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Dingwall Owners Club

#9,801
Generally speaking, I am deathly afraid of modifying my Dingwalls, except electronically, but that's mainly because I'm not at all handy!

I have never really used a thumb rest, and have been playing floating thumb technique for at least 8 years now, so my thumb is always at rest across the strings unless I'm playing the top string.

But if you are handy enough to do it right, and it improves your playing and enjoyment, I say go for it.

pmad_bass said:
Question for those who Mod'd their Dingwall.....anyone ever add a thumb rest (in particular to an SJ5 or SP5)? I typically play with my thumb rooted at intersection of where the pick-guard meets the body, right about where the screw for the pick-guard is, by the B string side of the neck pickup. The other day I played my 77 Fender J, which has been starved for attention ever since getting the Dingwalls. It has a thumb rest, and though a little further toward the neck than I am envisioning, I remember that I like them. Contemplating adding one between the pickups (on the B side) and what that would mean (i.e. drilling holes). Too old school? Sacrilege? I've been fooling around with how it feels and where I would want it placed by using a Pink Pearl rectangular eraser as a mock up. I have to say, I really like the feel and what I've been missing. Please note- I don't plan on ever selling this bass. :) Just wondering if anyone else has made such a bold leap. .....or this too will pass? :)

-PM
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#9,802
pmad_bass said:
Contemplating adding one between the pickups (on the B side)
Click to expand...

I'd try installing it with double-sided tape first -- I had a bass with a "ramp" once and couldn't figure out how it was installed.

The double-stick tape worked amazingly well; it stayed put until I directly pulled on it.
And there wasn't a mark on the bass once it was removed.

So, I'd certainly recommend that before drilling into your bass!
 
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#9,803
So as some may remember, I bought an AB1 direct from the shop a couple months ago. I had really been looking for a NG-2 but finding one used was akin to a Sasquatch sighting. Any who's fast forward to last week and one appeared in the classifieds. I snagged it immediately.

It arrived a couple days ago and my first impressions were decent. Neck was a little chunkier, bass was a little heavier. Solo tone, I thought at the time, was ok. Seriously mid forward but man did it rattle the chains.

I got a chance to play it with my loud rock band yesterday and was blown away. The tone, for as average as it sounded solo (to me), absolutely excelled mixed up! If there ever was a bass impossible to bury in the mix, this is it. The DG pre and the chosen EQ points are perfect. Passive mode sounds great too and if you have the EQ ability down the line you can get the tones and boost needed with the pre engaged. As expected it sounded monstrous through my B7K. Playing it in the band was like holding a grenade between your legs with the pin pulled while driving down a worn out dirt road after a rain storm. That thing is just ready to explode. Quick pic:
 

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#9,804
husky123 said:
So as some may remember, I bought an AB1 direct from the shop a couple months ago. I had really been looking for a NG-2 but finding one used was akin to a Sasquatch sighting. Any who's fast forward to last week and one appeared in the classifieds. I snagged it immediately.

It arrived a couple days ago and my first impressions were decent. Neck was a little chunkier, bass was a little heavier. Solo tone, I thought at the time, was ok. Seriously mid forward but man did it rattle the chains.

I got a chance to play it with my loud rock band yesterday and was blown away. The tone, for as average as it sounded solo (to me), absolutely excelled mixed up! If there ever was a bass impossible to bury in the mix, this is it. The DG pre and the chosen EQ points are perfect. Passive mode sounds great too and if you have the EQ ability down the line you can get the tones and boost needed with the pre engaged. As expected it sounded monstrous through my B7K. Playing it in the band was like holding a grenade between your legs with the pin pulled while driving down a worn out dirt road after a rain storm. That thing is just ready to explode. Quick pic:
Click to expand...
That bass is so metal!

Funny how we forget sometimes that a bass tone must work in the mix. We listen to the tone at home and we often get a one-sided impression. Solo tone is one indicator, but one simply cannot truly assess a bass until it is played in one's band environment! I can't count the number of times that has happened to me.
 
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#9,805
Yeah, I thought the P tones sounded ganky solo, but the way it fits in the band mix was awesome. Now, I'm completely hooked on it.

I got to host the bass chair last night at a local jamb and the Super P was stellar.

