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Dingwall Owners Club

#10,547
I'm still a little confused on the various Darkglass options. From what I understand Darkglass and Dingwall created the Tone Capsule concept, but I don't know if this is exactly what is included in the NG-2. For some reason I have it in my mind that the pre-amp in the NG-2 is a custom Darkglass unit similar to, but different from the "Tone Capsule". That being said, I have non-NG-2s with the Darkglass pre on order and the last set specifically mentioned the option as the "Tone Capsule".

Regardless, the thing sounds like magic. It's very hard to choose between it and the Glockenklang.
 
#10,549
I believe Sheldon has called the Glockenklang very transparent with a natural sounding boost whereas the tone capsule is a bit more colored. I'm not sure how that affects the sound when no bands are boosted or cut. I believe he also said that the Tone Capsule is more suited to heavier music. I thought the Tone Capsule is what is in the NG2, but I'm not sure. Hopefully he'll come along to clear that up if I have any of it wrong, which is very possible. Both mine are passive, and I've not yet had the opportunity to play an ABI, Z, or NG2, just done a bit of reading and talking to a buddy who has an ABI on order.
 
#10,550
pravus said:
I'm interested in this as well. I just ordered a couple of Zs...
Click to expand...
My experience is that all of Sheldon's basses are awesome, but the Z's are a cut above the rest. I have an older Z2 four string, and when I first picked it up, I noticed a difference in refinement, subtle as it may be. It reminds me of that scene in Pulp Fiction when Vincent is buying heroin from Lance and Lance is giving a description of the three choices. So to adapt that dialogue to the present issue: (pointing at a Z3) "...this one's a little more
expensive. But when you groove it, you'll know
where that extra money went. Nothing wrong with the first two (pointing at an AB2 and a ABXXX).
They're real, real, real, awesome basses.
But (pointing at the Z3 again) this one's a f****in madman!

Having said that, I will say that I could see why some might prefer the neck profile and feel of the other models better. But there is no denying the additional refinement. I wish I could afford a Z3. I probably could if sold 3 or all 4 of my current Dingwalls. But I couldn't bring myself to do that.
 
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#10,554
dtsamples said:
I believe Sheldon has called the Glockenklang very transparent with a natural sounding boost whereas the tone capsule is a bit more colored. I'm not sure how that affects the sound when no bands are boosted or cut. I believe he also said that the Tone Capsule is more suited to heavier music. I thought the Tone Capsule is what is in the NG2, but I'm not sure. Hopefully he'll come along to clear that up if I have any of it wrong, which is very possible. Both mine are passive, and I've not yet had the opportunity to play an ABI, Z, or NG2, just done a bit of reading and talking to a buddy who has an ABI on order.
Click to expand...
I have the Glock 3 band in my ABZ and I think transparent is a great description. I like it a lot!
 
#10,558
Nice quote BBob. It's great that Sheldon has a wide variety of basses for different budgets and styles/tastes. Of the ones I've owned, the ABII's was very 'organic' (walnut/bubinga); the Z3 was very 'hi fi/modern' (maple/maple); the S series were nicely in between. So many differences between body, neck, pickups, etc. I played a couple of Prima's at a store - one very dark, one very 'thin' to my ears. Totally different basses. The Prima I own is THE most amazing bass ever built, on the entire planet (completely objective opinion). Have fun, and try as many as you can!
 
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