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Dingwall Owners Club

#9,442
Link Removed Just got my new Super PJ5 yesterday! After waiting anxiously for a year FedEx showed up yesterday a couple hours before I left for a gig. Everything was flawless including the setup and I was happy to take it straight to the gig and leave my AB1 at home. It lived up to all my (very high) expectations. Love the Wenge neck and overall sound and I had no problem transitioning to the 35" scale after my AB1. Played most of the night in the parallel setting. Sheldon and company are awesome!
 
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#9,444
akflyer said:
Link Removed Just got my new Super PJ5 yesterday! After waiting anxiously for a year FedEx showed up yesterday a couple hours before I left for a gig. Everything was flawless including the setup and I was happy to take it straight to the gig and leave my AB1 at home. It lived up to all my (very high) expectations. Love the Wenge neck and overall sound and I had no problem transitioning to the 35" scale after my AB1. Played most of the night in the parallel setting. Sheldon and company are awesome!
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Congratulations on a superb instrument. :) It is a modern classic IMO. When Sheldon says this combination and configuration of pickups is one of his favorites, my ears perk up! :cool:
 
#9,445
SP5%20pj%20Swamp%20Ash%20Transparent%20White%20Tort%20Wenge%20Wenge%20Black%20Hardware.jpg


Okay, I think I have the photo thing figured out.
 
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#9,452
akflyer said:
SP5%20pj%20Swamp%20Ash%20Transparent%20White%20Tort%20Wenge%20Wenge%20Black%20Hardware.jpg


Okay, I think I have the photo thing figured out.
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The Dingwall ash/wenge combo is incredible, both sonically and aesthetically...and this jaw dropping beauty is making me strongly consider ordering a tort guard for my SJ3X as well drool
 
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#9,455
5StringPocket said:
If only it were possible to get a Super PJ5 with a Darkglass Tone Capsule and active/passive switch ...
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Sheldon D. said:
No but you could get a Super J with a Neck P and a Darkglass.
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Yes thanks, I could, but the J bridge pickup is in the "J" position rather than at the optimized "PJ" position a little closer to the neck.

I found this response in the Dingwall forum about a preamp in the Super P:
"There's not a lot of room under a P pickguard. I'd recommend trying the bass passive first if you haven't already. If an outboard pedal eq is an option there are lots of choices there. Otherwise I recommend the John East P-retro."

And this from BuffaloBobs Super P/J question:
"Will the addition of the FD3 have any effect on the soloed P tone? I assume the FD3 will be balanced in output with the split P?"
"The pickups balance very well. We moved the bridge pickup quite a bit closer to the neck. Way more than I anticipated, but we just kept moving it until the tone fell into place. The solo P tone is not affected."

I'm a big fan of the PJ configuration but the traditional "J" location sounds a bit thin for my liking when soloed and others have commented about the presence of the "J" bridge pickup in the traditional location altering the solo P tone. Pat Wilkins seems to have come to the same conclusion with his 'Cayenne' (Roasted) PJ5.
Wilkins said:
I've been asked to write about why I've positioned the J bass pickup where I did on G's bass. Originally I was asked by Mickey, the owner of Grandma's in NM to build him a WRTP with a J pickup in the back position. He didn't like the way a J pickup sounded all the way in the back so he wanted me to put that pickup closer to the P. It sounded like a very reasonable request to me so I started work on finding a harmonic point closer to the P pickup. I've also known for quite a while that when you put a P and J pickup together on a bass body something happens to the sound of the P pickup. It seems to lose that characteristic P sound to me. It still sounds good but not quite like a P by itself. I think it has something to do with the magnetic fields interacting with each other and causing a phase cancellation. What I noticed was that as I put the J pickup close to the P something changes with the way the 2 fields interact and either the phase cancellation goes away or is replaced with an improved (IMHO) interaction. Now the P has regained the depth and character that I've been used to all these years. The added benefit is that the J pickup now sounds fatter, more full and the mids and lows quite are a bit more focused. When you play on the P pickup and slowly start to bring in the J a real nice low mid tone happens that gives the bass a very punchy sound without adding more top end than I like to hear. I've found that it works real well with either 4 or 5 string basses. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'll be very interested to hear what your responses are to my theories and my sonic impressions.
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Considering all this, for me the optimized PJ placement trumps an onboard preamp. This beautiful ash/wenge Super PJ5 really hits the mark. (edited)
SP5%20pj%20Swamp%20Ash%20Transparent%20White%20Tort%20Wenge%20Wenge%20Black%20Hardware.jpg
 
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#9,457
Interesting. If I recall correctly, Ed Friedland had once mentioned that his experience with PJ configurations was that the bridge pickup had to be further back (70's J position) and wound a bit hotter for best results.

My SuperJ5 (P/J) has the J pickup closer to the bridge and I think it sounds pretty good, although I don't have anything to compare it to.
 
#9,458
Smallmouth_Bass said:
Interesting. If I recall correctly, Ed Friedland had once mentioned that his experience with PJ configurations was that the bridge pickup had to be further back (70's J position) and wound a bit hotter for best results.

My SuperJ5 (P/J) has the J pickup closer to the bridge and I think it sounds pretty good, although I don't have anything to compare it to.
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I'd agree winding the J pickup a bit hotter would help the balance. Position of the bridge pickup affects the voicing and is a personal preference - more than one flavor of good. I have a PJ5 with the bridge in the 60's position and reverse P at the neck. It's one of my favorites but if I had it to do over that Super PJ5 is compelling. I'm sure the SuperJ5 (P/J) sounds excellent as well. What I get from this is if you know your tonal preferences and get the spec right, you'll end up with a keeper that is a joy to play.
 
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