Dingwall Owners Club

[J Posega]

John at John Fox Bass is confirming my build specs with the shop. I am excited. That is all.

 

[VolverseLoco]

Hmm well if you want to tell us more about what you found regarding tone differences wrt pup height I'm all ears

Yes, of course. When I received my brand new 4 string Combustion (not NG model) 6 months ago, the very 1st thing I did before I even played it was to take the 2 allen screws out of the neck pickup, cut them shorter and sink that neck pickup as far down as she can go so the top of it was flush with the pickguard. I play with a pick 100% of the time and always on bass guitars, they plant a pickup right smack dab in the middle of where my pick lands so I always hit the top of the pickup. Thats just the way I play, so I adjusted for it. Then I plugged in and started to sculpt my tone and found my PERFECT tone, at that point in time. I really did, was completly satisfied. I had the rotary switch turned all the way clockwise and then 1 notch back counter-clockwise, so whatever wiring that selected, thats what I used. This was all before I put EMG35-JCS's in my Jackson bass, which in the interum, I fell madly in love with that EMG/Jackson sound. So on a whim I figured if I put both Dingwall pickups butt up against each other towards the bridge (like NG2 model), then I could have that one pickup raised all the way up and still have my pick landing zone wide open. So I had the pickguard made to do just that. While the original pickguard was off the Dingwall while I was waiting for the new one to come, I moved that neck one back and raised her up, plugged in to same amp and effects setting and was MORTIFIED by what I heard. Horrible tone/honkey/warm/boxey. Wow, there was nothing I could do to fix it and I tried so hard with my Source Audio Parametric EQ too. Then I put that pickup back down all the way and got my original much loved tone back. I figured my Fender Bassman 115 Neo was the culprit, so I bought a brand new Hartke HyDrive 2x10 and still was mortified by the tone of both Dingwall pickups at full/normal height. Having still being in a romance with the EMG's on my Jackson, I decided to schedule the Combuistion for surgery, and that is to route out and put 2 EMG40-JCS's in her, back by the bridge, which will require me to get yet another custom pickguard. Is this un-necessary and perhaps rediculous, some (most) might (probably do) think so, but hey, we love our bass guitars and will just short of die for them...so we do mods, at least some of us do..

 

[Scott McArron]

Well, I was thinking of saving up for a custom Z3 (after picking up an NG3 soon to hold me over). Then I heard Sheldon is working on a headless bass! I love me some headless basses (have a Strandberg). I may have to wait to see what comes of that...

 

[Sheldon D.]

I should have never even discovered that sound. I like the razor sharp clangy metallic tone from the EMG's I plan on putting into it. Maybe I should have left well enough alone and not raised my one Dingwall pickup back up to regular height only to stumble upon that HONKEY/Nasally sound. Never satisfied, I know...I know it well.

You might try experimenting with wiring the pickups in parallel internally if you want less honk.

 

[AB Nate]

Yes, of course. When I received my brand new 4 string Combustion (not NG model) 6 months ago, the very 1st thing I did before I even played it was to take the 2 allen screws out of the neck pickup, cut them shorter and sink that neck pickup as far down as she can go so the top of it was flush with the pickguard. I play with a pick 100% of the time and always on bass guitars, they plant a pickup right smack dab in the middle of where my pick lands so I always hit the top of the pickup. Thats just the way I play, so I adjusted for it. Then I plugged in and started to sculpt my tone and found my PERFECT tone, at that point in time. I really did, was completly satisfied. I had the rotary switch turned all the way clockwise and then 1 notch back counter-clockwise, so whatever wiring that selected, thats what I used. This was all before I put EMG35-JCS's in my Jackson bass, which in the interum, I fell madly in love with that EMG/Jackson sound. So on a whim I figured if I put both Dingwall pickups butt up against each other towards the bridge (like NG2 model), then I could have that one pickup raised all the way up and still have my pick landing zone wide open. So I had the pickguard made to do just that. While the original pickguard was off the Dingwall while I was waiting for the new one to come, I moved that neck one back and raised her up, plugged in to same amp and effects setting and was MORTIFIED by what I heard. Horrible tone/honkey/warm/boxey. Wow, there was nothing I could do to fix it and I tried so hard with my Source Audio Parametric EQ too. Then I put that pickup back down all the way and got my original much loved tone back. I figured my Fender Bassman 115 Neo was the culprit, so I bought a brand new Hartke HyDrive 2x10 and still was mortified by the tone of both Dingwall pickups at full/normal height. Having still being in a romance with the EMG's on my Jackson, I decided to schedule the Combuistion for surgery, and that is to route out and put 2 EMG40-JCS's in her, back by the bridge, which will require me to get yet another custom pickguard. Is this un-necessary and perhaps rediculous, some (most) might (probably do) think so, but hey, we love our bass guitars and will just short of die for them...so we do mods, at least some of us do..

you could invest those modifications funds into a used 2015-2016 NG2 and if your still not into the sound a pick up swap would be simple and/or resale would be easily recoverable.
The mods your talking about will very considerably hurt the value of your bass when there is already a platform out there that exists.

