• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Dingwall Owners Club

#10,941
lowphatbass said:
My serial # is lower yet and has a reference to 1994 penciled in on the heal of the neck. Burning your bass is probably from '93....Then again Dingwalls have pretty much been in a constant state of refinement as long as I can remember. Nobody up there is waiting till the next model/calendar year to make changes. Also, production runs were really small so changes would go into effect every few months it seemed.
Click to expand...

This is true. No one is less interested in the status quo in terms of design than Sheldon. ;) It may end up being a mystery, because I'm not necessarily going to take the neck off just to check, should I have no reason. But then, you never know, curiosity may get the better of me.

I also trust the story as presented by the previous owner. In terms of early serial numbers, part of the story is that they 'fell' out of sequential order due to someone at the shop just mixing things up in the quintessential human error. This story rings true to me per some hazy recollections of discussions of some of the early 'pre-fire' builds. I know that form of 'body logo' really exists on the earliest issue of instruments, and this one has all the hallmarks of those in other ways. Of course you never know what Sheldon comes up with...

14736610486_1dec078b3b_b.jpg
 
#10,942
BurningSkies said:
This is true. No one is less interested in the status quo in terms of design than Sheldon. ;) It may end up being a mystery, because I'm not necessarily going to take the neck off just to check, should I have no reason. But then, you never know, curiosity may get the better of me.

I also trust the story as presented by the previous owner. In terms of early serial numbers, part of the story is that they 'fell' out of sequential order due to someone at the shop just mixing things up in the quintessential human error. This story rings true to me per some hazy recollections of discussions of some of the early 'pre-fire' builds. I know that form of 'body logo' really exists on the earliest issue of instruments, and this one has all the hallmarks of those in other ways. Of course you never know what Sheldon comes up with...

14736610486_1dec078b3b_b.jpg
Click to expand...
Yup, Sheldon is an innovator. But i will say this, my Voodoo Prima plays as well if not better than any of my other Dingwalls I have owned or still own. It is an awesome instrument and stands right up with my Super P and ABZ in terms of fit and finish, as well as playability and tone. With the Barts and Bart electronics, it doesn't have quite the openess in tone of his later basses, but I love it because it gives me a different tonal flavor to use and represents a very cool point on the Dingwall evolutionary tree.

I also have no doubt that my bass came after the red one above and the one you just acquired, the serial number notwithstanding. I suspect it was, as lowphat suggests for his, a year later.

I look forward to hearing your impressions once you have it in hand. I hope you are as happy with it as I am with mine.
 
#10,943
BuffaloBob4343 said:
Yup, Sheldon is an innovator. But i will say this, my Voodoo Prima plays as well if not better than any of my other Dingwalls I have owned or still own. It is an awesome instrument and stands right up with my Super P and ABZ in terms of fit and finish, as well as playability and tone. With the Barts and Bart electronics, it doesn't have quite the openess in tone of his later basses, but I love it because it gives me a different tonal flavor to use and represents a very cool point on the Dingwall evolutionary tree.

I also have no doubt that my bass came after the red one above and the one you just acquired, the serial number notwithstanding. I suspect it was, as lowphat suggests for his, a year later.

I look forward to hearing your impressions once you have it in hand. I hope you are as happy with it as I am with mine.
Click to expand...

I'm really interested in a few things...

-I love the neck on the Rastaburst. That was part of my reasoning of looking for another voodoo or Z series bass. While the neck on the AB I had was nice, I think I favor the thinner front-to-back profile of the V/Z. Of course, this is an early one, so I'm sure it doesn't have the same profile, compound profile, compound neck angle, etc. I know it's a bit beefier, but I'm hoping not hugely so. I also believe this one has frets that are well larger than the current standard banjo.

-The necks I have played are all 5pc (although people often quote them out as 3 pieces, if you look up around the upper ranges to neck heel, there's another lam on each side). This one is more of a 'hippie sandwich' neck.

-Woods: Body is mahogany. I've had alder and ash Dingwalls, but never mahogany. I've had maple and wenge fretboards, but never pau ferro.

-Pickups...I LOVE FD3/Mach2/4L's I tend to run my bass with everything in series. I'm giving the Barts a good solid try.

