Dingwall Owners Club

[nickodocious]

I got to play the SP1 at NAMM and I have a green/gold 4 string on reserve. The pickups sound GREAT.

Unfortunately I've ordered WAY too many basses and am only gigging my 5 strings. If anyone wants to take over my $500 deposit on a green/gold 4 string with Jason @ FretNation let me know. I have one reserved from the first batch shipping in March. Would rather someone get it new direct than have to resell it as soon as it comes in.

Any more elaboration on the sp1 maybe not feeling as good as other import dingwall?
I'm curious as to why they switched to Indonesia for these.

Would you attribute not loving how it played to a wonky setup or a design flaw?

I ask because part of my motivation for ordering an sp1 was the idea of dingwall playability and incredibly low action mixed with more traditional voiced pickups.

 

[BGroovy]

Any more elaboration on the sp1 maybe not feeling as good as other import dingwall?
I'm curious as to why they switched to Indonesia for these.

Would you attribute not loving how it played to a wonky setup or a design flaw?

I ask because part of my motivation for ordering an sp1 was the idea of dingwall playability and incredibly low action mixed with more traditional voiced pickups.

NAMM can be tough on basses (they traveled from Canada, adjusting to trade show HVAC, etc). The action on the SP1 was not set as low as the other Dingwalls I played (and higher than I like) and there seemed to be more neck relief than the other Dingwall basses at the show. It may have just come down to not having time to dial in the setups while at the show. When I got to the booth Sheldon was personally restringing and setting up one of the other basses (love to see the hands on attention).

They mentioned they had just gotten the two SP1s in from the factory so I'm going to say it was a rush. Things are still getting dialed in and they may not have had a chance to go through the full setup and adjustment in Canada that all the import basses pass through.

I don't want to dampen the energy around this bass at all because I think it's going to be a hit and when I plugged it in I spent a full 30 minutes (max time allowed) playing it and going through all of the pickup options and tones. The pickups sound phenomenal, the balance and weight is spot on. It truly is a Super P.

Do I feel $2,400 is a lot for an Indonesian bass? Sure. Felt the same way about the Chinese imports and those have been super successful and when you play one you'd never think twice about it. I'm confident the Dingwall team can get these dialed in and they'll stand by the quality.

Indonesian basses can be phenomenal, the Cat basses from Nordy are a great example (although a LOT cheaper).

In short - I don't think there's any inherent design flaw at all, I think the setup wasn't great on the SP1. Interestingly no one else has mentioned that so I could be hallucinating, but I played a lot of basses including the other Dingwall models.

That Nashville Combustion was truly a killer bass.

 

[Selta]

Thanks for passing this along. While superficially I took the idea of owning multiple Dingwalls to access a Master Series bass as an elitist move, I think to a certain degree it may be the opposite and may exclude those who are much more collectors than perhaps player-collectors. It ensures that those who are customers of the business will at least have first crack at owning the basses, accepting that I expect there would some amount of used sales of the basses.

My own personal thought on pricing specifically is... these will be well above Prima Artists. If I had to put a bet down on a sale price, it'd be $25k. I'm not sure we'll see these frequently on stages or on the used market - I'd be fairly surprised. Especially since there's just going to be two per year (I presume one from each Master Builder).
Even Prima Artists - though there was a period of years where they weren't built - are prettttty rare on the used market, and I can only think of a few of us who play them out regularly.
I'm not trying to disparage owners of PAs or future owners of Master Builds. It probably takes a special kind of insane to be willing to take ultra expensive instruments out to gigs. I just happen to be that flavor of insane... most people probably aren't

 

[cxcxcx]

The “qualified buyer” seems like more of a move to reduce demand. It’s a given that it’s a very exclusive item by price alone, but it’s still a pretty big world. It apoears that there’s only one recently hired staff member at the shop that can build a Master Series to completion, so it makes sense to limit buyers to avoid an overwhelming demand. In this case, even as little as 20 Master Series orders could be an overwhelming demand.

 

[Selta]

The “qualified buyer” seems like more of a move to reduce demand. It’s a given that it’s a very exclusive item by price alone, but it’s still a pretty big world. It apoears that there’s only one recently hired staff member at the shop that can build a Master Series to completion, so it makes sense to limit buyers to avoid an overwhelming demand. In this case, even as little as 20 Master Series orders could be an overwhelming demand.

Point of clarification - there are two Master Builders at Dingwall. Paul Hillacre and Simon Padalka I believe both, or at very least Paul, have been with Dingwall for ages.

 

[BGroovy]

Point of clarification - there are two Master Builders at Dingwall. Paul Hillacre and Simon Padalka I believe both, or at very least Paul, have been with Dingwall for ages.

And they both have their own personal brands, so capacity has to be very limited.

Their Dingwall basses at NAMM were out of this world.

 

[SonicVolcano]

I really would like the green/gold Super P. I hope some European retailers will have more information on these soon.

 

[IvanBassist]

Point of clarification - there are two Master Builders at Dingwall. Paul Hillacre and Simon Padalka I believe both, or at very least Paul, have been with Dingwall for ages.

I don’t remember in which video Sheldon says this, but Paul has been with Dingwall for 15 years and Simon for 3.

