I’m a fan. I’ve never much cared for dots, but I like fancy inlays. Blocks, crowns, diamonds, shark fins, etc.
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Dingwall Owners Club
- Thread starter FroggyOne2
- Start date
I’m a fan. I’ve never much cared for dots, but I like fancy inlays. Blocks, crowns, diamonds, shark fins, etc.
Your bass, your aesthetic!
Unless I do the pay, I don’t get the say
Bassheart, did you get those inlays from Neck Illusions? I think they look great on your bass. I also think they serve a practical function as they make it easier to see your position on the upper register. I put them on the NG-3 in my avatar (which I subsequently sold to fund another bass). I really liked how they worked on my former bass.
Bones
Bones
Yes Neck Illusions. And you are right. They are an improvement over dots for non-aesthetic reasons.
So...question: do you tend to look at the side dots or tilt the board to see the inlays? Or do you not even look at the board while playing.
I've got a SJ5 with a dark board and every now and then in low light it is a crapshoot to slide up the neck and hit the right fret.
I've also got a D-Bird that's not as bad.
I've gone back and forth on whether to try some inlays out or not.
Oh...another question: how do you clean the board? Very carefully?
If I am playing sitting, I look at the fretboard markers. When standing, they're not all that visible, so the side dots are more crucial.
Both Luminlay side dots and the Fret Illusion blocks are big bang for the buck.
Inexpensive and easy to apply, I’m guessing less than $20 for the block stickers. Lots of colors and finishes, and the applicator strip makes it easy to install without even removing the strings. I’m liking it. The adhesive is low residue, it won’t leave a mess.
Luminlay is a bit more money and work. You’ll probably want to remove the neck, but after that a drill motor, some super glue and a blade to trim the Luminlay rod flush is about all you need. A tiny bit of fine sand paper to get perfectly flush and smooth. I did the six string in about an hour, including a bit of fret polishing and fingerboard cleaning, and new strings. Excellent in low light. About $35 for the Luminlay rod, the led keychain light (you don’t need it, but it’s cool for $7), glue, drill bits and shipping.
For maple maple necks, they have Luminlay with black circles around the glowing rod, a bit more contrast.
Inexpensive and easy to apply, I’m guessing less than $20 for the block stickers. Lots of colors and finishes, and the applicator strip makes it easy to install without even removing the strings. I’m liking it. The adhesive is low residue, it won’t leave a mess.
Luminlay is a bit more money and work. You’ll probably want to remove the neck, but after that a drill motor, some super glue and a blade to trim the Luminlay rod flush is about all you need. A tiny bit of fine sand paper to get perfectly flush and smooth. I did the six string in about an hour, including a bit of fret polishing and fingerboard cleaning, and new strings. Excellent in low light. About $35 for the Luminlay rod, the led keychain light (you don’t need it, but it’s cool for $7), glue, drill bits and shipping.
For maple maple necks, they have Luminlay with black circles around the glowing rod, a bit more contrast.
dingwall does lumenlay fretboard blocks. i would do it if they could do a matching lumenlay pickguard.
Just pulled the trigger on this stunning used beauty from John Fox Bass. 2021 Z3 5 string!
Those basses are just a pleasure to look at. Such a fine understanding of beauty.
Here's another exceptional example on Reverb:
Dingwall Z3 5-String, Custom Color - Explosion Burst, Poplar Burl Top, Maple Contrast Layer, Dual Density Swamp Ash Body - Black Ceruse, Wenge Neck, Macassar Ebony Fretboard, Ghost Block Inlays, Luminlay Side Dots, Darkglass Tone Capsule w/ Toggles | Reverb Deutschland
Here's another exceptional example on Reverb:
Dingwall Z3 5-String, Custom Color - Explosion Burst, Poplar Burl Top, Maple Contrast Layer, Dual Density Swamp Ash Body - Black Ceruse, Wenge Neck, Macassar Ebony Fretboard, Ghost Block Inlays, Luminlay Side Dots, Darkglass Tone Capsule w/ Toggles | Reverb Deutschland
god I saw that.. it inspired me to get ghost blocks on my custom that JUST went to production
Did a little mod on my D-Roc 5 standard and made some improvements (IMO), and learned some things. First, I really wanted to have the option to select the neck pickup solo, and the neck+bridge like a jazz bass. So, I ordered a custom 6-way switch from Jason and FretNation, and it was wired up and shipped from Mo at Nordstrand, along with very good instructions. I ordered it configured with the 4 standard D-Roc combinations and neck only and n clean+Bridge in parallel. I finally had a day to tackle the project today.
