Dingwall Owners Club

[silky smoove]

I’m feeling spoiled after reading these posts of no Dingwalls within a several hour drive of where you live. I, on the other hand, live less than a mile from Seattle’s Dingwall dealer who also carries a number of other very high end basses. Heck, I can walk there without breaking a sweat!

 

[Element Zero]

Which one? White?

Yeah the white one with the Wenge neck

 

[AB Nate]

Yeah the white one with the Wenge neck

Gotcha. If your dying to try an “affordable” AB 6string I may know a guy.
Pm me if you like.

 

[BurningSkies]

I’m feeling spoiled after reading these posts of no Dingwalls within a several hour drive of where you live. I, on the other hand, live less than a mile from Seattle’s Dingwall dealer who also carries a number of other very high end basses. Heck, I can walk there without breaking a sweat!

I was that way, then a guy I know in town became a dealer. I'm pretty sure he was banking on my cashflow.

...luckily I don't have to drive many miles to be in reach of a Dingwall. Just head across the room.

Trying something new on the fretless. These are Fodera nickel/steel strings that are a bit beefier. I've been feeling like maybe having a bit more tension would reduce string-travel during vibration as well as allowing me to flatten out the neck a bit more. I was finding that no matter how 'true' the fretboard I was getting some regions/strings that had some added 'harmonic content' and there were a couple places where things were getting wolfy (up in that 10-15 fret range and in the middle of the neck A and D strings). I haven't adjusted the intonation as I want to make sure I really like the move, but I did tighten down the truss rod and flatten the neck in a way that pleased me.

So far so good. The intonation is only truly wonky on the B string and a bit less so on the E. The others remain pretty close and it's not terrible feeling to play.

 

[singlemalt]

If a six string Dingwall pops up in the classifieds, don’t dawdle, dilly dally or hem and haw.

You can grovel for forgiveness when it arrives at the house.

Six strings, a Dingwall, and well under 9lb? I almost jumped on it and I committed to four strings over five years ago!

Rare as hens teeth.

My six string AB-1 in whalepool blue was exceptional. Best sounding Dingwall if the bunch. It just had something special going on.

 

[Paul M]

If a six string Dingwall pops up in the classifieds, don’t dawdle, dilly dally or hem and haw.

You can grovel for forgiveness when it arrives at the house.

Six strings, a Dingwall, and well under 9lb? I almost jumped on it and I committed to four strings over five years ago!

Rare as hens teeth.

My six string AB-1 in whalepool blue was exceptional. Best sounding Dingwall if the bunch. It just had something special going on.

I know what you mean. I didn’t decide to be a six-string player. My first Dingwall was a 5-string ABII. I chose it over a 5-string ABI. Then a year later, an identical ABI came along but with six strings. It had something special in the sound. I kept playing the 5-string then one day, the six strings didn’t feel awkward to play. So I switched to six strings.

 

[Element Zero]

The real reason I’m interested in a 6 is for F#-G tuning. I have no need for high notes. I’m not a soloist. I play bass for low notes. I love hearing how awesomely deep a pipe organ can go and want to be able to hit those low G’s and AB’s.

 

[NaH]

The real reason I’m interested in a 6 is for F#-G tuning. I have no need for high notes. I’m not a soloist. I play bass for low notes. I love hearing how awesomely deep a pipe organ can go and want to be able to hit those low G’s and AB’s.

You could always get a 5 and go F#-D.

 

[J Posega]

Shh, you’re all making me miss the ABZ6 I had for the longest time.

 

[NaH]

Speaking of F#:
For Sale/Trade - Dingwall Stainless Steel F# string .170

Open to trades too.

 

[SnoozeButtonBen]

Does a low F# even sound any good? It's very close to the point the human ear totally stops percieving vibrations as tones at all.

 

[Selta]

Does a low F# even sound any good? It's very close to the point the human ear totally stops percieving vibrations as tones at all.

That's not how notes work on a stringed instrument.
Yes, it sounds awesome, doubly so on a Dingwall.

 

[SnoozeButtonBen]

That's not how notes work on a stringed instrument.
Yes, it sounds awesome, doubly so on a Dingwall.

No need to be patronizing, you can go ahead and assume that any bass player knows at least a little bit about harmonics. And I think it's a fair question, since even a low B sounds like hot trash on normal scale length basses.

 

[EMoneySC2]

No need to be patronizing, you can go ahead and assume that any bass player knows at least a little bit about harmonics. And I think it's a fair question, since even a low B sounds like hot trash on normal scale length basses.

Dingwall Afterburner ABXXX 6-string DI test (Low F#)

 

[SnoozeButtonBen]

Dingwall Afterburner ABXXX 6-string DI test (Low F#)

Great test, but it kinda confirms my suspicion that the low F# sounds more like a helicopter than a real note, even on a 37 inch scale... at least through headphones.

 

[Ranarion]

[…] since even a low B sounds like hot trash on normal scale length basses.

I'm pretty sure all 34" five string players disagree.

 

[SnoozeButtonBen]

I'm pretty sure all 34" five string players disagree.

There's obviously room for differences in opinion but I personally can't stand standard-scale b-strings, which is why I find myself in the Dingwall club.

 

[EMoneySC2]

Great test, but it kinda confirms my suspicion that the low F# sounds more like a helicopter than a real note, even on a 37 inch scale... at least through headphones.

I think it sounds cool - but for me it would be more of an 'effect' than something I'd regularly use. Strings that big just aren't articulate, I think there is just too much mass flopping around. Drop A is about as far as I care to go in down tuning, even on my Dingwalls. Any lower and the string gauges needed for adequate tension leave me with too much degradation in clarity. It certainly is 'the sound' for many bassists - but it ain't for me.

I know @Selta has a lot of experience doing F# on Dingwalls - and I always enjoy hearing his perspective on it

 

[rockinbilly]

After having owned, a 5 string parallel fret bass, and played several others, I found myself looking for something with the optimal low B string. One of the main reasons I went with the Dingwall is the low B string articulation ! After receiving and playing the bass, all the praise given here on TB by fellow Dingwall enthusiasts was confirmed, the low B is tight, and articulate, and the uniform tone across all strings is great. Not to mention the smooth as silk playability! Also the fanned fret configuration is a non issue !Having said that, for the type of music I play, I can't imagine the clarity of anything below low B being useful in a live situation since the typical PA wouldn't reproduce it cleanly ! But then, that's my own experience !! If I wanted to play notes below B i would probably go with the Taurus bass pedals, a fantasy of mine which is economically out of reach !!!

 

[seedokebass]

I've had some decent 34 and 35" 5's with decent B's but I don't think I'll ever go back. The dingwall ones are too good and the intonation up the neck is worth the price of admission.

I've noodled around a little bit with low F# on my NG3 for a short section of a song and was happy enough with it. Not a monster string either, just a .130 tuned down. If I used that tuning frequently I'd opt for a larger string and resized nut.