Dingwall Owners Club

[Pep]

Similar experience I'm going through at the moment, and honestly, it's only made me have deeper appreciation for Dingwall all the more.
Was in queue for a long time as well - that's normal.
First build got done. Dingwall reached out asking if I was happy with it, as, they didn't think it hit all the points I had asked for, especially with the finish (but also the inlays). That build ended up with Sweetwater, who, apparently recently sold it when I said I would pass on it.
Now the rebuild was in process, and they had finished the neck, and thought I might not be perfectly thrilled with that. I think they know me all too well and hopefully don't think I'm a PITA. But, after I thought about it and looked at photos of the finished neck, I decided that yeah, when dropping this many thousands, I want as close to what I had in my head, not "close enough". I'm sure that build will get finished and sold and someone will end up with an amazing bass out of it.
So now I'm on the 2nd rebuild, third try for my latest Z. I get to be an early adopter of a brand new fretboard wood, which is pretty cool. But it will be another 3-ish months til this build is done.
I feel really bad "sending back" those other two, all in all. But I am excited for this build even if it's taking longer, through no one's fault at all. I could get all upset and bothered that the first finish didn't turn out correctly and the wood inlays were not what I imagined, but, wood is gonna do what it does sometimes, and ya just gotta roll with it.

Nate & Selta,
Thanks for sharing those stories. It just reinforces that I need to be unafraid of making them aware of what needs to be done to make this right.

 

[Selta]

Good luck in whatever you end up deciding I hope it ends up being a quick and easy fix and ends up being something you mostly end up forgetting about when you do get to light up an audience with a Dingwall!

 

[AB Nate]

Similar experience I'm going through at the moment, and honestly, it's only made me have deeper appreciation for Dingwall all the more.
Was in queue for a long time as well - that's normal.
First build got done. Dingwall reached out asking if I was happy with it, as, they didn't think it hit all the points I had asked for, especially with the finish (but also the inlays). That build ended up with Sweetwater, who, apparently recently sold it when I said I would pass on it.
Now the rebuild was in process, and they had finished the neck, and thought I might not be perfectly thrilled with that. I think they know me all too well and hopefully don't think I'm a PITA. But, after I thought about it and looked at photos of the finished neck, I decided that yeah, when dropping this many thousands, I want as close to what I had in my head, not "close enough". I'm sure that build will get finished and sold and someone will end up with an amazing bass out of it.
So now I'm on the 2nd rebuild, third try for my latest Z. I get to be an early adopter of a brand new fretboard wood, which is pretty cool. But it will be another 3-ish months til this build is done.
I feel really bad "sending back" those other two, all in all. But I am excited for this build even if it's taking longer, through no one's fault at all. I could get all upset and bothered that the first finish didn't turn out correctly and the wood inlays were not what I imagined, but, wood is gonna do what it does sometimes, and ya just gotta roll with it.

That turned out to be a sick bass too. It tickled the tempt-taste buds.

 

[BGroovy]

Anyone have an experience purchasing from The Vibrato Bar in Canada? I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a 6-string NG3 from them today but the price almost seems too good to be true especially to someone living in the states lol

Did you end up getting your Dingwall from Vibrato? I’ve noticed they have some great prices on new Dingwalls as well. I’ve talked to the owner there a few times and he’s always been responsive with questions about the basses he has. He also said he hasn’t had any customers hit with tariffs, just the occasional $50 handling fee from UPS for working through customs.

 

[NaH]

I need some suggestions from dingwall’s and markbass’ owners please!

I had a band practice today. Playing with a new amp, a markbass amp. I got it two weeks ago. I am used to GK and ampeg amps. I struggled at finding a tone that I like out of my NG3. I had a markbass head and 2 separate 15 inches bass cabs.

Any setting suggestions?

When I started out, I would generally set all EQ to noon, with the exception of the bass eq, which I had to turn down a little. I would set VLE at about 7 and VPF at about 4. This would provide a shelf EQ that takes some string noise away (and some high end). Now I tend to play with those knobs set at 0, but occasionally I'll turn them up to taste. You also may want to try turning mid low down a little bit. For gain, it was usually set to about 4 if I recall. Hope this helps.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

Expecting people to read your mind as to what will make you happy is setting the situation up for failure.

Now if only the other half of the population would get the memo ...

 

[projectapollo]

I know Dingwall says there Asian instruments are carefully checked and adjusted in Canada. But perhaps they take more care and more service recovery effort with Custom instruments than the imports? I'm really surprised that both Canada shop and dealer missed this? Personally, I would promptly ask the dealer for a return authorization, get refunded, and start over.

