Dingwall Owners Club

[KPopOnBass]

Has anyone tried the Nordy mute specifically made for fan frets? How is it? Any particular reason one would need a fanned-fret version? Thanks.

I have one for a 4-string AB1 arriving today! I'll give you a report or even try to record. I really liked what the "straight" version did for certain songs on a regular Fender Jazz. Some will say you can do just as well with a piece of packing foam, but I like these better and they look nicer too.

With the right spacing, you could put a straight NordyMute across fanned-fret strings. But down at the E string it won't be sitting as close to the bridge, so it'll 1) get in the way more and 2) mute the lower strings more since it's not sitting right at the bridge. At least, that's the way I understand the geometry... I'll let you know.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

You came out slightly cheaper than I did. With exchange rate and shipping, etc., I think the material (blue with black surround) cost $20-25, and my tech charged me 80$ for the work, and it was done in less than 24 hours. And even at ~$100 I feel like it was a cheap but valuable upgrade.

I added them to three of my Dingwalls (side dots only).

 

[BurningSkies]

I added them to three of my Dingwalls (side dots only).

I think that side dots should be standard spec for all models, then the option becomes the fretboard face markers.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I think that side dots should be standard spec for all models, then the option becomes the fretboard face markers.

Same here, luminlay sides dots should be standard on all basses.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I think that side dots should be standard spec for all models, then the option becomes the fretboard face markers.

Sometimes I forget I have them and forget to charge them. Then again, I have only played one gig this year so I haven't really had the opportunity.

 

[BurningSkies]

Sometimes I forget I have them and forget to charge them. Then again, I have only played one gig this year so I haven't really had the opportunity.

Honestly with stage lights, they don't take much charging. I do have a nice UV light that hangs from my stage stand when I set up so it's easier to remember.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Honestly with stage lights, they don't take much charging. I do have a nice UV light that hangs from my stage stand when I set up so it's easier to remember.

I bought one of the mini UV lights they offer when I ordered mine that stays in my gig bag, but I sometimes forget it's there.

A lot of the places don't have stages or stage lights!

 

[VolverseLoco]

I bought one of the mini UV lights they offer when I ordered mine that stays in my gig bag, but I sometimes forget it's there.

A lot of the places don't have stages or stage lights!

Then were does you band play, outside the men's room by the shoeshine guy?

 

[BurningSkies]

I bought one of the mini UV lights they offer when I ordered mine that stays in my gig bag, but I sometimes forget it's there.

A lot of the places don't have stages or stage lights!

We do a few of those still when we're on the road and not near our stronger markets. They always end up being 'cement corner/lots of glass/ high ceiling with no acoustic treatment rooms'... and seem to be breweries. One of the reasons we went IEM's was for these spaces which are loud, sound bad and way better if you can not have floor wedges for space and sound concerns. Luckily those types of room are mostly in the rearview mirror.

I have a few PAR 18 and PAR 64 LED pots that we bring and clamp if the house production lacks. I've spent the past 5 years trying to get out of the PA and light business.

Here's what I use for my UV: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B075T9M46C/

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Then were does you band play, outside the men's room by the shoeshine guy?

In some cases, very small bars. The type where you have to clear out tables for the band to setup.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

We do a few of those still when we're on the road and not near our stronger markets. They always end up being 'cement corner/lots of glass/ high ceiling with no acoustic treatment rooms'... and seem to be breweries. One of the reasons we went IEM's was for these spaces which are loud, sound bad and way better if you can not have floor wedges for space and sound concerns. Luckily those types of room are mostly in the rearview mirror.

I have a few PAR 18 and PAR 64 LED pots that we bring and clamp if the house production lacks. I've spent the past 5 years trying to get out of the PA and light business.

Here's what I use for my UV: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B075T9M46C/

I would like to try IEM's. I have a setup ready to go, I just have to find the right time and place to try it out. Many of my gigs, the bass is not going through the PA, so my stage amp is what the audience is hearing. We're talking small venues. I think IEM's will be most beneficial for vocals though. I do some backups and I don't sing loud and have a hard time hearing myself, which I know is not a good thing for singing in tune!

 

[SemiDriven]

I would like to try IEM's. I have a setup ready to go, I just have to find the right time and place to try it out. Many of my gigs, the bass is not going through the PA, so my stage amp is what the audience is hearing. We're talking small venues. I think IEM's will be most beneficial for vocals though. I do some backups and I don't sing loud and have a hard time hearing myself, which I know is not a good thing for singing in tune!

We use IEM’s at rehearsal and at many venues where we can use our primary sound guy. We also combine IEM’s along with on-stage guitar/bass cabs as well as a PA system.

We played a few gigs recently where we didn’t use IEM’s and it was OK. Either our sound guy said the venue was too small (and thus you don’t really need IEM’s) or the venue had their own sound guy and not enough equipment to handle our IEM’s.

