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Dingwall Owners Club
- Thread starter FroggyOne2
- Start date
Well, I'm new to the club. I bought Granddesign's AB1 to dip my toe in the DW pool.
I've owned a bunch of 34" scale American Fender and Fender clone five strings. Some B's better than others. I wanted to hear for myself what a Dingwall's B sounded like. There aren't any dealers in my area so I had to buy to try.
What further complicates things is I play exclusively with a pick. I use Dunlop Big Stubbys to emulate a fingerstyle tone and Fender 346 Heavys for a more percussive, snappy tone. Other than one short youtube video, there are very few samples of what these sound like when "picked". Pickup and knob placement is very critical. I cannot play Ken Smith basses because I keep hitting the controls when I get really expressive. I can't play some yamaha and Ibanez basses because I hit their massive pups that are so close to the strings.
To those like me who were worried about ...
The fanned frets
- Like hundreds have already said, they took very little time to adjust to.
The freakin' long scale
- No problem. Position the top strap connection above the 12th fret and I'm fine. I wear my basses high up.
Likes
B STRING!!!!! It is everything you DW folks said it was.
Balanced string to string tone
Featherweight
Super comfortable neck shape (thin front to back, nice radius)
The F3 Bridge PUP
Dislikes
Input jack location. All my cable jacks are right angled.
Would rather have vol vol tone than the fancy 4 postion switch
Tone is a little too hi-fi for me. (i'm working on it)
Granddesign made two mods to calm it down a bit. He changed the F3 neck pup with Sheldon's P-Style. It's kinda close to my previous Nordy and Fender P's but still a little too sterile, humbucky for my taste. He also added a Glokenklang 2 band pre to provide a little more tone control. Unfortunately the bass and treble just don't seem to hit the frequencies I'm looking for. Like I said, I love the F3 on the bridge. In passive mode with the tone rolled off, it provides a wonderfully full burpy tone.
I put a set of Payson Nickel strings on it. That change made the solo neck pup a little less hifi but I still need to tweek my MXR 10 band EQ a bit. My next attempt will be to try the Dingwall Nickel stings.
To be clear, I did not expect this bass to sound like a Fender, Lull or Sadowsky passive JBV with single coil pickups. I bought this bass to see if the Dingwall philosophy of bass building is for me. I wanted to try Sheldon's original design. Yes I could've gone with a Super J or P, but to me, they seem like kinda a compromise on the concept. I had to go long scale to get the full experience.
Fundamentally, this bass has convinced me the Novax system is the way to go. It may ruin me on 5 string 34 inch scale parallel frets. No longer am I restricted to where I have to play on the neck for the specific tone I'm looking for. I'll tweak this AB1 until I find a tone that suits me. The next time a Z3 with the Super Fatty JB pickup orientation pops up in the classifieds, I may go for it next. Maybe I'll go for a Super J or Super PJ. One thing I can say for sure is I now consider myself a Dingwall believer.
I've owned a bunch of 34" scale American Fender and Fender clone five strings. Some B's better than others. I wanted to hear for myself what a Dingwall's B sounded like. There aren't any dealers in my area so I had to buy to try.
What further complicates things is I play exclusively with a pick. I use Dunlop Big Stubbys to emulate a fingerstyle tone and Fender 346 Heavys for a more percussive, snappy tone. Other than one short youtube video, there are very few samples of what these sound like when "picked". Pickup and knob placement is very critical. I cannot play Ken Smith basses because I keep hitting the controls when I get really expressive. I can't play some yamaha and Ibanez basses because I hit their massive pups that are so close to the strings.
To those like me who were worried about ...
The fanned frets
- Like hundreds have already said, they took very little time to adjust to.
The freakin' long scale
- No problem. Position the top strap connection above the 12th fret and I'm fine. I wear my basses high up.
Likes
B STRING!!!!! It is everything you DW folks said it was.
Balanced string to string tone
Featherweight
Super comfortable neck shape (thin front to back, nice radius)
The F3 Bridge PUP
Dislikes
Input jack location. All my cable jacks are right angled.
Would rather have vol vol tone than the fancy 4 postion switch
Tone is a little too hi-fi for me. (i'm working on it)
Granddesign made two mods to calm it down a bit. He changed the F3 neck pup with Sheldon's P-Style. It's kinda close to my previous Nordy and Fender P's but still a little too sterile, humbucky for my taste. He also added a Glokenklang 2 band pre to provide a little more tone control. Unfortunately the bass and treble just don't seem to hit the frequencies I'm looking for. Like I said, I love the F3 on the bridge. In passive mode with the tone rolled off, it provides a wonderfully full burpy tone.