I fully believe that this bass is a lifelong keeper even with those questions. It just has plenty of variables for me to ponder in the meantime.
 
#10,945
BuffaloBob4343 said:
Yup, Sheldon is an innovator. But i will say this, my Voodoo Prima plays as well if not better than any of my other Dingwalls I have owned or still own. It is an awesome instrument and stands right up with my Super P and ABZ in terms of fit and finish, as well as playability and tone. With the Barts and Bart electronics, it doesn't have quite the openess in tone of his later basses, but I love it because it gives me a different tonal flavor to use and represents a very cool point on the Dingwall evolutionary tree.

I also have no doubt that my bass came after the red one above and the one you just acquired, the serial number notwithstanding. I suspect it was, as lowphat suggests for his, a year later.

I look forward to hearing your impressions once you have it in hand. I hope you are as happy with it as I am with mine.
Click to expand...


Also, I was trying to remember the deal on the red one...if that black guard was original or a later addition. I know that those knobs are later, since that design didn't come into being until around 2006
 
#10,946
BurningSkies said:
I'm really interested in a few things...

-I love the neck on the Rastaburst. That was part of my reasoning of looking for another voodoo or Z series bass. While the neck on the AB I had was nice, I think I favor the thinner front-to-back profile of the V/Z. Of course, this is an early one, so I'm sure it doesn't have the same profile, compound profile, compound neck angle, etc. I know it's a bit beefier, but I'm hoping not hugely so. I also believe this one has frets that are well larger than the current standard banjo.

-The necks I have played are all 5pc (although people often quote them out as 3 pieces, if you look up around the upper ranges to neck heel, there's another lam on each side). This one is more of a 'hippie sandwich' neck.

-Woods: Body is mahogany. I've had alder and ash Dingwalls, but never mahogany. I've had maple and wenge fretboards, but never pau ferro.

-Pickups...I LOVE FD3/Mach2/4L's I tend to run my bass with everything in series. I'm giving the Barts a good solid try.

I fully believe that this bass is a lifelong keeper even with those questions. It just has plenty of variables for me to ponder in the meantime.
Click to expand...
If the neck profile on yours is anything like mine, you should love it. Mine is thin front to back and wide. Also, I happen to dig the pau ferro board a lot. The frets are bigger, but not Warwick bigger LOL! I believe the core of mine is walnut. I did have a Mahogany bodied ABII once, and I really loved it.
 
#10,947
BuffaloBob4343 said:
If the neck profile on yours is anything like mine, you should love it. Mine is thin front to back and wide. Also, I happen to dig the pau ferro board a lot. The frets are bigger, but not Warwick bigger LOL! I believe the core of mine is walnut. I did have a Mahogany bodied ABII once, and I really loved it.
Click to expand...

Pretty bass. :)

Yeah, that sort of jibes with what I understand...that the early Voodoo Primas are mahogany and that switched to walnut at some point. Your pickups are different too...you've got single centered mounting screws instead of four.
 
#10,948
BurningSkies said:
Also, I was trying to remember the deal on the red one...if that black guard was original or a later addition. I know that those knobs are later, since that design didn't come into being until around 2006
Click to expand...

The red bass was the 1st official bass sold (or maybe #2). The pickguard was added a couple of years ago after the customer slipped on some ice and damaged the top where the knobs were mounted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BuffaloBob4343 and BurningSkies
#10,949
Sheldon D. said:
The red bass was the 1st official bass sold (or maybe #2). The pickguard was added a couple of years ago after the customer slipped on some ice and damaged the top where the knobs were mounted.
Click to expand...

Thanks @Sheldon D. , I knew there'd been something done with it. Can you shed any light for the people here on the timeline of these basses of the pre-fire range of years that we've been either incorrect about or any filling in of info?
 
#10,953
MDBass said:
Hadn't posted any photos with my SJ in awhile, Thursday seems like as a good a day as any ;)

*snip*

Hope the new year finds you all well :bassist:
Click to expand...

Likewise sir

Just felt I should join in here. Looks like I will soon be placing an order to build an ABI, and your SJ and AB were very much a part of the design process.

