Dingwall Owners Club

[Solarmist]

Those backs are all brown.
My burst is bursty.

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I never mind seeing the Rasta Burst Dingwall, my favorite bass on TB.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Cool - I've seen your SJ many times before, but I finally noticed the accent stripes on the neck!

The early models had the skunk stripes (where they inserted the stiffening rods). Mine are also raised a bit, but I don't notice it anymore.

 

[BurningSkies]

I added to my post above re my thoughts on the tone of the P-tone compared the the real thing.

I won't really know about things until this weekend after a few stage dates, but I'm not sure if I'm keeping the P-Tone in place or going back to FD3. Only played at home with it, and on my practice setup, it may be a bit too plunky for me.

 

[Flabzilla]

Nice. My incoming Z will be a swamp ash body, walnut top. I'm not sure if the contrast later will be ebony or wenge. Still waiting to hear back on a few things. Neck will be wenge with mac ebony fretless board.

I decided after borrowing my friends Zon fretless for awhile that it doesn't get much better then that which had a similar body spec. The neck of course was composite with a diamond wood FB. Truly amazing instrument.

That is one sleek neck. I'm pretty stoked. I've got wenge on my SJ, maple of the Z6 and walnut on the Z5. All are amazing.

If CITES hadn't of changed things up I feel I would have introduced some bubinga into this build.

This has me thinking a bit. I know nobody really cares that much but I'd love to see the backs of some of these custom basses. Especially ones with burst finishes.

The SJ i parted with not too long ago had the most gorgeous back I've seen IMO. I'll start with a couple of back photos and if anyone else wants to humor and contribute to this "gallery of backsides" please do so.

Let's get some backside love happening here. Lol.

Only partial lines on the fretless?

 

[Hambone70]

If you raised the saddles to get higher action, intonation is critical. Its not rocket science, or I couldn't do it lol.

Sheldon has a series of YouTube videos that walk you through step by step how to set up your combustion to your tastes. I'd check those out before I do anything to the nut.

I may have missed it, but was the bass set up for larger strings/differs tuning at any point?

Thanks for that. I'll check out the videos.

AFAIK, it's a standard setup.

 

[AB Nate]

Only partial lines on the fretless?

Correct.

 

[AB Nate]

@AB Nate
Top photo is the back of my vintage burst SJ5, which has a flamed maple top. I specified an all-Northern Ash body for this. Sheldon usually does half Swamp Ash and half Northern Ash. As you can see, the grain is relatively straight on the Northern Ash. Not sure if this is typical.
Bottom shows the contrasting layers on my Z3. It has the "traditional" half Swamp Ash, half Northern Ash body. As you can see, they put a layer of wenge over the ash. The next layer I believe is maple(?), and then the Macassar Ebony top.
So you re going Ebony fretboard on your custom? That will contrast beau with the walnut top.

Have you decided on pickups & preamp (if any)?

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I did. I'm going with the FDVs 3x with the Dark glass tone capsule.

I considered Z2 as I think this may be where I'll be playing with the tone the most but I thought the off chance I may use the neck pup I might as well have the option.

 

[Flabzilla]

Correct.

Found this out when I started to put together my fretless build. Dampened the enthusiasm somewhat.

 

[AB Nate]

Found this out when I started to put together my fretless build. Dampened the enthusiasm somewhat.

I've danced around the specs on this over the course of being in que. Ive been educating myself over the course of this wait and as I've learned a few things I've modified the spec to suit.

I was going to have inlays at one point... unlined with inlays. Right about the same time I discovered the issue with dissimilar woods wearing unevenly on a fretless was apparently the same time frame that Sheldon and team also came to the conclusion that lines can be a bad thing and changed to only having the the 3mm and 6mm markers. I had requesting to go completely markerless but was informed that they will only have the one fretless board option.

It didn't take me long to realize that I think once again team Dingwall came to the best conclusion and now I'm actually quite excited about it.

I've thought that perhaps in addition to the top markers bottom ones might be nice too but I could see how they would get a lot more wear and is probably not a great idea.


