Dingwall Owners Club

[AB Nate]

Appreciate your vids.

I can sort of relate with my P bass experience with a couple of exceptions.

1 being mine is a 5. I’ve not ever heard a good B string on a Fender and of course the dingwall does dingwall on the B even at 35” scale but to your point of not being wowed or amazed, they are a pretty primitive bass… P basses that is. 1 pick up and 1 tone shaper.
I just expected it to sound like a very articulate P and that is exactly what it does.
One thought before you do your review update, perhaps exploring some other strings like some dingwall nickels? Obviously you know what you like but as most of us know, sometimes the strings activate the magic in the instrument.
I’ve been running dingwall nickels on my P but my J sports Payson mediums. They seem to have a higher tension and a bit sharper bite/attack if memory serves. My supers have been cased up hiding from a renovation for too Long now.

Of course coming to the build quality…. Well…. You know. They are beautiful, great action and play incredibly well..

that tone styler is something else. 12 settings!!! That’d make so many choices of tasty, it’d make it hard to know which one to go for!! Hahah.

My initial thoughts (+ full demo) on the Super P that I recently acquired

 

[Laklandfan]

I’ve recently noticed that my dingwalls are picky about when the cable plugs into the Jack. If I don’t feed through my strap and the cable is just hanging by its own weight, I get a crackling and signal interruption. When feeding through my strap, it seems to go away only if I feed a lot of the cable to the bass side, if not the weight of the cables pulls itself down behind the strap and pulls the Jack upwards enough to cause crackling/interruption. The cables are slick so no good friction to grab the strap button. I’ve tried 3 different cable brands, same behavior. These are straight jacks, Would switching to right angle jacks be the fix?

 

[archisland]

Appreciate your vids.

I can sort of relate with my P bass experience with a couple of exceptions.

1 being mine is a 5. I’ve not ever heard a good B string on a Fender and of course the dingwall does dingwall on the B even at 35” scale but to your point of not being wowed or amazed, they are a pretty primitive bass… P basses that is. 1 pick up and 1 tone shaper.
I just expected it to sound like a very articulate P and that is exactly what it does.
One thought before you do your review update, perhaps exploring some other strings like some dingwall nickels? Obviously you know what you like but as most of us know, sometimes the strings activate the magic in the instrument.
I’ve been running dingwall nickels on my P but my J sports Payson mediums. They seem to have a higher tension and a bit sharper bite/attack if memory serves. My supers have been cased up hiding from a renovation for too Long now.

Of course coming to the build quality…. Well…. You know. They are beautiful, great action and play incredibly well..

that tone styler is something else. 12 settings!!! That’d make so many choices of tasty, it’d make it hard to know which one to go for!! Hahah.

I’ve tried the Dingwall Stainless and nickel strings on my Combustion - but I totally see your point in trying them on this one as well! Gonna look into it!!

 

[AB Nate]

I’ve tried the Dingwall Stainless and nickel strings on my Combustion - but I totally see your point in trying them on this one as well! Gonna look into it!!

I gravitate to SS on the long scales it seems but on the supers the opposite happens.

 

[AB Nate]

I’ve recently noticed that my dingwalls are picky about when the cable plugs into the Jack. If I don’t feed through my strap and the cable is just hanging by its own weight, I get a crackling and signal interruption. When feeding through my strap, it seems to go away only if I feed a lot of the cable to the bass side, if not the weight of the cables pulls itself down behind the strap and pulls the Jack upwards enough to cause crackling/interruption. The cables are slick so no good friction to grab the strap button. I’ve tried 3 different cable brands, same behavior. These are straight jacks, Would switching to right angle jacks be the fix?

Perhaps one of your cables stretched the jacks. I’ve heard monster cables can go this. I haven’t had that experience but I had tried a fender cable that seemed to have smaller diameter shaft and wiggle in the jacks a lot.

