Dingwall Owners Club

[Waltsdog]

First Namm bass preview is out, crossing my fingers for the production super this week.

 

[NOLA Bass]

Man, the paint shop is killing it!

 

[Taustin Powers]

Heads up: I just posted my sparkly green D-Bird in the Euro Classifieds!

 

[Waltsdog]

Heads up: I just posted my sparkly green D-Bird in the Euro Classifieds!

Looks familiar, there aren’t very many of those about anymore. If I had the spare cash I’d be tempted to have it back

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Anyone have any experience with the roasted ash necks? Are they lighter than maple or heavier?

 

[huebass]

Anyone have any experience with the roasted ash necks? Are they lighter than maple or heavier?

I had a Sklar with maple neck and now a SPJ 5 with roasted ash. I find it lighter but I could not say for certain it’s purely “weight” related or “feel” only. The whole bass weighs less than the sklar so that’s why I may be perceiving it as lighter… but my guess is that it does weigh less since it feels less dense.
I will also say is that I personally love the texture on the grain and it feels great to play!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I had a Sklar with maple neck and now a SPJ 5 with roasted ash. I find it lighter but I could not say for certain it’s purely “weight” related or “feel” only. The whole bass weighs less than the sklar so that’s why I may be perceiving it as lighter… but my guess is that it does weigh less since it feels less dense.
I will also say is that I personally love the texture on the grain and it feels great to play!

Thanks! Exactly what I needed.

 

[Snake101st]

I'm debating getting a 6 way selector from fretnation for my Z3x (which has FDVs and the DG tone capsule), since I miss the all on and other bridge + middle option both my NG with the 6 way switch and D-Roc had.

Definitely going to get rid of the bridge, but wondering what options to go with. Does anyone have neck + middle and strongly prefer series or parallel? I could drop neck + bridge in series for one of those if it's a better or more interesting option.

What I'm thinking:
1 - Conflicted on whether I'd want neck or middle solo, but I'm thinking neck for that P bass type sound - is neck or middle closer to that on a Z3? Never tried middle on one

2 - Bridge & Neck in Parallel - for sure would like this

3 - Bridge & Neck in Series - maybe if this isn't a great option, remove this for either neck and middle in series or parallel?

4 - Bridge & Middle in Parallel - for sure would like this

5 - Bridge & Middle in Series - for sure would like this

6 - Bride & Middle in Parallel/Series Neck - for sure would like this

 

[Thumper]

You can switch the leads on the middle and bridge to get the middle solo, a quick and reversible mod to see if you like it.

 

[Derek Williams]

I'm debating getting a 6 way selector from fretnation for my Z3x (which has FDVs and the DG tone capsule), since I miss the all on and other bridge + middle option both my NG with the 6 way switch and D-Roc had.

Definitely going to get rid of the bridge, but wondering what options to go with. Does anyone have neck + middle and strongly prefer series or parallel? I could drop neck + bridge in series for one of those if it's a better or more interesting option.

What I'm thinking:
1 - Conflicted on whether I'd want neck or middle solo, but I'm thinking neck for that P bass type sound - is neck or middle closer to that on a Z3? Never tried middle on one

2 - Bridge & Neck in Parallel - for sure would like this

3 - Bridge & Neck in Series - maybe if this isn't a great option, remove this for either neck and middle in series or parallel?

4 - Bridge & Middle in Parallel - for sure would like this

5 - Bridge & Middle in Series - for sure would like this

6 - Bride & Middle in Parallel/Series Neck - for sure would like this

When I measured on my NG3 (which I think has the same measurements as a Z3), the neck pickup was centred where a p bass pickup would be, and the middle pickup was centred the same as a Stingray.

I like middle solo if I have the pickup wired in series, but I only like Bridge/Middle in series if the middle pickup is wired in parallel. Would be nice to install a S/P switch at least for the middle pickup. In either case, I wouldn't want to lose the neck solo option.

