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Dingwall Owners Club

#58,601
scallster said:
On the subject of P tones, I have ordered a Super J with a P tone in the neck and two FD3's in the middle and bridge with a Neve active passive preamp. The question is does the P tone do a convincing precision tone? I know not many people have the Neve preamp, and especially with the P tone in the neck and most are Rio basses.
Your thoughts please?
Click to expand...
You can hear a SJ with a P-tone in the neck at around the 12 min mark here:
 
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#58,603
The P-tone comparison video is up on YT :)
You can watch it here
IMG_4469.jpeg
 
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#58,604
IvanBassist said:
You can hear a SJ with a P-tone in the neck at around the 12 min mark here:
Click to expand...

Excellent and educational video that touches on so many elements of crafting your sound! I have a custom Dingwall on order and after seeing this think maybe passive with the S/P switches is the way to go and leave the preamp(s) external. Also, I'm not big on overly distorted tones but that Darkglass Alpha Omega pedal seems to add some special mojo and looks like a good one to pick up.
 
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#58,609
DeltaPhoenix said:
Watched on my phone so there is that caveat but I am shocked by how similar they sound.
Click to expand...
Yep. It definitely not a night and day difference, but they do sound slightly different :)

One thing that can’t translate over YouTube is that the Alnico feel more responsive to dynamics than the Neos, which feel/sound more compressed/even. Again, this might be a good or bad thing depending on what you want out of the pickups
 
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#58,610
I have an ABI and an ABZ, both 5 strings. I think I want to go with a 4 string for my next build. What are your thoughts on sticking with an Afterburner and having a similar scale length as my 5 strings to maintain some familiarity when I swtch back and forth or going with an SJ to go with a more traditional scale length?
 
#58,611
MultiScaleMale said:
I have an ABI and an ABZ, both 5 strings. I think I want to go with a 4 string for my next build. What are your thoughts on sticking with an Afterburner and having a similar scale length as my 5 strings to maintain some familiarity when I swtch back and forth or going with an SJ to go with a more traditional scale length?
Click to expand...
Do you need the extended scale length?
 
#58,613
Well, after thinking I was settled on replacing stock Combustion pups with FDVs, then thinking I preferred SFIIs, I came to terms with the fact that I haven't ever really liked most clips of the SFIIs and the FDVs sounded shrill or anemic sometimes.

I wanted less low lows and more mids for the SFIIs, but more low mids and high lows in the FDVs. So I bought a set of FD3s :roflmao:

I recorded finger and pick clips of the FD3Ns in a number of configurations since I have two rotaries and three S/P toggles, and I just installed the neck FD3 and recorded a comparison clip.

A Dingwall rep told me to not get the FD3s because they were virtually identical to the FD3Ns. My ears disagree. Going off the neck pickup alone - it's more articulate (i.e. more treble content that's not shrill), refined, less boomy and muddy. In comparison, FD3Ns are causing ear fatigue quickly.

Something I haven't seen anyone talk about - the Canadian pups are much lighter so I'm happy for the weight benefit too.

Edit: Import 6 string pickup is 155 grams, or 5.47 oz. Canadian is 120g or 4.23oz. Over three pickups that shaves off 3.7oz, almost a quarter of a pound. Not a whole lot by any means, but it's a nice bonus
 
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#58,614
BunchyMutt said:
Well, after thinking I was settled on replacing stock Combustion pups with FDVs, then thinking I preferred SFIIs, I came to terms with the fact that I haven't ever really liked most clips of the SFIIs and the FDVs sounded shrill or anemic sometimes.

I wanted less low lows and more mids for the SFIIs, but more low mids and high lows in the FDVs. So I bought a set of FD3s :roflmao:

I recorded finger and pick clips of the FD3Ns in a number of configurations since I have two rotaries and three S/P toggles, and I just installed the neck FD3 and recorded a comparison clip.

A Dingwall rep told me to not get the FD3s because they were virtually identical to the FD3Ns. My ears disagree. Going off the neck pickup alone - it's more articulate (i.e. more treble content that's not shrill), refined, less boomy and muddy. In comparison, FD3Ns are causing ear fatigue quickly.

Something I haven't seen anyone talk about - the Canadian pups are much lighter so I'm happy for the weight benefit too.

