Dingwall Owners Club

[Green Knight]

Congrats!

perhaps try a different string?

Hmm. That's so crazy it just might work!

 

[Green Knight]

I should have said that I’ve never had a Dingwall that wouldn’t set up super low before I ran out of adjustment room between the truss rod and the excellent bridge hardware. Some basses, at that point, would need a shim under the heel of the neck to improve the angles.

Like you, I expect a Dingwall to show up with a great set up, ready for my personal string selections and tweaks.

Sheldon has an excellent video tutorial on set up posted on YouTube.

How much saddle screw is showing is going to depend on the strings, tapered or non tapered. Sometimes mine are almost bottomed out, sometimes there’s quite a bit of thread.

First check for set up is holding down the string on both the lowest and highest frets at the same time, and looking at the space between the bottom of the string and the 12th fret. There should be very little daylight if the neck is almost flat. Or you can hold the string down on the highest fret and sight down the neck, comparing the curve of the neck to the straight string. I start with 1-2mm relief.

I’ve never had to mess with the nut, even when I ran E-C on a B-G Dingwall. I just found the action to be even better, with perhaps an open string rattle of the G in the former D slot. Nothing a bit of shrink tubing wouldn’t fix.

Since I usually put really light strings on, sometimes I might need to relax the truss rod a bit. Truss rod adjustments tend to be pretty stable, I never see movement after a set up. As we go from very dry low humidity to the rainy season here in Washington state, I might need to make small adjustments.

Short story, you should be able to dial in a great set up.

Might I ask which light strings you use for your Dingwall fivers?

 

[singlemalt]

I have run TI jazz flats, both B-G and E-C. As far as light and slinky, TI’s are very flexible. I love the TI flats sound and feel and always have a set for my Supers. The huge .136 B string isn’t tapered, so some fiddling with saddle screws was needed. But TI flats aren’t everybody’s cup of Joe.

I’ve always wanted to try the TI jazz rounds, but haven’t had a chance yet.

The B string for Super 5’s could be a tricky fit, it’s a short distance from nut to post. Sometimes I’d use a Dingwall B with whatever four string set I bought. I used DR lowriders, and Pure Blues in the lightest gauge. DR Hellborgs are.040, but have a stiffer feel, and only come in four strings. I’d add a C string rather than a B.

I ended up going with E-C and then went back to four string basses. I ever really took to the B string. Not much help, I know...

Right now I have GHS boomers, .030 on the Super P4. Super fun.

I’d check with Jason @ Fret Nation before ordering five string sets B-G. He can tell you if the winding length of the B string will work with the Super scale. He will also sell you individual strings, so you can experiment with various B and not buy the whole set.

You could also check with Payson and see if he’s got super series strings. I really liked his reduced core on the longscale AB.

Good luck, and congrats on getting a Dingwall!

I’ve always thought we should have a Dingwall owners string exchange. Pass around used string sets already cut and wound for the various models, with a review. I mean, I’d soak em in my tube of denatured alcohol first, so it wouldn’t be too gross.

I know I’ve got sets that I’ll never use again as I move towards the lightest strings I can find. Pretty much pickled they’ve been soaking so long.

 

[packrat]

Tomorrow I will solder in the 6-way-switch (B/BM/M/BN/BMN/N). Wish me luck guys

I’ll probably get to mine next week. I intend to add a terminal block to make it a bit easier to switch in and out.

B>

 

[Green Knight]

I have run TI jazz flats, both B-G and E-C. As far as light and slinky, TI’s are very flexible. I love the TI flats sound and feel and always have a set for my Supers. The huge .136 B string isn’t tapered, so some fiddling with saddle screws was needed. But TI flats aren’t everybody’s cup of Joe.

I’ve always wanted to try the TI jazz rounds, but haven’t had a chance yet.

The B string for Super 5’s could be a tricky fit, it’s a short distance from nut to post. Sometimes I’d use a Dingwall B with whatever four string set I bought. I used DR lowriders, and Pure Blues in the lightest gauge. DR Hellborgs are.040, but have a stiffer feel, and only come in four strings. I’d add a C string rather than a B.

