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Dingwall Owners Club

#54,061
KentClarkOnBass said:
Slightly off-track question, related to finishes on Dingwalls (though applicable to other basses too).

If I meet a well-known bass player and start fanpersoning and want them to autograph my Dingwall, what do I use for that? Will just a regular black Sharpie be permanent, or will it just rub right off of the poly finish and then I'll be sad? Anything better? Is it different if they do it on matte finish (NG3) versus shiny finish (Super P)? Is it the same for other brands of basses, or is Dingwall ahead of the game on coatings too? Sorry if these are dumb questions... I've never done this to an instrument before, this chance is coming soon, and I'm reluctant to test!
Click to expand...

The only way to truly protect is then have a layer of clear coat shot over it.
 
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#54,062
Just FYI, I had Stuart Spector and Roger Sadowsky sign basses for me at NAMM by brining my plastic back covers. They signed the inside with a gold metallic sharpie. You can only see it if you open it up, but hey it is pretty cool still and protected.
 
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#54,063
IMG_6941.JPG
 
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#54,064
KentClarkOnBass said:
Slightly off-track question, related to finishes on Dingwalls (though applicable to other basses too).

If I meet a well-known bass player and start fanpersoning and want them to autograph my Dingwall, what do I use for that? Will just a regular black Sharpie be permanent, or will it just rub right off of the poly finish and then I'll be sad? Anything better? Is it different if they do it on matte finish (NG3) versus shiny finish (Super P)? Is it the same for other brands of basses, or is Dingwall ahead of the game on coatings too? Sorry if these are dumb questions... I've never done this to an instrument before, this chance is coming soon, and I'm reluctant to test!
Click to expand...

Resale value can be a concern - whoever is signing the bass might be the biggest hero you have, but it will be a devaluing feature or a deterrent to a sale to a person who has no interest or regard for the person who autographed it. An autograph of the builder of the bass is a different thing, and and all Dingwalls that left the factory used to have that.

I’d get a hold of a silver or gold paint Sharpie and have whoever it is autograph the electronics cavity cover if the bass has one - Dingwall P4s don’t, but the pickguard could be signed. This way, the bass stays unmarked and you can keep the autographed plate/pickguard and replace it with an new one if you sell the bass.
 
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#54,065
cxcxcx said:
Resale value can be a concern - whoever is signing the bass might be the biggest hero you have, but it will be a devaluing feature or a deterrent to a sale to a person who has no interest or regard for the person who autographed it. An autograph of the builder of the bass is a different thing, and and all Dingwalls that left the factory used to have that.

I’d get a hold of a silver or gold paint Sharpie and have whoever it is autograph the electronics cavity cover if the bass has one - Dingwall P4s don’t, but the pickguard could be signed. This way, the bass stays unmarked and you can keep the autographed plate/pickguard and replace it with an new one if you sell the bass.
Click to expand...

Sheldon Dingwall is the only person who will sign my AB2... and he did.

:)
 
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#54,066
KentClarkOnBass said:
Slightly off-track question, related to finishes on Dingwalls (though applicable to other basses too).

If I meet a well-known bass player and start fanpersoning and want them to autograph my Dingwall, what do I use for that? Will just a regular black Sharpie be permanent, or will it just rub right off of the poly finish and then I'll be sad? Anything better? Is it different if they do it on matte finish (NG3) versus shiny finish (Super P)? Is it the same for other brands of basses, or is Dingwall ahead of the game on coatings too? Sorry if these are dumb questions... I've never done this to an instrument before, this chance is coming soon, and I'm reluctant to test!
Click to expand...
Back or front if the headstock and put clear coat over it. Sharpie Paint pen is better than regular Sharpie because it’s truly black and not the sort of purple-black of regular Sharpie.

Unless you have a lot of autographs like Lee Sklar’s Frankenstein, one autograph looks cheesy on the body.
 
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#54,068
More regarding passive - this past friday at my reggae gig, 3 songs into a 3 hr set I thought my batteries had died, but the Nordstrand preamp just decided to stop working (more on that later). Took a deep breath and switched to passive - still had sound so I was good to finish. To my surprise, I was still able to get a great reggae tone with just the passive tone rolled off and the flats. Remember, I use the MM pup setting so I was expecting it to be a little harsh, but not the case. If anything it was more balanced frequency-wise than with the preamp engaged. Terms like "muscular" and "beefy" I heard quite a bit when we were done. Having the passive tone on hand was a gig-saver. Over the weekend I tried playing some of my hard rock stuff on the KK3 in passive and was blown away there too. I was a passive J-bass guy for many many moons, it felt really good to be back in the passive territory. I think I'm gonna be doing that more often now.