After much umming and ahhing, the final design looks like:
ABI 5-string
Swamp Ash body
Wenge/Wenge neck and fretboard
Trans White with gloss finish
FD3x triple pickups
Glockenklang preamp
3 series/parallel switches

...and a black pickguard. :)


Question - cases. I know I'll get a gig bag bundled with the purchase, but I travel a lot and prefer to have hard cases. Flight cases especially (I don't mind the extra weight).
What options are out there?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eugene B
#10,954
BuffaloBob4343 said:
View attachment 767842

View attachment 767845 View attachment 767846

BTW, mine was previously owned by an LA session bassist named Fernand Bos.


Here are a couple of Youtube videos of him playing it with John Klemmer. You have to watch for about 40 seconds to really see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQd4gBhv ... J4KBUI-bMp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zWPvvVn ... J4KBUI-bMp
Click to expand...
After listening to the second video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zWPvvVn ... J4KBUI-bMp with headphones, I can hear the voice of this bass pretty well, but to me it is significantly less dark than this recording, at least through my rig. I don't know if Fernand was using flats, and I don't know what he used for his rig. And of course, who knows how it was recorded, but it does have that deep, low mid growl that you can hear in the video. The low B is killer!
 
#10,955
#10,956
#10,958
MDBass said:
Hadn't posted any photos with my SJ in awhile, Thursday seems like as a good a day as any ;)

View attachment 767930

Hope the new year finds you all well :bassist:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the memory jog MDB, between the Holidays, my wife's bout with the 2 week flu going around these parts, and then my bout with it, I totally spaced getting your CD, I'll take care of that today. Best of luck this coming year.

Oh, and 28....:meh:
 
  • Like
Reactions: dtsamples
#10,959
bebass said:
I am beginning to think this red with the black pickguard is my favorite of the Combustions. Does anyone know if they can be ordered 5 string setup EADGC? I know the Canadian manufactured ones can but didn't know about the imports.
Click to expand...

BuffaloBob4343 said:
I'm not sure, but if you go to www.dingwallguitars.com and click on "forum," you can probably get your answer there much faster.
Click to expand...
They are very friendly over on that forum.
And I am still reading through all the posts on this forum as probably this has been addressed previously but that is going to take a while to wade through.
Since this forum is a gazillion times more active I was kinda hoping that someone else liked this config and had already tried one. Sure, I will ask Sheldon. I did ask him about the Canadian config of a ABZ and it was "yes", but forgot to ask about the NG2 or Combustion.

I guess my question was too narrow as I am really looking for user experience of folks doing this as well.
I will rephrase my question in general:
"Has anyone restrung/tuned or ordered their Dingwalls to EADGC and if so, how does that work for
you?" I have never done this and am considering doing so. And, if so, did you consider ordering a 2nd nut and set of strings to change it back to BEADG, should you want to? I understand the nut is glued. And, in particular, user experience with a Combustion/NG2 in EADGC.
 
#10,960
bebass said:
They are very friendly over on that forum.
And I am still reading through all the posts on this forum as probably this has been addressed previously but that is going to take a while to wade through.
Since this forum is a gazillion times more active I was kinda hoping that someone else liked this config and had already tried one. Sure, I will ask Sheldon. I did ask him about the Canadian config of a ABZ and it was "yes", but forgot to ask about the NG2 or Combustion.

I guess my question was too narrow as I am really looking for user experience of folks doing this as well.
I will rephrase my question in general:
"Has anyone restrung/tuned or ordered their Dingwalls to EADGC and if so, how does that work for
you?" I have never done this and am considering doing so. And, if so, did you consider ordering a 2nd nut and set of strings to change it back to BEADG, should you want to? I understand the nut is glued. And, in particular, user experience with a Combustion/NG2 in EADGC.
Click to expand...



This is E-C.

I have contemplated tuning one of my 5 strings in drop D-C. The thing that keeps me from doing any alternate tunings is finding strings that would work for what I want. I refuse to use Kalium strings as I have had bad experiences with them in the past. It has just been so easy to continue to use Sheldon's strings, that I leave everything as is.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back