Dingwall Owners Club

[SemiDriven]

I. am. so. pumped.

WOOT!

Hot Diggity!

 

[Sheldon D.]

Great photo.

 

[Blues Cat]

Roger.

I did go back and verify and the strings were not Paysons but CIRCLE K's.

I removed the reference in the interest of accuracy.

I appreciate you taking the time to edit the reference for the sake of accuracy Zoomie. Thank you

 

[steve_rolfeca]

So, I couldn't wait. Move some appointments around, went and picked up the ABZ last night.

Interesting evening. Tried it back to back with a couple of Combustions, a 4-string Super P, a Ken Smith and a Fodera Yin-Yang Standard!

The Fodera was stunning, although useless to me (4-string) and totally out of my reach financially.

The Combustions were nice (contrary to my first encounter with one that had a bad preamp). I don't like flat-backed D-shaped necks, so I didn't enjoy the neck profile, but in every other way they were superior to anything in the store except the Fodera and the better Dingwalls. It was a little easier to dial in a conventional bass tone on them than on the ABZ, thanks to the EQ. Overall, they were darker-sounding, and not quite as focused as the ABZ.

The ABZ actually turned out to have a Maple fingerboard. I've never been a big maple guy, but I like the way it looks with the burst. The FB is close to quarter sawn, with nice flecking. The finish is darker than the almost cherryburst look that I expected from the photos in the ABZ gallery. This one actually looks closer to the 50's two tone burst. Still, a very tasteful-looking instrument, and I certainly wouldn't want to wait another six months just to get a brighter colour.

I will weigh the bass later, but whatever it is, it's CRAZY light, exactly what my chiropractor ordered.

I found it a little clacky and rattly at first, and I didn't like having the pickups so close to the strings. Cranking the pickups down a bit and raising the action got me going initially, but the more I adjusted to the fanned frets and the relatively flat FB radius, the more I started bringing it back to the original settings.

I lost count at some point, but I believe that compared to the factory settings, I have the action about a quarter turn higher on the bass side, and the pickups about a quarter turn lower across the board.

Considering that I was coming from a 35" parallel fret instrument with a boatneck, jumbo frets and an almost vintage 10-12" compound FB radius, the adjustment was a piece of cake.

The recessed Dunlop straplock on the back of the body is a nice touch. It moves the instrument back to the right, reducing the reach to the first fret, and also helps the bass to hang a little head-high. Once I had time to experiment at home, I found this to be my favourite arrangement.

My old bass is aggressively tapered and tummy-cut, which combines with the rounder fingerboard profile to make it easier to look down at my hands. I have to prop the Dingwall up slightly in order to see the treble side of the fingerboard, but I think that actually helped with the transition.

So, how did it sound? Pretty much how I would have expected from Alessandro Stellano's live at home set on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAOpyL36r9I

Midrange-forward, very articulate, especially in the lower register. Nice growl, with a strong bias towards a modern "piano bass" tone. Nice taper to the passive tone control. I liked the way it sounded through my G-K MB800/AudioKinesis rig in the store. I liked it even more through headphones once I got back to London, and as I learn to adjust my touch and EQ, I suspect I will end up loving it, especially once the strings wear in a little.

I can't wait to try it on the job. I'm playing three or four extended sets at a conference next week, plus an extended, 20-song marathon next Friday, so I'll have an excellent opportunity to give it a good shakedown.

BTW, a shout-out to the folks at Long and McQuade in Markham, Ontario. Great store, and helpful staff. By purchasing the bass through them early this year, I was able to lock in the build at the 2012 price. Best of all, they offered to put the bass into into regular stock and refund my deposit, if I didn't like the instrument. This was my first ever bass purchase at this price point, and that took a lot of the stress out of the decision.

I would definitely work with them again.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

...And my daughter just pointed out that it's like a matt finished counterpoint to my Tobacco burst PRS McCarty. Sweet!