But man, for our last show, we used them and discovered once again why we went with them in the first place — you just hear each other better. For the drummer and myself, we really depend on cues in songs (from the singers and guitars), to help us know where we are in the song and where we are going next. IEM's really help clarify those cues. The four vocalists harmonize better when using IEM’s. From now on, the band will be insisting on using IEM’s as much as possible.

 

[BurningSkies]

I would like to try IEM's. I have a setup ready to go, I just have to find the right time and place to try it out. Many of my gigs, the bass is not going through the PA, so my stage amp is what the audience is hearing. We're talking small venues. I think IEM's will be most beneficial for vocals though. I do some backups and I don't sing loud and have a hard time hearing myself, which I know is not a good thing for singing in tune!

We have live amps, and should the FOH not be suitable for what we need, I can (and have) opt out and let the house sound know to save their subs and headroom for kit, keys or whatever. That's one of the reasons for me carrying the full fEarful rig with Jule M2500. But the real thing is that if a place doesn't have enough firepower for the front end, often the monitors are equally sucky and without room treatment, monitors bouncing off of hard surfaces won't help what the audience is hearing. So IEMs mean we can hear with precision in a room, and the audience is getting better sound. Then if there are monitors, we spin 'em and let the FOH use them as fills so they have a better chance.

Of course most bass rigs can't carry a room this way, but the fF/M2500 is really a PA in disguise anyway.

We run all our own mixes, so everyone controls their levels, so it would very much help your singing situation. What I do find is that the clarity and isolation of the IEMs means the whole band is just tighter. There's no hiding in that kind of mix.

Here's my setup for the most part (this is when I was road testing the Jule Simone, so my Monique is powered down), but you can see I keep a ruggedized small tablet up and running with my mix.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

We have live amps, and should the FOH not be suitable for what we need, I can (and have) opt out and let the house sound know to save their subs and headroom for kit, keys or whatever. That's one of the reasons for me carrying the full fEarful rig with Jule M2500. But the real thing is that if a place doesn't have enough firepower for the front end, often the monitors are equally sucky and without room treatment, monitors bouncing off of hard surfaces won't help what the audience is hearing. So IEMs mean we can hear with precision in a room, and the audience is getting better sound. Then if there are monitors, we spin 'em and let the FOH use them as fills so they have a better chance.

Of course most bass rigs can't carry a room this way, but the fF/M2500 is really a PA in disguise anyway.

We run all our own mixes, so everyone controls their levels, so it would very much help your singing situation. What I do find is that the clarity and isolation of the IEMs means the whole band is just tighter. There's no hiding in that kind of mix.

Here's my setup for the most part (this is when I was road testing the Jule Simone, so my Monique is powered down), but you can see I keep a ruggedized small tablet up and running with my mix.

View attachment 4031917

Are those 15's?

The band I sing some backups in is the bar band that usually plays small venues. In most cases, we are doing our own PA and running sound from the stage, which is not ideal. That is the band that I think I would benefit from it most, but the thought of having to bring additional gear, setup and troubleshooting when we barely do a soundcheck - more like a line check and adjust on the fly - seems like it could be somewhat disasterous and be an additional thing to worry about. Although, I am generally pretty good with dealing with less than ideal sound.

The other thing that concerns me with going to IEM's with that band is we don't mic the drums, so I am wondering how that would play out in the mix.

I only practice with headphones, so I don't think it would be difficult for me to get used to it provided I can get the proper mix.

 

[hbabels]

Are those 15's?

The band I sing some backups in is the bar band that usually plays small venues. In most cases, we are doing our own PA and running sound from the stage, which is not ideal. That is the band that I think I would benefit from it most, but the thought of having to bring additional gear, setup and troubleshooting when we barely do a soundcheck - more like a line check and adjust on the fly - seems like it could be somewhat disasterous and be an additional thing to worry about. Although, I am generally pretty good with dealing with less than ideal sound.

The other thing that concerns me with going to IEM's with that band is we don't mic the drums, so I am wondering how that would play out in the mix.

I only practice with headphones, so I don't think it would be difficult for me to get used to it provided I can get the proper mix.

Do get a great mix with IEM’s you really need mic’s on every instrument. Full mic’d kit is best but you can get quite good results with Kick - Snare & a single well placed Overhead mic.
Without a mics on the kit you really lose a lot of the attack on the drums unless your IEM s don’t block out a lot of stage noise but then the problem tends to be a they’ll have poor low end response and you’ll need to crank them too loud.
For the best IEM experience you really need a mic or DI for each instrument , independent mixes for each player and quality earbuds that fit / seal well.

 

[been_effected]

I think you'll find that about 80% of the time it will look like the dark green you suspect, 10% it will look as if it were black to people, and maybe 10% or less under direct sun or bright stage lighting it will catch the undercoat and look bright.