I ended up going with E-C and then went back to four string basses. I ever really took to the B string. Not much help, I know...

Right now I have GHS boomers, .030 on the Super P4. Super fun.

I’d check with Jason @ Fret Nation before ordering five string sets B-G. He can tell you if the winding length of the B string will work with the Super scale. He will also sell you individual strings, so you can experiment with various B and not buy the whole set.

You could also check with Payson and see if he’s got super series strings. I really liked his reduced core on the longscale AB.

Good luck, and congrats on getting a Dingwall!

I’ve always thought we should have a Dingwall owners string exchange. Pass around used string sets already cut and wound for the various models, with a review. I mean, I’d soak em in my tube of denatured alcohol first, so it wouldn’t be too gross.

I know I’ve got sets that I’ll never use again as I move towards the lightest strings I can find. Pretty much pickled they’ve been soaking so long.

SUPER helpful, cheers!

 

[Blues Cat]

You could also check with Payson and see if he’s got super series strings. I really liked his reduced core on the longscale AB.

We do have sets for S Series Basses, Payson Fanned Black Daggers for Medium Fanned Scale 35”-32”.

 

[been_effected]

Hi gang, I just bought a wonderful Super J5 on the TB Classifieds and love everything about it--the feel, the look, the tone--except, oddly enough, the B string. I know that at 35" it won't have the same clarity as the 37" B strings on other Dingwall models, but I'm finding it very fuzzy and boomy. It helps to roll off the bass entirely, but this compromises the tone of the other strings. I'm wondering if lowering the pickups might help. On the other hand, this IS my first fiver, so maybe this is just par for the course. Any suggestions?

This doesn't match my experience with the Super-scale instruments. Sounds like a bad string or not installed correctly?

 

[been_effected]

Ish. Someone else bought it but didn’t bond with it and I caught the flip.

Nice one. Looks like a great bass.

 

[been_effected]

Does Dingwall sell new nuts? I guess I've never reached out about it but my intuition was to go to a local luthier about that. I've had a couple brand new nuts made locally.

Yeah most likely my local luthier will just make one - haven't had a chat to him about it yet.

 

[whirledpeas]

Hm. Any opinions on pau ferro vs wenge fingerboards on supers in particular? I’ve got a custom order hurtling towards the finish line and now I’m undecided.

I would choose wenge over PF. At least on Super P. But my first choice would be maple if it doesn’t need to be a dark wood.

 

[Salciniclas]

I’ll probably get to mine next week. I intend to add a terminal block to make it a bit easier to switch in and out.

B>

same. I won't cut the orginal wires or solder to them. I'll just put them out of the terminal block from the DB-switch and add a new terminal block from where I run the cables to the new switch.

 

[packrat]

same. I won't cut the orginal wires or solder to them. I'll just put them out of the terminal block from the DB-switch and add a new terminal block from where I run the cables to the new switch.

You’ll still need to desolder the outputs and ground though it would nice not to have to do that with the new switch.

b>

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

Ok so bass fully setup, no more distortion because of too high output (had to do 3 or 4 full turns on the pup screws to get them down enough), no more buzzing below 7th fret on any string, no more buzzing on any string above 12, action is perfect on the whole neck, all good.

Except for two things :
- I now have buzz on open A (a bit) and open E (a lot).
- the bridge screws are a bit higher visually than I'm comfortable with, I'll take a pic and would gladly have your opinions.

 

[xnewyorka]

Ok so bass fully setup, no more distortion because of too high output (had to do 3 or 4 full turns on the pup screws to get them down enough), no more buzzing below 7th fret on any string, no more buzzing on any string above 12, action is perfect on the whole neck, all good.

Except for two things :
- I now have buzz on open A (a bit) and open E (a lot).
- the bridge screws are a bit higher visually than I'm comfortable with, I'll take a pic and would gladly have your opinions.

If you are getting buzzing on those two open strings, but not getting buzzing on the first fret on both of those strings, and if your saddles are adjusted for the proper height so there is absolutely no buzzing above the 12th fret on those two strings, then the first thing I would ask is whether the nut was filed too low. Do you know how to check that?

