Dingwall Owners Club

[LightGroove]

Warwick

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I noticed that last night too, what was he playing? i couldn't get a good look at it

If you saw him playing what looks like a semi acoustic 4 strings bass then that would be a Warwick Lee Sklar signature bass, just one of the sidelines Sklar does

 

[MDBass]

You should have a conversation with Sheldon. I think he's got a really good handle on the preamps that have been installed in his basses. Now he's also added the Darkglass to his list, and probably is one of the very few around who have spent some serious time with it. The Aguilars were standard and options back when I ordered my Rastaburst back in 2005. Sheldon moved on within a year or two to using the Glockenklang as standard issue. I'm sure he's used everything in between.

I actually had a very interesting conversation with Barry at NAMM about this...

Back when they were using the OBP-1 standard, apparently they got more than a few complaints of "my bass sounds like crap!", only to have the owners send the bass in and discover that they had dimed the bass and treble knobs.

Personally, I was shocked to hear that someone with $2500+ to spend on a custom build instrument would lack even the most rudimentary knowledge of how an onboard preamp works, and anyone who has used an OBP-1 before knows that with the amount of boost it has at 18V you can literally blow drivers apart by doing that :scowl:

So the transition to the Glock was born partly out of that issue (it's much more tame than the OBP-1) and partly out of it being cheaper for them to source.

Barry himself actually doesn't care for the Glock and has the OBP-1 in all of his preamp equipped Dingwalls...also, the Darkglass preamp isn't actually finished yet, and all of the NAMM Combustions were equipped with a 3-band EMG circuit...never a dull moment in the music industry

 

[LightGroove]

Bassroutes.blogspot.com

First video with Willie n the gang..def. A Warwick

 

[LightGroove]

Are Combustions usually 2 or 3 band?

 

[MDBass]

Are Combustions usually 2 or 3 band?

Standard Combustions have a two band EMG pre; the NG-2 signature model will feature a three band Darkglass pre when it ships in April, but the prototypes at NAMM had three band EMG circuits.

 

[monkeyfinger]

If you're going with an Alder body, you might want to think about the wenge neck...Sheldon spoke quite effusively about that combo, but obvioulsy alder/Pau farro is a fine combination as well.

One other question: When I mentioned pau ferro, I was referring to a pau ferro fingerboard on a maple neck. Are you talking about a wenge neck with wenge fingerboard, or a maple neck with wenge fingerboard? (The later is the standard offering from Dingwall.)

 

[dukeorock]

I actually had a very interesting conversation with Barry at NAMM about this...

Back when they were using the OBP-1 standard, apparently they got more than a few complaints of "my bass sounds like crap!", only to have the owners send the bass in and discover that they had dimed the bass and treble knobs.

Personally, I was shocked to hear that someone with $2500+ to spend on a custom build instrument would lack even the most rudimentary knowledge of how an onboard preamp works, and anyone who has used an OBP-1 before knows that with the amount of boost it has at 18V you can literally blow drivers apart by doing that :scowl:

Wow...the bass and treble dimed sounds awful! Interesting that anyone would just go there. If I have a problem at all with the OPB-1 it's that it's too touchy and easy to get into the mud zone...cool sounding, but very extreme pre

 

[Akami]

A pic of my Ding "wall"

Nice complement of 'old' and new.

 

[spiritbass]

I actually had a very interesting conversation with Barry at NAMM about this...

Back when they were using the OBP-1 standard, apparently they got more than a few complaints of "my bass sounds like crap!", only to have the owners send the bass in and discover that they had dimed the bass and treble knobs.

Personally, I was shocked to hear that someone with $2500+ to spend on a custom build instrument would lack even the most rudimentary knowledge of how an onboard preamp works, and anyone who has used an OBP-1 before knows that with the amount of boost it has at 18V you can literally blow drivers apart by doing that :scowl:

Bizarre. I 'run' in active mode almost exclusively. If I adjust the bass or treble on my Glock preamps, I barely get off the detent position.

 

[BurningSkies]

Wow...the bass and treble dimed sounds awful! Interesting that anyone would just go there. If I have a problem at all with the OPB-1 it's that it's too touchy and easy to get into the mud zone...cool sounding, but very extreme pre

I use a lot of bass, and I don't ever get the OBP1's bass control up more than about 15-20% of it's throw. I roll the treble control back, so I'm actually cutting the treble by about 20%.

 

[Smallequestrian]

One other question: When I mentioned pau ferro, I was referring to a pau ferro fingerboard on a maple neck. Are you talking about a wenge neck with wenge fingerboard, or a maple neck with wenge fingerboard? (The later is the standard offering from Dingwall.)

I was referring to the all wenge neck combo.

 

[Smallequestrian]

What was your impression of neck/bridge in parallel?
Why don't you think the reverse P is necessary?