 

[J Posega]

I’ve recently noticed that my dingwalls are picky about when the cable plugs into the Jack. If I don’t feed through my strap and the cable is just hanging by its own weight, I get a crackling and signal interruption. When feeding through my strap, it seems to go away only if I feed a lot of the cable to the bass side, if not the weight of the cables pulls itself down behind the strap and pulls the Jack upwards enough to cause crackling/interruption. The cables are slick so no good friction to grab the strap button. I’ve tried 3 different cable brands, same behavior. These are straight jacks, Would switching to right angle jacks be the fix?

Are they regular jacks, barrel jacks, or Neutrik locking? The jacks themselves probably need to be replaced or the prongs need to be cleaned.

I like PureTone jacks because they have two 'prongs' to grab the tip of the plug so they're extra secure and an extra point of contact. Others have suggested using a TRS jack wired up mono for the same reasons.

I do not like Neutrik locking jacks. I'd say they're the only design "flaw" in the Canadian, non-Super basses. They don't last any longer than a standard jack and you're stuck using the same thing as a replacement when they wear out. I couldn't figure out a way to tighten the prongs like you can do with a standard jack (just bend the prong inwards and you have much better contact).

 

[Npunk42]

i got the 6 way rotary mod for my NG3. The installation seemed pretty simple. Everything worked, kind of. I didnt hear much difference between the settings, and they all sounded anemic, thin. I had two sets of instructions, one black and white, a bit hard to read, but I get it. Hot here, negative and shields there. The one in color showed more detail. I used that one. After hearing it I thought it couldnt be right, so I cut the green wire off the parallel connection to be more like the black and white instructions. Then the positions 1, 2 lost nearly all volume, 3, okay but not full. I checked and double checked, put back the green wire, still no 1,2. Okay forget it, it's over my head. I'll just put the old switch back on. Again seemingly simple, Neck, postion 4, and position 3 are rich and full sounding, but exactly the same. Nothing coming out of 1, 2.
I thought checking continuity between the pick ups and the switch would be my next step. I have an appointment with a pro next week, but I just keep wanting to see what I did wrong.

 

[spiritbass]

i got the 6 way rotary mod for my NG3. The installation seemed pretty simple. Everything worked, kind of. I didnt hear much difference between the settings, and they all sounded anemic, thin. I had two sets of instructions, one black and white, a bit hard to read, but I get it. Hot here, negative and shields there. The one in color showed more detail. I used that one. After hearing it I thought it couldnt be right, so I cut the green wire off the parallel connection to be more like the black and white instructions. Then the positions 1, 2 lost nearly all volume, 3, okay but not full. I checked and double checked, put back the green wire, still no 1,2. Okay forget it, it's over my head. I'll just put the old switch back on. Again seemingly simple, Neck, postion 4, and position 3 are rich and full sounding, but exactly the same. Nothing coming out of 1, 2.
I thought checking continuity between the pick ups and the switch would be my next step. I have an appointment with a pro next week, but I just keep wanting to see what I did wrong.

Sorry your install did not go smoothly. I can solder well, but I wouldn't attempt something like this without very clear instructions that made sense to me...

 

[spiritbass]

Appreciate your vids.

I can sort of relate with my P bass experience with a couple of exceptions.

1 being mine is a 5. I’ve not ever heard a good B string on a Fender and of course the dingwall does dingwall on the B even at 35” scale but to your point of not being wowed or amazed, they are a pretty primitive bass… P basses that is. 1 pick up and 1 tone shaper.
I just expected it to sound like a very articulate P and that is exactly what it does.
One thought before you do your review update, perhaps exploring some other strings like some dingwall nickels? Obviously you know what you like but as most of us know, sometimes the strings activate the magic in the instrument.
I’ve been running dingwall nickels on my P but my J sports Payson mediums. They seem to have a higher tension and a bit sharper bite/attack if memory serves. My supers have been cased up hiding from a renovation for too Long now.

Of course coming to the build quality…. Well…. You know. They are beautiful, great action and play incredibly well..

that tone styler is something else. 12 settings!!! That’d make so many choices of tasty, it’d make it hard to know which one to go for!! Hahah.