John

 

[Waltsdog]

Ok so bass fully setup, no more distortion because of too high output (had to do 3 or 4 full turns on the pup screws to get them down enough), no more buzzing below 7th fret on any string, no more buzzing on any string above 12, action is perfect on the whole neck, all good.

Except for two things :
- I now have buzz on open A (a bit) and open E (a lot).
- the bridge screws are a bit higher visually than I'm comfortable with, I'll take a pic and would gladly have your opinions.

Not sure why you care how high the screws are, here is my E on my ABZ with a 1/8 allen key for scale so it's around 4mm high. It came like that from Dingwall and there is adjustment either way, but it needs to be that high with the standard Dingwall tapered strings.
I have 1/32 over the 12th fret (second picture), there is no buzz. Edit - apparantly the 11th fret haha.


If you're getting buzz only on open strings then you have a nut issue or break angle issue.

 

[singlemalt]

I agree with John, the issue is at the nut. Maybe it was set up for a very low tuning with larger strings, like F#. That might explain the funky set up.

I ran my five string basses string E-C but never made any adjustments to the nut. So each string was sitting in a slot cut for a larger string. For the most part this was no problem, but I’d get the open string rattle or buzz once in a while. My fix was to wind the string as low as possible on the tuner for maximum angle and down pressure over the nut. If it still buzzed, I would slip a bit of heat shrink tubing over the string and settle it in the nut slot.

I’m sure there are some other remedies to tighten up an over large nut slot.

Sounds like you are on the right track with set up!

 

[Wyvern]

Baking soda or nut shavings (sounds bad) mixed with either epoxy/super glue applied to the slots is a semi-permanent option, or just to see if you indeed have a nut problem, a little strip of paper under the string will tell you if you have a problem.

Sometimes a oversized slot will actually tick when you pluck a muted string.

Sometimes I wish more basses have Zero frets (however these do wear down) to deal with this potential problem.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

If you are getting buzzing on those two open strings, but not getting buzzing on the first fret on both of those strings,

Yes, this is exactly what I'm seeing.

and if your saddles are adjusted for the proper height so there is absolutely no buzzing above the 12th fret on those two strings

Absolutely no buzz is not the case, I have a rather low action and do get some buzz if I play aggressively, this is also intended.
Something like starting from around 75% of playing intensity, as Sheldon says in his videos.

then the first thing I would ask is whether the nut was filed too low. Do you know how to check that?

Not really, no, since I never had that problem before
I tried what's in the DW nut tutorial and the gaps and tuning are ok.

Not sure why you care how high the screws are, here is my E on my ABZ with a 1/8 allen key for scale so it's around 4mm high.

Ah ok, mine (A/E) are also 4/5mm high.
Well I don't know, the block it screws into is 10mm high, so half the maximum possible threading height is outside.
Is that really sound mechanically ?

If you're getting buzz only on open strings then you have a nut issue or break angle issue.

Break angle is the best it can I suppose, the tuners are slimer at their base so all strings go as low as possible on the post anyway as you wind them up.

I agree with John, the issue is at the nut. Maybe it was set up for a very low tuning with larger strings, like F#. That might explain the funky set up.

Well I bought it new and it came with DW nickels on it so .. one can hope it wasn't messed up with before getting sold ?
That would suck, obviously.

Sounds like you are on the right track with set up!

Thanks, well the setup is close to perfect like this, playability is great, if there wasn't this open E/A issue I would not touch anything anymore

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

Sometimes I wish more basses have Zero frets (however these do wear down) to deal with this potential problem.

Agreed, I had a couple of those and it was great.
I'll try the paper shim under the string tonight, if that works I'll get heat shrink or something as a more permanent solution.

Also I switched from DW nickels to DW ss, which are a tad thinner but only marginally so I didn't expect a problem there. Maybe I was wrong.

 

[singlemalt]

Try winding the string again and getting it down on the post as far as possible? More break angle? And after tuning up, press firmly on the string behind the nut.