Parallel is not a tone I would use...it makes for a great slap tone, but as I am not a slapper so for me its an inferior sound compared to the other three settings.

I like the idea of the reverse P in principle, but I feel like the extra length of the B string is enough to ensure that the lower notes are tighter and the nature of the shorter strings for the higher notes gets you a sweeter tone on those strings without needing to move those coils closer to the neck. Of course there could still be some further benifit and if I were to have a "standard" Pbass I'd probably go for the reverse setup (for instance, I had a Skjold Pbass type with a pickup that could switch between a reverse and standard setup and mostly used the reverse setting), but I feel the Super P doesn't really need it, plus aesthetically I don't care for the reverse look on the Dingwall, but of course that's just my opinion.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

On the contrary, your P is going to be EXTRA punchy

The only thing Sheldon and Barry advised me against was the maple/alder route; for whatever reason they both felt that combination lacked a certain 'magic' that the others did not.

I'll probably pick up two guards also; being a Spector guy for awhile as well I'm a big fan of how reversing the split coil affects the tone, but it's always nice to have options

I was kidding (kind of) but it's so funny that you agonize over choosing all the options and then you find out that the inside scoop is that the optimal pairing is something other than what I chose. It's like, hey I didn't get that memo!!

Anyway, I guess I have no choice now but to pay for it and ship it to Zoomie!

Actually, I can't conceive of any bass made by Sheldon and crew that would not play and sound awesome.

 

[Smallequestrian]

I was kidding (kind of) but it's so funny that you agonize over choosing all the options and then you find out that the inside scoop is that the optimal pairing is something other than what I chose. It's like, hey I didn't get that memo!!

Anyway, I guess I have no choice now but to pay for it and ship it to Zoomie!

Actually, I can't conceive of any bass made by Sheldon and crew that would not play and sound awesome.

Barry did say that if they felt any combination was truly horrible they wouldn't do it!

 

[BurningSkies]

In general (with my non P-style Dingwalls), I find the pickups in parallel are a bit 'wider' in frequency response. They reach deeper on the lows and higher on the highs, but have a bit of scoop to the mids and a slight emphasis in the upper mids to higher end. To me its closer to what you get from a traditional Jazz bass tone.

In series, you get roll off in the highs a bit earlier and less emphasis on that range of high-mids. You don't get as deep on the lows, but you get both more overall volume and you get a bit of a low mid emphasis. I happen to find that setting a bit more appealing. Its fuller sounding although I found that if not careful, you can 'overload' a busy mix.

 

[dukeorock]

I use a lot of bass, and I don't ever get the OBP1's bass control up more than about 15-20% of it's throw. I roll the treble control back, so I'm actually cutting the treble by about 20%.

I've been doing pretty much the exact same thing on my Super J/P

 

[Zoomie]

Well, last night stank to high heaven. Picked up the 63 AVRI P to noodle on and the love is gone. Incredible Fender tone but just no longer sexy as I am getting all I need out of the Sp5.

I'll post it up to sell, or maybe see if I can find one of those rare folks that didn't bond with their fire sale priced Ding long scale. I don't have a lot of cash to add so I am probably being unrealistic.

I am not real happy with Sheldon for ruining my love affair.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Well, last night stank to high heaven. Picked up the 63 AVRI P to noodle on and the love is gone. Incredible Fender tone but just no longer sexy as I am getting all I need out of the Sp5.

I'll post it up to sell, or maybe see if I can find one of those rare folks that didn't bond with their fire sale priced Ding long scale. I don't have a lot of cash to add so I am probably being unrealistic.

I am not real happy with Sheldon for ruining my love affair.

Zoomie I don't know what your exact feelings are but unless you really need the finances, I would hold on to your Fender.

I admit Dingwall are a perfect and better alternative but for me at least the two American Standard Jazz and Precision have a special vibe which I have a lot of respect for that makes them both keepers, I could play my Fender Jazz with the lights off and see the word Fender spelled in the dark, I might be talking nonsense but those who know me well know that I don't keep idle basses in my house if they don't suit my needs or are surplus they get sold. I just couldn't part with my Fenders.

 

[tombowlus]

I stopped by the booth yesterday and spent a good deal of time playing that Afterburner as well as the Super P/FD3; that Afterburner is REALLY heavy (I'd guess 12 pounds) as the body is solid bubinga, but it sounds INCREDIBLE

It's essentially a prototype, and according to Barry the final versions will be a pound or two lighter.

P tone in the neck position has some amazingly clear and growly precision sounds, and the dual FD3's in series wiring just has an absurd amount of punch and burp.

Yet another winner from Sheldon and Co.

Yessir, that Afterburner HS (Heavy Solid) had amazing tone. It had this heavy punch that was somehow also very quick. Probably my favorite bass in the booth in terms of tone, though the three-pickup SJ5 was amazing in its own right.