Dingwall Owners Club

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Good for you guys eloann! Wish I could understand French. Dingwall looks awesome. I need to hear this when I can remember to bring in my headphones. The speakers on my laptop suck!!

I understood it all.

The vocals are in English, right? Any reason why you guys choose English over your native French?

 

[steve_rolfeca]

I ordered a set of the new Dingwall-branded Nickel strings when they were announced the other day, and they arrived this afternoon.

It's a little spooky how close they are to the original SS, in the sense that the intonation is still almost spot-on, the neck hasn't moved yet, and if the windings are smoother, it's barely noticeable.

Gauge-wise, the B string is noticeably thicker. It detracts from the ABZ's "race car feel" a bit, but in a way I really like. Under my fingers, it feels a little more like the B strings on my conventional basses. The string-to-string tension is still nicely blanced, and it seems like I can give 'er a little more without fear of clanking.

The kids are in bed and the strings haven't settled in yet, so it's too early to give a definitive tone evaluation. Here are my first impressions at low volume:
- The B string sounds a little darker (fuller?).
- The instrument is a little more dynamically responsive on the low end.
- The mids are more complex. If the SS strings growled, these purr.
- Really digging it with the tone rolled off just a touch.

I was a bit ambivalent about the tone as I was stringing it up. However, the more I play, the more the mids are growing on me.

In balance, these definitely seem to be an improvement over the stock SS strings, at least for me. The next question is how they will last...

 

[spiritbass]

I ordered a set of the new Dingwall-branded Nickel strings when they were announced the other day, and they arrived this afternoon.

It's a little spooky how close they are to the original SS, in the sense that the intonation is still almost spot-on, the neck hasn't moved yet, and if the windings are smoother, it's barely noticeable.

Gauge-wise, the B string is noticeably thicker. It detracts from the ABZ's "race car feel" a bit, but in a way I really like. Under my fingers, it feels a little more like the B strings on my conventional basses. The string-to-string tension is still nicely blanced, and it seems like I can give 'er a little more without fear of clanking.

The kids are in bed and the strings haven't settled in yet, so it's too early to give a definitive tone evaluation. Here are my first impressions at low volume:
- The B string sounds a little darker (fuller?).
- The instrument is a little more dynamically responsive on the low end.
- The mids are more complex. If the SS strings growled, these purr.
- Really digging it with the tone rolled off just a touch.

I was a bit ambivalent about the tone as I was stringing it up. However, the more I play, the more the mids are growing on me.

In balance, these definitely seem to be an improvement over the stock SS strings, at least for me. The next question is how they will last...

I hope Sheldon develops these for the Super series. I replaced the stainless steel strings on my SJ/P5 with nickel Lo-Riders this afternoon and am liking what I'm hearing a lot. Now I'm curious what my J/J would sound like with nickels...

 

[Mark_L]

Here she is. Let the hating begin.

The FOH guy last night told me it sounds like grand piano strings being hit with a hammer. He loved it. Goal met.

 

[west*coast*bass]

Here she is. Let the hating begin.

The FOH guy last night told me it sounds like grand piano strings being hit with a hammer. He loved it. Goal met.

That is f***in' awesome!!! AMAZING!!!!

 

[singlemalt]

I hope Sheldon develops these for the Super series. I replaced the stainless steel strings on my SJ/P5 with nickel Lo-Riders this afternoon and am liking what I'm hearing a lot. Now I'm curious what my J/J would sound like with nickels...

While there are certainly more string choices available for the Super J's, I'd also like to see some nickel rounds specifically for the Super series from Dingwall.

The tight space between the nut and the B string tuner post makes sizing hit or miss.

The DR Lowriders fit, and do a great job. Before I found the Lowriders, I used DR Hellborgs and a Dingwall B string.

TI jazz flats fit the Super J 5, but the huge .136 B means you might need shorter saddle screws. Luckily, (or maybe it's just more great design work) the screws are easy to find at any well stocked hardware store. I think the last pair I bought set me back $.74.

 

[SemiDriven]

Nice!

 

[Sheldon D.]

We'll have our new SS super length strings in about a week. The nickels will be another 4 weeks.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Got to really crank 'er up for a while this afternoon. Really digging the nickels on my ABZ. Very muscular-sounding, great with fingers or a pick.

 

[Zoomie]

Nice!

That is a commitment color right there. I prefer shell or salmon, but I would rock that thing in a heartbeat.

Love the matching pink inlays.

I think Sheldon mentioned blue lumalays as well. I could have used lumilays standing in the dark the other night with a song containing enough octive slides to last a lifetime. Even jumping up a string to minimize travel, I had to peek to avoid wetting the bed.

