Dingwall Owners Club

[BuffaloBob4343]

I'll have our NAMM/Bass Gear Magazine review bass which is an ABII 5 3x in satin pearl white with a wenge neck and our Vintage Guitar review bass which is a Super P pj 5 in faded blue jean finish. Both can be seen on our FB page. https://www.facebook.com/dingwallguitars

Better call them to make sure they have some basses in stock first. If not, I'll be there with a couple of demo basses next Thursday (January 8th) from about 3:00 PM until close.

Well, I hate to say it but I'm just too busy with work to make it up this time. I guess the economy is finally picking up, something about which I KNOW I should not complain. On the downside, I would have loved to see the new basses, hang with some of our Dingwall brothers and shake the hand of the man whose instruments I love!

Sheldon, next time you're in Ontario, if you think of it, please let us know. I would love to meet you and see the then latest and greatest of your instruments!

 

[MDBass]

It's pretty incredible how versatile the Dingwall sound is, perfect for everything from raising the praise to head banging...I know you most of guys don't really go for this kind of thing, but you can't deny that tone

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

It's pretty incredible how versatile the Dingwall sound is, perfect for everything from raising the praise to head banging...I know you most of guys don't really go for this kind of thing, but you can't deny that tone

I like it as long as the vocals aren't that devil voice nothing but growling and roaring with no lyric (or with lyrics but you can't really tell what is being sung) type. I'm so old!! Nice playing by the way.

 

[J Posega]

Thinking ahead to when I restring my 6 string ABZ. It's got the DW nickels on it. Sounds great, but I'd like a little more flex/ bendiness from the upper strings. I used Circle Ks on my old ABZ 5 for over a year, liked the sound and loved the slinkiness, and the feel was better than straight up steels.

Any other options I should consider?

 

[Whippet]

I was asked by a friend who doesnt speak English, his used Dingwall didn't come with a tool set, Could someone tell me, the trussrod on the dingwall, does it take metric or inch hex wrench?

What size hex does it take?

Thanks for the information in advance.

 

[eloann]

Don't know that but unless he has something similar already, a full tool set is available in the Dingwall shop at a moderate price - color coded with a very convenient ball end for the truss rod.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Well, I hate to say it but I'm just too busy with work to make it up this time. I guess the economy is finally picking up, something about which I KNOW I should not complain. On the downside, I would have loved to see the new basses, hang with some of our Dingwall brothers and shake the hand of the man whose instruments I love!

You missed a fun GTTG. Numerous Dingwalls were sampled, new and used.

These were some of the axes that showed up. It doesn't show in this crappy downsized iPhone pic, but the super-fine black lines in the spalted Western Maple top on the brown ABII (second from right) were breathtaking:

I learned a boatload from Sheldon, and enjoyed a bunch of NAMM stories. The staff at Markham Long & McQuade were awesome, as always.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was amazed at the family tonal resemblance between all these instruments, even an older model (not shown) loaded with Barts!

The faded denim SPJ played like butter, still had a great low B, carried a nice P-bass heft with the bridge solo'd, yet still brought lots of more aggressive tones to the table thanks to the bridge FD3. Amazing tonal range for any instrument, never mind a passive bass.

It interesting to hear how well the long-scale basses suited certain people's touch, yet how much better the SPJ suited guys who were more comfortable with Fender-style instruments. Definitely different horses for different courses, no matter how much of a family resemblance there was in the quality, feel and tonal range.

My only major DAS take-away from the GTG, was that I want to add a series-parallel switch to the neck pickup on my ABZ. The SP neck pickup was too much of a good thing for me, but the series setting on the neck pickup of a couple of the long-scales (that walnut/wenge/matte pearl white ABII XXX was a monster!) absolutely hit the spot.

I was pleased and relieved to find that I am still a long-scale guy at heart, and that I don't need the tones available on the more complex ABII's or the Sklar sig. My checkbook thanks you, my wife thanks you...

Partial group shot:

PS: Sheldon is such a class act. Very generous with info, quick to give credit to the rest of his team/suppliers/mentors, and made it clear that building and designing these instruments is a collaborative effort.

 

[thumbs&fingers]

Just got this intriguing instrument. I can't say how EASY and adaptive this thing is to play. Love love love it! I have owned a lot of basses and this hung just gets me. Sheldon is a genius, the fanned frets make e and b string notes so much more clearer, the neck is so stable (it has been -20 degrees here and I took it to a tech for setup. He looked at it, raised his brow-laughed then said this is the straightest neck I have ever seen. He then did a double take and said, "hey there's fanned frets here's!" I have owned one other Dingwall which was cool, but this Spj5 fits me like a glove. Just went through several old set lists from past bands, country rock funk r&b hard rock soul. This thing did it, incredible. I can't believe more people aren't playing these. Thank u Mr. Dingwall, probably will be selling some other basses and getting another one of these from you.

 

[MichaelOz]

You missed a fun GTTG. Numerous Dingwalls were sampled, new and used.

Looks like it, thank you for that "report", Steve.

I have played (briefly) an ABII, and have a Z2 on order. I would appreciate if you could comment on the tonal difference between those two (referring to the LS in this case which I would think is fairly similar)? I mean, we've all heard Lee play but I have yet to hear a proper Z2 demo (there's a couple Z3s). Thank you!

Regards,
Michael

 

[steve_rolfeca]

I have played (briefly) an ABII, and have a Z2 on order. I would appreciate if you could comment on the tonal difference between those two (referring to the LS in this case which I would think is fairly similar)? I mean, we've all heard Lee play but I have yet to hear a proper Z2 demo (there's a couple Z3s).

