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Dingwall Owners Club

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Question... On a Combustion, where would the closest to traditional placement for a P-pup be... Middle, or Neck?
The neck position, IMO.
I have a Z2 to which I added a neck pickup, and it does a great job of fulfilling a P-Bass role in a mix.
 
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I’m gonna disagree and say middle, here is my combustion with a P-Tone in the middle position next to a standard P (quick picture so not measured it) but they look pretty close to the same spot if you go by where the pickup sits on the G.
I also think the P-Tone sounds better in the middle than at the neck in this bass, it used to be 3X but I got rid of the extra pickup.

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Question... On a Combustion, where would the closest to traditional placement for a P-pup be... Middle, or Neck?

I'd say middle. I always solo the neck pickup, which is the 'middle' position on a three-pickup model, and it sounds like a big, bad precision to me. Are you pondering a split-P modification? I have, but haven't done it...
 
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Question... On a Combustion, where would the closest to traditional placement for a P-pup be... Middle, or Neck?

I did some measurements to see which ones are closest, I measured form the bridge to the centre of each pickup as I can't see the pole pieces on the Dingwalls (even though I know roughly where they are) so it's not a 100% fair test:

P Bass (Fender Nate Mendel body, MIM) - bridge to the centre of the pickup:
G: 121mm
E: 155mm
Combustion middle - bridge to the centre of the pickup
G: 91mm
E: 113mm
ABZ neck - bridge to the centre of the pickup
G: 138mm
E: 148MM

Turns out the neck is closer to the traditional P placement, although on my Combustion I still much prefer the P-Tone in the middle spot.
 
Jamming out on my AB1 and upright bass. Payson nickels recorded DI through the Bergantino B|Amp. I've had this bass about four and a half years now and I still get excited to play it every time I pick it up.


Love the upright tone! Very sweet and musical. Sounds like you have a nice and low action on it. Love a "mwah" sounding upright. Can't stand the opposite (what I like to call "plonky").
 
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How we ever got by without that genius battery access cover, I just don’t know. But we did.

There would be plenty of room to stuff a preamp in that bass.

I don't have any active bass without a separate battery access/hole and wouldn't want one.

Now ok one _could_ come up with something .. like making a wooden electronic cover so it's stable enough, and doing a flip-type battery cover in that surface, something like that ?
 
I don't have any active bass without a separate battery access/hole and wouldn't want one.

Now ok one _could_ come up with something .. like making a wooden electronic cover so it's stable enough, and doing a flip-type battery cover in that surface, something like that ?

I agree. It makes a lot more sense to me to keep your battery in a separate compartment from the pre if possible and the magnetic cover on dingwalls is Cadillac.
1. your not opening up the control cavity and possibly introducing contaminants
2. If your battery goes kaput its not possibly contaminating the pre.
3. No screws to deal with
4. with the compartment located up high on the long scales, you don't even have to take the bass off your bod to replace the battery...

seems like a win all the way around.

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I did some measurements to see which ones are closest, I measured form the bridge to the centre of each pickup as I can't see the pole pieces on the Dingwalls (even though I know roughly where they are) so it's not a 100% fair test:

P Bass (Fender Nate Mendel body, MIM) - bridge to the centre of the pickup:
G: 121mm
E: 155mm
Combustion middle - bridge to the centre of the pickup
G: 91mm
E: 113mm
ABZ neck - bridge to the centre of the pickup
G: 138mm
E: 148MM

Turns out the neck is closer to the traditional P placement, although on my Combustion I still much prefer the P-Tone in the middle spot.

I'd be curious to see this done on the Super P or PJ, to see how close to the "original" design Sheldon's is (or whether he discovered a little magic of his own during the design process).

Also found it funny - I'm in the process of deciding whether to place an order for a Super PJ, and I'm gravitating towards designing it like Nate's :D (candy red body, black pickguard etc.)
 
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I'd be curious to see this done on the Super P or PJ, to see how close to the "original" design Sheldon's is (or whether he discovered a little magic of his own during the design process).

Also found it funny - I'm in the process of deciding whether to place an order for a Super PJ, and I'm gravitating towards designing it like Nate's :D (candy red body, black pickguard etc.)

I really don't see myself commissioning another custom, but if I did, it would be a four-string wenge necked Super P, chrome cloverleaf tuners, with Dakota red over alder and a cream pick guard. Yum! :cool:
 
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I really don't see myself commissioning another custom, but if I did, it would be a four-string wenge necked Super P, chrome cloverleaf tuners, with Dakota red over alder and a cream pick guard. Yum! :cool:

Wait, what's the difference between Dakota Red and Candy Red?

The wenge neck is definitely something I yo-yo with...do I go traditional (ain't nothin' wrong with maple), or do I hark back to my Warwick days and go with full wenge...
 
Wait, what's the difference between Dakota Red and Candy Red?

The wenge neck is definitely something I yo-yo with...do I go traditional (ain't nothin' wrong with maple), or do I hark back to my Warwick days and go with full wenge...

The main difference is that Dakota is non-metallic - no flakes. My ash/maple/maple SP-4 is the most amazing precision that I've ever plucked, but it sure would be fun to compare and contrast with wenge/alder. :)
 
I really don't see myself commissioning another custom, but if I did, it would be a four-string wenge necked Super P, chrome cloverleaf tuners, with Dakota red over alder and a cream pick guard. Yum! :cool:
That sounds like a nice mix of modern and classic features. Sounds like a beauty. I think you'd better put in that order. It's only money right? :smug:
 
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