Yeah, this is making me lean towards this, rather than, say, sonic blue. Although, I wonder if Sheldon would do a "candy apple blue" of sorts...

Thanks, this really helped.

I would not spec or order a bass without at least the side markers done in Luminlay, though I had my P done with the front markers too. Obviously my fretless is ALL Luminlay (lines, dots & markers)...but I did have my NG3 retrofitted with side dots. They're cheap and easy, so might as well do it. And they work really well on stage.

Yep, I'm looking at side markers only.

I went with the budget solution of not being able to play anything complicated, thus no need to see the fretboard

I started out with this attitude, but then I started trying to write stuff that technically challenges me. Someone then thought it'd be a good idea for me to have to replicate that on stage...

 

[packrat]

Yeah, this is making me lean towards this, rather than, say, sonic blue. Although, I wonder if Sheldon would do a "candy apple blue" of sorts...

I think it's called metallic blueberry on the Sklars

Finishes

B>

 

[BurningSkies]

Are those 15's?

The band I sing some backups in is the bar band that usually plays small venues. In most cases, we are doing our own PA and running sound from the stage, which is not ideal. That is the band that I think I would benefit from it most, but the thought of having to bring additional gear, setup and troubleshooting when we barely do a soundcheck - more like a line check and adjust on the fly - seems like it could be somewhat disasterous and be an additional thing to worry about. Although, I am generally pretty good with dealing with less than ideal sound.

The other thing that concerns me with going to IEM's with that band is we don't mic the drums, so I am wondering how that would play out in the mix.

I only practice with headphones, so I don't think it would be difficult for me to get used to it provided I can get the proper mix.

So, the mixer we use is the Soundcraft Ui24R. We all have aux-mixes off of that stage box. In a situation where there's a decent (or at least an 'independent' FOH PA, we just in sert it between the stage lines and the FOH snake. They get clean splits with nothing added/done to them to mix as they please. If we're in a room that we need to provide FOH, we just use the main mix on the Ui24R as the FOH mix. We have a 'generic' main mix that can be the starting point for every show as needed. Since the Soundcraft save all your last settings (or you can load previously saved settings if you play a room lots)...it's not really any more work if you're doing your own PA. It also has the proficiency of mix and control as something like the M32/X32 boards for FOH Mixing.

We still do have live amps on stage, but after years of gigs, they're all pretty well dialed in.

On the Drum thing...in a room that we reach where the 'house' sound says "Oh we don't really mic drums here" or even only mic one or two pieces. We have a few strategies. First off is that we can just put an overhead on the kit and just use it for the IEMs. Or if we want we can do overhead-kick or overhead-snare-kick. Though honestly kit is loud enough on stage that many nights I'm not doing more than just a little hat and kick.

 

[BurningSkies]

Are those 15's?

This is one of the original original wave of fEarful cabs, before some of the finer details were nailed down. So yeah, it's a 3 way system, with a dedicated sub, crossed over to a woofer to a 6" mid. I didn't opt for the tweeter on the top cab so the super top of the air isn't there, but the mid covers up into the treble range just fine for me. The crossovers in the cabs are not the standard spec ones...they hadn't been designed yet. So the values are ones that were as suggested by Dave Green & Charlie Escher (Passinwind, and I've probably spelled his last name wrong).

The speakers are light (35lbs for the sub, 45lbs for the top cab) good for about 1500w peak and have now had maybe 500 or more shows and thousands of hours at volume. They can be stupid loud and clear when applied properly (I've used it outdoors at volume when the PA wasn't up to the task).

The amp is Jule Amps Monique (but with a custom a Monique 700 faceplate)...it has an extra switch and series of LEDs...that are it's own circuit and don't do anything but turn on and off some lights...it's an onstaged producer switch. The whole thing is powered by Jule's M2500, again in a custom one-off rackmount case. It's a Hypex made class D amp that's usually used for high level permanent installations. This is the amp: Invalid Link Removed then the SMPS is really over-spec'ed and can drive 3 of the amp units: Invalid Link Removed . I moved over from using Peavey IPR3000 variants which I was just killing every year or so by running them bridged. The M2500 is about 10 steps up.

What I end up getting is an amp that has amazing tube feel and tone (that high voltage all tube & custom transformer architecture of the Monique) but at FOH PA volumes and clarity if I need it. The only headroom restrictions are Xmax and Xmech on the speakers. And of course, it does have a volume knob. I've been known in really tough rooms to just turn the power amp off altogether so the FOH can do it's thing.

 

[BurningSkies]

I think it's called metallic blueberry on the Sklars

Finishes

B>

This is metallic blueberry:

Though, I think you could certainly work with the shop for different blues I'd probably do something that's a bit darker and true blue than this were I to do similar.