Dingwall Owners Club

[Element Zero]

What strings y’all liking? I’m so used to the Elixirs on my fretless and these Dingwall (I assume nickel comes stock) strings are a tad rough. Could be just because I’ve played so much in the past few days that my fretting hand finger tips are sore and agitated.

 

[LowZBass]

Could players who have experience with a variety of Dingwall pickups please weigh in?

I have an Effigy on order and am trying to determine which pickups to order. My only Dingwall is a D-Roc 5 with the FD3n pickups. I have no dealers nearby and I have not found any good videos comparing pickup options.

How do the FD3n’s compare to FD3’s?

Who has experience with both the FD3’s and Super Fatty II’s? Which do you prefer and why?

How about the FDV?

Who uses the P-Tone? Do you recommend it? Which pickups does it pair best with?

 

[aff]

What strings y’all liking? I’m so used to the Elixirs on my fretless and these Dingwall (I assume nickel comes stock) strings are a tad rough. Could be just because I’ve played so much in the past few days that my fretting hand finger tips are sore and agitated.

I recently got NG3 and went on an EXPENSIVE string search spree, only to realize that Dingwall brand nps are best to my liking, also pretty smooth compared to many other options.

Btw, you can fit extra long Elixirs on NG3 with minimalist bridge, but the tension will be too much, do not recommend. I tried and took off immediately - required uncomfortable amount of truss rod adjustment.

I also like Dogal Hellborg 35” rounds on it (it fits, but B string silk needs trimming). This set removes fret clank and some brightness, is usable past 16th fret even on low strings and sounds super rich and vintage-y. Unique experience.

Also Dr Dragon Skin Plus worth trying, coated but different than Elixirs. They have sets made for Dingwall multi-scale.

 

[AB Nate]

What strings y’all liking? I’m so used to the Elixirs on my fretless and these Dingwall (I assume nickel comes stock) strings are a tad rough. Could be just because I’ve played so much in the past few days that my fretting hand finger tips are sore and agitated.

Paysons are my go to.

Stainless steel on my long scales and nickel on the supers. I like the feel, tension, sound and lifespan.

One set I have yet to try that I’m curious about is the Spector stings I believe made by La Bella.

 

[SemiDriven]

What strings y’all liking? I’m so used to the Elixirs on my fretless and these Dingwall (I assume nickel comes stock) strings are a tad rough. Could be just because I’ve played so much in the past few days that my fretting hand finger tips are sore and agitated.

Payson Nickels for my SJ5 & D-Bird.

GHS Pressurewounds XL for my ABZ5.

 

[AB Nate]

Could players who have experience with a variety of Dingwall pickups please weigh in?

I have an Effigy on order and am trying to determine which pickups to order. My only Dingwall is a D-Roc 5 with the FD3n pickups. I have no dealers nearby and I have not found any good videos comparing pickup options.

How do the FD3n’s compare to FD3’s?

Who has experience with both the FD3’s and Super Fatty II’s? Which do you prefer and why?

How about the FDV?

Who uses the P-Tone? Do you recommend it? Which pickups does it pair best with?

I’ve had experience with every pick up except the Alnico P pup.

Based on my style and desires which is progressive heavier music here is
My take:

FD3n- higher output then the FD3.

FD3- more articulate and dynamic then the FD3n but lower output.

I like this pick up in my long scale fretted basses. I find it tight, clear and punchy and is great for putting solid fundamental in a fast mix.

FDV- more open clarity. Glorious sounding pick up with a loud clear voice. I find that this pick up can be heard very well but for me doesn’t have that same tight low/low mid kick that I want in the long scale.
I take that back in the Supers… the Super series being the medium scale naturally has more thump in the lows and I find the FDV balances with this scale amazingly well. Very happy with this pick up in my SJ5

SF2- similar to the FD3 but More push in the lows and highs. I find this pick up to sound clean, smooth, big bottom, with a clean clear top.
I’ve only experienced it in an SJ.
What it did when installed vs the FD3 that was in the bass originally was to make the bass sound more thick in the lows and the biggest take away for me was how smooth the sound became.
So I guess the TL;DR.
Smooth thick booty perhaps with a bit of scoop or maybe even just flatness in the mids

I’m not sure if the P or P tone needs much description. It does what a P should do. Strong mids, thick presence, wool, grit. Sounds thicker in a Super then a long scale IMO. I find it killer for good fundamental with character but it doesn’t do the fast, tight, articulation that I prefer out of the FD3

When “noodling” they all sound wonderful. If I was to choose a preference for this I’d maybe say FDV.

