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Dingwall Owners Club

#37,145
johnsonabq said:
Thanks Nate.
I'll just consider it part of the "unusable" family.
BTW, you have any opinion on using two P-tones in a Z2?
Click to expand...

no experience, but.......heh.....you should know by now I ALWAYS have an opinion.

the experience I do have is with 1 Ptone in the neck position on a Z2.

In that experience I found that the P tone added “roundness” to the signal. I did do some basic recordings before/after and it showed this clearly was the case. It added SLIGHT beef to the upper middle but not perhaps a P bass vibe. I really like the P tone Pick up but I think if chasing a “P” vibe it’s not quite the end result. All this could vary greatly in a different long scale bass I imagine and of course with that, now we are talking wood specs I guess.

I’m beginning to think that if going for “that” sound(for whatever that means) a P bass is probably best a slab of alder(perhaps walnut(?))..... hmmmm. Uh oh...I can’t go there right now.
A dense (maybe even beefy)Maple neck with maple fretboard and maybe most importantly.... scale length.... traditional scale.
With the longer scale my speculation is that the thumpy/wooly/mid forward definition is altered with clarity and articulation. With that, “the Dingwall sound” wins over the P bass sound.

I may be off mark on this but this is where my limited understanding has let me to believe.

ok, that aside, back to your question. The P tone pick up is a win. 2 P tone pickups I would think would be a double win. I imagine the P tone would actually be a fantastic have for a bridge pup but here is where I really smear this with MY OPINION.
A P tone may sound best in Neck position. I was originally quite surprised at how amazing the neck solo’d can sound and how woody and perhaps even traditional it can sound. Might have something to do with it’s proximity to the nut and the resemblance to a more traditional scale length..... SO, I guess what I’m thinking is, your looking at a MM set up bass but loading it with P tone pups.... it’s gonna sound killer Indeed it will BUT if the reason your going with the P tone is to get closer to a P sound.... then perhaps your layout is off.

These days when I think of a double P bass I assume a fender blacktop or the FGN that @LowEndLobster has.
I mentioned this 20(?) pages back in similar convo and man it’s a killer vibe. The layout makes me think more of a Z1 layout but that is assumed without knowing measurements that conform to that symmetry.
So, again, off from your original question but I’d really like to hear a P tone in the neck position of a long scale.

That said, it would potentially lead my brain to a 3x build with P tones in all and a custom 6 way switch. No S/P toggles would be required IMO.
That OR a Super series bass loaded with 2 P pickups. Not P tone mind you but actual P pick ups.

sorry for the long winded brain spew but... you asked for it. ;):whistle::facepalm::vomit::rollno:
 
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#37,146
AB Nate said:
no experience, but.......heh.....you should know by now I ALWAYS have an opinion.

the experience I do have is with 1 Ptone in the neck position on a Z2.

In that experience I found that the P tone added “roundness” to the signal. I did do some basic recordings before/after and it showed this clearly was the case. It added SLIGHT beef to the upper middle but not perhaps a P bass vibe. I really like the P tone Pick up but I think if chasing a “P” vibe it’s not quite the end result. All this could vary greatly in a different long scale bass I imagine and of course with that, now we are talking wood specs I guess.

I’m beginning to think that if going for “that” sound(for whatever that means) a P bass is probably best a slab of alder(perhaps walnut(?))..... hmmmm. Uh oh...I can’t go there right now.
A dense (maybe even beefy)Maple neck with maple fretboard and maybe most importantly.... scale length.... traditional scale.
With the longer scale my speculation is that the thumpy/wooly/mid forward definition is altered with clarity and articulation. With that, “the Dingwall sound” wins over the P bass sound.

I may be off mark on this but this is where my limited understanding has let me to believe.

ok, that aside, back to your question. The P tone pick up is a win. 2 P tone pickups I would think would be a double win. I imagine the P tone would actually be a fantastic have for a bridge pup but here is where I really smear this with MY OPINION.
A P tone may sound best in Neck position. I was originally quite surprised at how amazing the neck solo’d can sound and how woody and perhaps even traditional it can sound. Might have something to do with it’s proximity to the nut and the resemblance to a more traditional scale length..... SO, I guess what I’m thinking is, your looking at a MM set up bass but loading it with P tone pups.... it’s gonna sound killer Indeed it will BUT if the reason your going with the P tone is to get closer to a P sound.... then perhaps your layout is off.

These days when I think of a double P bass I assume a fender blacktop or the FGN that @LowEndLobster has.
I mentioned this 20(?) pages back in similar convo and man it’s a killer vibe. The layout makes me think more of a Z1 layout but that is assumed without knowing measurements that conform to that symmetry.
So, again, off from your original question but I’d really like to hear a P tone in the neck position of a long scale.

That said, it would potentially lead my brain to a 3x build with P tones in all and a custom 6 way switch. No S/P toggles would be required IMO.
That OR a Super series bass loaded with 2 P pickups. Not P tone mind you but actual P pick ups.

sorry for the long winded brain spew but... you asked for it. ;):whistle::facepalm::vomit::rollno:
Click to expand...
Nice write-up!

"No S/P toggles would be required IMO." Could you elaborate a bit on that?
 
#37,147
I'll have a s/p switch on my P-Tone bridge pickup. I spec'ed it that way before it was a P-Tone and the shop didn't try to dissuade me. I generally don't use a bridge pickup solo anyway, so it would be used with either the neck in parallel or series. I'll let y'all know if it sucks. ;)

Even so, it'll be there if I change it to a FDV or FD3 in the future, etc.
 