 

[AB Nate]

you could invest those modifications funds into a used 2015-2016 NG2 and if your still not into the sound a pick up swap would be simple and/or resale would be easily recoverable.
The mods your talking about will very considerably hurt the value of your bass when there is already a platform out there that exists.

View attachment 4233420

I didn’t actually realize when I posted the photo above that this exact bass is currently for sale.

Dingwall Nolly NG2 Signature | Rufus Guitar Shop | Reverb

 

[VolverseLoco]

you could invest those modifications funds into a used 2015-2016 NG2 and if your still not into the sound a pick up swap would be simple and/or resale would be easily recoverable.
The mods your talking about will very considerably hurt the value of your bass when there is already a platform out there that exists.

View attachment 4233420

Aww, you guys are looking out for me, even Sheldon. Nice, much appreciated! This bass here in your pic AB Nate, it is in need of a serious paint job. It's black, big problem. Would you believe I just bought this RedSub and the only color it came was black. As soon as I got it 1.5 months ago, I took it apart and sent the body IMMEDIATLY to Marty Bell here in California. He is a well respected instrument painter. I paid him more than the bass cost me just so I wouldn't have a black bass in my music room. It's 'Fuschia'. Really pretty, hint of lipstick pink in it. Color makes the world a pretty place and black is the ABSENCE of color. Its fan fret/multiscale (Chinese standards) and I have it permamantly strung BEAD. Man, I was so close on buying another Dingwall just for BEAD as I refuse to learn a 5 string. But I always wonder why dont I ever see used Dingwalls for sale that are older, with the rectangle pickups? Everyone must just hang on to what they have, forever. Which brings me to my next paragraph, for Sheldon.

So I know what you suggested about the pickups wiring, but the forces in my music room over here are too great. I already have the EMG35-JCS's in my Jackson as well as in this RedSubber below. I can't get enough of that razor edge tone the EMG's give me. I stumbled upon the EMG's for the Jackson, not because of some kids Youtube Dave Ellifson wanna-be Jackson video, I bought the EMG's from Reverb cause they were $40 each, brand new, old stock. Put them in the Jackson and thats all she wrote. Put them in the RedSub and thats all she wrote and then some. Then I just STUMBLED upon raising that Dingwall pickup up to full height and discovered the HONKY..lol.. I immediatly thought that I need to shove these EMG's into that thare Dingwall. Case closed. Not once did I think about ruining the re-sale value of my WhalePond Blue Combustion, no way, why? Because I like it so much and Im never going to sell it, never. So things will be arriving in the mail to do the job of hacking the Dingwall up in a most professional way. I will finally have arrived at the pinnacle of the tone/instrument combo. There will be nothing left to buy after this....

 

[johnsonabq]

Getting a little antsy waiting on the fiver Standards.

 

[dirkhh]

But I always wonder why dont I ever see used Dingwalls for sale that are older, with the rectangle pickups? Everyone must just hang on to what they have, forever.

Well, I bought two used Dingwalls this year, both with rectangular pickups... So I'm not sure your theory is correct

 

[VolverseLoco]

Well, I bought two used Dingwalls this year, both with rectangular pickups... So I'm not sure your theory is correct

I have never seen any Dingwalls, be it new or used, in any music store here in Vegas. I saw a green one, an older one with rectangle pickups online and the guy wanted $100 less than my new one cost. I just dont see the older ones for sale and I would expect them to be at maybe $1000. You came a cross 2 you say? Then I suppose there out there but not here.

 

[AB Nate]

I have never seen any Dingwalls, be it new or used, in any music store here in Vegas. I saw a green one, an older one with rectangle pickups online and the guy wanted $100 less than my new one cost. I just dont see the older ones for sale and I would expect them to be at maybe $1000. You came a cross 2 you say? Then I suppose there out there but not here.

I’ve moved through 2 square pick up combustion’s this year. Not the configuration your looking for but just proof they do come up

 

[dirkhh]

I have never seen any Dingwalls, be it new or used, in any music store here in Vegas. I saw a green one, an older one with rectangle pickups online and the guy wanted $100 less than my new one cost. I just dont see the older ones for sale and I would expect them to be at maybe $1000. You came a cross 2 you say? Then I suppose there out there but not here.