I'm eternally grateful to Leo for inventing the split-coil precision bass and to Sheldon for refining its iconic design. I learned on my uncle's '63 with the original strings, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for a good precision. This being said, I'd pick my Super P to play over any other. The neck carve is perfection. Being a Dingwall player since 2007, I have been spoiled by the precise banjo frets. I'm convinced that Sheldon's use of pressure to install the truss rod really helps to make the woods work together and the whole instrument to resonate nicely. If mine were lost or stolen, I'd be spec'ing another in a few heartbeats. Do you get the impression that I like my Super P?

 

[AB Nate]

I'm eternally grateful to Leo for inventing the split-coil precision bass and to Sheldon for refining its iconic design. I learned on my uncle's '63 with the original strings, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for a good precision. This being said, I'd pick my Super P to play over any other. The neck carve is perfection. Being a Dingwall player since 2007, I have been spoiled by the precise banjo frets. I'm convinced that Sheldon's use of pressure to install the truss rod really helps to make the woods work together and the whole instrument to resonate nicely. If mine were lost or stolen, I'd be spec'ing another in a few heartbeats. Do you get the impression that I like my Super P?

Definitely. Different players, different desires etc.

I love mine. It doesn’t suite just about any of the playing I do. For noodling on a P I’d want no other to replace it.

My Z3 6 on the other hand. The neck is magic. That’s where my designs are drawn. I completely understand though. I’m very glad Sheldon has the variety of offerings. I can’t help but always have a curiosity in the back of my head about what’s coming next. Possibly headless being the most enticing for myself. Even still then though.. my Z…

 

[retroXvertigo]

The Z neck is pretty amazing. Especially in wenge.

 

[Npunk42]

Sorry your install did not go smoothly. I can solder well, but I wouldn't attempt something like this without very clear instructions that made sense to me...

Okay here's where I'm at now. On YouTube, they tested pickups with an ohm meter. Good pickups had a steady reading, bad ones the reading floated around a bit. Is that a reliable test? The neck and middle pickup are steady, the bridge pickup never settles down. If that's really an indication of a bad pickup, my next question is where to buy a replacement?

 

[archisland]

I'm eternally grateful to Leo for inventing the split-coil precision bass and to Sheldon for refining its iconic design. I learned on my uncle's '63 with the original strings, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for a good precision. This being said, I'd pick my Super P to play over any other. The neck carve is perfection. Being a Dingwall player since 2007, I have been spoiled by the precise banjo frets. I'm convinced that Sheldon's use of pressure to install the truss rod really helps to make the woods work together and the whole instrument to resonate nicely. If mine were lost or stolen, I'd be spec'ing another in a few heartbeats. Do you get the impression that I like my Super P?

I ALSO learned on my uncle’s 1963 P Bass I still have it (of course), as he passed a few years ago and us nephews and nieces were pretty much like his own kids!

 

[Amajew]

When feeding through my strap, it seems to go away only if I feed a lot of the cable to the bass side, if not the weight of the cables pulls itself down behind the strap and pulls the Jack upwards enough to cause crackling/interruption. The cables are slick so no good friction to grab the strap button.

You can buy some shrinkwrap and add it to the part of the cable that would contact the strap button. Maybe a couple layers might be needed to get the rubber of the shrinkwrap to grab the strap button?

I have some rattlesnake cables and he put extra length in the shrinkwrap (per request), works well for me!

 

[ZuluFoxtrot]

Got my NG3 yesterday after it sat at the UPS Customer Center all weekend (No Saturday hours, ugh).

Put it on a strap and went through some warmups and a few exercises. The 1st fret is miles away it seems, fretting the F makes it seem like my first two phalanges of my index finger are laying down on the fretboard!

This is in comparison to my BN5 that is my regular player, the 1st fret is approximately 2 inches further away on the NG3 vs BN5 while sitting. Similar on the strap.

Time to try the reach reducing strap pin.