 

[Nolan Tremblay]

Anyone have any experience with the roasted ash necks? Are they lighter than maple or heavier?

They're going to be in the same range and you'll probably find that there will be individual variations to you'll have some roasted ash (species dependent) that is lighter than some maple (species dependent) and vice versa. They're probable close enough that it would no more different than one maple neck to another maple neck (assuming it is the same model instrument).

 

[Katoosie]

Btw, a question - what happened to the blacked out necks? Why isn't it an option no more?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

They're going to be in the same range and you'll probably find that there will be individual variations to you'll have some roasted ash (species dependent) that is lighter than some maple (species dependent) and vice versa. They're probable close enough that it would no more different than one maple neck to another maple neck (assuming it is the same model instrument).

It's going to be lighter than wenge at least. Love the wenge look and feel, but the weight is a drawback. But in reality, it's not that bad. My wenge-necked ABZ isn't any less comfortable on a strap than my maple-necked ABI. The balance is good on both and that's more important than a pound of weight difference.

 

[Snake101st]

When I measured on my NG3 (which I think has the same measurements as a Z3), the neck pickup was centred where a p bass pickup would be, and the middle pickup was centred the same as a Stingray.

I like middle solo if I have the pickup wired in series, but I only like Bridge/Middle in series if the middle pickup is wired in parallel. Would be nice to install a S/P switch at least for the middle pickup. In either case, I wouldn't want to lose the neck solo option.

Thanks! This is helpful, I think you're right and I'd prefer Neck solo over middle based on that, since my Z3 doesn't have the s/p switches unfortunately, so I have the default s/p wiring on the pups themselves. Don't really want to make holes for switches, so I wonder if I could get the bass/low mid/high mid preamp knobs wired to push/pull switch p/s on the pups someday somehow?

Still curious if people think neck + middle in series or parallel (probably series, based on how the pickups are wired) would be more useful than neck + bridge in series (the volume difference vs parallel/j may be too much?), that's the one still up in the air. Couldn't find too much feedback on people using n+m after searching.

I generally prefer thick and warm tones, and often use dirt, in case that's helpful

 

[Waltsdog]

Btw, a question - what happened to the blacked out necks? Why isn't it an option no more?

I think they brought them in when the wenge supply dried up so there was a dark finish option, now they have a bunch of neck wood options again.
Plus I assume doing the finish adds significant extra time and cost and I don’t think it was super popular on custom orders. I remember seeing very few that were ordered that way by customers vs dealers.

 

[retroXvertigo]

I'm debating getting a 6 way selector from fretnation for my Z3x (which has FDVs and the DG tone capsule), since I miss the all on and other bridge + middle option both my NG with the 6 way switch and D-Roc had.

Definitely going to get rid of the bridge, but wondering what options to go with. Does anyone have neck + middle and strongly prefer series or parallel? I could drop neck + bridge in series for one of those if it's a better or more interesting option.

What I'm thinking:
1 - Conflicted on whether I'd want neck or middle solo, but I'm thinking neck for that P bass type sound - is neck or middle closer to that on a Z3? Never tried middle on one

2 - Bridge & Neck in Parallel - for sure would like this

3 - Bridge & Neck in Series - maybe if this isn't a great option, remove this for either neck and middle in series or parallel?

4 - Bridge & Middle in Parallel - for sure would like this

5 - Bridge & Middle in Series - for sure would like this

6 - Bride & Middle in Parallel/Series Neck - for sure would like this

I have a 6 way that is set up for every two pickup combo and parallel and series.

The series combos sound better to me with at least one of the two pickups individually in parallel (I don't know if you have the pickup toggles)

I had an ABZ with the neck/mid in parallel. I really liked that sound on that bass. I like it less on my Z and run Neck/Bridge parallel with the individual pickups in series most of the time.

I also previously owned an ABI with two pickups. On that bass I really liked the N/B in series with each other. I also don't care for that combo on my Z.

