Dingwall Owners Club

[Paajanenae]

Ok so, follow up question regarding the D-Roc. I have been skimming a few videos on YT and really like how they sound. I know they use the same pickups as the Combustion, however, I also know the D-Roc uses different woods and it appears the rotary knob is set up a little differently and the pickups are wired differently (series vs parallel in different positions).

So here are my two questions assuming I like the aesthetic of the Combustion over the D-Roc.

1. When a Combustion is in passive mode, how close to a D-Roc does it sound? Do they cop similar tones? I know the wiring is different so they wont be identical, I am speaking more in generalities.
2. Could a Combustion be rewired to D-Roc "specs" (knowing there would still be some differences because of woods)?

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. This Dingwall world is brand new to me.

The biggest differences between a Combustion and a D-Roc will come down to the pickup switch and the pickup placement. The pickup switch is easy to replace, you can buy a new switch from Dingwall preconfigured for either the 3X (Combustion) or the D-Roc switching and just replace the wires. Then just flip the series/parallel on the neck and middle pickup and you've got the same switching.

The pickup position you cannot change. The D-Roc has the pickups 0.75-1cm closer to the neck which makes the sound thicker and warmer compared to the Combustion. This will change all the tones so that they don't really match anymore between the two basses and when using multiple pickups the differences will be much more complex than just darker/brighter.

 

[MascisMan]

@Derek Williams @Paajanenae Thank you for the insight!

 

[5StringPocket]

Just wanted to give you a quick update and some interesting info on the neck/mid pickup position swap mod.

Recall I did your mod a couple of weeks ago and liked it a lot. But there’s always the potential for confirmation bias with any tone change method like this. So I brought the D-Bird to the Thunderbird GTG in California last weekend and just let everyone play it in whatever settings they liked. It was mostly being played through a Sunn Coliseum/Ampeg twin 15 folded horn cab at about stage volume. There were about 40 basses there (everything you can think of, not just Tbirds) and about a dozen players, most of which are excellent current gigging players.

The Dingwall was a huge hit! Fanned frets ended up being pretty much a non issue for anyone playing it, but more importantly, to a person - everyone who played it loved the second position (bridge + middle pickup in the neck position, post mod now called bridge+neck parallel). They all tried pretty much every switch position, but every single player picked the #2 position as their favorite, to a point where I started getting offers on the bass (I ain’t selling). Many thought it was one of the best sounding basses of the day, and there was some phenomenal stuff there.

So your mod appears to be a big hit across a broad base of players! It does make me wonder, how much of the magic in that mod is driven by moving the specific pups into that configuration vs keeping the pups in their original locations and just having a bridge+neck option added to the switch.

That's a great way to evaluate that swap. Was the neck soloed a bit rounder and was there any discernible difference in all 3 on?

 

[GBassNorth]

That's a great way to evaluate that swap. Was the neck soloed a bit rounder and was there any discernible difference in all 3 on?

The neck solo is quite nice, probably my second favorite position. The neck solo is a tad rounder than the neck+bridge setting, probably closer to a P bass sound. Yes, the all on position is much more useable now, there is no longer a drastic volume jump when moving to position four, but it’s still a thick wall of sound, not quite as articulate as any of the other settings.

 

[prom311]

Totally unrelated, but do y'all know any online shops that do NG3 pickguards? Have a Ferrari Green NG3 and was thinking it'd be wicked to get a pink or pink swirl pickguard for it

Ive thought about doing the same and this is the guy Id hit up first.
Quick Guards

 

[MascisMan]

I've ordered P-Bass pickguards from QuickGuards before. Excellent quality

 

[5StringPocket]

The neck solo is quite nice, probably my second favorite position. The neck solo is a tad rounder than the neck+bridge setting, probably closer to a P bass sound. Yes, the all on position is much more useable now, there is no longer a drastic volume jump when moving to position four, but it’s still a thick wall of sound, not quite as articulate as any of the other settings.

Is the all on (pos 4) setting useful or would it be better just to have the afterburner style switch?

 

[Laklandfan]

I was looking on fretnation to order strings for my ABII 5 strings and I noticed that Daddario now has a multi-scale set. Has anyone tried these to confirm that they’re long enough for a AB II?

 

[J Posega]

I was looking on fretnation to order strings for my ABII 5 strings and I noticed that Daddario now has a multi-scale set. Has anyone tried these to confirm that they’re long enough for a AB II?

It says right on the listing that they’ll fit a Dingwall. Jason wouldn’t put that in the listing if it wasn’t accurate.

D’addario has been doing custom strings for Nolly for years now. All they had to do was make the super long scale B string winding length consistent to make them work for Dingwall. It’s weird it took this long.