I had to define my choices on what characteristics I desire in a band setting the most and ultimately the voice comes in second to the presence

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I tried flats on my longer scale Dingwalls and didn’t like them. Also tried the Dragonskin strings and really didn’t like them. Abrasive on my fingers and kinda painful by the third set. So, I went back to regular Dingwall nickels and I’m happy.

 

[Challanger2]

I’ve tried a variety of strings on my dingwalls (ABZ4 with FDV, AB2-5 with FD3, Super P/J 5 with P tone bridge, and ABZ6 with FD3) and I keep finding myself coming back to Dingwall brand nickel strings for every bass.

 

[LowZBass]

I’ve had experience with every pick up except the Alnico P pup.

Based on my style and desires which is progressive heavier music here is
My take:

FD3n- higher output then the FD3.

FD3- more articulate and dynamic then the FD3n but lower output.

I like this pick up in my long scale fretted basses. I find it tight, clear and punchy and is great for putting solid fundamental in a fast mix.

FDV- more open clarity. Glorious sounding pick up with a loud clear voice. I find that this pick up can be heard very well but for me doesn’t have that same tight low/low mid kick that I want in the long scale.
I take that back in the Supers… the Super series being the medium scale naturally has more thump in the lows and I find the FDV balances with this scale amazingly well. Very happy with this pick up in my SJ5

SF2- similar to the FD3 but More push in the lows and highs. I find this pick up to sound clean, smooth, big bottom, with a clean clear top.
I’ve only experienced it in an SJ.
What it did when installed vs the FD3 that was in the bass originally was to make the bass sound more thick in the lows and the biggest take away for me was how smooth the sound became.
So I guess the TL;DR.
Smooth thick booty perhaps with a bit of scoop or maybe even just flatness in the mids

I’m not sure if the P or P tone needs much description. It does what a P should do. Strong mids, thick presence, wool, grit. Sounds thicker in a Super then a long scale IMO. I find it killer for good fundamental with character but it doesn’t do the fast, tight, articulation that I prefer out of the FD3

When “noodling” they all sound wonderful. If I was to choose a preference for this I’d maybe say FDV.

I had to define my choices on what characteristics I desire in a band setting the most and ultimately the voice comes in second to the presence

Thank you for your detailed response. I appreciate your input!

 

[Element Zero]

Paysons are my go to.

Stainless steel on my long scales and nickel on the supers. I like the feel, tension, sound and lifespan.

One set I have yet to try that I’m curious about is the Spector stings I believe made by La Bella.

Payson Nickels for my SJ5 & D-Bird.

GHS Pressurewounds XL for my ABZ5.

Would you say the Payson nickels are more smooth to the touch?

 

[SemiDriven]

Would you say the Payson nickels are more smooth to the touch?

Perhaps (??).

The GHS Pressurewounds XL are definitely smoother to the touch (1/2 between rounds and flatrounds IMHO).

I like 'em because they are less "zingy" than roundwounds. But they can still kick!

 

[Element Zero]

Dingwall NG3 Mod - Reversable

So I have been buying Dingwalls since around 2014. Back then the vast majority were two pickup models with a standard bridge and neck pickup. I fell in love with the sound of neck/bridge in series. That to me was the Dingwall sound. I know most people think of it as the bridge/middle but that came later and although awesome is not my favourite setting. My next several Dingwalls all were two pick ups. An ABZ5, a couple AB1s, a Z2 etc. I was somewhat disappointed when the 3 pickup models came out and they did not have a neck/bridge series option. I always missed it. I ended up buying a few NG2's throughout the years and moved the middle pickup to the neck position so I could get the neck/bridge series option. I had to buy a 2 pickup combustion pickguard to make this work.

