Dingwall Owners Club

[Energy]

Yep, generally speaking you are not, that is true. But I find that abandoning that rule for playing the four lowest notes on a 37" B string really helps the ergonomics quite a bit, so the saying "rules were meant to be broken" comes to mind. YMMV

You're totally right. I'm just a little smart ass, and my comment wasn't meant to be dead serious anyway.

 

[BurningSkies]

What IEMs are you guys using?

The full rundown is that we run 16 stage lines to a rack that's got 16 channels of isolates splits and then Soundcraft Ui24r. From there we're using wired outs to packs. Most of the members are using cheapo standard SE215's right now, since that's what the band paid for, but have the option to pick whatever they want. And if they want to go wireess, they can pay for their own transmission hardware. I personally have a few sets of KZ ZS-6's that I'm using for my ears. If you look at my pedal board, you can see in the upper right hand corner...that's my IEM pack, I just use a 15' headphone extender to my back pocket for stage.

For the most part, we like the Ui24r. Any phone/table with wifi can get to the interface, which is HTML5, so any browser will work.

 

[IvanBassist]

The full rundown is that we run 16 stage lines to a rack that's got 16 channels of isolates splits and then Soundcraft Ui24r. From there we're using wired outs to packs. Most of the members are using cheapo standard SE215's right now, since that's what the band paid for, but have the option to pick whatever they want. And if they want to go wireess, they can pay for their own transmission hardware. I personally have a few sets of KZ ZS-6's that I'm using for my ears. If you look at my pedal board, you can see in the upper right hand corner...that's my IEM pack, I just use a 15' headphone extender to my back pocket for stage.

For the most part, we like the Ui24r. Any phone/table with wifi can get to the interface, which is HTML5, so any browser will work.

These, right? Invalid Link Removed

Do they isolate properly?

 

[BurningSkies]

Thanks man, it's definitely just some color for rare spots but i was digging the sounds for sure. What that flanger or phaser you got happening? I have a 3 leaf envelope filter I took off the board cause I could never figure out what to use it for practicallly. You find yourself getting a lot of use out of that sound? Since I've married my bass now focusing my attention on the board

I do use some of this live what you're hearing here is basically a 'patch' I use for a breakdown on a newer song, that goes to riddim on guitar and hat, and this. I also use a similar setup on this:


By not burying it in extra verb/etc. it becomes useable in a band context.

What you're hearing in this is:

Input->Slow Engine (auto-swell)->Divaricator (lows clean and at balanced volume to my clean/non-effect tone)->high loop: Frazz Dazzler 2->Xerograph Deluxe->Delay->Ibanez Bi-Mode Chorus->back into Divaricator->HPF3

No phase/flange, and the Bi-mode is set with the sweeps wide open one all the way down the other about 1/3rd up, that gives a bit of 'detune' to it most of the sweep you're hearing is based in the Slow Engine and the X/D which has an expression pedal. Alternately, I have a loop for the expression/volume pedal and I can do volume/expression sweeps with that if I don't want to use the Slow Engine.

I really love the new knobs - nice soft rubber, easy to operate with the back of a finger (except the pickup selector of course), and great looking.
Also, since the volume on the Glock preamp spins so effortlessly, setting the knob for a tiny bit of friction against the body tames it down very nicely, allowing the knob to remain in position if (when) it gets accidentally bumped while playing.

But my aging eyes had a hard time seeing the dimples to discern the current knob setting. So I just fixed that with some latex primer and a toothpick.
I'm delighted with the results. After making the dots all about the same size on the ABZ, I got creative and made the dots on the volume and the bass a little bigger on the Z2 to see how it would look. And the best part: If you mess it up, a paper towel and a drop of water, and you can clean it off and try again.
See photo attached.

Nice. That's my one smack on the new knobs. The older ones with the convex markers were easier to see/feel on a dark stage. I might go and find some small ball bearings or maybe Zircons and have at the newer markers.

 

[BurningSkies]

These, right? Invalid Link Removed

Do they isolate properly?

Yeah, I have memory foam tips that I use with them and they seal really well. I seem to have less problems with them staying clean and wide at stage volume than the other people in the band using 215's. I liked my first set enough to buy a second set as backups...and 4 drivers @ sub 50$ is pretty sweet. I buy mine on Amazon so I don't have to wait a month for shipping. Also, I have aftermarket cables for them that are a little beefier and 'quieter'. The only negative I have is they don't have a synch on the cable if you're a person who likes the cable tight across the back of your head.

