I am not sure how much, if any, the top wood on the body of a bass actually makes. It think it's more for aesthetics.
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Dingwall Owners Club
- Thread starter FroggyOne2
- Start date
Sheldon spoiled me completely when he built this non-fancy topped SJ for me:
I haven't played them all and have no need to. This one is the most perfect five-string bass I have ever played. Sheldon is such a blessing to the bass world.
Sheldon spoiled me completely when he built this non-fancy topped SJ for me:
...
I haven't played them all and have no need to. This one is the most perfect five-string bass I have ever played. Sheldon is such a blessing to the bass world.
Wow! Absolutely stunning!!!
Yeah, it's not hard to look at, either.
Sheldon said it kept attracting his eye during the finishing stages. He calls this finish "colaburst" because it is what a sunset viewed through a glass of cola looks like to him.
I keep looking at that one and can't help but think I would love to be on a beach right now.. instead of hrere, at -20!!
I'm calling it the sea bass.
Eric
Mine's a burled walnut. Sheldon does some great quilted maples and he's done a few flipped burls where the grain is flipped on its axis with each side of the book matched tops being opposite of each other. It's a really neat look. You can't go wrong with anything Dingwall makes. We all have slight preferences of one look over another, but we'd all pretty much rock any of each other's basses if we had the chance!
I started to craft a response to your original post, and then deleted it because your question was so specific.
The middle and bridge pickups in the Z3 are in a different location than other Dingwalls, and the pickups are different than the AB1/2/Z and SP/SPJ's that I have had play time with. I don't imagine that the Z3 has exactly been a high production piece for Sheldon and co. Which probably also explains the crickets.
Your best avenue for advice, is probably to message Sheldon about the Z3 on the Dingwall forum, then wait. He's just back from NAMM, so it could take a few days, but he has the best access to production information, recollections of what the team heard during beta testing, etc.
My experience with two pickup AB's, and also with XXX's, is that coil switches are useful in all positions.
By itself in parallel mode, the bridge pickup can sound either displeasingly weak and thin, or wonderfully bright and open. How you perceive it depends on your touch, your amp, your strings, and what sort of music you're making. It can change from week to week, venue to venue, and what band you're working with. Ditto for a bridge pickup stuck in series mode, only vice versa- nice and loud and thick for some things, but maybe too dark and congested for others.
Adding the coil switch gives you an extra voice that can be very useful for more/less aggressive or dark tones. But the best news comes when you start playing with the combined pickup settings. Regardless of whether the rotary switch is connecting any two pickups in series or parallel, having the two sets of coils in P/S, S/P, P/P or S/S modes gives you useful fine-tuning that's faster/more repeatable then adjusting active EQ.
Based on my limited experience with the XXX configuration, it's the same with the middle pickup.
Steve's exactly correct above. I quoted some of his response which says it best. I'll also add this...
There are no "bad/weak/poor/crappy" tones on a dingwall. They are all good and they are all useful for something, but as Steve said, it's very dependent on the music you make and how you use your technique to bring those tones out. I use every single pickup and switch setting on my Z3, but for lots of different reasons and tones. Here's some examples using some of the music I play.
Neck pickup solo'd in parallel is great for palm muted upright style tones and softer plucked whole notes for ballads such as "high and dry" by radiohead. It's sometimes too thin for rock tones played with a band, but can work in some country songs depending on the song/band.
Neck pickup in series is great for a killer p-bass grind. I use this tone lots as its a killer p-bass on steroids useful for songs like "saving grace" by Tom Petty. Using this setting with palm muting and boosted bass gets a great dub tone as well.
Jazz pickups in parallel are similar to the p-bass above. In parallel the standard jazz configuration is sweet, clear, smooth. I use this setting lots as well, especially for chordal parts in ballads or church worship songs. It's also useful for songs with big dynamic shifts such as " lightening crashes" by live where I can flip into series using the toggles for a quick "boost" setting to help cut through when the bass plays a bit of a lead line. Using these pickups in series makes for a great all around killer jazz bass I use on lots tunes that have minor slap sections in between finger style sections. This is my favorite "Swiss Army knife" tone that I can use for almost any song by altering my technique, playing position, and pre-amp eq.
