Dingwall Owners Club

[spiritbass]

I don’t have this same experience. My build is due April-June but I had to lock in my specs in early December. In February, I was told production had not yet began. I asked if I could make a change & was told no because I had already locked in my specs with the dealer. Understand... I’m not complaining at all. I get that they don’t want indecisive people mucking up the production process.

I have a few weeks to change the specs with my dealer, but I won't. I'm going for the look of well-oxygenated blood.

 

[TheLurkerAbove]

Congrats! I too have a Combustion and an SR2400. Since getting the Dingwall I’ve affectionally referred to the Ibanez as “smudge” quilt. The top on yours is outstanding.

Ha, that's funny. Is your 2400 the same finish color?

 

[ab2112]

Not as your Ibby but as my Combustion yep, I really like purple.

 

[EMoneySC2]

So are you saying that in your personal experience/opinion, the more each string is closer to 40lbs individually, you experience an improved feel and a more consistent volume response across the fretboard, versus if one string was something like 35lbs and its neighbor string was 45 lbs? Is it common sense to say that something less than 40lbs, in your own feelings, would be too floppy I guess and maybe a duller sound, and if it was maybe 55lbs, it would just be not a joy to play? Or, am I just really overthinking this and the calculator is there for us to just figure out where were at with what we got, and in the end it is personal preference as to what your ears and fingers are satisfied with? Sometimes we get caught up with numbers and think that we must have a certain number to pass the test..right ?

Yes, my preference on bass is for even tension around 40lbs. As long as string to string tension is within 3-5lbs I don’t notice it, but a 10lb difference from one string to the next is quite noticeable to me.

There’s a lot of room for preference here, so I wouldn’t be too obsessed with the tension calculators, but they can be helpful if you’re looking for a specific gauge string for a tuning, or if you are comparing different sets. Lower tension strings have a “sound” and a feel that some people like; same with medium tension, and high tension. You can find your preference based on what’s available.

I can get really obsessed with strings, too, so I totally get where you’re coming from!

 

[AB Nate]

For the fun of it, look at the pictures of the EB Bongo basses they have up...

Even better when you get on YouTube and see the reviews of some folks satisfied with their purchases......

“I needed the look of this bass and boy it delivers.... tone for days.....”



look at the lines on the bongo. Lol

 

[Selta]

I don’t have this same experience. My build is due April-June but I had to lock in my specs in early December. In February, I was told production had not yet began. I asked if I could make a change & was told no because I had already locked in my specs with the dealer. Understand... I’m not complaining at all. I get that they don’t want indecisive people mucking up the production process.

Very interesting. With my first AB1, I was undecided on preamp and any inlays on the fretboard. Both of which I decided roughly 6-7 months before I received it.
I just locked in all the specs for my Z a few weeks ago, and it's due in May. I was undecided on the top wood, finish, and again fretboard inlays... my dealer and Billy were seemingly open to these, but I did have to make decisions quickly. I could see them saying "no" to a model change (i.e. going from say an AB1 to an AB2, or Z, or similar), but I'd be a good bit surprised to hear they wouldn't allow a small change. Odd that our experiences differ.

 

[IronSpatula]

Even better when you get on YouTube and see the reviews of some folks satisfied with their purchases......

“I needed the look of this bass and boy it delivers.... tone for days.....”



look at the lines on the bongo. Lol

I think it's safe to say that soloed, the tone of that Redsub is indistinguishable from a Dingwall...

 

[been_effected]

Well, I've decided to order a 5 string PJ. Now I just have to nail down a color. May just go traditional with a 3t sunburst or solid color. Or maybe look into a unique burst combo. Decisions decisions...

Welcome to the exclusive Club within the Dingwall Owners Club. I like to call it the 5th Circle of Hell, where you're trying to choose the exact combination of tonal wood, colours and/or finishes.

 

[BurningSkies]

I have a few weeks to change the specs with my dealer, but I won't. I'm going for the look of well-oxygenated blood.

A color that would look excellent if they nail it, especially as a 'candy' color.

 

[BurningSkies]

Welcome to the exclusive Club within the Dingwall Owners Club. I like to call it the 5th Circle of Hell, where you're trying to choose the exact combination of tonal wood, colours and/or finishes.

My advice is to wake up, write down the spec in less than 15 minutes and get that order out the door. Don't think about it again until the bass shows up.

