and I can't afford another one for a long time.

No need to worry. That cosmetic fret wear shows up in the first 5 minutes of playing on any new Dingwall, then it will probably be many, many years before it starts to look any worse. If you use a magnifying glass, you will see that they are just microscopic lines on the surface.

 

[AB Nate]

I'm slightly worried about playing my Combustion, with small frets I'm afraid to practice an hour or two daily, so I've been playing my other basses and only playing the Dingwall for 15 minutes- already noticed cosmetic fret wear.
I don't want to wear out my new toy, I would hate to re-fret it and I can't afford another one for a long time.

The frets will show wear faster then a parallel fret bass. It’s ok. Don’t be alarmed. Don’t pay it any mind even. You won’t need a fret job for many moons. Many many players here have been playing on the same frets for many many years and haven’t required a refret.

Play the snot out of it!

 

[AB Nate]

To add to this... my understanding is that after the fret wear happens and your been playing them For many years you have actually created fret hardening.

If you get the frets dressed beyond this there is a good chance you won’t see the same wear ever again beyond the hardening and redressing years down the road.

 

[EMoneySC2]

100% in agreement with cosmetic fret wear comments here. It's really nothing to worry about. Sheldon himself has said as much many times here. @BurningSkies could be a good spokesman here - he bought a combustion new and has been playing it more than probably any of us play any of our Dingwalls ;-)

 

[Wyvern]

I figured that they would work harden but I'm not the best player in the world so sometimes I will death grip when playing new songs- but I noticed I use much less pressure on this bass.

I play a lot of Rush, I'm learning "Vital signs" which requires lots of rotating, stretching and takes quick jumps to frets- almost like hammer ons, and I am also playing "Hysteria" and everything is essentially a hammer-on.

I just really want the bass to play like new for a long time.

 

[AB Nate]

I figured that they would work harden but I'm not the best player in the world so sometimes I will death grip when playing new songs- but I noticed I use much less pressure on this bass.

I play a lot of Rush, I'm learning "Vital signs" which requires lots of rotating, stretching and takes quick jumps to frets- almost like hammer ons, and I am also playing "Hysteria" and everything is essentially a hammer-on.

I just really want the bass to play like new for a long time.

Don’t worry. It will. It takes a lot more effort then you realize to wear these frets down.

 

[Wyvern]

Oh good, I haven't been playing too long, I started playing 10 years ago on a Steinberger spirit for 6 months, I had to sell it to help my parents and just picked it back up 5 months ago and got GAS baaaaad, I got fairly ok quickly and don't plan on giving it up anytime soon, which is part of the reason I now play for my Church- didn't play the Dingwall today since I had 5 new songs today, and didn't want to cut through the mix with the wrong notes!
The GAS is gone, but now I look forward to getting a NG3 in a few years.

 

[Lowendtech]

Combustion, with small frets I'm afraid to practice an hour or two daily, so I've been playing my other basses and only playing the Dingwall for 15 minutes- already noticed cosmetic fret wear.

Along with the above replies, I’ll just add:
Think of it this way. You buy a new car/motorcycle/whatever. The engine breaks in/initial bed in etc within a thousand km/m or so. A lot of fine metal particles get deposited in the engine oil. Once this initial break in period is mostly over, you dump the oil and filter and it should now be “broken in” and you’re good to go for a regular oil change interval after that.
Play the snot out of her my friend.

 

[Wyvern]

10-4
Reminds me, my first new Car was a 500 Abarth, break in was a PITA, needed lots of engine braking and varying RPM highway cruising(so says Fiat).
I also used to regularly give my cars Italian tuneups, they loved it! But now I drive a Bolt... Still drive it like I'm blowing out the carbon.

 

[BurningSkies]

I'm slightly worried about playing my Combustion, with small frets I'm afraid to practice an hour or two daily, so I've been playing my other basses and only playing the Dingwall for 15 minutes- already noticed cosmetic fret wear.
I don't want to wear out my new toy, I would hate to re-fret it and I can't afford another one for a long time.