I love the bridge and middle combo in series or in parallel but my favourite tone is bridge/neck series as mentioned.

Anyhooo.. I currently have a NG3 and a Droc Standard. I was sitting around last night looking at the 6 position switches online and considering them (like I have done every few months for the last 5 years) and it suddenly came to me that I could just swap the neck and middle position around and problem solved. I don't mean unsolder anything, just take the pickguard off and move the middle pickup up and the bridge pickup down. I realize someone else has probably done this in the past but it hadn't occurred to me until yesterday. The middle pickup only had a bit of exposed wire in the pickup cavity but there was plenty of extra wire in the control cavity so I was able to loosen the tie and add another inch or so in the pickup cavity in order to allow me to move the middle pickup into the neck position.

So I did it and the results are great. I now have the bridge/neck in series wiring that I love. I am not a jazz guy so bridge/neck in parallel doesn't do it for me.

The pickups in this position changes what the 4 position switch controls but it's completely reversable and only took 15 minutes to do. The switch now works like this.
1st position (nearest bridge) - bridge solo, 2nd position - bridge and neck in series, 3rd position - bridge/middle in parallel, 4th position - middle pickup solo'd. I have a Droc now and have had several since they came out and I personally love the middle solo option. I prefer it to neck solo.

The individual pickups on a NG3 are wired (from top to bottom) in series/parallel/series. So the middle pickup is now in series which is great for when it is solo'd. Similar to the Droc switch. The bridge and the middle are both series so when they are used together you get the same wiring that you would on a NG2 when using the 2nd setting with bridge/middle in parallel. The neck pickup is now the lone pickup in parallel but it is never solod and only used combination with the bridge in series. Sounds amazing.

Anyways I thought I would share because it never occurred to me to do this and I am sure there are other people that miss having the option to have the bridge and neck pickups in series option.

Ooh I am absolutely trying this Tuesday night

Edit… who am I kidding. Just did it lol

Edit #2… ok so bridge and neck in series is cool, but not my thing. Back to stock I go. I would like to say though how dope it is to have brass (or metal) pickup screw inserts. Fantastic.

 

[AB Nate]

Would you say the Payson nickels are more smooth to the touch?

I can’t answer that. I think the medium lights and regular nickels are pretty smooth. It’s been a while since I’ve had a set of the Dingwall’s in the house.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I'm second-guessing the Ferrari Green for the Effigy I have on order. Help me out, is white too boring?

EDIT: I switched to white. If I want to jazz it up, there is always stickers (kidding).

 

[nleney]

View attachment 7385065

I'm second-guessing the Ferrari Green for the Effigy I have on order. Help me out, is white too boring?

On a custom, headless, multiscale bass? I'm not sure "boring" is within your options. White looks great imo. I'd be going matte black or that deep candy purple, personally.

 

[Bassheart365]

View attachment 7385065

I'm second-guessing the Ferrari Green for the Effigy I have on order. Help me out, is white too boring?

White is classy and understated. Ferrari Green is flashy and brash. I'd go with white.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

On a custom, headless, multiscale bass? I'm not sure "boring" is within your options. White looks great imo. I'd be going matte black or that deep candy purple, personally.

Heh, true.

 

[TTA]

View attachment 7385065

I'm second-guessing the Ferrari Green for the Effigy I have on order. Help me out, is white too boring?

white always looks good. matches the fret markings also. it does also hide the maple going down to the pickups. b

a bright brash colour will hi-light the maple heel of the neck. i am a fan of brash and really like the blue (maybe cause i have no blue bass).

 

[Pep]

My biggest problem with the Effigy is that white area between the neck and the first pickup. Some colors look terrible with that white area. My personal favorite is Sonic Blue, and it looks like it’s supposed to be there with it. White is other one but it looks a little funky because it isn’t the same shade white.

Sorry if that screws things up but that’s my opinion.

 

[macribas]

View attachment 7385065

I'm second-guessing the Ferrari Green for the Effigy I have on order. Help me out, is white too boring?

I'm probably going white as well