All of these basses had FDV pickups.

I'm not sure what it is with my Z where I'm not liking combos I previously liked. I don't have recordings to A/B.

Maybe my taste changed? Maybe the wenge neck on the Z makes a difference compared to the maple necks on the ABs?

Who knows?

I'm actually thinking about getting MO to make me a custom 4 way switch since I don't use most of my options on the current set up.

 

[retroXvertigo]

Still curious if people think neck + middle in series or parallel (probably series, based on how the pickups are wired) would be more useful than neck + bridge in series (the volume difference vs parallel/j may be too much?), that's the one still up in the air. Couldn't find too much feedback on people using n+m after searching.

I generally prefer thick and warm tones, and often use dirt, in case that's helpful

I prefer N/M in parallel to N/B in series.

 

[Derek Williams]

Thanks! This is helpful, I think you're right and I'd prefer Neck solo over middle based on that, since my Z3 doesn't have the s/p switches unfortunately, so I have the default s/p wiring on the pups themselves. Don't really want to make holes for switches, so I wonder if I could get the bass/low mid/high mid preamp knobs wired to push/pull switch p/s on the pups someday somehow?

Still curious if people think neck + middle in series or parallel (probably series, based on how the pickups are wired) would be more useful than neck + bridge in series (the volume difference vs parallel/j may be too much?), that's the one still up in the air. Couldn't find too much feedback on people using n+m after searching.

I generally prefer thick and warm tones, and often use dirt, in case that's helpful

I can do any combination of pickups in parallel with my current setup, but can only do middle/bridge in series. If the middle pickup is in series then neck/middle in parallel sounds good, bit warmer and smoother than either pickup solo. I find the volume drop to be too much if the middle is wired in parallel though.

 

[Snake101st]

I can do any combination of pickups in parallel with my current setup, but can only do middle/bridge in series. If the middle pickup is in series then neck/middle in parallel sounds good, bit warmer and smoother than either pickup solo. I find the volume drop to be too much if the middle is wired in parallel though.

Interesting, sounds like two votes for neck + middle in parallel over neck + bridge in series. I believe the middle pickup is wired parallel in the Z by default though, right?

Thanks for the feedback, it helps to have some people with experience in each option before committing to it.

The guy that works on my instruments for things like this wouldn't be too happy if I asked him to wire this complex switch 2x if I don't end up liking an option and decide to swap it out hehe

 

[silky smoove]

My SJ has a 6-way consisting of the following (also SF2 pickups awoth s/p switches and a Glock pre):

1. BN Parallel - I wanted a classic Jazz sound with this setting, but to my ears it’s more like a Spector kind of vibe. Compared to my two Jazz basses it’s quite a different sound. That said, if you like the scooped mids thing, this delivers in spades. I’ll typically put one pickup in series and the other in parallel depending on which way I want the tone to favor (ie fatter or brighter). If I’m playing a slap feature in a tune I’ll leave both in series.
2. Bridge Solo - Useless for me. I got it because I felt like having this setting was one of those “you’re supposed to” things, and that was a mistake. I never use it and knew I’d never use it. It’s a usable bridge solo type of tone, but it’s just not my thing.
3. BM Parallel - With the bridge in series and the middle in parallel this is my go-to live setting for basically everything. A more tame and balanced version of the BM series option on the standard 3X switch.
4. Middle Solo - With the middle in series this is usually the winner in most studio scenarios. A vaguely P’ish vibe with a less extended bottom end and more clarity in the midrange.
5. NM Parallel - A setting I almost never use. It’s very fat, which is nice, but there’s an over abundance in the 500hz region on this setting that yields a very honky tone in the midrange. It’s better with SF2s than the original FDVs that were in the bass, but it’s still not great.
6. Neck Solo - Similar vibe to the middle solo but fatter while sacrificing midrange clarity. I prefer middle solo, but this setting works if you want old school vibes, particularly if you’re going to roll the tone knob off a bit.