Edit: Import 6 string pickup is 155 grams, or 5.47 oz. Canadian is 120g or 4.23oz. Over three pickups that shaves off 3.7oz, almost a quarter of a pound. Not a whole lot by any means, but it's a nice bonus
Click to expand...
Full set installed and quick and dirty comparisons recorded. Both models are obviously siblings. I'm glad for the switch though
 
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#58,615
I hope to get some good full shots in the sun tomorrow, but the purple NG3+ is done. Payson bridge necessitated all hardware being swapped to black, including the jack plate. If this were a four or five string, I wouldn’t have been able to swap to all black, since they use a smoked chrome bar style string tree, where the sixes use the little individual nubby-style string retainers. Series/parallel switches and a six-way (with solo middle in place of the solo bridge) installed, and a push/pull pot for volume and active/passive.

I have to do a lot of playing around with it to figure out if I want to do the whole set of mods, the next time I go to put a six-way in. There are a ton of (okay, 24) combinations of S/P and pickup selections, but I’m still sorting out how many are really distinct in their own, and it gets crowded in the control cavity.

IMG_4968.jpeg


IMG_4970.jpeg


IMG_4969.jpeg


IMG_4971.jpeg
 
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#58,616
shade_1313 said:
I hope to get some good full shots in the sun tomorrow, but the purple NG3+ is done. Payson bridge necessitated all hardware being swapped to black, including the jack plate. If this were a four or five string, I wouldn’t have been able to swap to all black, since they use a smoked chrome bar style string tree, where the sixes use the little individual nubby-style string retainers. Series/parallel switches and a six-way (with solo middle in place of the solo bridge) installed, and a push/pull pot for volume and active/passive.

I have to do a lot of playing around with it to figure out if I want to do the whole set of mods, the next time I go to put a six-way in. There are a ton of (okay, 24) combinations of S/P and pickup selections, but I’m still sorting out how many are really distinct in their own, and it gets crowded in the control cavity.
Click to expand...
Gorgeous. How do you like the Payson?

I hear what you mean about getting lost in the combos, and I think I have over 40 I have 62 :help:. Solo middle in series is a go to for me though
 
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#58,617
BunchyMutt said:
Gorgeous. How do you like the Payson?

I hear what you mean about getting lost in the combos, and I think I have over 40. Solo middle in series is a go to for me though
Click to expand...
The Payson bridge…well, there’s a little hiccup with the six-string versions, where the strings can have a little lateral bend as they go over the bridge saddle, it appears that it’s more troublesome for some users than others. On mine, it is very slight, and while I still need to do a detailed setup, I haven’t noticed any functional issue with mine. The base design seems very good, though.

And yeah, I love middle solo on my D-Roc/D-Birds enough that back when I ordered my first six-way, I specifically requested it instead of bridge solo.

Another fun thing I’ll do soon is re-weighing the bass, I’d really like to see how it changed from pre-mod weight.
 
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#58,619
MultiScaleMale said:
No. I guess I jump between scale lengths now from 30” to 37”, so I’m just overthinking it.
Click to expand...

I have a large, soft spot in my heart for Sheldon's Super basses - I have three. If Leo were still here, he would be amazed at the refinements Sheldon has made to his iconic designs. :bassist:

On the subject of the new FDV split-P from Dingwal - thank you, @IvanBassist for your most excellent video shootout with the FDV-P. :cool: I was just enjoying noodling around on my favorite P on this planet, a maple/maple/swamp ash with an AlNico V Nordstrand NP-4D (Dingwall!). I first heard rumors of the FDV split-P several years ago, but didn't have the patience to wait for it. As good as you make the FDV sound, I don't feel the need to try one for myself. The Nordy is so satisfying. :)
 
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#58,620
spiritbass said:
I have a large, soft spot in my heart for Sheldon's Super basses - I have three. If Leo were still here, he would be amazed at the refinements Sheldon has made to his iconic designs. :bassist:

On the subject of the new FDV split-P from Dingwal - thank you, @IvanBassist for your most excellent video shootout with the FDV-P. :cool: I was just enjoying noodling around on my favorite P on this planet, a maple/maple/swamp ash with an AlNico V Nordstrand NP-4D (Dingwall!). I first heard rumors of the FDV split-P several years ago, but didn't have the patience to wait for it. As good as you make the FDV sound, I don't feel the need to try one for myself. The Nordy is so satisfying. :)
Click to expand...
I wonder if Nordstrand had any involvement in the development of the new alnico P-Tone. I believe i read somewhere they were involved in the creation process of the FDVs, but don’t quote me on that
 

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