 

[BurningSkies]

Nice, it sounds like a good start. My Afterburner 1 is a little more mid forward than my Zebra/Voodoo. Part of that is probably the wood choice; Alder with maple neck and wenge board vs. Ash with maple board on the Z/V. I found that it tamed quite well and easily with some hours on the strings plus a bit of roll off on the highs. That would give me a 'best of both worlds' clear authoritative tone plus deep without being overly bright or to nasal in the mids.

I'll be interested if you find the stretch takes a little getting used to after 3 or 4 long sets. I know that when I play a 'normal' bass these days they feel short to me.

I'm interested by the actual release of Sheldon's nickel strings. I've always loved the feel of his steel ones (even after not being a steel fan on my previous basses), and I'll be excited to see what he's come up with this time.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

...I found that it tamed quite well and easily with some hours on the strings plus a bit of roll off on the highs.

...I'm interested by the actual release of Sheldon's nickel strings. I've always loved the feel of his steel ones (even after not being a steel fan on my previous basses), and I'll be excited to see what he's come up with this time.

Based on the set of FD3-5a's that I threw into my regular bass while waiting on the ABZ, I suspected that I would end up wiring the ABZ neck pickup in series or purchasing a P-tone.

Now that its in my hands and I'm getting to know it, I'm not so sure. We'll see what happens on the gig.

I'd be interested to check out the new nickel strings, too.

The stock SS strings feel less abrasive than Rotos and the like. Still, I've always preferred nickel rounds in the past, so I'd at least like to give it a whirl.

I've also got to put in a call to Saskatoon. I can't intonate the A string properly. It's 12 cents sharp when I fret a D at the 5th fret, and the octave harmonic is about 3 or 4 cents out from the open string.

The other strings are much more in tune with themselves up and down the fingerboard...

 

[BurningSkies]

Based on the set of FD3-5a's that I threw into my regular bass while waiting on the ABZ, I suspected that I would end up wiring the ABZ neck pickup in series or purchasing a P-tone.

Now that its in my hands and I'm getting to know it, I'm not so sure. We'll see what happens on the gig.

I'd be interested to check out the new nickel strings, too.

The stock SS strings feel less abrasive than Rotos and the like. Still, I've always preferred nickel rounds in the past, so I'd at least like to give it a whirl.

I've also got to put in a call to Saskatoon. I can't intonate the A string properly. It's 12 cents sharp when I fret a D at the 5th fret, and the octave harmonic is about 3 or 4 cents out from the open string.

The other strings are much more in tune with themselves up and down the fingerboard...

Huh. I check my intonation every six months or so, and haven't had a problem. I'm sure that Sheldon and crew can get that worked out for you. I wonder if its actually a bad string.

SS strings have been known to TEAR UP my fingers (I have skin problems even without bass, which means I play light and carefully these days otherwise there'll be blood on the strings), but Sheldon's strings don't do me that badly. They have a little bit of that 'sticky' SS feel, but not nearly as bad as Rotos. To me the other part of string 'feel' is tension, and where my 'perfect' playing tension falls on the string length. With the Dingwall strings, that's right between the end of the neck and the back side of the front pickup, which also happens to be my 'happy tone place' too.

My AB has the original FD-3's in it. They're wired in parallel. They definitely are different from the FD-3M24L's in my V/Z. I run those almost exclusively as series coils and then switch between parallel and series on the 4 way. But part of the mid forward tone of the AB is just the bass itself. It sounds that way acoustically too. I'm not one to wax poetically about the tone of fingerboard woods (I mostly think that's bunk) but the Wenge does seem to punch and attack a bit more.

 

[BurningSkies]

Did I mention that I've worn through the finish on the back of the Rastaburst neck between the third and 7th frets? I did similarly on my AB, although its an unfinished/waxed neck.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Huh. I check my intonation every six months or so, and haven't had a problem. I'm sure that Sheldon and crew can get that worked out for you. I wonder if its actually a bad string.