 

[bebass]

Ahh, yes you are. You are missing the fact that many of us gig mostly in smaller venues (bars nightclubs), where the "FOH" - such as it is - adequately covers moslty the vocals, guitar, and other higher register stuff, maybe the kick drum, but is not up to satisfactorily covering the bass. A lot of my gigs are small venue funk gigs. The crowd wants LOTS of bass for that my friend. When I play a Casino or larger venue with giant subs and massive power, my rig obviously gets smaller, but I still want to hear and FEEL my bass on stage. Not the sound engineer's conception of what I should hear through stage monitors.

I used to do pro sound and understand what is needed for FOH, but I am with you; I want to feel the bass. So when it is me up there on the stage the two parts of me war just a bit, but the bass guy part usually wins. haha

 

[bebass]

Wow, I can barely hear a difference between the lot of them (listening with good headphones), if any. I use the DI on my amp head (Genzler Magellan 800) and also have a Radial ProDI.

These modern bass heads have really good DIs and I just don't find the need for a separate one. I have used this same one you use, even with a gig with no amps, as it works really well.

 

[Joeykun]

We use a Midas M32 Rig with Sennhiser Wireless Packs. For IEMs we all bought 64 Audio U Series. I got the U4. They are 4 Drivers (Sub, Bass, Mid, Treble) they sound great and have good isolation. The Midas allows us to control our own stereo mix via the phone app and it is luxury. I still use my Genz Benz rig on stage at a moderate level for feel. See pic below.

 

[BurningSkies]

We use a Midas M32 Rig with Sennhiser Wireless Packs. For IEMs we all bought 64 Audio U Series. I got the U4. They are 4 Drivers (Sub, Bass, Mid, Treble) they sound great and have good isolation. The Midas allows us to control our own stereo mix via the phone app and it is luxury. I still use my Genz Benz rig on stage at a moderate level for feel.

Yeah, that's a nice board...for those who don't know, that's the uptown version of the X32. Our initial investment as a band was about 3K which for now is what we could reasonably afford that would give us a workable system. If we had fewer members we could do stereo since we have 8 aux sends (9 if we use the main sends) but there are usually 6 or 7 of us on stage. There are a couple things we really like about the Ui24r...it's got great onboard wifi, no need to get a separate router, and it will sustain up to 10 connections at the same time. It also doesn't need an app. Any browser once you're logged on to the wifi can get you to your mix.

 

[dtsamples]

We had lots of problems with the X18. Couldn't get more than one device to connect if any. Sometimes we'd have to keep restarting or wouldn't be able to adjust on the fly. No problems like that with the higher end systems?

 

[bebass]

We had lots of problems with the X18. Couldn't get more than one device to connect if any. Sometimes we'd have to keep restarting or wouldn't be able to adjust on the fly. No problems like that with the higher end systems?

I had an X18. The only real way I could make it consistently work was with an external router.

 

[xnewyorka]

Nice. That's my one smack on the new knobs. The older ones with the convex markers were easier to see/feel on a dark stage. I might go and find some small ball bearings or maybe Zircons and have at the newer markers.

Since I used primer, I can always add paint on top of it. I was thinking that if I can find some luminescent (glow-in-the-dark) paint, I would put that on there as a top layer on any bass I might play on stage. I like the ball bearing idea too. I assume that would involve cyanoacrylate or something that would adhere well to the rubber. Wonder if the visual solution of luminescent paint would be sufficient to obviate the need for the tactile solution of BB's.

 

[BurningSkies]

Since I used primer, I can always add paint on top of it. I was thinking that if I can find some luminescent (glow-in-the-dark) paint, I would put that on there as a top layer on any bass I might play on stage. I like the ball bearing idea too. I assume that would involve cyanoacrylate or something that would adhere well to the rubber. Wonder if the visual solution of luminescent paint would be sufficient to obviate the need for the tactile solution of BB's.

Lum. paint doesn't glow terribly long or brightly in my experience, not that I've used it on knobs. To me the tactile ability to feel the 'bump' is nice on a dark stage. and if it stands up just enough to catch any additional light. I've thought about it with side dots too, there's the old Danny Gatton trick of using Zirconium side dots which help catch any small reflection to help you see them.