 

[nickodocious]

NAMM can be tough on basses (they traveled from Canada, adjusting to trade show HVAC, etc). The action on the SP1 was not set as low as the other Dingwalls I played (and higher than I like) and there seemed to be more neck relief than the other Dingwall basses at the show. It may have just come down to not having time to dial in the setups while at the show. When I got to the booth Sheldon was personally restringing and setting up one of the other basses (love to see the hands on attention).

They mentioned they had just gotten the two SP1s in from the factory so I'm going to say it was a rush. Things are still getting dialed in and they may not have had a chance to go through the full setup and adjustment in Canada that all the import basses pass through.

I don't want to dampen the energy around this bass at all because I think it's going to be a hit and when I plugged it in I spent a full 30 minutes (max time allowed) playing it and going through all of the pickup options and tones. The pickups sound phenomenal, the balance and weight is spot on. It truly is a Super P.

Do I feel $2,400 is a lot for an Indonesian bass? Sure. Felt the same way about the Chinese imports and those have been super successful and when you play one you'd never think twice about it. I'm confident the Dingwall team can get these dialed in and they'll stand by the quality.

Indonesian basses can be phenomenal, the Cat basses from Nordy are a great example (although a LOT cheaper).

In short - I don't think there's any inherent design flaw at all, I think the setup wasn't great on the SP1. Interestingly no one else has mentioned that so I could be hallucinating, but I played a lot of basses including the other Dingwall models.

That Nashville Combustion was truly a killer bass.

Makes sense, I really appreciate the depth of analysis.

Indonesian basses can absolutely be quality, my main bass is an Ibanez btb 1405 which I believe had an MSRP of around 2000$ USD when they released.
Although that's not what I paid for it I can say it absolutely plays like an instrument worthy of that price tag.

Also to me the added layer of them being sort of ripped apart and reassembled, frets leveled and polished by the dingwall crew in Canada adds a layer that I really think matters.

 

[IvanBassist]

I really would like the green/gold Super P. I hope some European retailers will have more information on these soon.

Thomann has several of them listed

 

[Bassheart365]

My own personal thought on pricing specifically is... these will be well above Prima Artists. If I had to put a bet down on a sale price, it'd be $25k. I'm not sure we'll see these frequently on stages or on the used market - I'd be fairly surprised. Especially since there's just going to be two per year (I presume one from each Master Builder).
Even Prima Artists - though there was a period of years where they weren't built - are prettttty rare on the used market, and I can only think of a few of us who play them out regularly.
I'm not trying to disparage owners of PAs or future owners of Master Builds. It probably takes a special kind of insane to be willing to take ultra expensive instruments out to gigs. I just happen to be that flavor of insane... most people probably aren't

Yeah no way I’m taking a 25k bass to a gig and I don’t see the point in buying such a bass unless you are simply a collector.

 

[Challanger2]

Basses from any country can be good. The issue with offshoring is that most companies do is purely from the motive of decreasing cost and increasing profit. If you pay for tighter manufacturing tolerances and outline detailed specs on what will be expected from the factory, then you can get great instruments from anywhere. Assuming that the factory is capable of consistently meeting those specs.

Given that all instruments go back to Canada to be setup for the imports, I don’t think the country of manufacturing is anything to be concerned about. If it meets Dingwall’s specs and requirements for production, I’m sure they’ll be great instruments.

 

[S_Okon]

I just wish the Fastlane will be between 3 and 4K.
That is the model I am most looking forward to.

 

[Challanger2]

I just wish the Fastlane will be between 3 and 4K.
That is the model I am most looking forward to.

I think it will be? I saw a video where Sheldon said he wanted it to be around the cost of an AB1. Street price of a 3 pickup 5 string AB1 is around $4700 CAD which is around 3.3k USD.

 

[BGroovy]

I think it will be? I saw a video where Sheldon said he wanted it to be around the cost of an AB1. Street price of a 3 pickup 5 string AB1 is around $4700 CAD which is around 3.3k USD.

Seems like prices are shifting up, we'll see where tariffs fall. I think the SP1 was originally supposed to be closer to $2k but coming in at $2,400 it seems

 

[deadline_]

I'm primarily a jazz bass player and like jazz width nuts (and tighter string spacing on my 5s). I played the 4 string SP1 for 30 minutes in a sound booth at NAMM and had no trouble at all with the nut width.

The 5 string SP1 was a bit too wide for me.

Nice! How was the weight and balance?

 

[Thumper]

Seems like prices are shifting up, we'll see where tariffs fall. I think the SP1 was originally supposed to be closer to $2k but coming in at $2,400 it seems

So how much would a similarly Canadian SP1 be?

 

[BGroovy]

Nice! How was the weight and balance?

Lightest weight Dingwall I’ve played for sure. Balance seemed good, balance on a strap is what I look for as I never play sitting down but wasn’t able to try it on a strap.

 

[Akami]

Yeah no way I’m taking a 25k bass to a gig and I don’t see the point in buying such a bass unless you are simply a collector.

I remember feeling that way about 2k instruments, though now they're very common to see onstage. I don't have 25k for a single instrument, but if I had one, it'd be a waste to not be gigging it.

 

[IvanBassist]

Orchestra musicians have instruments that are waaaaay more expensive.
The upright bass of my former bass teacher was like 80k