I'm certain that it's just a bum string. The bridge is like a rock, no rattles or resonances, the nut is nicely cut, no loose hardware or other issues.

The tuning problem progresses predictably along the length of the string, so it's not a dead spot or other trouble with the neck...

 

[BurningSkies]

I'm certain that it's just a bum string. The bridge is like a rock, no rattles or resonances, the nut is nicely cut, no loose hardware or other issues.

The tuning problem progresses predictably along the length of the string, so it's not a dead spot or other trouble with the neck...

Both of my necks are blissfully missing any glaring dead spots...which is a nice thing. You'll also get used to being able to play across the neck in that 7-12 fret range, which you can't do on a Fender scale bass without it sounding off and rubbery.

 

[Sheldon D.]

I'm certain that it's just a bum string. The bridge is like a rock, no rattles or resonances, the nut is nicely cut, no loose hardware or other issues.

The tuning problem progresses predictably along the length of the string, so it's not a dead spot or other trouble with the neck...

Hey Steve, glad you got your bass and are off to a good start.

IME a bad string usually sounds dead or buzzes on every note. Any that have caused intonation problems that I've noticed require moving the saddle pretty radically and in some cases closer to the neck than the theoretical position of 2X the nut to 12th fret length.

I'd inspect how the string bends over the saddle screws. If the action's been raised and lowered, this part of the string may have developed a kink.

At any rate, send me an email with your mailing address and I'll send you out a replacement.

 

[eloann]

Here is our moment of fame on local TV, featuring my Super P alongside a custom steel bodied bass by Loïc Le Pape

Invalid Link Removed

Skip to 5:00
Yup, it's in french

 

[steve_rolfeca]

i know, no pictures, no bass...

Interesting how the colour reacts to light. Never had a matt-finished burst before, so I don't know if this is Sheldon's clever colour choices or the nature of the finish.

To the naked eye, it looks almost like a tobacco burst in my office, a very close colour match for my tobacco burst PRS. In direct sunlight there's a lot of red showing, and an orange thing happening in the shade.

I don't see the effect as strongly in these cel phone photos. Regardless, it should look great under stage lighting.

 

[spiritbass]

I seriously took my Dingwall experience to another level yesterday when I received of one of Mike Arnopol's latest iterations of the MWV (BigE) technology. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what my B string sounded like. The sweet, phat clarity is there from low levels to punishing and I got to hear my B string like never before. Tonal revelations ensued as I ventured further up the fretboard. I've been using cabinets with dedicated mid-drivers for years and thought I knew what good mid-range sounded like. Once again, I got re-educated on just how sweet, detailed, and musical the mid-range can really be. I'm not endorsed by, or entangled with MAS Sound Works in any way, I'm just astounded and coming close to having too much fun getting my 'inner Dingwall' out. If you get a chance to plug one of yours into one of these, you'll hear what I mean.

 

[spiritbass]

Oh, now that is a beauty, Steve!

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Oh, now that is a beauty, Steve!

And so nice and simple to use. No batteries, phase switches or detuners. I must confess that I've been playing it while waiting on downloads on and off all day (I'm a computer consultant, and I work from home).

 

[SemiDriven]

S-W-E-E-T !!

 

[Blues Cat]

That's a beautiful burst Steve. Congrats on a beautiful bass.

i know, no pictures, no bass...

Interesting how the colour reacts to light. Never had a matt-finished burst before, so I don't know if this is Sheldon's clever colour choices or the nature of the finish.

To the naked eye, it looks almost like a tobacco burst in my office, a very close colour match for my tobacco burst PRS. In direct sunlight there's a lot of red showing, and an orange thing happening in the shade.

I don't see the effect as strongly in these cel phone photos. Regardless, it should look great under stage lighting.

 

[Zoomie]

I appreciate you taking the time to edit the reference for the sake of accuracy Zoomie. Thank you

Right is right, sir ! We have enough people on TB slinging around rumors and inaccurate info. I don't ever want to be one of those guys.