• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Dingwall Owners Club

#63,701
Mr_BK said:
IMHO if they offer custom orders and do so using dealers exclusively ... it is their job to make sure, the process works. It is not your responsibility. You are powerless in this scenario. But you shell out the coins. I know this can come scross as harsh, but I would plaxe the responsibility of this outcome on DW and the dealer, but in the end, on DW.

My inquiries about a custom Dingwall also led to me communicating with a dealer / distributor. That process felt very distant, very uninformed and very powerless on my side. I couldn't even understand all the options in those big lists and got no explanation. And so I abandoned the project and got my Z3 via normal online shopping.

View attachment 7519942
Click to expand...
That is a gorgeous top! 🤩
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr_BK
#63,702
The finish person is everything if there bring an apprentice into the picture your never gonna have the desired outcome. And also wood choices not on is ever the same like a snow flake. When you pic your drop top and have an IDEA of what you want and hope for the best outcome right
 
#63,703
warbassick said:
The finish person is everything if there bring an apprentice into the picture your never gonna have the desired outcome. And also wood choices not on is ever the same like a snow flake. When you pic your drop top and have an IDEA of what you want and hope for the best outcome right
Click to expand...
I don’t want a >10k dream bass built on hope and a spec sheet. I want someone skilled who understands the vibe and guides the process to get where I want it to be. At this price, that should be at least partly what we’re paying for.

There’s the Ready to Play line for anything else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Element Zero, SemiDriven, Bassistin and 3 others
#63,704
Scott McArron said:
I don’t want a >10k dream bass built on hope and a spec sheet. I want someone skilled who understands the vibe and guides the process to get where I want it to be.
Click to expand...

Exactly. And it is DW's job to make that custom ordering work as smoothly as possible or not to offer it at all. By whatever means necessary or adequate.
We know they are vastly capable and provide most excellent basses. So the problem is not the luthier side of things.
 
#63,705
Scott McArron said:
I don’t want a >10k dream bass built on hope and a spec sheet. I want someone skilled who understands the vibe and guides the process to get where I want it to be. At this price, that should be at least partly what we’re paying for.

There’s the Ready to Play line for anything else.
Click to expand...
I get it a lot of guys buy these basses with the X-Top two or three contrast layers and a SPECIFIC color scheme or stain this is THE most important part of the project
Jason from fret nation or John from John fox bass have IMO a great repore with Dingwall through calls emails and PDF’s
That’s why I get non x top basses if I was to spec a bass out now with all those wicked cool features I might as well buy a PRIMA. With these prices for 10k I better get what I wanted !!! Even for 6 k. That’s a car or motorcycle living room furniture
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bartrinsic
#63,706
Scott McArron said:
That bass is actually the one I used for my example 😅 I said I wanted as close as a recreation of that as humanly possible in a 6-string format, spare no expense to make it happen (in summary). And well, here we are 🥲
Click to expand...
The instrument you chose as an example of what you want is awesome and the other photos are great, too! I love the dark, doomy, mysterious and powerful look. Apart from the basic colours, this has absolutely nothing in common with your bass. What you got is more or less the opposite of it. 😲 Could your dealer exclude that there was a mistake, i.e. that you perhaps simply received the wrong bass? I'm sorry, but if you handed in these photos as an example of what your bass should look like, it's hard to believe that someone could ever have misunderstood this to such an extent that it resulted in the look of your instrument.

Mr_BK said:
It seems we have similar tastes :)
Click to expand...
+1! 🙂
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jellew, Mr_BK, Scott McArron and 1 other person
#63,707
Bassistin said:
The instrument you chose as an example of what you want is awesome and the other photos are great, too! I love the dark, doomy, mysterious and powerful look. Apart from the basic colours, this has absolutely nothing in common with your bass. What you got is more or less the opposite of it. 😲 Could your dealer exclude that there was a mistake, i.e. that you perhaps simply received the wrong bass? I'm sorry, but if you handed in these photos as an example of what your bass should look like, it's hard to believe that someone could ever have misunderstood this to such an extent that it resulted in the look of your instrument.


+1! 🙂
Click to expand...
This was a couple years ago now. Again, I made the mistake of keeping it hoping I’d learn to love it, so I didn’t push back hard at all to find out how it could be made right. I’ll just sell it and try again with a new/better dealer who understands the request and will work for me to get what I want. Lesson learned.
 
#63,708
Scott McArron said:
I’ll just sell it and try again with a new/better dealer who understands the request and will work for me to get what I want.
Click to expand...

warbassick said:
Jason from Fret Nation or John from John fox bass have IMO a great rapport with Dingwall
Click to expand...

Jason at Fret Nation gets my vote as well. He’s extremely attentive and responsive to his customers… even nervous ones (like me). ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Element Zero, Thumper and Scott McArron
#63,714
Mr_BK said:
Yes. That. Reverse Bursts looking like a blotch is really a no-go. And I seem to remember more examples of such blotchiness.