 

[IronSpatula]

I ALSO learned on my uncle’s 1963 P Bass I still have it (of course), as he passed a few years ago and us nephews and nieces were pretty much like his own kids!

View attachment 5187340

That bridge pickup placement though... bright enough for you?

 

[Amajew]

Got my NG3 yesterday after it sat at the UPS Customer Center all weekend (No Saturday hours, ugh).

Put it on a strap and went through some warmups and a few exercises. The 1st fret is miles away it seems, fretting the F makes it seem like my first two phalanges of my index finger are laying down on the fretboard!

This is in comparison to my BN5 that is my regular player, the 1st fret is approximately 2 inches further away on the NG3 vs BN5 while sitting. Similar on the strap.

Time to try the reach reducing strap pin.

View attachment 5187702

View attachment 5187703

The reach reducing strap pin is a game changer!

 

[steve_rolfeca]

I'm eternally grateful to Leo for inventing the split-coil precision bass and to Sheldon for refining its iconic design. I learned on my uncle's '63 with the original strings, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for a good precision. This being said, I'd pick my Super P to play over any other. The neck carve is perfection. Being a Dingwall player since 2007, I have been spoiled by the precise banjo frets. I'm convinced that Sheldon's use of pressure to install the truss rod really helps to make the woods work together and the whole instrument to resonate nicely. If mine were lost or stolen, I'd be spec'ing another in a few heartbeats. Do you get the impression that I like my Super P?

It still weirds me out that I didn't end up the owner of a passive Super P5.

Although I played a fancy single cut, neck-through 5 for a couple of decades, I started out on a '64 Precision, and my coffee-table bass was carefully designed to copy a lot of the contours of the P.

After trying an early Afterburner in 2001, and seeing a picture of the first NAMM 5-string Super P, I was convinced that I would end up with a passive 5-string Super.

It was a bit of a shock when I finally had the opportunity to place an order in 2013, and checked out a couple of Supers (a P and a J) at a dealer in Markham..

When I tried the Super's, I felt nothing. I didn't dislike anything about them, yet I just couldn't relate.

Ironically, the only other Dingwall they had in stock was a first-gen Combustion, but within the first 30 seconds, I knew that I knew that I had to have a Canadian AB.

I really lucked out with my passive ABZ. Sheldon had just added the rear strap lock as a standard item, and the decision to go with a maple/maple neck was purely based on price. Yet subsequent opportunities to play AB2's, AB3's, a Prima, and even a Sklar, only confirmed that I already had my gold standard.

 

[1983L2000]

i got the 6 way rotary mod for my NG3. The installation seemed pretty simple. Everything worked, kind of. I didnt hear much difference between the settings, and they all sounded anemic, thin. I had two sets of instructions, one black and white, a bit hard to read, but I get it. Hot here, negative and shields there. The one in color showed more detail. I used that one. After hearing it I thought it couldnt be right, so I cut the green wire off the parallel connection to be more like the black and white instructions. Then the positions 1, 2 lost nearly all volume, 3, okay but not full. I checked and double checked, put back the green wire, still no 1,2. Okay forget it, it's over my head. I'll just put the old switch back on. Again seemingly simple, Neck, postion 4, and position 3 are rich and full sounding, but exactly the same. Nothing coming out of 1, 2.
I thought checking continuity between the pick ups and the switch would be my next step. I have an appointment with a pro next week, but I just keep wanting to see what I did wrong.

I had a similar problem - positions 1 and 2 with no sound after installing a Glock preamp - after some fiddling I figured out that one of the pinout of the 6 way switch came in contact with the cavity shielding paint and was shorting the circuit. Easy to check.

 

[AB Nate]

I had a similar problem - positions 1 and 2 with no sound after installing a Glock preamp - after some fiddling I figured out that one of the pinout of the 6 way switch came in contact with the cavity shielding paint and was shorting the circuit. Easy to check.

I forgot about this. I had a similar problem. Those switches are a tight fit. Quick pin bend and a dab of liquid rubber for security and good to go.