I put a set of Payson Nickel strings on it. That change made the solo neck pup a little less hifi but I still need to tweek my MXR 10 band EQ a bit. My next attempt will be to try the Dingwall Nickel stings.
To be clear, I did not expect this bass to sound like a Fender, Lull or Sadowsky passive JBV with single coil pickups. I bought this bass to see if the Dingwall philosophy of bass building is for me. I wanted to try Sheldon's original design. Yes I could've gone with a Super J or P, but to me, they seem like kinda a compromise on the concept. I had to go long scale to get the full experience.
Fundamentally, this bass has convinced me the Novax system is the way to go. It may ruin me on 5 string 34 inch scale parallel frets. No longer am I restricted to where I have to play on the neck for the specific tone I'm looking for. I'll tweak this AB1 until I find a tone that suits me. The next time a Z3 with the Super Fatty JB pickup orientation pops up in the classifieds, I may go for it next. Maybe I'll go for a Super J or Super PJ. One thing I can say for sure is I now consider myself a Dingwall believer.
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BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
I was wondering about that lil' red light.
First off, while you can use angled jacks, straight definitely work better. There are also some lesser-angled ones out there that would be an in-between for you. I'm wondering if part of the sterile/hi-fi thing is your preamp. I had a passive AB1 with the BluEQube and you could definitely be non-hifi with it. Second, my Zebra/Voodoo has a OBP-1 on board. It was a 'standard' for the shop before they switched to the Glock. You may find you like that if you're looking for something that has a bit more organic/natural feel to it. Also, I find the 'parallel' position on the switch is more hifi than the series. Also, depending on the FD3's involved...the older ones have the coils wired in parallel, which is also a bit more wide and level. I personally wouldn't ever give up the 4 way switch. But then the negatives associated with VVT setup on any Jazz bass I've ever owned would convince me of that anyway.
I did get the old circuitry and F3 pickup with the bass. I need to find a wiring diagram put it back in and see how it sounds
I really like my AB-1 with the P tone. I still have the original passive with the blue eqube, and I wouldn't change a thing. There's a whole lot of exploring to do with the tone knob and switch combo.
Running some TI jazz flats. Retro tone for days. I really like the Payson reduced core nickel for rounds.
After several weeks of play, the Dingwall nickels are turning my fingers black, more so than the usual black of most nickels. I'm okay with it, they still sound good. I'll switch back to the alcohol soaked Paysons, and give the Dingwalls a soak. Could be the strings are just dirty, I'm not that particular about clean hands.
The Dingwalls reward a light touch and give you tons of dynamic range. Something that revealed itself to me over a couple years, and caused a total revamp of my right hand attack.
That's one pretty indigo bass. Welcome to the club.
Running some TI jazz flats. Retro tone for days. I really like the Payson reduced core nickel for rounds.
After several weeks of play, the Dingwall nickels are turning my fingers black, more so than the usual black of most nickels. I'm okay with it, they still sound good. I'll switch back to the alcohol soaked Paysons, and give the Dingwalls a soak. Could be the strings are just dirty, I'm not that particular about clean hands.
The Dingwalls reward a light touch and give you tons of dynamic range. Something that revealed itself to me over a couple years, and caused a total revamp of my right hand attack.
That's one pretty indigo bass. Welcome to the club.
Zero compromise IME. I wouldn't ditch the pickup selection switch either.
I believe that is my old AB-1. I installed the P-tone and a Redeemer Circuit buffer, so it was active when I sold it. You may want to open it up and if the pre and battery are still installed, check or change the battery.
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MDBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 7, 2012
- 8,590
- 14,892
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Dingwall-Fender-Bergantino-Dunlop-Tech 21-Darkglass-Nordstrand
Getting to spend 10 hours in Studio B at Capitol Records yesterday was an incredible amount of fun...the tracks were sounding killer, even with just the raw sounds and no mixing, and the producer and engineer couldn't stop raving about the phenomenal bass tones the Super PJ was putting out
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That place looks kinda cramped.Getting to spend 10 hours in Studio B at Capitol Records yesterday was an incredible amount of fun...the tracks were sounding killer, even with just the raw sounds and no mixing, and the producer and engineer couldn't stop raving about the phenomenal bass tones the Super PJ was putting out
View attachment 431835
Zero compromise IME. I wouldn't ditch the pickup selection switch either.
I believe that is my old AB-1. I installed the P-tone and a Redeemer Circuit buffer, so it was active when I sold it.
It's good to know that the Super J's shorter scale is not a compromise in the concept. I meant no offense. My thought was if I was going to go in, I'd go all in. Odds are my next Dingwall will probably be a Super J. I just wish the Bass Club Chicago would sell Dingwalls, so I can try them all.