Humbucking pickup setting is great with the bridge pickup in parallel and the mid frequency set low for a grinding bass tone I use on many rock songs with driving 8'ths like "vertigo" by U2. Flipping up the mid and/or moving the bridge pickup into series makes the grind move higher and louder, to where it's like a chainsaw on steriods. This setting is a killer mid scooped slap tone if I cut the mids, or if I boost them I can own the mix for songs like "by the way" from the chili peppers. Playing hard finger style right over the pickup can sound like you have built in overdrive/distortion going on. Playing slap up by the neck on the same setting gives you a huge scooped sound.
Bridge pickup...first off, you must understand the largest harmonic content from the strings exists closest to the bridge. As such, this pickup can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Soloing the bridge in parallel is also great for softer chordal stuff and harmonics almost leap off the fretboard sometimes when you aren't even trying. Placing the pickup into series is even more of it, almost to the point of being overwhelming. I can play the bridge pickup in series with a treble enhanced/bass reduced eq using root/5th/octave power chords above the 12th fret and you'd be challenged not to believe it was a second electric guitar. The options are almost endless for how to use the bridge pickup on its own.
To summarize....I play a Greenboy cabinet with a clean Aguilar head using a Dingwall. There isn't a single song or bass tone I can't get close to (or nail spot on) in any setting from a bar to a church. As steve pointed out, the eq is almost not needed, but is another tool to help fine tune your tone as required. I get people coming up me after bar shows asking to see what pedals I'm using and not believing I am playing clean. I sometimes use envelope filters, distortions, or modulation pedals for the odd song but you can do a lot without them if your hands have enough skill in them!
Don't overthink the decision on which bass you buy. Get the most versatile, optioned up bass you can realistically afford. Whether that's a primaXXX-6 or a humble superP-4 you'll find good tone and you'll be happy with your purchase.
Soulvaccination - tone it down, bro - you're going to have everyone ordering three-pickup Dingwalls and swamp the shop! 
But seriously, thank you for 'laying it out' so clearly for us. Made me yearn for a three-pickup SJ, though...
graphics1988 - this is the rig I was rambling on about:
Not your grandfather's 110 - it brings the volume of a 'super-15' loaded cabinet.
But seriously, thank you for 'laying it out' so clearly for us. Made me yearn for a three-pickup SJ, though...
graphics1988 - this is the rig I was rambling on about:
Not your grandfather's 110 - it brings the volume of a 'super-15' loaded cabinet.
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Soulvaccination - tone it down, bro - you're going to have everyone ordering three-pickup Dingwalls and swamp the shop!
Don't get me wrong....I love my Z3. However, the thing I love about Dingwalls and what I want to stress to all those who drop by this thread to ask "which one is best?" is that the question is utterly pointless. That's like asking "which victoria secret model would I rather sleep with" or "which Lamborghini would I rather own?"
Simply being in the dingwall club (no matter which one you chose) should be more than enough unless you are a complete idiot.Every one of them is great looking. Every one of them is versitile and well built. Every one in the hands of a skilled bassist can blow people's pre-formed assumptions out of the water. I know for a fact I can get harmonics to speak on spiritbass's p-bass that I can't get to voice as easily on other brands, and most people would never believe to be possible from a p-bass.
Which one you pick is almost irrelevant other than personal choice based on looks/feel. The tones are all good across the Dingwall model line. The only thing that changes (slightly) is the amount of work/practice it takes to get the tone you want. I know there are people (like steve and spiritbass) here that modify their factory EQ or switching options, but they are all guys with long playing histories who played Dingwalls for a while before carefully choosing to make pretty minor changes based on personal choice. I don't think any of them would tell you they completely hated their tone pre-modification, and I doubt many of them if given the choice would chose other brands over their pre-modified dingwalls. It's like putting new wheels on your Lamborghini or giving your supermodel wife a haircut...