I brought an Acoustic Image Ten2 amp I had bought for my kid's keyboard. I didn't expect much from it after the fEarful/ Streamliner set up I usually bring. It looked like rain and I wanted a one trip load in. That little amp kicked butt. The other bass players were impressed, and when I sat in the back of the room and listened to the other guy play through it, I was really pleased. Not bad for a 32lb combo! And the two channel head is removable, takes mike cable inputs, has effects, and sound even better through the fEafuls. A very nice little amp for smaller gigs, or gigs with good PA support.
 
#9,806
I've never understood why so many people go for dark or scooped tones on stage, or slap dead flats on a P-bass the moment they get it home.

Brady Muckelroy has a vid on Facebook, where he's playing a 73 P-bass pretty much wide open, and it's luscious.

Then there's Bobby Vega's demo of the original EMG P pickups on the catalog page of their website.

Gorgeous, open tones with fingerstyle, pick and slap...

Dingwall content: I should add that the top end on my ABZ is more extended than on any other passive bass I've owned. Yet the tone control never gets backed off further than about half-way...
 
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#9,807
steve_rolfeca said:
I've never understood why so many people go for dark or scooped tones on stage, or slap dead flats on a P-bass the moment they get it home.

Brady Muckelroy has a vid on Facebook, where he's playing a 73 P-bass pretty much wide open, and it's luscious.

Then there's Bobby Vega's demo of the original EMG P pickups on the catalog page of their website.

Gorgeous, open tones with fingerstyle, pick and slap...

Dingwall content: I should add that the top end on my ABZ is more extended than on any other passive bass I've owned. Yet the tone control never gets backed off further than about half-way...
Click to expand...
Tone knobs are funny. I've got a handful of Precisions and the tone pot is different on every one. Some basses do well with dull strings, it actually allows you to run the tone wider to bring forward mid frequencies without the byproduct of excessive presence. There are certainly a ton of variables no doubt, IMO a broken in set of flats have their place....especially when it comes to P basses.
 
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#9,809
lowphatbass said:
Tone knobs are funny. I've got a handful of Precisions and the tone pot is different on every one. Some basses do well with dull strings, it actually allows you to run the tone wider to bring forward mid frequencies without the byproduct of excessive presence. There are certainly a ton of variables no doubt, IMO a broken in set of flats have their place....especially when it comes to P basses.
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I'll have to take your word for it brother!
 
#9,814
spiritbass said:
You're welcome! As I told Bob, it decorates the desktop of my work computer still. :cool: I think transparent white over ash is a timeless, classic 'look'. The wenge and tort compliment each other nicely, IMO...
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As I've said many times before, this is such a compliment from a man owns some incredible and enviable pieces of Dingwall art in his own right!
 
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#9,815
Question for 3X with series/parallel toggle owners....Are you finding position 2 (bridge and middle in series) to be a good amount louder than position 3 (neck and bridge series)? I mean a bunch more midrange content in 2 (to be expected due to pickup location) but it sure does seem to be louder. Could be a perception thing but I wanted to check others experience. Also, FWIW, I have a P tone in my neck position but I'm assuming they are the same output as the other FD3-4L's. Thanks for any thoughts.
 
#9,816
Neck and middle are in parallel on a 3x so will not have as much output as the bridge and middle in series. It gets a little confusing with the toggles combined with a rotary and both offering series and parallel configurations. A simpler way to look at it would be the toggles provide a traditional/hot setting for each pickup which are then fed to the rotary switch which gives you bridge, bridge/middle in series, bridge/neck in parallel, neck.
 
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#9,817
Sheldon D. said:
Neck and middle are in parallel on a 3x so will not have as much output as the bridge and middle in series. It gets a little confusing with the toggles combined with a rotary and both offering series and parallel configurations. A simpler way to look at it would be the toggles provide a traditional/hot setting for each pickup which are then fed to the rotary switch which gives you bridge, bridge/middle in series, bridge/neck in parallel, neck.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for chiming in Sheldon. Sooo, yeah, I have not been thinking about it correctly. So if I have the bridge/middle in series and I turn each of their respective toggles to the "off" (down) position the pickups are still in series but the output is less "hot"?
 

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