If it indeed was your old AB1, the hardware I got consisted of a toggle switch and a potentiometer with a coil. Is that the Redeemer Circuit? What does the BluECube hardware consist of?
As for the four position switch, I've read quite a bit of the reasons why Sheldon and his team went that direction. In any complex machine there are pros and cons to every proposed feature. Vol Vol Tone vs Balance vs pickup switch selector each impact the overall tone of the instrument. I just happen to like the different tones I got out of my single coil vol vol tone American Standard Jazz Basses and Rickenbacker 4003's better than the balance knob equipped humbucking Sadowskys and Jazz Bass Deluxes despite all the downsides that pickup and control combination has. (ie noise and loading). Call me weird.
BTW -- if your sarcasm meter didn't flash BRIGHTLY after my preceding message, you need to have it checked.
The nicest stuio I've ever recorded in was "The Pus Cavern" in Sacramento. The decor was largely pornographic graffiti and empty beers, but they knew how to get the most out of their equipment. I believe the first two Deftones CDs were recorded there.
The nicest stuio I've ever recorded in was "The Pus Cavern" in Sacramento. The decor was largely pornographic graffiti and empty beers, but they knew how to get the most out of their equipment. I believe the first two Deftones CDs were recorded there.
I think the biggest reason for the 4-way switch is the possibility of the series position; a V-V-T setup is, by definition, in parallel -- which is a thinner and more hi-fi sound.
I replaced my volume pot with a pickup blend wired BEFORE the 4-way switch in the circuit.
In neck, parallel, and bridge positions, it works like you'd expect it to, but it gets funky in series.
In series, I can do subtle shading within the first 10-20 degrees from the center detent, then it acts as a master volume.
Also, in series, my passive tone control doesn't work.
It's quirky enough to seem "wrong" so I know exactly why it would never be a factory option, but it works for me and lets me squeeze a couple more tones out of the series setting.
And it seems like series is the setting that's going to give you the most old-school grunt tone, so I would NOT recommend getting rid of your 4-way switch.
I agree, it does.
The picture I posted was taken at rehearsal. I spent 3 hours switching between Position 1 and 2 in active and in passive tone mode. I used position 4 with passive tone rolled off on just one song, a cover of Simply Irresistible.
I started out with a Super P/J four string. No compromises there. More like a total refinement of the Fender design. String balance is perfect, the D & G strings really benefit from the shorter scale. Every bit of fat and flab is gone from the Fender design. And my four string weighs in at 8 lb. The Super PJ fiver weighs 9.5, the swamp ash is noticeably heavier. Both are strung with TI Jazz flats.
Fender shaped objects are sometimes less objectionable to traditionalist bandmates, so these can fly under the radar.
The long scales add another layer of clarity. My AB is also super light weight.
I brought the AB sixer to a delta blues gig, and the guy was weirded out, until he heard it. Then he had all kinds of questions, and said it was the coolest bass he'd ever seen or heard.
Fender shaped objects are sometimes less objectionable to traditionalist bandmates, so these can fly under the radar.
The long scales add another layer of clarity. My AB is also super light weight.
I brought the AB sixer to a delta blues gig, and the guy was weirded out, until he heard it. Then he had all kinds of questions, and said it was the coolest bass he'd ever seen or heard.
The BlueECube is toggle-switched, but I don't know about an additional pot. When I sold mine, the only item that had been removed and replaced was the neck pickup. Of course, other modifications could have been performed...
I understand your reasonings regarding V/V/T, but I could not do without being able to put both pickups in series as this tends to be my favored position.
I searched the classifieds, which I should have done first. While it is as beautiful as my AB-1, this is not my 'old bass'...
I understand you reasons for liking V/V/T, but I could not get along without being able to switch the pickups into series with each other (position 2) as this is my favorite setting!
That picture of me at rehearsal was taken by my keyboard player. He's also an accomplished guitarist and bassist. He had to have a picture of the bass so he could send it to his buddies.
Freaked him out too.
It's amazing that as long as Dingwall has been producing these unique basses, lotta musicians haven't heard of them.
I'm doing my part and I only had mine a couple of days
I'm doing my part and I only had mine a couple of days
It's amazing that as long as Dingwall has been producing these unique basses, lotta musicians haven't heard of them.
I'm doing my part and I only had mine a couple of days
And how are you liking it so far? I'm teetering on putting a down payment on an NG2
My original post on page 72 pretty much sums it up.
If anybody asks me "Should I get one?"
Answer: Hell yeah!