Oh yeah, my Nordy 2B preamp? So I opened up Verde Malo (Mean Green, lol) when I got home after the gig- no wires out of place or loose, everything looked normal and guess what - the preamp has worked just fine since I got home friday night. :roflmao:
 
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#54,069
gustobassman said:
More regarding passive - this past friday at my reggae gig, 3 songs into a 3 hr set I thought my batteries had died, but the Nordstrand preamp just decided to stop working (more on that later). Took a deep breath and switched to passive - still had sound so I was good to finish. To my surprise, I was still able to get a great reggae tone with just the passive tone rolled off and the flats. Remember, I use the MM pup setting so I was expecting it to be a little harsh, but not the case. If anything it was more balanced frequency-wise than with the preamp engaged. Terms like "muscular" and "beefy" I heard quite a bit when we were done. Having the passive tone on hand was a gig-saver. Over the weekend I tried playing some of my hard rock stuff on the KK3 in passive and was blown away there too. I was a passive J-bass guy for many many moons, it felt really good to be back in the passive territory. I think I'm gonna be doing that more often now.

Oh yeah, my Nordy 2B preamp? So I opened up Verde Malo (Mean Green, lol) when I got home after the gig- no wires out of place or loose, everything looked normal and guess what - the preamp has worked just fine since I got home friday night. :roflmao:
Click to expand...

I’ve championed the flatwound-on-a-Dingwall tone in your clips many times and always assumed you were going passive. I don’t think you were playing a KK in those videos though.
 
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#54,070
cxcxcx said:
I’ve championed the flatwound-on-a-Dingwall tone in your clips many times and always assumed you were going passive. I don’t think you were playing a KK in those videos though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I use an NG3 for the reggae, the KK is now my hard rock bass. I was a huge fan of the Sadowsky VTC/electronics for reggae, the Nordstrand 2B gets me super close and I use it the same way. Passive tone rolled all the way off, slightest bit of bass boost, and the treb boosted just a hair higher than the bass. Thick, fat, round- adding the treb brings back some of the freqs rolled off by the passive tone without getting into crispy territory.
 
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#54,071
gustobassman said:
More regarding passive - this past friday at my reggae gig, 3 songs into a 3 hr set I thought my batteries had died, but the Nordstrand preamp just decided to stop working (more on that later). Took a deep breath and switched to passive - still had sound so I was good to finish. To my surprise, I was still able to get a great reggae tone with just the passive tone rolled off and the flats. Remember, I use the MM pup setting so I was expecting it to be a little harsh, but not the case. If anything it was more balanced frequency-wise than with the preamp engaged. Terms like "muscular" and "beefy" I heard quite a bit when we were done. Having the passive tone on hand was a gig-saver. Over the weekend I tried playing some of my hard rock stuff on the KK3 in passive and was blown away there too. I was a passive J-bass guy for many many moons, it felt really good to be back in the passive territory. I think I'm gonna be doing that more often now.

Oh yeah, my Nordy 2B preamp? So I opened up Verde Malo (Mean Green, lol) when I got home after the gig- no wires out of place or loose, everything looked normal and guess what - the preamp has worked just fine since I got home friday night. :roflmao:
Click to expand...

I've got a 4 string Combustion 3 and like you, playing the same pickup setting. I actually took the batteries out of the bass and play passive full time. I think it gives the tone more "growl".
I play in a instrumental stoner rock band, with slight overdrive always on so i'm happy to have the tone fully open. But i'd love the option of a passive tone.
 
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#54,078
gustobassman said:
Alright.. finally pulled the trigger. 5-string Payson bridge is on the way to me.
:hyper:

Those that have received one- how is it working out so far?
Click to expand...

I’ve got one on the D-bird I just got and I love it. It’s essentially a Hipshot A-style bridge that’s multi scale. It even has string spacing adjustments. Frankly, I like it better than the Dingwall bridges on an ABZ and AB1 I used to own.
 
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#54,079
I got one for my Combustion 3-6. Two issues I had 1) when installed there’s a small portion of the ground wire hole visible by the C string. 2) I took the bass to my tech guy for another reason. He checked the bass over and said the bridge wasn’t properly grounded. He took it apart and had to remove the powder coating from the bottom to get solid grounding on all the strings.
Works great now. Haven’t played a gig or rehearsal yet but the sound is solid and it looks great!
 
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