Dingwall Owners Club

[AB Nate]

Just got word that my SJ is about to enter production. Should I keep it as a 2x or 3x with FDVs?

I like 2x on a J but being that you don’t really rock the long scales(at this time) for versatility you may want the 3?

 

[wavemaker]

Just got word that my SJ is about to enter production. Should I keep it as a 2x or 3x with FDVs?

I‘d order a Super-P as a 3X if I could … I’m only half joking.
To me, 3X is one of Dingwall’s best magic tricks. Sure, it’s only one of them … but it is one of them.

 

[silky smoove]

with FDVs?

As an addendum to my earlier post that quoted yours: It's worth noting that, at least to me, the FDVs with the bridge and neck in parallel do not really nail a classic Jazz Bass tone. To my ears it's more like a Spector or similar bass with neck and bridge humbuckers in parallel. I've got a couple of Jazz Basses for comparison and my SJ just doesn't have that particular "neck and bridge split 50/50 in parallel" thing that people frequently use a Jazz to achieve. It has a plethora of very cool tones, just not that one. I have a full set of SF2 pickups sitting in my studio ready to be installed in an attempt to get a little closer to that particular thing, but I have no idea if it will be closer or not.

Just some additional food for thought. It will be very hard to make a bad choice.

 

[IvanBassist]

As an addendum to my earlier post that quoted yours: It's worth noting that, at least to me, the FDVs with the bridge and neck in parallel do not really nail a classic Jazz Bass tone. To my ears it's more like a Spector or similar bass with neck and bridge humbuckers in parallel. I've got a couple of Jazz Basses for comparison and my SJ just doesn't have that particular "neck and bridge split 50/50 in parallel" thing that people frequently use a Jazz to achieve. It has a plethora of very cool tones, just not that one. I have a full set of SF2 pickups sitting in my studio ready to be installed in an attempt to get a little closer to that particular thing, but I have no idea if it will be closer or not.

Just some additional food for thought. It will be very hard to make a bad choice.

Do you happen to have any soundclips of the MM tone of your SJ?

 

[spiritbass]

Just got word that my SJ is about to enter production. Should I keep it as a 2x or 3x with FDVs?

Three FDV's.

 

[silky smoove]

Do you happen to have any soundclips of the MM tone of your SJ?

I don't. Also, I switched from the standard switch to a custom 6-way. The original switch that offered bridge and middle in series with each other sounded absolutely dead-on with a Stingray type tone. The problem was that it was significantly louder than all other settings on the bass, so I would never use it. My custom 6-way is all of the single pickup options and all three of the pair options, each one being a parallel arrangement rather than a series. What I gained from this was a more balanced volume from setting to setting, but what I lost was the Stingray tone of bridge-middle in series. As it happens bridge-middle in parallel is sort of Stingray-adjacent. It's less aggressive than a typical Stingray tone and generally more polite, but is more midrange focused than the bridge-neck in parallel setting. More often than not I find myself using bridge-middle on live dates and either bridge-neck or middle-solo on recording sessions. I could easily live with just those three settings and be perfectly happy.

 

[Paajanenae]

I might be in the minority here, but especially with the SJ body shape I feel like the 3 pickup look doesn't fit the bass at all. To me those three big soapbar-style pickup covers all together really mess with the lines of the body.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I might be in the minority here, but especially with the SJ body shape I feel like the 3 pickup look doesn't fit the bass at all. To me those three big soapbar-style pickup covers all together really mess with the lines of the body.

Aesthetically, I think it looks better with two pickups as well. I could get used to 3 though.

 

[wavemaker]

I‘m in the complete opposite camp: I think 3X looks absolutely best on a five string Super-J. To me, that’s the epitome of a modern Jazz.

 

[silky smoove]

I‘m in the complete opposite camp: I think 3X looks absolutely best on a five string Super-J. To me, that’s the epitome of a modern Jazz.

I agree, which is obvious given that my #1 is a 3X SJ. What I don't know is if I truly believe it's the best look for a modern J, or if it's my own bias for how much I love mine and how used to it I've gotten. Regardless, I'm happy and that's clearly all that matters

 

[Katoosie]

I am in the 3 camp as well.

 

[Thumper]

3 PUP is my vote, withe the ability to solo the middle with a P-tone

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

3 PUP is my vote, withe the ability to solo the middle with a P-tone

I think that would be the main attraction to going to a 3 pickup configuration for me.

 

[AB Nate]

As an addendum to my earlier post that quoted yours: It's worth noting that, at least to me, the FDVs with the bridge and neck in parallel do not really nail a classic Jazz Bass tone. To my ears it's more like a Spector or similar bass with neck and bridge humbuckers in parallel. I've got a couple of Jazz Basses for comparison and my SJ just doesn't have that particular "neck and bridge split 50/50 in parallel" thing that people frequently use a Jazz to achieve. It has a plethora of very cool tones, just not that one. I have a full set of SF2 pickups sitting in my studio ready to be installed in an attempt to get a little closer to that particular thing, but I have no idea if it will be closer or not.

Just some additional food for thought. It will be very hard to make a bad choice.

I don’t think any dingwall pick ups really come close to that traditional single coil sound. SF1s were probably the closest IMO

 

[AB Nate]

I think having an FD3 in the bridge and optional pick ups for the neck on a 2 pick up bass is a win. Right now rocking a P tone in the neck of my SJ and it’s darn close to a similar tone as my SJP

 

[macribas]

Do the 5-string Super J's use 6-string size pickups? They are longer than the pickups on the D-Roc 5.

 

[Lowendtech]

Do the 5-string Super J's use 6-string size pickups? They are longer than the pickups on the D-Roc 5.

Bridge spacing is different on the Supers so if I know Sheldon’s attention to detail, they should be a bit longer. 19 mm vs 18mm spacing.

someone who has both should chime in.

 

[AB Nate]

Do the 5-string Super J's use 6-string size pickups? They are longer than the pickups on the D-Roc 5.

Affirmative.

 

[IvanBassist]

I went for 3x FDVs after watching all the videos I could find and rewatching them a million times.

 

[silky smoove]

I don’t think any dingwall pick ups really come close to that traditional single coil sound. SF1s were probably the closest IMO

That was my impression as well. In my searching I felt like the SF2s were the closest. I’ll be installing them soon and will happily provide everyone with an FDV to SF2 conversion story.