Unfortunately, it was late at that point, and I only played the Sklar briefly. My impressions:
- Faster, thinner, more slinky-feeling than any of the others.
- The Sklar switch is rather cool. It arranges the pickup settings from loudest/deepest to brightest. I found it more intuitive than the normal neck/series/parallel/bridge.
- It did great MM-style, grindy tones, but you would have to lay into the EQ to mimic some of the darker tones of the basses that have a pickup closer to the neck.

I found the Sklar less attractive than the Afterburner variants from a feel perspective, but keep in mind that I'm 6' 2", portly, and have arms like a gorilla. Necks that other people call "fast", I call too small, and body shapes that feel sexy to other people, feel too small to me.

Tonally, the Sklar sounded great. They all did. But the ABII's and my ABZ were the ones that really rocked my world:
- The ABZ because I'm so used to it, because it's so simple and predictable to work with, and because the neck felt just a hair fuller than the others.
- The ABII's, because there's something special to me about the way they balance and feel. Plus they look very sexy.

I could have been happy with any of the ABII's, but my favourite was the white XXX, because it had such ballsy tones on some of the intermediate switch positions, and because it had series parallel switches on each pickup. I left the EQ flat the whole time, yet it still had the widest variety of sounds of any of the basses there.

 

[MichaelOz]

Thank you, Steve, much appreciated.

I like a clean, punchy, bright sound and prefer slim and small so that's all good. On top of that the Z2 does have s/p switches for both pickups (like the XXX) which will give additional tonal variations.
On the odd occasion I want "less bright" I change my hand position away from the bridge/over the pickup towards the neck - that works for me, rounds everything nicely without losing that bite. FYI, I currently play a Sandberg 5 string (a '92 which I purchased in '92 - they were quite different back then) basically with the bridge pickup only.

Well, all I can say is the more I hear/read about the Dings, particularly the Zs, the more I'm looking forward to mine.

Regards,
Michael

 

[eveilleu]

Recent gig pic with the 3X....I LOVE this bass

View attachment 537027

Dude! What bass is that?

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

Thanks for the report Steve! I am sad that I couldn't make it. That spalted ABII looks spectacular!!! Maybe it was best I didn't get my hands on that one after all!

You missed a fun GTTG. Numerous Dingwalls were sampled, new and used.

These were some of the axes that showed up. It doesn't show in this crappy downsized iPhone pic, but the super-fine black lines in the spalted Western Maple top on the brown ABII (second from right) were breathtaking:

View attachment 537993

I learned a boatload from Sheldon, and enjoyed a bunch of NAMM stories. The staff at Markham Long & McQuade were awesome, as always.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was amazed at the family tonal resemblance between all these instruments, even an older model (not shown) loaded with Barts!

The faded denim SPJ played like butter, still had a great low B, carried a nice P-bass heft with the bridge solo'd, yet still brought lots of more aggressive tones to the table thanks to the bridge FD3. Amazing tonal range for any instrument, never mind a passive bass.

It interesting to hear how well the long-scale basses suited certain people's touch, yet how much better the SPJ suited guys who were more comfortable with Fender-style instruments. Definitely different horses for different courses, no matter how much of a family resemblance there was in the quality, feel and tonal range.

My only major DAS take-away from the GTG, was that I want to add a series-parallel switch to the neck pickup on my ABZ. The SP neck pickup was too much of a good thing for me, but the series setting on the neck pickup of a couple of the long-scales (that walnut/wenge/matte pearl white ABII XXX was a monster!) absolutely hit the spot.

I was pleased and relieved to find that I am still a long-scale guy at heart, and that I don't need the tones available on the more complex ABII's or the Sklar sig. My checkbook thanks you, my wife thanks you...

Partial group shot:

View attachment 538019

PS: Sheldon is such a class act. Very generous with info, quick to give credit to the rest of his team/suppliers/mentors, and made it clear that building and designing these instruments is a collaborative effort.

 

[MDBass]

I like it as long as the vocals aren't that devil voice nothing but growling and roaring with no lyric (or with lyrics but you can't really tell what is being sung) type. I'm so old!! Nice playing by the way.

Thanks brother!

 

[MDBass]

Dude! What bass is that?

My Super J 3X...I'm fortunate enough to own a lot of great instruments, but this is the finest one in my stable

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

And it's a nice one too!

 

[Paul M]

I like it as long as the vocals aren't that devil voice nothing but growling and roaring with no lyric (or with lyrics but you can't really tell what is being sung) type. I'm so old!! Nice playing by the way.

No, that's the Cookie Monster's voice. I'm pretty sure songs of that type are usually about cookies.

 

[Alistair R]

Picked up a full price list yesterday...This is getting very tempting.

Thinking an ABII XXX 5 or 6 string in Ferrari yellow with as many switches as possible

 

[IvanBassist]

Pretty cool NG-2 demo here

 

[eveilleu]

My Super J 3X...I'm fortunate enough to own a lot of great instruments, but this is the finest one in my stable

View attachment 538218

So i was all set to order a passive ABI 5 string, then you post this! I love those pups!! You sir are as evil as you are talented!

Now i'm thinking.. I currently have a fender jazz and i love it, but wanted to upgrade and get something a bit more versatile, I'm not sure if i need a 5 string, but i think so because i keep running into songs i'd like to play but can't on my jazz...

I need to understand the diffrence between an ABI, super J! I never even considered the Z3 pups yet why not?!?

Thanks,
Eric