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Dingwall Owners Club

I think there's a few folks running their early (non-universal routed) Combustions naked. I recall within the past couple of months seeing at least one, a black one. It looked neat, but I prefer the look with the pickguard.

Welcome to club :)

Yep IIRC it was designed so that the end user could choose a guard or not. : ) Feel free to enjoy yours however you like it.
 
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Alas, my FD-3 upgrade will have to wait until I move in June....to pull the brass threaded inserts and drill/install new ones will take me having a work-space setup and all my tools on hand.
Both of my Z2s have been older and have brass inserts, but I'm not sure the newer basses use inserts; I think current practice is just to tap the 6-32 threads directly into the wood.

That said, if the bass-side inserts interfere, you'll have to pull/drill/dowel/Dremel them ...which makes the full compliment of tools very advisable.
 
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Si Thanks to a very generous gift I find myself to be the proud owner of what appears to be a very good condition used Dingwall ABZ 4 string. The question is....
What's the best way to find out exactly what I have? Date of birth, circuitry layout, tonewoods, actual, proper model #, that sort of thing?
Post a picture and serial number here or does Dingwall still have all ther eold records?
It's got the plain Dingwall signature running between the tuners rather that the "D" logo so I do know it's more than a few years old.
 
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Initial impressions of this bass is that the ash sounds more scooped than the alder bodied basses I've played. That may be the wenge fretboard too, but it's much more compressed sounding. I tend to like the sound of alder/maple bolt on basses, but just loved the way this one looks. Seems to get better when I boost the high mids on my TH500 (3 o'clock on the dial, i'm guessing 1.5-2.5k?). The strings are dingwall nickels, wondering if some other strings will put some of that content back, or even it out, so to speak. Any suggestions? I really like the TI Flats on the alder bass, but would like to stick with rounds on this one. Any one have any experience with TI jazz rounds?

image.jpg
 
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Fairly new owner here: I picked up a used early-model Combustion 5 recently. I decided I wanted a different color pickguard so I removed it to send to Terrapin.

Aside from the screw holes, the bass looks... interesting (in a good way) without the pickguard.

Has anyone here removed their pickguard permanently? Curious to see pics!

Here's a picture of mine without a pickguard from a few pages back: Candy Apple Green Combustion (1st Gen)

I ordered it with an uninstalled white pearloid pickguard and never put it on. If I did, I'd just use some double sided tape like a buddy of mine has done with his. It looks great both ways!
 
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I like that look a lot.. I am not a fan of pick guards

Here's a picture of mine without a pickguard from a few pages back: Candy Apple Green Combustion (1st Gen)

I ordered it with an uninstalled white pearled pickguard and never put it on. If I did, I'd just use some double sided take like a buddy of mine has done with his. It looks great both ways!
 
Went on a bit of a tear recently. As some of you probably noticed, I'm rather...indecisive when it comes to selling. I've loved my Super series basses but my black one lacked a bridge pup and my red one, while terrific, was red, and red isn't my favorite color. So I've listed them several times only to go into panic attack mode and later pull them. Well, the original owner of the black one contacted me and asked if I'd send it back to him as it was sentimental and he regretted letting it go. Sent that back to him, and picked up Smeet's beautiful SPJ5. Mean time, WhirledPeas has been after me for my red one for quite some time, so decided I may as well let him have it and go after my personal favorite. Happy to say I was able to arrange a deal with the owner and I now have this guy coming.

View attachment 864590

:hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper:

So so stoked. Two Super P's out, two Super P's in. Reminds me, gotta leave feedback for @smeet! Sorry to leave you hangin, buddy! Took the TI's I got from @graphics1988 and strung the Chrome Blue up and it's thumping hard! Also reversed it back to normal and loving it.
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Congrats on that nice pair of Super PJ5's. I've got a few questions:
- You're not the first to try reversed P then switch it back. I read the J pickup position was optimized with the normal P alignment. Does it sound fuller that way but still have plenty of focus?
- That ash-bodied beauty you picked up from Smeet has incredible grain. Does the other one have an alder body and do they have the same fingerboard wood (wenge)? I'd be interested in any sound comparison between the two.
- How do you like the P and J in series? That is something you usually don't find on a PJ.
- Do you find the G string notes to be solid and full-bodied? The extended scale models have an incredible B but I like the shorter 21 fret neck and the ability to use a wide range of strings.
 
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Thank you!

Honestly, I didn't try reversed at all. Soon as I got it I took the strings off and flipped it back to normal. I've really gotten to like the Super PJ layout and wanted to keep it how I was used to. The J sounds great with the P. Adds a good deal of clarity where the usual P pup lacks a bit of definition. Series is big and powerful, parallel is nicely scooped. I don't use the J pup alone much, but for solos it could work with a little boost.

The chrome blue alder one is from Smeet and has a pau ferro board. The ash one is from FilCo and has a wenge board. The ash one is more scooped and modern sounding. The alder one is quicker to speak and has much more mid content. It sounds more like a traditional P. I feel more at home on the alder one but I'm learning to EQ the ash one. The ash has a more pleasing slap tone.

That said, I'm listening through very different strings. The alder one has TI flats and the ash one has dingwall nickels. But the alder one is my third alder bodied super P, and I can definitely hear the difference between those and the ash bass.
 
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Both of my Z2s have been older and have brass inserts, but I'm not sure the newer basses use inserts; I think current practice is just to tap the 6-32 threads directly into the wood.

That said, if the bass-side inserts interfere, you'll have to pull/drill/dowel/Dremel them ...which makes the full compliment of tools very advisable.

That's good to know. If that's the case, I may go with the 'newer' method...it will be easier and less problem prone.