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Dingwall Owners Club

#41,404
singlemalt said:
I’m just going to come clean, I’ve been eyeing the Rob Allen basses. I played a RA 32” mouse fretless at a GTG. It was very cool, and so light. The fretted 34” looks pretty cool. Beautiful basses.
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I totally love my Mouse 30. I have also played a couple of MB-2's, which are great basses, but the 30" scale Mouse actually captures more of an upright tone/vibe.

50569796561_4cb850b353_b.jpg
 
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#41,405
Anyone see any issue with tuning a d roc 4 to D standard using .120 fodera strings? Setup and nut slots were made for this set in BEAD. Wondering if I could go up to D standard and make truss rod/bridge adjustments or are these strings to high tension? I do have a new nut that came with the bass but don't want to switch it out and I like larger gauge strings. Even in D standard on other non-dingwalls I ran .110's or .115/.120 4 string sets, but they were specifically 4 string sets. These Foderas 5 string sets I have now are being used using the 4 low strings, which maybe changes things. But I don't think Dingwall makes 4 string sets in .110-.120 range except on the 5 string sets. Anyone have advice on this please? Fodera strings on it now are below:

FD_5STR-NI-40120UL-XLTB Fodera Nickel 40-120 Extra Light Extra Long Tapered
 
#41,407
Spooge said:
Anyone see any issue with tuning a d roc 4 to D standard using .120 fodera strings? Setup and nut slots were made for this set in BEAD. Wondering if I could go up to D standard and make truss rod/bridge adjustments or are these strings to high tension? I do have a new nut that came with the bass but don't want to switch it out and I like larger gauge strings. Even in D standard on other non-dingwalls I ran .110's or .115/.120 4 string sets, but they were specifically 4 string sets. These Foderas 5 string sets I have now are being used using the 4 low strings, which maybe changes things. But I don't think Dingwall makes 4 string sets in .110-.120 range except on the 5 string sets. Anyone have advice on this please? Fodera strings on it now are below:

FD_5STR-NI-40120UL-XLTB Fodera Nickel 40-120 Extra Light Extra Long Tapered
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Something to remember is that with the extended scale length your Dingwall is already going to have strings at a higher tension than on a standard scale bass. The 37" on the low B string is already equivalent to tuning that string up a full step in terms of tension. I'd guess the .120 would tuned up a half step to C would already feel like your .120s tuned to D on a 34" scale bass. For this reason going up another full step to D would be like tuning your .120 up to E on a 34" scale bass and might be too much.
 
#41,409
IronSean said:
Something to remember is that with the extended scale length your Dingwall is already going to have strings at a higher tension than on a standard scale bass. The 37" on the low B string is already equivalent to tuning that string up a full step in terms of tension. I'd guess the .120 would tuned up a half step to C would already feel like your .120s tuned to D on a 34" scale bass. For this reason going up another full step to D would be like tuning your .120 up to E on a 34" scale bass and might be too much.
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isn't the low string on the d roc standard 4 that I have 36.25"? does that change anything? Maybe I could find an extended scale string set or individuals in the .110 or .115 gauge that would meet in the middle?
 
#41,410
Spooge said:
isn't the low string on the d roc standard 4 that I have 36.25"? does that change anything? Maybe I could find an extended scale string set or individuals in the .110 or .115 gauge that would meet in the middle?
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Consider the Payson Drop Sets. I’m happy with mine. Here’s a 110 low string.
Payson Fanned Drop D 4 String Bass Set
 
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#41,411
You can use a tension calculator like this to help you ballpark it:

Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator

From there it might not be as bad as I thought:

upload_2021-3-19_17-12-4.png


Your .120 at D will be 50.4 lbs, which isn't hugely higher than the 44.3 lbs it would be on a 34" scale. The B currently would be around 35 lbs for comparison.
A .100 would only be 32.5 lbs, with .105 it would be 35. A .110 would be the more typical 40
 
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#41,413
DingwallDingus said:
25088354[/URL], member: 332334"]Is your set actually tapered on the .110? I ordered a single .110 from him fairly recently and got burned because it wasn't tapered. I have a custom Newtone set on the way for drop D.
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I'm running the Drop C which is a 125T. The Drop D set doesn't list the 110 as a T. I'm not sure what else he has available. There might be a 110T out there.

(pardon the case dust)
24B34536-F6BF-4FC8-A398-50B73F60B3B3.jpeg
 
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#41,415
Spooge said:
ah. so you are running these? they look close to what that 5 string Fodera set I have on there now is gauge wise.
Payson Fanned Drop C 4 String Bass Set
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That is what I've got. I have a set in Stainless and one in Nickel, which is the default. I really thought I'd want the SS sound based on my preference with DR sets, but the Nickel works great and has a bit less finger noise.
 
#41,418
Spooge said:
I'm concerned light strings like .90 or .105 or .107 will be to slinky and light for D or C when used with a pick or heavy right hand and cause me to make drastic changes to the neck and bridge where the action is almost unplayable.
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You should check out stringjoy.com I just finished modifying a fan-fret multiscale 4 string bass (not a Dingwall) permanently dedicated to B-E-A-D tuning and I wanted the exact extra long scale gauges I wanted, and that was 115-95-75-55. I don't like pressing down on Trolly Car cables.. I was able to order them singularly like that from Stringjoy to make my set. I already have a Dingwall 4 string Combustion, with real Dingwall nickle strings on it, so I am able to truthfully compare feel and sound between the two and I can tell you flat out honestly, I can't tell any difference with respect to the strings only. Now bass guitars, that's another story, come on, its a Cadillac vs a Pinto, but it has a good ending, that I will write about that here with the topic of 'New Bass Day'. Not because I'm super happy and proud of this B-E-A-D bass, but because many others are looking for an alternative to a Dingwall. I love my Dingwall, absolutely nothing wrong with it, would NEVER talk bad about it, but not all people have the $2.3+k,, know what I mean..
 
#41,419
monsterthompson said:
D Bird 4 string. Tuned BEAD. It was initially set up for another DR 5-string set (without using the highest)
The tension is a bit lighter than I initially thought I'd want but it wasn't hard to adapt. @Blues Cat was super helpful getting me set with a set.
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my d roc was set up BEAD as well using those Fodera nickels at .120, .100, .80, .60 which is why I think I'm ok going up to C standard or even D standard when comparing the gauges you mentioned from Payson. Or I might try one of the payson sets to compare just to see. I do like my strings fairly large and stiff tension because I'm aggressive with my picking. I just want to make sure when I tune up to see if it's good, that even adjusting the truss rod and bridge I'm not going to actually damage the neck.
 
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