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Dingwall Owners Club

#8,441
smeet said:
I believe the Super P5 is not very common, and even less so with a bridge pickup, so I thought I would make a brief note of my impressions for anyone that is curious. I got a Super P a few months ago, and recently had a bridge FD3 installed. I ordered both the standard and reverse P pickguards so I could try both configurations.

The P sound is really amazing on these basses, very even over the whole range, with a nice midrange thickness. It sounds like a nice "P", but it's quite different from a Fender. The high end is very smooth and seems to lack the Fender upper-mid bump, so it doesn't have the characteristic "clank" of a Fender P. The low end is very defined, so it doesn't get wooly even with the tone rolled off. These are both good things, but it's a bit unexpected at first, and requires a bit of a different touch than most Fender P's. My impression so far is that overall it's not quite as aggressive as some Fenders can be, due to the smoothness in the high end. The low end is strong, but because of the note definition, it actually sounds less bassy than most Fenders. All round, basically it has a wide frequency range, but because of the warm quasi-vintage sound, it doesn't sound like it.

For my taste, I much prefer the standard P configuration over the reverse-P. This may be because the low end is already tight, and the reverse configuration emphasizes that. The standard configuration just sounds more muscular, and doesn't lose any definition on the low notes. Also, the reverse-P route moves the entire pickup a bit (a bit more than 1/4" maybe) closer to the neck, and I like the sound of the sweet spot. This is also why I'm glad I have the J/P rather than the P/J, which I believe has the P closer to the neck.

That's all just with the P pickup soloed. With the bridge pickup, you get 3 more positions to play with (serial, parallel, and bridge soloed). They all sound great, I so far generally use the P or parallel (I think, it's positions 1 and 3) positions. For a passive bass, the range of tones is amazing, and the tone control is very effective at going from bright to midrangey to thick and dark.

One more note - I just put on my first set of Dingwall strings (the nickels) and they really brought the bass to life. They have enough bite that I can get that Fender "gank" when needed, and the parallel slap and finger tones are great. The parallel slap tone is a bit more "synthy" sounding with the regular P, where the reverse P made it a bit more "open", but they both wound great.

It's currently my #1 player. I might even consider putting in a preamp sometime, but for now it's just about perfect as it is.
Click to expand...

Definitely a solid analysis, just some curiousity about the bolded text...

My reverse route setup moves the treble side of the split just over 1.5" closer to the neck, but it also moves the bass side just over .5" closer to the bridge...I'm honestly not sure how it'd be possible to do it any other way, as I'm fairly sure both routes are CNC programmed.

Also curious as to what you meant by the J/P versus P/J...J/P is a P with an added FD3, and the P/J is a Super J with a P in the neck position?

The main reason I decided to go with the reverse route myself is the parallel wiring, which is my go-to setting, and as you stated it definitely sounds more open and balanced with the reverse route; I literally just put the standard guard back on the other day to see if my taste or impression had changed, and immediately switched it back after playing for maybe a half hour.

The only thing I liked equally as well with the standard guard was the solo'd P, but I'm hoping I'll be able to get that out of the soon to be delivered J3X anyway...I'm actually contemplating removing the 4-way switch on the PJ in favor of a standard blend pot, as I never use the series setting and am interested in the tones available in parallel with the P favored and vice versa, but I'll probably save that until after the J arrives :thumbsup:
 
#8,442
MDBass said:
My reverse route setup moves the treble side of the split just over 1.5" closer to the neck, but it also moves the bass side just over .5" closer to the bridge...I'm honestly not sure how it'd be possible to do it any other way, as I'm fairly sure both routes are CNC programmed.
Click to expand...
I don't know if it could be routed differently, but to keep to the same sweet spot, I would think the center line between the two coils would stay in the same location. The reverse config moves it toward the neck, which regardless of configuration is something I don't prefer in a P.

MDBass said:
Also curious as to what you meant by the J/P versus P/J...J/P is a P with an added FD3, and the P/J is a Super J with a P in the neck position?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I meant. I thought that's how they were identified, but maybe not...

MDBass said:
The main reason I decided to go with the reverse route myself is the parallel wiring, which is my go-to setting, and as you stated it definitely sounds more open and balanced with the reverse route; I literally just put the standard guard back on the other day to see if my taste or impression had changed, and immediately switched it back after playing for maybe a half hour.
Click to expand...
My go-to is the soloed P, so that makes sense.

Very interested to hear about the J3X!
 
#8,445
CL400Peavey said:
Many emails with Barry later, and the V4 combustion is a go. Is it March yet?
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Congratulations. I paid the deposit on my V4 Combustion a while ago and was told they were due in September /October. I hope that is still the case but I believe everything has been pushed out.
Never having played a Dingwall before, I did a fair bit of research before ordering a standard Combustion over the Nolly NG2. The decision wasn't too difficult in the end as I am more of a traditional player, and I wanted the wider pickup spacing and the bass/mid/treble eq option. It still has the thinner neck and mine will have the ash body, which I prefer (in transparent white). I also prefer the appearance of the standard Combustion and its more traditional pickguard. However, I can totally understand why so many players are opting for the NG2 and think it is a stroke of marketing genius on the part of Dingwall to cater for the two camps.
Just wish mine would arrive:hyper::hyper::bassist:.
 