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#37,148
So does most everyone just 'leave' their bass on Series, given the jump in volume over the other 3 settings? I remember this issue last time I had one of these, in that I like to switch pickup positions during a gig where applicable, but I guess I can just back off the Master Vol. when in Series, but then it doesn't sound exactly 'the same' with the Master wide-open. I mainly run it in Parallel and then the outputs are about the same on the Neck or Bridge p'ups, but it definitely doesn't sound as good that way.
 
#37,149
An ABHS is up on Reverb! Though, whenever I see a Dingwall picture like this I get very sad :rollno:

wwj54xwarsbufn5jqpor.jpg
 
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#37,150
spector_boogie said:
So does most everyone just 'leave' their bass on Series, given the jump in volume over the other 3 settings? I remember this issue last time I had one of these, in that I like to switch pickup positions during a gig where applicable, but I guess I can just back off the Master Vol. when in Series, but then it doesn't sound exactly 'the same' with the Master wide-open. I mainly run it in Parallel and then the outputs are about the same on the Neck or Bridge p'ups, but it definitely doesn't sound as good that way.
Click to expand...

With a preamp onboard, volume roll off shouldn't change tone and there's no net gain from running full out. If you've got a passive AB-1, it certainly could. I generally have been using either the series or parallel 2-pickup settings dependent upon stage. The low end extension of the parallel is greater while the series has a low-mid bump and a bit of roll off on the lows. So I find that outdoors, often the parallel sounds better to me. I check it during soundcheck both ways inside and whatever works works.

That said, I never max out the volume when running series. 'I'm usually 10-15% rolled back which gives me some wiggle room from my bass to make adjustments. That would also include pickup switching and give enough leeway to make up for the parallel setting.
 
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#37,152
BurningSkies said:
With a preamp onboard, volume roll off shouldn't change tone and there's no net gain from running full out.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I always run my bass full up, and have since the 70s because of the tonal change as you back off on the volume. You say this was because I was passive then, and if I put a preamp in a bass that won't happen?
 
#37,153
johnsonabq said:
Interesting. I always run my bass full up, and have since the 70s because of the tonal change as you back off on the volume. You say this was because I was passive then, and if I put a preamp in a bass that won't happen?
Click to expand...

Yep. Active electronics + a buffer at the bass means that it's an un-issue.
 
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#37,156
BurningSkies said:
With a preamp onboard, volume roll off shouldn't change tone and there's no net gain from running full out. If you've got a passive AB-1, it certainly could. I generally have been using either the series or parallel 2-pickup settings dependent upon stage. The low end extension of the parallel is greater while the series has a low-mid bump and a bit of roll off on the lows. So I find that outdoors, often the parallel sounds better to me. I check it during soundcheck both ways inside and whatever works works.

That said, I never max out the volume when running series. 'I'm usually 10-15% rolled back which gives me some wiggle room from my bass to make adjustments. That would also include pickup switching and give enough leeway to make up for the parallel setting.
Click to expand...

That does make sense. It's what I ended up having to do in the past, which again NBD, but, I just need to get used to it again. I used to be in the habit of keeping an extra 10-15% on the master output 'on reserve' as you said, as I only run active preamp basses, and when you change pickup options it certainly can have a volume boost/drop, dependent. I do that, plus play both finger and pick most all gigs, so a little extra flavor is going to happen at some point.

Hopefully can test it out at our gig in late September, assuming we don't go full crackdown mode again around here!
 
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#37,158
spector_boogie said:
That does make sense. It's what I ended up having to do in the past, which again NBD, but, I just need to get used to it again. I used to be in the habit of keeping an extra 10-15% on the master output 'on reserve' as you said, as I only run active preamp basses, and when you change pickup options it certainly can have a volume boost/drop, dependent. I do that, plus play both finger and pick most all gigs, so a little extra flavor is going to happen at some point.

Hopefully can test it out at our gig in late September, assuming we don't go full crackdown mode again around here!
Click to expand...

As you know, it sort of becomes second nature once you're used to playing with it after a bit. I also do a little bit of push-and-pull (with both volume and tone controls) depending on what effects I'm using on a given song. Usually that comes down to envelope filters and synths and what their sensitivities are and what tone-profile they want to 'latch on to' the best. More often than not, I'm playing with the output level of my Cali 76CB for various amounts of gain or sustain under my fingers.
 
#37,159
johnsonabq said:
:thumbsup:
View attachment 3921149
Click to expand...

Of course, that's part of what you have to think about when you chose active v. passive. Plenty of players love the intrinsic tone of a passive bass and how it acts and reacts in circuit with their amp. So it's figuring out what your balancing point and which of those things are more important to you.
 
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#37,160
BurningSkies said:
As you know, it sort of becomes second nature once you're used to playing with it after a bit. I also do a little bit of push-and-pull (with both volume and tone controls) depending on what effects I'm using on a given song. Usually that comes down to envelope filters and synths and what their sensitivities are and what tone-profile they want to 'latch on to' the best. More often than not, I'm playing with the output level of my Cali 76CB for various amounts of gain or sustain under my fingers.
Click to expand...

One of the things I love, and had forgotten about with these, is the active/passive outputs do not drastically vary the tone. On my Lakland, when you pull the vol. pot for Passive, it basically is inaudible, crazy. I know most are like that, but whatever magic this bass has, it doesn't seem to suffer from the same affliction. As I agree- 'usually' a passive signal runs through non-OD effects better and cleaner.
 
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