Problems like yours were the reason I abandoned my plans for a custom order, be it Dingwall or any other manufacturer. I had something like that with MIke Lull years back. It was corrected in an OK way though. But still.

Thinking about something like this:

View attachment 7519938

And getting a bass like yours instead would not make me a happy camper.
And so I only buy what I can see.

Sorry for all the trouble and grief.
Click to expand...
Yowza. That bass looks like it was painted by Jackson Pollock. So random.
 
#63,715
warbassick said:
I get it a lot of guys buy these basses with the X-Top two or three contrast layers and a SPECIFIC color scheme or stain this is THE most important part of the project
Jason from fret nation or John from John fox bass have IMO a great repore with Dingwall through calls emails and PDF’s
That’s why I get non x top basses if I was to spec a bass out now with all those wicked cool features I might as well buy a PRIMA. With these prices for 10k I better get what I wanted !!! Even for 6 k. That’s a car or motorcycle living room furniture
Click to expand...
On a Prima you get less choices than you do on a Z. And IIRC the starting price for Prima Artists is now north of $15k, quite the gap from a loaded Z.

I can relate a bit to the concerns here, but, working both with John Fox and Jason @ Fret Nation, at least with those two dealers, it's a non-issue IMO.
My Red/Blue Z went through several rounds of emails between dealer, Dingwall, and myself to nail it down before finalizing the build spec. Then, when the bass was finished, I was given photos of it and asked to approve it or not. It was not to my liking, so, I worked with everyone on the rebuild. That unfortunately meant picking a new top as well. Couple weeks later, I got to see just the new neck by itself, and with that it wasn't quite what I had wanted, so we once more pivoted with try number 3. I was feeling kind of bad at this point, knowing that basically Dingwall has built 2 basses "for me" / my order. Picked a third new top at this point, which, to be honest, worked out as I liked it the best of everything so far. And I also got to have one of the first Zs with the Obsidian Maple freboard wood, which also is really cool to have!
So, even though it ended up taking a couple extra months, it worked out just fine and I have no disappointment at all with how it turned out in the end.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Snake101st, SemiDriven, Bassistin and 3 others
#63,716
Selta said:
On a Prima you get less choices than you do on a Z. And IIRC the starting price for Prima Artists is now north of $15k, quite the gap from a loaded Z.

I can relate a bit to the concerns here, but, working both with John Fox and Jason @ Fret Nation, at least with those two dealers, it's a non-issue IMO.
My Red/Blue Z went through several rounds of emails between dealer, Dingwall, and myself to nail it down before finalizing the build spec. Then, when the bass was finished, I was given photos of it and asked to approve it or not. It was not to my liking, so, I worked with everyone on the rebuild. That unfortunately meant picking a new top as well. Couple weeks later, I got to see just the new neck by itself, and with that it wasn't quite what I had wanted, so we once more pivoted with try number 3. I was feeling kind of bad at this point, knowing that basically Dingwall has built 2 basses "for me" / my order. Picked a third new top at this point, which, to be honest, worked out as I liked it the best of everything so far. And I also got to have one of the first Zs with the Obsidian Maple freboard wood, which also is really cool to have!
So, even though it ended up taking a couple extra months, it worked out just fine and I have no disappointment at all with how it turned out in the end.
Click to expand...
Obsidian Maple? First I’m hearing of this, is it a composite wood like Richlite, or just ultra roasted maple?
 
  • Like
Reactions: mark beem
#63,717
Was perusing the Dingwall site and saw my old shell pink AB1 is featured. I got it in 2020 but sold it because I was dealing with really bad work-induced tendinitis. John Fox helped me resell the bass because I couldn’t comfortably play most of my basses.

Within the past year I found it listed on Reverb but I couldn’t afford it at the time and have no clue who it sold to. Tendinitis is long gone and this is basically the only bass I regret selling, so if you own this bass and are considering moving it along, please let me know.

1782063941251.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Element Zero, BuffaloBob4343, TolerancEJ and 5 others
#63,718
dunderwovvy said:
Obsidian Maple? First I’m hearing of this, is it a composite wood like Richlite, or just ultra roasted maple?
Click to expand...
As far as I know, for fretless Dingwalls it is now the only fingerboard option.

I believe this is the source of it, though they call it Obsidian Ebony
thermalwoodcanada.com

Obsidian Ebony - Real Wood Ebony Alternative

Obsidian Ebony by ThermalWood Canada — a real wood, jet black ebony alternative developed over five years and tested by Fender, Martin, and luthiers worldwide.
thermalwoodcanada.com thermalwoodcanada.com

Guessing they named it that as it's an ebony replacement, and likely some branding/side-stepping of stigmas and preconceived notions of what maple "should" look and maybe sound like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dunderwovvy

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back