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Dingwall Owners Club

#19,501
Flabzilla said:
Not that I’ve had a horrible accident, but...

(Pardon my non existent photography skills)

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It's funny, today I was speaking with my wife about this very subject, that every single Canadian bass I have seen would look fantastic on ANY art lovers wall and they wouldn't have to be musicians to appreciate these works of art. My wife agreed with me and she is not a musician.
 
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#19,503
TheEmptyCell said:
I’d like to try it, but I don’t want to file the nut and there’s no luthier on the island anyone would recommend to make a new one so I can easily swap back.

Hasn’t anyone tried F# and just gone back to B without a new nut?
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It would kind of depend on what gauge string you decide to go with, but @Selta and I (for example) use a 0.170 Payson string for the F#...and yeah a 0.130 won't work in a nut slot cut for 0.170.

I filed a new nut for F# on my own...it took a bunch of tries and I have one that is passable, but could be a bit better. Filing on an angle is also a major PITA...makes me wonder how the folks at Dingwall do it...I'd bet they've got some kind of cool rig that helps out.
 
#19,504
EMoneySC2 said:
It would kind of depend on what gauge string you decide to go with, but @Selta and I (for example) use a 0.170 Payson string for the F#...and yeah a 0.130 won't work in a nut slot cut for 0.170.
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I was wondering about that. Why won't that work? What problem does it cause?

Was wondering whether I could switch my NG2 back and forth between BEAD and F#BEA as the mood strikes.
 
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#19,507
xnewyorka said:
I was wondering about that. Why won't that work? What problem does it cause?

Was wondering whether I could switch my NG2 back and forth between BEAD and F#BEA as the mood strikes.
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If you cut a huge nut slot for a big string, a smaller string won't settle in the bigger slot...it would move around as you play. Sure, you could take a regular 0.130 and tune it down to F#, but you'll have terribly low tension on the string, so it'd sound awful.
 
#19,508
EMoneySC2 said:
If you cut a huge nut slot for a big string, a smaller string won't settle in the bigger slot...it would move around as you play. Sure, you could take a regular 0.130 and tune it down to F#, but you'll have terribly low tension on the string, so it'd sound awful.
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I see. So that begs the question: Why doesn't somebody make a brass nut that is held in place by a couple of screws and which can be removed and swapped out for another one that fits the same but with different slot widths? How cool would that be?
 
#19,509
I’ve found I can get away with quite a bit at the nut. Sure a perfect nut would be sweet, but as long as the open strings don’t rattle or buzz, I’m good.

I swapped my Super PJ to E-C. I had a tiny rattle on my 40 G string in the former D nut slot. I slip a piece of heat shrink over the string and settle it on the nut. Fixed. Everything else works fine. I can go back to B-G no problem.

Going the other way, the non tapered .136 B string in a set of a TI flats will just make the tuner. The nut slot could be a touch bigger, but it’s not that big a deal, at least to me.
 
#19,511
xnewyorka said:
I see. So that begs the question: Why doesn't somebody make a brass nut that is held in place by a couple of screws and which can be removed and swapped out for another one that fits the same but with different slot widths? How cool would that be?
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That'd be suuuuuper cool. Like, super cool. I guess it'd be fair to call me a string nerd, and dealing with the nut is always difficult, so something like a swappable nut system would be a godsend. I'm also a big fan of brass nuts in general...I had one on a Warwick FNA for a while and it was the bomb .
 
#19,515
Volunteerk9 said:
Well, I have now joined the Dingwall owners family as of yesterday. My wife surprised me with an NG-2/4 in Mopar purple for Valentines Day that she found at shomemusic.com. She had actually called Dingwall to ask about a custom order and learned of the long wait time. So she pulled up the shomemusic page on my iPad and threw down a debit card. She told me later that day ‘if you like this one, we can order a black one later but I’m tired of looking at all black.'

I pulled it out of the box, brought it up to 440 and checked the intonation. It was dead on. Started feeling the neck and frets and there isn’t a sharp spot anywhere. Slick as slick can be. Neck relief was great and it weighs just shy of 9 pounds. Just an absolute incredible bass. My stingray has been demoted to backup.

My wife freaking rocks.
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Your wife is amazing to do that for you! These basses do seem to have a common response in players who tell me that their other bass(s) are now backup basses. You mention the tuning. Here is one straight out of the box shipped from Canada - before I did anything; I guess we could say it internationally tuned. I am curious if it stayed that way to it's new owner.
DSC00147.JPG
 
#19,516
On the non-standard tuning comments.
We always order them from Dingwall tuned the way the customer wants and using Kalium heavier strings. But I delivered one about 1.5 hrs north of me to a fellow who was at the venue he was playing at that night. And he immediately changed it to F# tuning and played the gig. I can't remember what strings he said he used. So the nut modification is one of those things that have to be done usually/sometimes depending on the strings, but if it is tuning used all the time and you order a different bass, then ask for it to be setup in that tuning at Dingwall.
 
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#19,517
bebass said:
Your wife is amazing to do that for you! These basses do seem to have a common response in players who tell me that their other bass(s) are now backup basses. You mention the tuning. Here is one straight out of the box shipped from Canada - before I did anything; I guess we could say it internationally tuned. I am curious if it stayed that way to it's new owner.
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My old ABZ came from Bass Central in Florida all the way to Peru and it was still in tune right out of the gig bag :D
 
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#19,518
IvanBassist said:
My old ABZ came from Bass Central in Florida all the way to Peru and it was still in tune right out of the gig bag :D
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Pretty amazing. We have gotten in many that were and some that were only a tad off. I know I am out of tune whenever I ride an airplane.
 
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#19,519
bebass said:
Pretty amazing. We have gotten in many that were and some that were only a tad off. I know I am out of tune whenever I ride an airplane
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bebass said:
Your wife is amazing to do that for you! These basses do seem to have a common response in players who tell me that their other bass(s) are now backup basses. You mention the tuning. Here is one straight out of the box shipped from Canada - before I did anything;
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I’d have to agree :) She’s a keeper.

I guess I need to throw a shout out to @Nephilymbass too because I aggravated the stew out of him about ordering one.
 
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