The trick here is that the angle of the fret. While the fret wire is thin, since it's angled there's actually a good amount of contact with the string probably closer to standard wire. Also because of the angle and the wraps of the string it initially looks like you're creating striations on the fret.

I can say that you shouldn't limit yourself or not play your bass because you're worried about it. Many new Dingwall players have this concern and years later haven't had a single fret replaced.

My first Dingwall was a whalepool blue AB1. I woodshedded on that bass 3-5 hours a day plus gigs and when I sold it 7 years later (shouldn't have sold it)...it was nowhere near needing fretwork or even adjustments to the action to account for fretwear.

100% in agreement with cosmetic fret wear comments here. It's really nothing to worry about. Sheldon himself has said as much many times here. @BurningSkies could be a good spokesman here - he bought a combustion new and has been playing it more than probably any of us play any of our Dingwalls ;-)

Yep, I have an NG-3 that I took Delivery of in January 2018 that has about 130-sh shows worth of playtime plus practice and rehearsal. The Frets are completely fine. It got a little sprouty last winter but once the dryness of 'heat season' ended, it's back to completely normal. I've actually worn through the neck finish way more than I have done anything to the frets. ; ) Though don't know that I've seen any other Combustions that have had that kind of finish wear, My body chemistry is hard on a bass, so even when I'm being nice to things happen.

I figured that they would work harden but I'm not the best player in the world so sometimes I will death grip when playing new songs- but I noticed I use much less pressure on this bass.

I play a lot of Rush, I'm learning "Vital signs" which requires lots of rotating, stretching and takes quick jumps to frets- almost like hammer ons, and I am also playing "Hysteria" and everything is essentially a hammer-on.

I just really want the bass to play like new for a long time.

You know, a Dingwall with it's low standard action is a great opportunity for you to hone your technique so you don't 'deathgrip' your bass with your fretting hand. That was a big part of my initial 3-5 hours a day with my ol' AB1. It took me some time to reprogram my hands and my mind not to clamp so hard. You'll be a better player for the effort down the line. The lighter you play with your fretting hand, the faster you can move around on the neck and within a position.

You'll also be less prone to hand cramping and muscle fatigue if you're playing long sets (I used to do 4 hours in a night and was coming out with cramping, tendon pain, sore muscles in my hands & wrists and some swelling). We don't play quite as long now, but even so, Saturday we did a 2 hour single set then a 15 minute encore and I had absolutely no negative anything in my paws.

If I read the situation correctly, now is a great time for you to concentrate on some of those basics of technique...Being fairly new to the game, if you learn it right the first time you won't have to un-learn and re-learn which is way harder and time consuming. I also found that playing with headphones really helped me a whole lot to lighten up.

You can see the marks on the frets, but they're definitely only on the surface and not deepening. You can also see what I've done to a maple board with a fairly thin finish. I think this picture was taken last fall, so I've got another 50ish shows on the bass:

Some no-thumb-no-clamp happening:

 

[Wyvern]

Very cool! I'm getting better at fret pressure, I usually play with a lighter touch, the problem shows up when I haven't developed muscle memory for a song, hand and thumb cramps galore.

I have been focusing on just relaxing, even when my fingers are flying around, it's been helping thus far, especially since I love this new bass, I don't want to dent the frets.

A smudgy maple fretboard shows a good seasoned player, I just don't like the funk tar some people leave on there BLecK My bro had a friend with a LP, that thing could get up and walk around with all that DNA around the frets.

 

[BurningSkies]

Very cool! I'm getting better at fret pressure, I usually play with a lighter touch, the problem shows up when I haven't developed muscle memory for a song, hand and thumb cramps galore.

I have been focusing on just relaxing, even when my fingers are flying around, it's been helping thus far, especially since I love this new bass, I don't want to dent the frets.

A smudgy maple fretboard shows a good seasoned player, I just don't like the funk tar some people leave on there BLecK My bro had a friend with a LP, that thing could get up and walk around with all that DNA around the frets.

Someone in another thread commented that it wasn't play wear, just dirt and grime...Which it totally isn't. I clean it every few weeks when I trade out strings. Once you get to wood, it darkens because the grain is open.