 

[Ryno1330]

Welcome to the exclusive Club within the Dingwall Owners Club. I like to call it the 5th Circle of Hell, where you're trying to choose the exact combination of tonal wood, colours and/or finishes.

My advice is to wake up, write down the spec in less than 15 minutes and get that order out the door. Don't think about it again until the bass shows up.

So true been effected and good advice burningskies. I'm going to make a decision this morning and send it to my dealer and call it good.

A couple questions for the group. When you just have a Wenge fretboard on a maple neck is there any tonal change? I assume there isn't (like having the entire neck wenge) but wondered if anyone had any info or had discussed with Dingwall.

2nd is does a matching headstock really cost $540?? I'm a little confused. It looks like I can get the entire body done in 3t sunburst for $375 but just the headstock is $540? Something doesn't seem to add up there.
Thanks!

 

[IronSean]

I don’t have this same experience. My build is due April-June but I had to lock in my specs in early December. In February, I was told production had not yet began. I asked if I could make a change & was told no because I had already locked in my specs with the dealer. Understand... I’m not complaining at all. I get that they don’t want indecisive people mucking up the production process.

Both you and @Selta are basically saying the same thing: around ~6 months out you had to lock in the specs as they get ready to start building it. But for people placing an order with a 24 month wait you have some opportunity to shift around a little because they probably don't start dealing with the logistics of actually building it until the ~6 month out point. At that point they can't start fiddling because they've already started lining up the quantities of woods they're going to need to the next batches, etc.

It just sounds like you just placed an order that was already in that 6 month window so you skipped the year of time to second guess.

So are you saying that in your personal experience/opinion, the more each string is closer to 40lbs individually, you experience an improved feel and a more consistent volume response across the fretboard, versus if one string was something like 35lbs and its neighbor string was 45 lbs? Is it common sense to say that something less than 40lbs, in your own feelings, would be too floppy I guess and maybe a duller sound, and if it was maybe 55lbs, it would just be not a joy to play? Or, am I just really overthinking this and the calculator is there for us to just figure out where were at with what we got, and in the end it is personal preference as to what your ears and fingers are satisfied with? Sometimes we get caught up with numbers and think that we must have a certain number to pass the test..right ?

A standard light guage at 34" is:
.040 - 33.7
.060 - 42.9
.080 - 42
.100 - 36.5

or
.045 - 42.8
.065 - 51.3
.080 - 42
.100 - 36.5

So the "Standard" bass sets all have a bit of variation in them anyway. Obviously a .100 in E standard on a 34" scale can't be unplayable, but some find it a little loose which is why .105 is also pretty common. But tuning to Eb is also common and the .105 there is similar to a .100 in standard. A .100 in Drop D is only 29 lbs. So you can do a little experimentation on feel yourself.

40 lbs seems to be a good middleground to aim for, where in 50 you're playing high tension cables and under 30 you're playing some loose strings. But if you haven't picked up a standard 4 string on standard gauges and went "this low E is unplayable!" a string at 35 lbs won't ruin you day.

 

[BurningSkies]

So true been effected and good advice burningskies. I'm going to make a decision this morning and send it to my dealer and call it good.

A couple questions for the group. When you just have a Wenge fretboard on a maple neck is there any tonal change? I assume there isn't (like having the entire neck wenge) but wondered if anyone had any info or had discussed with Dingwall.

2nd is does a matching headstock really cost $540?? I'm a little confused. It looks like I can get the entire body done in 3t sunburst for $375 but just the headstock is $540? Something doesn't seem to add up there.
Thanks!

I haven't seen the new pricelist, but that rings true. I remember when I was doing the Rastaburst and it was a pretty decent cost (most likely due to the time/effort involved in the fiddly work prep, mask and paint it in a burst). I remember thinking that I'd bought basses that cost less than the matching headstock...but decided it was worth it.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I have a few weeks to change the specs with my dealer, but I won't. I'm going for the look of well-oxygenated blood.

I had a blood-red guitar at some point, translucent over ash, matte but it really looked like it was bathed in fresh blood.
Everybody freaked out when they first saw it, like it was the devil's guitar or something.
Some people did not want to be in the room when it was.
I ended up selling it for other reasons (it just wouldn't stay in tune), but it was definitely one of the prettiest I had.

