Dingwall Owners Club

[AB Nate]

Any thoughts on payson vs dingwall nickel strings? Also… who makes each?

for some reason i recall dingwall being ghs?

Dingwall strings are D addario last we heard. I dislike every set of Daddario strings I’ve tried on other basses but they do a fantastic job with the dingwall strings. I don’t get it.

Payson makes his own strings

 

[DeltaPhoenix]

In the ~10 years (on and off) that I have messed with Dingwalls; I have never felt the need to use any strings except for Dingwall or Payson ones. They have always sound/felt great to me and I have never wondered if they would work.

 

[TTA]

In the ~10 years (on and off) that I have messed with Dingwalls; I have never felt the need to use any strings except for Dingwall or Payson ones. They have always sound/felt great to me and I have never wondered if they would work.

I may drive someone crazy saying this… but get the right material, length… and gauge you want. After that, assuming good manufacturing and quality control… i wonder if most would notice the difference between two different sets.

 

[AB Nate]

I may drive someone crazy saying this… but get the right material, length… and gauge you want. After that, assuming good manufacturing and quality control… i wonder if most would notice the difference between two different sets.

Someone with experience…. Yes.
The medium scale offerings by both companies are quite different as an example.

 

[NKBassman]

Payson's nickel rounds for the Super series are worth checking out.

Do not put a long scale set on a Super. It’s not good.
Dingwall makes medium scale strings and Payson has an offering as well designed for that scale

Thanks! Payson are now on the list for consideration when the time comes.

 

[TTA]

Welp... that decides it for me. AB1 with wenge neck.

It is a nice combo. I prefer the tone over my ng… (the brightness and clarity of maple is great however) but i just cant fault the ng for sound or build. The wenge just brings my ab1 in a slightly different sonic direction.

 

[TTA]

I

Someone with experience…. Yes.
The medium scale offerings by both companies are quite different as an example.

It always makes me think of wine tasting. Pros vs non pros… they have studied this extensively… in blind testing… everyone is easily influenced by the price. Dont give prices… what is best is all over the map. Give prices and the most expensive is always ranked top. Even if it is in reality the cheapest.


strings are about sound… and a dead string out of the box is easy to spot… but it makes me wonder…

for me the best sounding strings were always the fresh ones (once the harshness has passed). Maybe one set was better… but it was rare i could do a true a/b comparison. Now i have two rics that are almost identical… so i suppose i can compare almost scientifically.

mind you… i dont go around testing strings a lot. And i kill strings fast.

Lately i have been experimenting more with gauge, tension and nickel vs stainless. I figure once i settle that i might ab compare brands.

from fingers all the way down the chain to the ear… there are so many ways to influence things.

 

[NKBassman]

Someone with experience…. Yes.
The medium scale offerings by both companies are quite different as an example.

Can you try to describe the main differences between Dingwall and Payson overall sound (using as many industry marketing buzz words as possible)?

 

[spiritbass]

Can you try to describe the main differences between Dingwall and Payson overall sound (using as many industry marketing buzz words as possible)?

I hear more 'beef' in the Paysons and less 'zing'. I was pleasantly surprised at how long they lasted.

 

[IvanBassist]

Welp... that decides it for me. AB1 with wenge neck.

Can’t go wrong with a wenge neck!

 

[packrat]

The wait begins. Just found something in stock at Bass Direct and am waiting for it.

B>

 

[NKBassman]

I hear more 'beef' in the Paysons and less 'zing'. I was pleasantly surprised at how long they lasted.

Thanks! Now I just need to decide what I want. lol
I'll probably end up trying them both eventually. But I'm not changing strings very often these days so might take me a while.

 

[TTA]

Thanks! Now I just need to decide what I want. lol
I'll probably end up trying them both eventually. But I'm not changing strings very often these days so might take me a while.

And imho that is the main problem with evaluating bass strings. By the time you do change them you are no longer comparing apples to apples.

 

[AB Nate]

I

It always makes me think of wine tasting. Pros vs non pros… they have studied this extensively… in blind testing… everyone is easily influenced by the price. Dont give prices… what is best is all over the map. Give prices and the most expensive is always ranked top. Even if it is in reality the cheapest.


strings are about sound… and a dead string out of the box is easy to spot… but it makes me wonder…

for me the best sounding strings were always the fresh ones (once the harshness has passed). Maybe one set was better… but it was rare i could do a true a/b comparison. Now i have two rics that are almost identical… so i suppose i can compare almost scientifically.

mind you… i dont go around testing strings a lot. And i kill strings fast.

Lately i have been experimenting more with gauge, tension and nickel vs stainless. I figure once i settle that i might ab compare brands.

from fingers all the way down the chain to the ear… there are so many ways to influence things.

Can you try to describe the main differences between Dingwall and Payson overall sound (using as many industry marketing buzz words as possible)?

“Toanally” speaking I can deep dive into this at this time as I’ve compared them on my SJ in relation to my SP, but feel, right off the hop is tension. That’s the first take away for me. The dingwalls I find more slinky and vintage. The Paysons seem to have a higher tension and tighter feel. I guess that said it does take me into tone a bit… the Paysons have a bit more of a crisp/ defined sound from my experience. They play faster and so maybe my impression is they sound faster?
That’s all I got for now but maybe I’ll bust out the supers tonight after work, which I better get hustlin too

 

[TTA]

I hear more 'beef' in the Paysons and less 'zing'. I was pleasantly surprised at how long they lasted.

I have payson nickels on my ab1 and dingwall nickels on my ng. Both sets are “kinda new” (no skin factories yet). My analysis of the payson agrees with your “beef” comment… but maybe it is the wenge neck vs the maple on the ng.

and i am too lazy to swap strings between them and then compare again.

 

[TTA]

“Toanally” speaking I can deep dive into this at this time as I’ve compared them on my SJ in relation to my SP, but feel, right off the hop is tension. That’s the first take away for me. The dingwalls I find more slinky and vintage. The Paysons seem to have a higher tension and tighter feel. I guess that said it does take me into tone a bit… the Paysons have a bit more of a crisp/ defined sound from my experience. They play faster and so maybe my impression is they sound faster?
That’s all I got for now but maybe I’ll bust out the supers tonight after work, which I better get hustlin too

Same gauge?

 

[NKBassman]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input.
Now speaking of getting (back) to work...

 

[TTA]

Last night i was searching about tonal differences of heavy vs light gauge. I found one older thread from tb. It was a classic thread with everyone offering different perceptions with very conflicting effects to tone: things like low end… clarity… mids, etc. Faster/slower, brighter/darker, more lows/less lows, more mids/less mids, etc. It was all over the map.


I put some 30-85’s on my 71 ric a few days ago. I was like… i know this bass sounds thinner than my modern rics… but i feel low mids are lacking. Then i made an adjustment on my eq and my ears were very happy.

 

[NKBassman]

The only true way to know is to try it for yourself. Threads like that are made almost entirely of opinions (VS fact), and need to be read with heaping spoonfuls of grains of salt.

 

[pbass6811]

Was just talking to John over a John Fox Bass, and he's got a KILLA' preowned AB1 available! Want a Wenge neck? Here ya' go...

https://www.johnfoxbass.com/product...42HGMrsvU9C16pvKpXhUY3K8Nc4p0PieTgAHFz1JOpHF8

edit: Calling @Nuage420 ....