 

[singlemalt]

FretNation also sells singles if you want to roll your own.

Payson strings will always fit and you can mix and match to taste.

 

[GBassNorth]

Is the all on (pos 4) setting useful or would it be better just to have the afterburner style switch?

Interesting thought.
Keeping the pickups in their modded positions (neck/middle flipped) but using the AB rotary switch would give you…
1 - Bridge
2 - Bridge + Neck
3 - Bridge + Middle
4 - middle

Whereas the D-Bird switch (with modded pup layout) gives me…
1 - Bridge
2 - Bridge + Neck
3 - Neck
4 - all on

The all on feature is useful, so I’d keep it. If anything I’d go with the six way selector and add a middle solo and bridge + middle position. So that would look like…
1 - Bridge
2 - Middle
3 - Neck
4 - bridge + middle
5 - bridge + neck
6 - all on

 

[MascisMan]

Ok, another dumb noob question.

Im assuming that the Combustion and NG basses are the same (dimensions-wise, pickup location, etc) with the only differences being preamp and body wood?

Are the pickguards, shape-wise, the same? I know the NG has those three "vents." I am talking exterior dimensions/interchangeability.

Thanks!

 

[Derek Williams]

Ok, another dumb noob question.

Im assuming that the Combustion and NG basses are the same (dimensions-wise, pickup location, etc) with the only differences being preamp and body wood?

Are the pickguards, shape-wise, the same? I know the NG has those three "vents." I am talking exterior dimensions/interchangeability.

Thanks!

Yes, I’m using a combustion pickguard on my NG. No modifications needed.

 

[Flabzilla]

Ah, that's better.

 

[Katoosie]

Ah, that's better.

View attachment 5154236

That looks very good. I hope you're happy.
How is it? You've had one of these before, right? Does it feel different now to play the same instrument again?

 

[geggy spoiger]

Ah, that's better.

View attachment 5154236

Eeeyyyy you got it back, congrats! I was eyeing that off boi, thinking about calling Bass Centre after you linked it a while ago.
Are those dots real inlays? It had those sticker blocks that you’ve obviously removed. Hope it does better for you this time round

Looking forward to receiving this barely used Afterburner II 6 string I just bought. What a handsome rooster My Z3 6 might have some competition!

 

[wavemaker]

Hey everyone, I‘m currently trying to sell my Super PJ (see my ad). To be honest, I’m not receiving as many PMs as I expected for this lovely bass - can I get some honest feedback from the group as to what might put people off? Is it missing seller’s feedback? Sticker shock? Everyone’s bass funds being depleted from summer vacation? Reluctance towards an international deal?

 

[Katoosie]

Hey everyone, I‘m currently trying to sell my Super PJ (see my ad). To be honest, I’m not receiving as many PMs as I expected for this lovely bass - can I get some honest feedback from the group as to what might put people off? Is it missing seller’s feedback? Sticker shock? Everyone’s bass funds being depleted from summer vacation? Reluctance towards an international deal?

I can get a super P or J locally for 2300 euro. Used as well. They have been up for sale for weeks now.

I think people just don't have the money right now, honestly. Bad time to sell with everything getting more expensive and every average person having less disposable income as a result.

@edit
Dont get discouraged though. EU market is slower than the US one as well. Be more patient and keep listing it. Every bass I ever sold took longer than a month to sell at a minimum, minus one bass that was a special case.

 

[wavemaker]

I can get a super P or J locally for 2300 euro. Used as well. They have been up for sale for weeks now.

Thank you for your feedback. Not to be defensive, but I think I have seen the basses you‘re speaking of (on basschat) and I don‘t think that’s a fair comparison regarding neither specs nor age/use/condition.

Still, if that’s what you see when looking at my ad, I appreciate you sharing this perception. Your second point is of course vaild, as well.

Edited to thank you for the edit! I‘ll try to be patient.

 

[Katoosie]

Thank you for your feedback. Not to be defensive, but I think I have seen the basses you‘re speaking of (on basschat) and I don‘t think that’s a fair comparison regarding neither specs nor age/use/condition.

Still, if that’s what you see when looking at my ad, I appreciate you sharing this perception. Your second point is of course vaild, as well.

Edited to thank you for the edit! I‘ll try to be patient.

No problem, and yes these are the two I was talking about.

They're not 1:1 when you compare to yours but... Dingwall is a Dingwall nonetheless. Again, post it in as many places as you can if you haven't already:
- TalkBass
- Basschat
- Bassic.de
- Reverb
- Ebay?
- Facebook EU bass market group
And wait.

How many times have I wished I was in the USA simply because the market seems to be bigger out there

I hope you sell it relatively soon. Keep me updated on how it goes