Well... Dingwalls tend to keep their value frighteningly well. So yes, used ones are rarely as cheap as you seem to expect, and are often very close to current prices (since you get to skip the wait). I don't think I've seen one for under $1500

Anything below $2k is unusual

 

[AB Nate]

Well... Dingwalls tend to keep their value frighteningly well. So yes, used ones are rarely as cheap as you seem to expect, and are often very close to current prices (since you get to skip the wait). I don't think I've seen one for under $1500

Anything below $2k is unusual

The 2 above were approx $1600-2000. CAD

 

[LowD]

You can reach out to a Dingwall dealer or Dingwall themselves for pricing. It was $200 Canadian last I checked, they give you a third pickup, a new pickguard, and a new 6-way rotary which is built for their 3 pickup configuration. On your combustion it should change the Bridge/Neck Series setting to be Bridge/Middle series and everything else would be the same.

Usually it's because the "sound" of a type of bass often has to do with the pickup placement and wiring. A P-bass is a split-coil closer to the neck in series for boosted low mids. A jazz bass is a bridge and neck pickup wired in parallel to blend between. A musicman is a bridge humbucker usually wired in parallel but sometimes switchable to series.

So when thinking about a 3x dingwall with 3 pickups in a row, you can cop some of those combinations.

Bridge solo, Middle solo, and Neck solo are just pickup sounds at those positions. Not unlike a Jazz with pickups there. But their pickups are all split coils too, so you can go series/parallel inside the pickup. Neck only or middle only in series might get you more like your P bass tone.

Neck and Bridge in parallel is like your Jazz configuration, since that's what the blend sound of a J-bass is like.

Bridge and middle in parallel is closer to the two parallel coils of a Musicman, and series is more like a MM pickup in series (purely based on placement and wiring).

And if you have series/parallel switches on all three pickups you can vary those too.

But so basically:
Bridge/Neck parallel - Jazz bass pickup arrangement
Bridge middle parallel/series - MM pickup arrangement (usually parallel, but some were switchable.

Then the individual pickups might have placements similar to other basses, like Jazz Bridge or neck for bridge or neck, P-bass placement is somewhere in there. Middle might be like the neck on a warwick thumb, etc.

Just ordered the Super Fatty 2 pick up and upgrade kit (pick guard, D-Rock switch) from Dingwall. Going to put the SF2 as a neck pickup and move the current neck one in the middle.
Now need to decide how to wire them - leave SF2 as a single or blend it with other one or two (DF3)?

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

You might try experimenting with wiring the pickups in parallel internally if you want less honk.

Can one find out how they are wired without taking them out ?
I don't know, based on the bass s/n maybe .. ?

 

[darren1970]

Getting a little antsy waiting on the fiver Standards.

View attachment 4233561

Is that the D-roc Standard 5 string's?
I'm eagerly waiting too.

 

[IronSean]

Just ordered the Super Fatty 2 pick up and upgrade kit (pick guard, D-Rock switch) from Dingwall. Going to put the SF2 as a neck pickup and move the current neck one in the middle.
Now need to decide how to wire them - leave SF2 as a single or blend it with other one or two (DF3)?

Well, if you got the D-roc switch then you're looking at wiring it as (1 Bridge, 2 Bridge/Middle in Parallel, 3 Middle, 4 Bridge/Middle Parallel in series w/ Neck). Getting the Combustion switch would have given you Bridge, Bridge+middle series, Bridge//neck Parallel, and Neck. Unless you're planning to customize your own rotary selector?

Can one find out how they are wired without taking them out ?
I don't know, based on the bass s/n maybe .. ?

I believe the NGs and Combustions are all series by default.

 

[johnsonabq]

Is that the D-roc Standard 5 string's?
I'm eagerly waiting too.

Yup, Standard five string. I'm looking forward to the new bridges too. I don't really like the bridges on Combustions, NG3s, and the four string D-Rocs.

John at John Fox Bass is confirming my build specs with the shop. I am excited. That is all.

John is the man! Can't wait to see it.

 

[VolverseLoco]

I’ve moved through 2 square pick up combustion’s this year. Not the configuration your looking for but just proof they do come up

View attachment 4233608 View attachment 4233609

Gosh, if I look hard enough at that brown swirl pickguard, I start to see medieval people or Jesus era people...wow..You know my thoughts on black colored instrumetns, but that black one looks like a secret weapon.

 

[AB Nate]

Gosh, if I look hard enough at that brown swirl pickguard, I start to see medieval people or Jesus era people...wow..You know my thoughts on black colored instrumetns, but that black one looks like a secret weapon.

I don’t love black instruments either. I do think they look super awesome... until you touch them! I don’t even love solid coloured instruments usually but I’m definitely more of the belief does it play good and does it sound good. Looks are almost never a deal breaker for me.
And then sometimes, something you don’t think you’ll like just has a tendency to grow on you..... turn on the radio and that’s proof enough. Heheh