Anyways,
It's been a bit of a nerve racking experience trying to spec confidently a 6 string "unlined" fanned fretless but I have no doubt that this will be an amazing instrument built by the best and I think I'll feel pretty much at home on it.

I hope the same happens for you

 

[Flabzilla]

I've danced around the specs on this over the course of being in que. Ive been educating myself over the course of this wait and as I've learned a few things I've modified the spec to suit.

I was going to have inlays at one point... unlined with inlays. Right about the same time I discovered the issue with dissimilar woods wearing unevenly on a fretless was apparently the same time frame that Sheldon and team also came to the conclusion that lines can be a bad thing and changed to only having the the 3mm and 6mm markers. I had requesting to go completely markerless but was informed that they will only have the one fretless board option.

It didn't take me long to realize that I think once again team Dingwall came to the best conclusion and now I'm actually quite excited about it.

I've thought that perhaps in addition to the top markers bottom ones might be nice too but I could see how they would get a lot more wear and is probably not a great idea.


Anyways,
It's been a bit of a nerve racking experience trying to spec confidently a 6 string "unlined" fanned fretless but I have no doubt that this will be an amazing instrument built by the best and I think I'll feel pretty much at home on it.

I hope the same happens for you

I’m yet to see a pic of one of these fretboards; currently waiting on the shop to get back to me. Are the 6mm markers on the treble side?

 

[IvanBassist]

I just came back home from Denmark and while I was there I took a trip to visit Morten Ehlers at his new shop (Invalid Link Removed) where I got to play with some pretty high end basses. I felt like a little kid on christmas day, but I was also quite surprised that some of the basses felt (to me, and this is just my opinion) quite stiff and lifeless compared to my SJ. That experience made me feel even more grateful for having this bass

 

[spiritbass]

"I was also quite surprised that some of the basses felt (to me, and this is just my opinion) quite stiff and lifeless compared to my SJ."

I'm not surprised. I've felt the same about what many would consider 'killer basses' after spoiling myself playing Dingwalls. This same reaction led me to find a new home for my last monoscale bass. Very nice, but just not in the same league:

 

[AB Nate]

I’m yet to see a pic of one of these fretboards; currently waiting on the shop to get back to me. Are the 6mm markers on the treble side?

They would be on the "B" side. Up top where I think they will experience the least wear. If you check the fretless club there where a few other basses that has markers similar to this. At first I didn't know what to make if the visual but it has really grown on me.

 

[singlemalt]

We used to have an area GTG once or twice a year. Guys would come from Portland and even Seattle. I’d get to handle some of the top flight brands.

I loved taking the Dingwalls.

First question was always, “How do you deal with the fanned frets?” I’d have to encourage them to take a spin.

Between the Dingwall and the fEarfuls, I’ve spread gas far and wide.

I’d be excited to pick up one of the “exotics” , only to be disappointed, by some aspect, neck, weight, contouring, heck, it could be just the owners string choice or number of strings. Basses are very personal items.

And of course, you never play as well, or feel totally at home, on a strange bass in a noisy GTG.

I might leave a GTG with pedal gas. Going in, I figure a GTG is going to cost me at least one silly pedal purchase. But I never walked out looking to change basses.

Last time I ended up with a EH pitchfork, which has grown on me. It’s pretty cool.

GTG’s are super fun. We usually had ours at a local bar on Sunday afternoon, when things were slow. Not during football season.

 

[BurningSkies]

I won't really know about things until this weekend after a few stage dates, but I'm not sure if I'm keeping the P-Tone in place or going back to FD3. Only played at home with it, and on my practice setup, it may be a bit too plunky for me.

Ok, another day another set of ears. Spent some time this morning before heading to work (late day morning playing yeah!), and got my 'stage amp' rack into my practice cab and I'm feeling more confident that the P-Tone might be a good fit. Had much more fun with the P-Tone today. Flying it solo, it's got nice energy in the punchy-mids range, which is smoothed and widened a bit in parallel with the bridge. I also find that the DG Tone Capsule can be pushed on the bass control and still be usable and musical with it.

 

[BrBss]

Cheap V1/V2 combustion on Reverb right now.