Just one of those things that you never think about until you need them !~

 

[Zoomie]

Here she is. Let the hating begin.

The FOH guy last night told me it sounds like grand piano strings being hit with a hammer. He loved it. Goal met.

That is a commitment color right there. I prefer shell or salmon, but I would rock that thing in a heartbeat.

Love the matching pink inlays.

I think Sheldon mentioned blue lumalays as well. I could have used lumilays standing in the dark the other night with a song containing enough slides to last a lifetime. Even jumping up a string to minimize travel, I had to peek to avoid wetting the bed.

Just one of those things that you never think about until you need them !~

 

[eloann]

Good for you guys eloann! Wish I could understand French. Dingwall looks awesome. I need to hear this when I can remember to bring in my headphones. The speakers on my laptop suck!!

Thanx. The audio is not that great anyway (recorded with a good camera in an empty concert room)

I understood it all.

The vocals are in English, right? Any reason why you guys choose English over your native French?

I got on board just 1 year ago so I don't know the whole story or the previous singers. But I guess it has something to do with our country - Switzerland - having 4 official languages (german, french, italian and romansh). Even moreso, the Geneva area is a very international place with extremely mixed cultures so using english is natural to many of us. Our drummer couldn't speak english to save his life though.


By the way I recently uploaded this Karnivool cover I recorded a year ago with my long sold ABZ (been waiting for my singer friend's green light) :

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

We want more pictures of that pink SuperP!

 

[spiritbass]

The tight space between the nut and the B string tuner post makes sizing hit or miss.

This. The last set I tried was Fodera. The taper at the post is much better on the DR's. The Fodera B was still full thickness at the tuner post.

 

[spiritbass]

We'll have our new SS super length strings in about a week. The nickels will be another 4 weeks.

Hi Sheldon - the SS medium-scale five-string set I received this past week has silver balls versus colored ones on the previous set. There are also more windings up to the tuning post on the E string from the new set. Are these from your new vendor?

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

My SJ5 came with stainless steel DR Low Riders on them and now they have nickel DR Low Riders. I am curious to feel the difference as my SP5 has Dingwall strings and they are lighter and bouncier feeling. I don't know if I should try and set them up the same or have them feeling different (like I do with my ABs).

Come to think of it, I have only changed my SJ5 strings once since I got it in 2008 and they still have life in them!

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Hi Sheldon - the SS medium-scale five-string set I received this past week has silver balls versus colored ones on the previous set. There are also more windings up to the tuning post on the E string from the new set. Are these from your new vendor?

I will be curious to see what Sheldon has to say when he weighs in.

The long-scale nickels from the new supplier have brass ball ends, with conventional-looking windings at the headstock end.

The SS long-scale strings that came from Saskatoon on my brand-new ABZ a few weeks ago, had silver ball ends and spooky-looking "barbed-wire" windings out to the tuning post, like so:

Don't know if they were from the new supplier, or the old...

 

[BurningSkies]

That is a commitment color right there. I prefer shell or salmon, but I would rock that thing in a heartbeat.

Love the matching pink inlays.

I think Sheldon mentioned blue lumalays as well. I could have used lumilays standing in the dark the other night with a song containing enough octive slides to last a lifetime. Even jumping up a string to minimize travel, I had to peek to avoid wetting the bed.

Just one of those things that you never think about until you need them !~

If there's one thing I can say, its that the Dingwall shop is dedicated to putting out some of the most interesting, colorful and beautiful finishes in the world of basses. If I were to get another, I'd probably let Sheldon loose to do his 'worst' in terms of making an eye catching instrument.

Got to really crank 'er up for a while this afternoon. Really digging the nickels on my ABZ. Very muscular-sounding, great with fingers or a pick.

I may be trying some of these out soon. I'm very interested in how they sound, how they feel, and how they hold up. I'll make sure to let everyone know.

I will be curious to see what Sheldon has to say when he weighs in.

The long-scale nickels from the new supplier have brass ball ends, with conventional-looking windings at the headstock end.

The SS long-scale strings that came from Saskatoon on my brand-new ABZ a few weeks ago, had silver ball ends and spooky-looking "barbed-wire" windings out to the tuning post, like so:

Don't know if they were from the new supplier, or the old...

These look like 'regular' Dingwall strings. The windings are the same as all the sets I've had since 2005.

 

[singlemalt]

Time for another chapter?

 

[Grand Wazoo]

These look like 'regular' Dingwall strings. The windings are the same as all the sets I've had since 2005.

Indeed, these are the winding that appear on all Dingwall strings, they make fore a much tighter fit around the post with less slippage. A neat little touch that actually works. I am glad Sheldon is keeping that feature.