 

[L0ckett]

Did you end up getting your Dingwall from Vibrato? I’ve noticed they have some great prices on new Dingwalls as well. I’ve talked to the owner there a few times and he’s always been responsive with questions about the basses he has. He also said he hasn’t had any customers hit with tariffs, just the occasional $50 handling fee from UPS for working through customs.

Yep! Ordered on 06/28 and it arrived safe and sound yesterday. I wasn't hit with any tariffs or UPS brokerage fees, thankfully. I will have to report and pay sales tax when filing taxes next year but that's no biggie.

 

[BGroovy]

Yep! Ordered on 06/28 and it arrived safe and sound yesterday. I wasn't hit with any tariffs or UPS brokerage fees, thankfully. I will have to report and pay sales tax when filing taxes next year but that's no biggie.

You’re an upstanding citizen for reporting the taxes they didn’t collect

Great to hear! Prices seemed to be too good to be true ($500 less than US Dealers/Sweetwater?) but everything checked out when I reached out to Blaise.

 

[L0ckett]

You’re an upstanding citizen for reporting the taxes they didn’t collect

Great to hear! Prices seemed to be too good to be true ($500 less than US Dealers/Sweetwater?) but everything checked out when I reached out to Blaise.

Sweetwater has them for $3695 and I got mine for $2490. It seemed too good to be true but, for once, it was a gamble that worked out in my favor.

 

[Pep]

Did you end up getting your Dingwall from Vibrato? I’ve noticed they have some great prices on new Dingwalls as well. I’ve talked to the owner there a few times and he’s always been responsive with questions about the basses he has. He also said he hasn’t had any customers hit with tariffs, just the occasional $50 handling fee from UPS for working through customs.

Yes I did. You’re right about the prices. Mine arrived with $703.87 due in taxes and tariffs which was wrong. The owner contacted UPS to make sure they had the USMCA form which exempts it from tariffs.
I was able to get it straightened out on my end and I paid nothing.
He’s been trying to help me with Dingwall but not much luck on his end, or mine.
It’s nearly 3 PM here (2 PM at Dingwall) and no response to my last email yet.

 

[Pep]

Sweetwater has them for $3695 and I got mine for $2490. It seemed too good to be true but, for once, it was a gamble that worked out in my favor.

I got mine for less than that but it’s a 4 string. I believe your was a 6, correct?

 

[Pep]

Yep! Ordered on 06/28 and it arrived safe and sound yesterday. I wasn't hit with any tariffs or UPS brokerage fees, thankfully. I will have to report and pay sales tax when filing taxes next year but that's no biggie.

Are you sure about reporting/paying the sales tax next year? I was told that if I owed anything in taxes or tariffs, it would be due when I received my bass.

 

[Pep]

I know Dingwall says there Asian instruments are carefully checked and adjusted in Canada. But perhaps they take more care and more service recovery effort with Custom instruments than the imports? I'm really surprised that both Canada shop and dealer missed this? Personally, I would promptly ask the dealer for a return authorization, get refunded, and start over.

I saw somewhere that the Asian instruments are assembled in Canada butI din’t believe that’s accurate. Even if they aren’t mine was not checked, otherwise they would have caught the input jack problem when the plugged it in. The probably randomly check a few in a shipment.

 

[L0ckett]

I got mine for less than that but it’s a 4 string. I believe your was a 6, correct?

Correct. I needed a new 6 in my life lol.

 

[gklijs]

As far as I know it's 'just' removing the strings, removing the headstock make sure the frets are leveled correctly, and put it together again. I'm not sure about the electronics.

 

[Pep]

UPDATE: Great news. My dealer called today to let me know Dingwall is going to replace mine. Depending on what color I want, I may need to wait a bit. I’ll have a return shipping tag by tomorrow.

 

[Pep]

Correct. I needed a new 6 in my life lol.

What color did you go with?

 

[alembicbones]

UPDATE: Great news. My dealer called today to let me know Dingwall is going to replace mine. Depending on what color I want, I may need to wait a bit. I’ll have a return shipping tag by tomorrow.

I'm so glad to hear that you got a positive resolution to your issue. It sucks to be frustrated about things that are mostly out of your control.

Even if you have a bit of a wait, I'm confident that you will be very satisfied with your new bass. The NG-3 is a fantastic bass.

Best,
Bones

 

[Pep]

I'm so glad to hear that you got a positive resolution to your issue. It sucks to be frustrated about things that are mostly out of your control.

Even if you have a bit of a wait, I'm confident that you will be very satisfied with your new bass. The NG-3 is a fantastic bass.

Best,
Bones

Thanks Bones. I can be patient knowing everything is going to be taken care of. I had a feeling it would be eventually, but communicating with Dingwall wasn’t easy.
I will add the Blaise Black of The Vibrato Bar really got this done.