#8,447
Tim1 said:
Congratulations. I paid the deposit on my V4 Combustion a while ago and was told they were due in September /October. I hope that is still the case but I believe everything has been pushed out.
Never having played a Dingwall before, I did a fair bit of research before ordering a standard Combustion over the Nolly NG2. The decision wasn't too difficult in the end as I am more of a traditional player, and I wanted the wider pickup spacing and the bass/mid/treble eq option. It still has the thinner neck and mine will have the ash body, which I prefer (in transparent white). I also prefer the appearance of the standard Combustion and its more traditional pickguard. However, I can totally understand why so many players are opting for the NG2 and think it is a stroke of marketing genius on the part of Dingwall to cater for the two camps.
Just wish mine would arrive:hyper::hyper::bassist:.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I believe they have all been pushed back a bit. I ordered a candy tangerine V4 back in July and if all goes according to plan Barry says I should have it in November. Super excited is an understatement!
 
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#8,448
Tim1 said:
Congratulations. I paid the deposit on my V4 Combustion a while ago and was told they were due in September /October. I hope that is still the case but I believe everything has been pushed out.
Never having played a Dingwall before, I did a fair bit of research before ordering a standard Combustion over the Nolly NG2. The decision wasn't too difficult in the end as I am more of a traditional player, and I wanted the wider pickup spacing and the bass/mid/treble eq option. It still has the thinner neck and mine will have the ash body, which I prefer (in transparent white). I also prefer the appearance of the standard Combustion and its more traditional pickguard. However, I can totally understand why so many players are opting for the NG2 and think it is a stroke of marketing genius on the part of Dingwall to cater for the two camps.
Just wish mine would arrive:hyper::hyper::bassist:.
Click to expand...


Honestly I went with the V4 for aesthetics. Wood grain and rosewood fret board. The bodies are routed for both pick up orientations. I will most likely end up cutting my own pick guard, and run the NG-2 orientation. The pre amp could be wrapped out at a later time if I want, but the EMG will do for now.
 
#8,449
spiritbass said:
Congratulations to you, Tim! Transparent white over ash is one of my favorite classic finishes. :cool:
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I'm kinda partial to trans white over ash myself!

Speaking of which, I was all psyched tonight as I went to put my reverse P set-up together, was in the process of putting the Baltic Amber Pick Guard on only to discover the center bore for the tone pot is too small. The volume and Jack are both fine.

In thinking that they probably drill them in two steps, to not stress the plastic, and probably forgot to drill that one out to the full size.

So Sheldon's crew may just be human after all!;)

I'm waiting to hear what Sheldon recommends. My cousin dabbles in bass building so maybe he can drill it out to the correct size if there isn't anything too tricky about it.

The Baltic Amber really is beautiful. It's going to look awesome when it finally gets on there!! :thumbsup:
 
#8,450
BuffaloBob4343 said:
I'm kinda partial to trans white over ash myself!

Speaking of which, I was all psyched tonight as I went to put my reverse P set-up together, was in the process of putting the Baltic Amber Pick Guard on only to discover the center bore for the tone pot is too small. The volume and Jack are both fine.

In thinking that they probably drill them in two steps, to not stress the plastic, and probably forgot to drill that one out to the full size.

So Sheldon's crew may just be human after all!;)

I'm waiting to hear what Sheldon recommends. My cousin dabbles in bass building so maybe he can drill it out to the correct size if there isn't anything too tricky about it.

The Baltic Amber really is beautiful. It's going to look awesome when it finally gets on there!! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Definitely nothing tricky about it, I had to widen the volume pot holes on the reverse guard for my PJ as well; all you need is the right sized bit and it takes all of 30 seconds, the pick guard is very easily workable.
 
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#8,451
MDBass said:
Definitely nothing tricky about it, I had to widen the volume pot holes on the reverse guard for my PJ as well; all you need is the right sized bit and it takes all of 30 seconds, the pick guard is very easily workable.
Click to expand...
Thanks brotha!

I'm just going to leave the bass in current state of disassembly and drive out to my cousin's after the Bills game and see if we can't get that correctly sized.

Why did you have to re- size yours? Same reason?
 
#8,452
BuffaloBob4343 said:
Thanks brotha!

I'm just going to leave the bass in current state of disassembly and drive out to my cousin's after the Bills game and see if we can't get that correctly sized.

Why did you have to re- size yours? Same reason?
Click to expand...

Yep, same reason; just a touch too tight for the volume pot.
 
#8,454
BuffaloBob4343 said:
Ahhh, in this case, it's like a bit less than half of the correct diameter. I think they probably do a two step drill out, and the tone only got the first step.
Click to expand...

Makes sense; the bit will still go through the pick guard material very easily though, and a long tapered bit will likely be the smoothest.

Looking forward to seeing that P with the new guard!
 
#8,455
Since I got my used ABII from the TB classifieds I've been focusing on the pickup selector switch. The ABII always seemed a little more zingy in the highs and more nasal in the mids compared to my ABI. I attributed it to the fact the ABI has a P-Tone neck pickup and older FD3 bridge. I upgraded the ABII to a P-Tone which helped but still did not resolve all the zing.

One of the problems I ran into installing the new pickup was delamination of a solder point for the + terminal for the Neck pup. My soldering iron is only 25 watts so I don't think I over heated it. Additionally my selector was the type that had the little potentiometer on the series position. Sheldon mentioned that it was used for a limited time to volume match the series positions with others. It was discontinued because he stated it did have an impact on tone in some cases.

With those to factors I decided to order a new switch. The tech at Dingwall said the had a new screw terminal type with just one solder point, the positive output. $68 CN, shipped. Canada post is so fast. I got it four days later.

All I can say is awesome! I wired both pickups in series to remove all scoop. Originally the bridge was in parallel. The ABII is more articulate than the ABI with no zing! Sounds more like a Ric 4003 than Jazz Bass with humbuckers. My band mates tell me it sounds more like my old Rics than any other bass before. The B and the E sound like a grand piano. I am so pleased.

Before

image.jpg


After
image.jpg


New P-Tone
image.jpg
 
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