My replies to 'that question' are less eloquent than yours - it's not even a leap of faith to invest in a Dingwall because they are all amazing in their own way.
You are right about my motivations to modify: I put a p-tone pickup in the neck position of my AB-I purely out of curiosity. I liked it a lot, but I also dig the FD-3's. I removed the tone control from my Super P simply because I never use it and wanted to install a Redeemer Circuit buffer & 9v battery. I've since removed the Redeemer Circuit and gone back to passive but still only have one knob on it.
You are right about my motivations to modify: I put a p-tone pickup in the neck position of my AB-I purely out of curiosity. I liked it a lot, but I also dig the FD-3's. I removed the tone control from my Super P simply because I never use it and wanted to install a Redeemer Circuit buffer & 9v battery. I've since removed the Redeemer Circuit and gone back to passive but still only have one knob on it.
Don't get me wrong....I love my Z3. However, the thing I love about Dingwalls and what I want to stress to all those who drop by this thread to ask "which one is best?" is that the question is utterly pointless. That's like asking "which victoria secret model would I rather sleep with" or "which Lamborghini would I rather own?"
Hi,
A lot of my questions where based on trying to wrap my head around all the different build options that Dingwall offers and how people used them. The way you can just pick and choose pretty much anything from the list and slap it on your bass is awesome! But a bit scary... Earlier this year i listened to @AlbertoRigoni's description of his signature model many times to understand and (over) analyze why he liked this, or that. Then this summer I got to chat with Felipe Gomez who has the simplest of the Dingwalls. Both of these guys are amazing, both of them are magicians, with complete different basses. One wants nothing fancy, passive with just a tone. The other loves the versatility offered by his signature axe and they are both mind blowing.
That to say that one side of me is saying, keep it simple and have fun! The other side is saying nothing wrong with having a big pallet of sounds to pick from, take it all!
Then the brain kicks in and says, what are you really going to use that bass for? Do you really need 3 pickups?... Really? ... yeah, brain sucks.
Eric
I too thought about adding a redeemer circuit to my super p. Can you elaborate on your experience with it and going back to passive control.
Yo Dingwall owners, anyone looking to sell their Super P 4 or 5 string, hit me up if so, thanks in advance
and yes, I do know there are a couple for sale in the classifieds, just not the right wood or color combo for me.
and yes, I do know there are a couple for sale in the classifieds, just not the right wood or color combo for me.
I have a super p4, black on black with Birdseye maple board for sale.
After divesting of long scale Dingwalls a few years ago, I recently got back in the fold with a used ABZ. Wow. I had forgotten how clear and even these lovelies feel and sound......at 8 lbs
I now wish I had heeded local TBer Smallmouth Bass' advice a few years back, when he cautioned against selling a custom ordered, passive, burnt orange AB2.
Well, fortunately I never make the same mistake more than 2 or 3 hundred times.....so there's that......
I now wish I had heeded local TBer Smallmouth Bass' advice a few years back, when he cautioned against selling a custom ordered, passive, burnt orange AB2.
Well, fortunately I never make the same mistake more than 2 or 3 hundred times.....so there's that......
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MichaelOz
Commercial User
There is so much info in this post it's not funny. Another "brick in the wall" that's between me and my Z2 due to arrive in May (you know, like I can't wait and people keep telling me all these great things). Thank you, SV, really appreciate the effort, and I'm getting more and more hyped.
Regards,
Michael
It is very transparent. I only added it so I could turn the volume down without losing any frequency response. I removed it, thinking I was going to use it on a different bass. I ended up not using it on the other bass and decided to leave it out of the Super P so that I would have a completely passive Dingwall (the other two are active/passive) at hand.
