Too true. Some of us just wish we had done it sooner!Lets be honest. At some point in time, we ALL had to switch from parallel frets to fanned, didn't we?
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Dingwall Owners Club
- Thread starter FroggyOne2
- Start date
There have been a few body revisions over the years. Before anyone asks I'm pretty sure we didn't keep track of the dates these changes were made.
The original 4-string Super J's were as true to the original as possible.
The 5-string Super J is where I took license to stretch the bass horn for better balance, shorten and scallop the treble horn for better upper fret access and tweak the curve of the butt to accomodate the longer bridge.
A little over a year ago we started scalloping the treble horn on the 4-strings. We have now just finished shortening the 4-string treble horn.
i dont think it even took a minute. it was very natural.
if passing through atlanta, youb an try mine!
How hard was it to adjust, you ask?
Well lets begin by taking the word "hard" out of the equation because, fact is, there is no "hard" here at all.
Personally before buying one I've read a lot of people writing positive reviews of the Dingwal fanned frets and how "natural" (see not hard, natural instead) it is to adjust to them, but I still didn't give it any weight until I tried one for myself.
It was after a 20 minute test in a store that I was so badly hooked that I just couldn't leave that ABZ 5 back on that display stand, I had to take it home with me, that very same day.
And that is what I suggest you do too. Insteaf of asking people's opinions, my most sincere advice for you is to go and see for yourself if a Dingwall is for you or not.
Good luck
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
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- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Beautiful Super-J! I can see why you have no pennies left...much like us other Dingwall owners!
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Well it wasn't actually a cat, it was a guy in a brown uniform. And, fortunately, he didn't drag it, but instead gently carried it.
Yea its ash/maple
Routed for the P/J configuration (cant wait til the 5 string P pickup is out.)
It's got the Glock pre but I really wanna try the Aggie pre. My old ABII had the Aggie in it and I loved it.
But overall it's an amazing bass!
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
I haven't tried the Aguilar preamp in a Dingwall, but I have had it in a couple of other basses, and personally, I think the Glock pre KILLS it. The bass boost/cut on the ODP-3 is so hyper sensitive I couldn't even really use it. Plus, the treble cut on the Glock is just amazingly musical.
If you actually swap out for an Aggie and end up preferring it, I will buy your Glock on the spot!
CONGRATS x 1'000'000'000 she is hot hot hot, in fact hotter than a hot thing.
Now please tell me what do the 3 pots do on the metal plate? Volume / pickups 4-pos vari-switch and Tone? or??
Thanks
IvanBassist
Commercial User
- Jun 8, 2008
- 3,744
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I don´t really like solid color basses. Dingwalls however, are an exception 
Congrats on the new bass. I´m sure you´ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed mine when I first got it
Congrats on the new bass. I´m sure you´ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed mine when I first got it
Volume/4-way rotary/tone.
It's a passive bass. But, after playing it a half hour or so, you'd never guess it. It has a nice full response, and while a bit more rounded, seems to have a bit more natural low-end to it than than my ABII.
My first impressions are mixed. I really like it, but I think I may be so used to the neck on the AB now that it feels a bit clunky, which is funny since I thought the AB was petite just a few weeks ago
My AB was set up perfectly out of the box, but this one needs a LOT of set up work. The action is really high, barely playable, and out of sync with the pickup height. I think I will have a much better feel for it when I get it set up. I think it will also have better tone response when I get the PUs dialed in.
It's light, very resonant and has a fairly honest "jazz bass" tone in a very Dingwall kind of way. The 4-way is probably even more appropriate on this passive bass than it is on the active AB. The base four sounds you get out of it are pretty much what I would be going for anyway.
It definitely doesn't have that "thinness" that I somewhat expected from a passive bass. Granted my experiences with passive basses is fairly limited in recent years, but with a couple of Fenders and even the Lakland JO, I ended up using an outboard preamp to get what I wanted. Initially, at least, I think this bass has a full enough tone that I won't need it.
Anyway, I am certain I will have a lot more reaction before too long. I am off to an extended rehearsal right now and have two gigs and another rehearsal before the weekend is over. I will get a little bit of a trial by fire!!!
Volume/4-way rotary/tone.
It's a passive bass. But, after playing it a half hour or so, you'd never guess it. It has a nice full response, and while a bit more rounded, seems to have a bit more natural low-end to it than than my ABII.
My first impressions are mixed. I really like it, but I think I may be so used to the neck on the AB now that it feels a bit clunky, which is funny since I thought the AB was petite just a few weeks ago
My AB was set up perfectly out of the box, but this one needs a LOT of set up work. The action is really high, barely playable, and out of sync with the pickup height. I think I will have a much better feel for it when I get it set up. I think it will also have better tone response when I get the PUs dialed in.
It's light, very resonant and has a fairly honest "jazz bass" tone in a very Dingwall kind of way. The 4-way is probably even more appropriate on this passive bass than it is on the active AB. The base four sounds you get out of it are pretty much what I would be going for anyway.