So anyway here's my advice : make sure you describe the color you want (and maybe the effect you're trying to elicit) rather precisely upon ordering, otherwise you might get unwanted side-effects

 

[IronSean]

I haven't seen the new pricelist, but that rings true. I remember when I was doing the Rastaburst and it was a pretty decent cost (most likely due to the time/effort involved in the fiddly work prep, mask and paint it in a burst). I remember thinking that I'd bought basses that cost less than the matching headstock...but decided it was worth it.

I wonder if part of it is just the way the prices are listed. i.e. they know the body is going to get _some_ kind of finish, so part of that cost is built into the bass rather than saying "and a natural finish is $300. No, you can't just not get a finish we still need to coat it or oil it or something". They build in that a finish will be included, and then a multi-tone finish is just more work.

Sort of same with the headstock, your whole neck will get some sort of finish regardless, but to do the matching headstock is a lot of extra work: protecting the headstock from the finish the rest of the neck gets, then cutting assembling and finishing the headstock in a whole separate way.

 

[spiritbass]

I had a blood-red guitar at some point, translucent over ash, matte but it really looked like it was bathed in fresh blood.
Everybody freaked out when they first saw it, like it was the devil's guitar or something.
Some people did not want to be in the room when it was.
I ended up selling it for other reasons (it just wouldn't stay in tune), but it was definitely one of the prettiest I had.

So anyway here's my advice : make sure you describe the color you want (and maybe the effect you're trying to elicit) rather precisely upon ordering, otherwise you might get unwanted side-effects

When your order involves a custom finish, Dingwall asks for a sample. I'm sure this is a result of past problems. I do recall an incident years ago where the custommer was unhappy with his finish. I sent a pic of a Sadowsky finished in Dakota Red as my sample - looks like blood to me. I like translucent finishes, but that's not what I'm looking for on this one.

 

[AB Nate]

So true been effected and good advice burningskies. I'm going to make a decision this morning and send it to my dealer and call it good.

A couple questions for the group. When you just have a Wenge fretboard on a maple neck is there any tonal change? I assume there isn't (like having the entire neck wenge) but wondered if anyone had any info or had discussed with Dingwall.

2nd is does a matching headstock really cost $540?? I'm a little confused. It looks like I can get the entire body done in 3t sunburst for $375 but just the headstock is $540? Something doesn't seem to add up there.
Thanks!

yeah. I think the increase represents the labour, not the paint.

the body is straight forward. Bolt it to the arm spin and spray

the head stock, we just saw recently, gets sprayed,on the neck obviously, which means taping and such, then they do the routing where it says SUPER, which means after all the wood working part, then spray, it is back to very careful woodworking again and then as mentioned the sealing of the rest of the neck happens separate from the head stock face(not sure where in sequence That happens.

It is a steep price to pay when those funds could go towards a Wenge neck or Maybe now Ovangkol

leads to the neck wood and tone.... I’m a firm believer the answer is yes.
Maybe opens up different then wenge.
Wedge necks =a very tight and focused sound definition. Maybe scooped but I’m not sure that’s the correct term.

maple = equals a bit more sizzle and snap up top I think with a more level, open middle section. Maybe a bit more bold compared to wenge but less clear and maybe a bit less punch in the low end. Plenty of bottom but not in the exacting way of wenge

maple works well with Ps traditionally, I think but wenge adds it’s own awesome character to a P bass as well. Perhaps modernizing it a bit.

ps. I hate typing wenge as autocorrect changes it every, dang, time....

 

[Afc70]

Anybody here play a Dingwall in a modern country group or gospel group? I’m strongly considering a Dingwall sometime this year.. currently playing a Modulus Quantum 5 for my country gigs, & a Roscoe custom century 5 for most of my church stuff...(which I love, but
The dingwalls are really giving me gas, when I listen to audio clips of them .. monster tones..)
Does anybody have any live clips or studio recordings they could share ?
I’d love to hear how the Dingwalls sound in a real live setting..
Thanks!

 

[singlemalt]

I suck at making decisions and waiting. My tried and true method: see it in the classifieds and buy it.

Look for the brown truck in about a week. Explain to my very patient wife, “Oops, I did it again!”

 

[dirkhh]

I suck at making decisions and waiting. My tried and true method: see it in the classifieds and buy it.
Look for the brown truck in about a week.

Ditto. No way I could decide between the different woods and colors and inlays and...
I'd go insane in the process - and would drive the kind people here in the forum to vote me off the island.

Waiting for the white and green/purple truck later this week and enjoying what someone else agonized over (I am sure) seems like much more fun...