 

[singlemalt]

The P tones are both hot and kind of, what, harsh, ganky, (insert your made up word here).....when it’s by it self or in series with my super fattie. I tend towards both in parallel for practicing. I’ll roll off tone in passive and back off the volume as well.

But in a full volume band mix? P solo. Play with the tone as needed.

Keeping some head room on the volume control lets me interact with my Smoothie comp as well, but that can turn into a tug of war. It’s a balancing act. Within a certain range, I can turn up and get fatter without getting louder.

I think that’s what I love about the new Super P 4. It’s just about as simple as it gets. And it does just what it’s supposed to do. Super focused.

I’d always had jazz models before, and never could get along with the Fender P neck. The Super P totally changed my mind.

Putting P in my AB-1 made it a whole new bass.

Have fun with it at a gig. I swear you can see the rump action increase with the P tone.

 

[BurningSkies]

The P tones are both hot and kind of, what, harsh, ganky, (insert your made up word here).....when it’s by it self or in series with my super fattie. I tend towards both in parallel for practicing. I’ll roll off tone in passive and back off the volume as well.

But in a full volume band mix? P solo. Play with the tone as needed.

Keeping some head room on the volume control lets me interact with my Smoothie comp as well, but that can turn into a tug of war. It’s a balancing act. Within a certain range, I can turn up and get fatter without getting louder.

I think that’s what I love about the new Super P 4. It’s just about as simple as it gets. And it does just what it’s supposed to do. Super focused.

I’d always had jazz models before, and never could get along with the Fender P neck. The Super P totally changed my mind.

Putting P in my AB-1 made it a whole new bass.

Have fun with it at a gig. I swear you can see the rump action increase with the P tone.

Yeah, we're out in Placid and then Stowe Vt. this weekend, I only take one bass, so if it doesn't work, I get to suffer for about 7 hours of stage time. But seriously, I'll probably be the only one who notices one way or another. Until I'm pushing the 2xFF rig with 2500w, it'll be conjecture.

I'm always looking for 2 viable options on the stage, although I usually sit in one for most or all of the night. It really depends on how the room feels to me on a given night. This would be the first time that neck-solo was one of those options. Feels like there's less difference in tone to me between the solo, the parallel and the neck/middle series setting with the P-Tone in place.

 

[Hambone70]

OK... so...

After spending 20-30 hours with the Combustion over the last week, I'm feeling very frustrated trying to get rid of the clankiness, balancing the intonation and action, etc. It just doesn't feel comfortable, and playing the fanned frets near the nut is killing my wrist.

For a break, I picked up my 4-string PJ after not playing it for a week, and it felt fantastic! It has never felt easier to play after fighting with the Combustion. I'm wondering if a 'traditional' 5er is more for me.

Oh, well... I'll persevere for a while longer. The main reason I went Dingwall (among others) was for the B-string. Maybe that's not reason enough to convert.

 

[xnewyorka]

OK... so...

After spending 20-30 hours with the Combustion over the last week, I'm feeling very frustrated trying to get rid of the clankiness, balancing the intonation and action, etc. It just doesn't feel comfortable, and playing the fanned frets near the nut is killing my wrist.

For a break, I picked up my 4-string PJ after not playing it for a week, and it felt fantastic! It has never felt easier to play after fighting with the Combustion. I'm wondering if a 'traditional' 5er is more for me.

Oh, well... I'll persevere for a while longer. The main reason I went Dingwall (among others) was for the B-string. Maybe that's not reason enough to convert.

Can you post a photo showing how you are wearing the bass? i.e., how high up, or how long is your strap. Even better would be a short video of yourself actually playing it. If you are hurting your wrist on the low notes, the angle might be wrong. If playing hurts, you need to stop immediately and figure out what needs to be adjusted to make it not hurt.
The Canadian basses have a flush mounted strap button in the back which puts the nut about 1.5" closer to your body, which does make a huge difference. I'm going to be putting one of those on my Combustion this weekend so that it will feel the same as the ABZ and Z3's: https://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-SLS14...9759111&sr=8-1&keywords=dunlop+SLS1403BK&th=1