It definitely doesn't have that "thinness" that I somewhat expected from a passive bass. Granted my experiences with passive basses is fairly limited in recent years, but with a couple of Fenders and even the Lakland JO, I ended up using an outboard preamp to get what I wanted. Initially, at least, I think this bass has a full enough tone that I won't need it.
Anyway, I am certain I will have a lot more reaction before too long. I am off to an extended rehearsal right now and have two gigs and another rehearsal before the weekend is over. I will get a little bit of a trial by fire!!!
Aye! I am very familiar with that setup, its the same as my passive ABZ 5 Volume, rotary 4 way and tone. I am also very fond of the 4 different sounds.
Last week I have ordered a 5 strings Super J win a P/J pickup configuration. But I understand the pots layout on those is a bit more complicate with an active / passive circuit.
cool!
Volume/4-way rotary/tone.
It's a passive bass. But, after playing it a half hour or so, you'd never guess it. It has a nice full response, and while a bit more rounded, seems to have a bit more natural low-end to it than than my ABII.
My first impressions are mixed. I really like it, but I think I may be so used to the neck on the AB now that it feels a bit clunky, which is funny since I thought the AB was petite just a few weeks ago
My AB was set up perfectly out of the box, but this one needs a LOT of set up work. The action is really high, barely playable, and out of sync with the pickup height. I think I will have a much better feel for it when I get it set up. I think it will also have better tone response when I get the PUs dialed in.
It's light, very resonant and has a fairly honest "jazz bass" tone in a very Dingwall kind of way. The 4-way is probably even more appropriate on this passive bass than it is on the active AB. The base four sounds you get out of it are pretty much what I would be going for anyway.
It definitely doesn't have that "thinness" that I somewhat expected from a passive bass. Granted my experiences with passive basses is fairly limited in recent years, but with a couple of Fenders and even the Lakland JO, I ended up using an outboard preamp to get what I wanted. Initially, at least, I think this bass has a full enough tone that I won't need it.
Anyway, I am certain I will have a lot more reaction before too long. I am off to an extended rehearsal right now and have two gigs and another rehearsal before the weekend is over. I will get a little bit of a trial by fire!!!
I'm curious why the action is so high. Is this a new or used bass? If it's new, the truss-rod should be all you have to adjust to get the action down to where the ABII is.
I actually raised the action on the Super J5 I bought, and took a bit off the truss rod. It was too perfect and low for me. One thing, these basses are really easy to dial, the hardware is first class!
That's an interesting observation on the neck feel, because I have the same feeling, but the specs on the neck are nearly identical. I think it is the reduced length on the Super J. When I go back to the AB-1 5 the neck feels super slim. I always think, "Katana"
I run the Super J passive quite a bit, and there is nothing thin or wimpy about it.
The Super J sure smoked my Fender jazz.
That's an interesting observation on the neck feel, because I have the same feeling, but the specs on the neck are nearly identical. I think it is the reduced length on the Super J. When I go back to the AB-1 5 the neck feels super slim. I always think, "Katana"
I run the Super J passive quite a bit, and there is nothing thin or wimpy about it.
The Super J sure smoked my Fender jazz.
I bought it new. There's no such thing as an available used Dingwall Super J5!!
I just finished with the set up. I tightened the truss rod about a 1/2 turn or a little less and still had to drop the saddle pieces just a touch. Maybe a 1/2 turn or so except the B and G. They needed about 3/4 or maybe even a bit more. The action came WAY down with no buzz at all. Once I got the action down, the pickups are in the right place. Great string balance.
The intonation was spot on, maybe a cent off at most. That could easily be the variance in the electronic tuners. I'm not sure why the action was so high. Maybe it was just the transition from the West Coast to the Midwest. Anyway, all is well, and I am delighted.
Played the Super J in a really rocked-out worship service tonight. I was very impressed. It's actually a better rock bass than I thought it might be. I mainly got it for softer gigs and recording, but since it's new, I thought I would gig it for fun.
My "base" tone quickly became the both PUs parallel, which is opposite than the AB. The parallel mode on this bass is not nearly as scooped modern as the AB, and the series mode on the SJ is a little too "honky" with flat EQ. I can see using it, but it needs some experimenting to know how for sure.
I haven't played a passive bass in who knows when, but I have to say it was totally fine. The natural tone of this thing is SOOOO full. It is about as plug and play as you can get.
I really like this bass and especially as a compliment to the other. I don't think I could ask for a better set of Dingwalls.
Aren't sets three? I need a Z1!!!!
My "base" tone quickly became the both PUs parallel, which is opposite than the AB. The parallel mode on this bass is not nearly as scooped modern as the AB, and the series mode on the SJ is a little too "honky" with flat EQ. I can see using it, but it needs some experimenting to know how for sure.
I haven't played a passive bass in who knows when, but I have to say it was totally fine. The natural tone of this thing is SOOOO full. It is about as plug and play as you can get.
I really like this bass and especially as a compliment to the other. I don't think I could ask for a better set of Dingwalls.
Aren't sets three? I need a Z1!!!!