I learned very quickly the hard way the the new switch would not fit in the cavity. It’s built to fit in a standard cavity (the D-Roc is shallow, as I should have considered). keep a lookout for a custom 6 way switch in the classified if anyone is interested.
So when I went to wire it back up stock, I considered how I may change the wiring to get more options I want. If I switched the position of the middle and neck pickup connections, I would get the following 4 combinations:
Bridge only
Bridge+neck
Neck only
Bridge+neck in series with the middle.
it worked. But… the neck pickup was so quiet and thin sounding and made all the combinations that used it sound trebly and weak. That pickup is wired differently. Its coils are in parallel, while the middle and bridge are in series. They are all wired that way externally. Cool! So I wired up the neck pickup in series.
Tonal heaven! The bass, already awesome, got a shot of testosterone and more versatility. Stock, I felt like most of the tonal options were pretty stingray-leaning. The middle pickup alone was my favorite, but it is worth the trade-off with these new options. There’s now burpy bridge, jazz-ish, P-ish, and stingray on steroids. The all-in is very similar as the “all 3” like before but more output with all pickups individually in series. Just thought I’d share.
I learned very quickly the hard way the the new switch would not fit in the cavity. It’s built to fit in a standard cavity (the D-Roc is shallow, as I should have considered). keep a lookout for a custom 6 way switch in the classified if anyone is interested.
So when I went to wire it back up stock, I considered how I may change the wiring to get more options I want. If I switched the position of the middle and neck pickup connections, I would get the following 4 combinations:
Bridge only
Bridge+neck
Neck only
Bridge+neck in series with the middle.
it worked. But… the neck pickup was so quiet and thin sounding and made all the combinations that used it sound trebly and weak. That pickup is wired differently. Its coils are in parallel, while the middle and bridge are in series. They are all wired that way externally. Cool! So I wired up the neck pickup in series.
Tonal heaven! The bass, already awesome, got a shot of testosterone and more versatility. Stock, I felt like most of the tonal options were pretty stingray-leaning. The middle pickup alone was my favorite, but it is worth the trade-off with these new options. There’s now burpy bridge, jazz-ish, P-ish, and stingray on steroids. The all-in is very similar as the “all 3” like before but more output with all pickups individually in series. Just thought I’d share.
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Any of y'all got a manual for the NG3 in PDF form? I emailed support, but hadn't heard back yet. Got one in my neck of the woods that is behaving weirdly. The input jack is a bit loose (gonna take a look tonight), and the weirdest thing is going on with the volume knob. With the preamp "on/off" switch in the down position, there is only output with the volume knob maxed. Backing it off at all causes it to go entirely dead. With the selector in the up position, it is dead no matter what the volume knob is at.
(I was looking at this/testing it last night so my preamp on/off selector orientation might be reversed. Beers were had)
(I was looking at this/testing it last night so my preamp on/off selector orientation might be reversed. Beers were had)
Didn't have any on hand. I'd have thought that with the pre-amp on/off in the off position though that the volume knob should still work. Sorry, this is not an area I'm familiar with an all my basses are fully passive with no onboard pre-amp/EQ
Picked this guy up today.
I really dig the two pickups in series. I've always had 3 pickup Dingwalls and haven't had that option before.
I really dig the two pickups in series. I've always had 3 pickup Dingwalls and haven't had that option before.