 

[xnewyorka]

Lum. paint doesn't glow terribly long or brightly in my experience, not that I've used it on knobs. To me the tactile ability to feel the 'bump' is nice on a dark stage. and if it stands up just enough to catch any additional light. I've thought about it with side dots too, there's the old Danny Gatton trick of using Zirconium side dots which help catch any small reflection to help you see them.

Yeah - reminds me of how great the knobs are on my old Lakland, with white on top and side both. They are made of the same rubber as these too. Hmm, maybe I'll get brave and try painting a line on the side of these.

 

[Thumper]

I agree, the inexpensive self sticking jewel dots from Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc work well. Big bonus is they come in many colors

 

[Hambone70]

Combustion frustration! Argghhh...

OK... so I have tweaked the action to stop the clanking and buzzing, and now it's incredibly hard to fret a note without excessive fretting pressure. This feels like the cheapy bass I started out on. I am also fretting notes much higher up the neck to avoid excessive reach towards the nut. Kind of defeats the point of long-scale, I reckon.

I expected low action with no buzzing or clanking, a la Sadowsky, Lakland, etc. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a Chinese bass!

Rant over...

 

[xnewyorka]

Combustion frustration! Argghhh...

OK... so I have tweaked the action to stop the clanking and buzzing, and now it's incredibly hard to fret a note without excessive fretting pressure. This feels like the cheapy bass I started out on. I am also fretting notes much higher up the neck to avoid excessive reach towards the nut. Kind of defeats the point of long-scale, I reckon.

I expected low action with no buzzing or clanking, a la Sadowsky, Lakland, etc. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a Chinese bass!

Rant over...

Where are you located? Sounds like you could use a little help setting the bass up properly. It should be effortless to play and with no clanking. This is an extremely high-quality instrument that defies any preconceived notions you might have had about Chinese-made goods.

 

[AB Nate]

Combustion frustration! Argghhh...

OK... so I have tweaked the action to stop the clanking and buzzing, and now it's incredibly hard to fret a note without excessive fretting pressure. This feels like the cheapy bass I started out on. I am also fretting notes much higher up the neck to avoid excessive reach towards the nut. Kind of defeats the point of long-scale, I reckon.

I expected low action with no buzzing or clanking, a la Sadowsky, Lakland, etc. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a Chinese bass!

Rant over...

Wow. I'd say it sounds like your in a tailspin in a bad way. I've never ever heard of someone with such a negative experience.

It would be really helpful if you could perhaps video some of your issues. Even A/B it with your existing bass to show us what the Dingwall is or isn't doing.

I do admit that I have experienced some variance in playability from combustion to combustion and I've played a few but nothing even remotely close to the issues your having.

Keep in mind a lot of highly regarded bass players love these things and they have solid reason.

I don't have long arms or fingers and I get by just fine on my long scale six and 5 string in regards to the pain you've experienced. Oh and I also play ALOT in first position on the low strings without issue.

As for the clanking... I'm curious if your talking just the Maple/maple combo "snap". I've experienced this snap on MTD, fender, MM and Dingwall alike. Personally it is something I enjoy depending on the sound I'm going for. IMO wood combos do play quite a difference. Same as body finish.

Maybe you have bought a bass that isn't for you. Perhaps a super P with a pau ferro fretboard is more your style.

 

[xnewyorka]

@AB Nate made a whole bunch of good points.

Keep in mind a lot of highly regarded bass players love these things and they have solid reason.

That's true, and I will add that I have played MANY Combustion 5-strings and a 4-string, and found them all to be magnificent - easy to play, low action, responsive, no buzzing or clanking. So there is something very unusual going on, either with this bass or with its setup.

Did you buy it new from a dealer? If so, perhaps he can help you fix the setup? I would be happy to help if you are in this area.

 

[sratas]

First, it sounds like the D is not for him. Too many if, but etc. Even dingwalls cannot be for everyone. Having said that, how the tone behaves in a actual mix with other instruments, live and on recordings? By experience, it could be a revelation. Are you used to dark sounding traditional basses with dead flats? If so, it could be that you are not used to extreme clarity and revealing instruments. Try putting a dark set of flats on the D...it could please you