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Dingwall Super J : Vintage + modern

#41
Thanks to Frank - I couldn't hold my GAS - so I went and placed an order today for my new Super J. Getting it active with J-J pickups and Morado board. I can't wait.

Accoring to Sheldon, the production model will have a touch shorter scale than Frank's. 34.25" to 32". Also the P-J pickup arrangement is an upgrade that can be installed at purchase or later as Sheldon has added a universal rout which will accomodate either the J or P pickup without having to dig up any more wood. Just intall the new pickup and replace the pickguard. Very cool idea.

Thanks to Frank and Sheldon for making the Super J a reality.

Now to sell a few things to pay for the new Dingy.
 
#42
Bill- your weak........
The SuperJ GAS has gotten the best of you. Congrats, I know you won't be disapppointed- this bass has been nothing short of amazing to play. The good news for you, it should only take til June til you have the bass...try waiting til Jun of 2007.
Kidding Sheldon :smug:

One little update- The u-retro just smokes, tons and tons of flexibility, crisp highs, and now that I've figured out the bass boost and "slap" swicth- boy howdy, it bring the FD-P to life. I''ve gotten 2 or 3 fave tone settings, now I just gotta figure out how to constantly recall those settings. Lastly, the FD-P/J pickups sound so full, so clear and so alive in passive mode that you don't need an active preamp.

Dude- yes saddly its been 2 yrs since you sent the preamp to sheldon. Time flies when your having fun
 
#43
bassybill said:
Thanks for the explanation Frank - it makes sense now. I'll have a look at the Novax site later. I just hope it doen't cause serious GAS!
Click to expand...

They have some nice instruments. Stay away from DingwallGuitars.com though, or you'll really develop a bad case. I am a recent convert to these great basses, and created a Link Removed for them as well. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly at my yahoo.com address, eric_ras@... You never know, you might get converted too...

Regards,

Eric
 
#45
Hey Egg(Bill)-
Here is the full front shot you asked for.
You can clearly see my reversed headstock (amber colored), the U retro deluxe preamp and a slew of switches (its got piezos, mag/piezo, midi up/down, active passive, P/P+J/J), the Dingwall high mass bridge w/ gold RMC piezos integrated into the bridge (-where Sheldon normally has height adjusting screws).
I believe my superJ is a different scale length than the production versions, mine is a 35.5"E to a 33.25 G. Production models will be 34.5-32.something
I got to give big time props to Sheldon, this bass has every tone imagineable. When i asked for a workhorse type bass: a fat thumpy P-tone, super delicious Slap tone, and lots in between -he really delivered. The bass is truely a meld of an old school J bass w/ some nice modern upgrades. The bass does have alot of Dingwall in it.
I also have to say that the U retro pre is nothing short of amazing- it took me way too long to figure it out, but it really delivers, the slap switch just kills and bring out lots of nuances and the mid sweep (again once you figure it out) really brings out your playing.
The bass plays like buttah
Lastly, the bass is in an incase gigbag. (highly recommended for carrying $$$ basses)
 

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#47
Bill-
As you know the Incase bag is not a HSC replacement, I believe its a more manageable version of an HSC, but provides the inbetween coverage on-the-go bassists need. I have both an incase tour case and this incase gig bag. The difference is the tourcase has a PC pocket, 3 more zipper compartments and is alot thicker.
Sheldon shipped the bass in a HSC, its a nice case.
Since i prefer to be able to lug around my basses, the incase bags works great. They aren't like your normal soft gig bag. These are durable tough, well padded sheaths that firmly and snuggly hold your bass. I have saddly dropped my AB fretless in my incase tour bag and the bass had no blemishes, problems, nadda. These cases really do work. I prefer them over a HSC, but they do not replace a HSC.
End of june for your SuperJ...boohoo, such a long wait. :spit:
 
#50
I wouldnt call it a flaw. It only hangs off by less than a 1/4", if that I think and was necessary to stretch out the scale length of the E string. Gotta make some compromises to get a fender body and neck shape to accomadate the scale lengths. The production model wont hang off as it is a slightly shorter scale. See the pic of my bass in my signature to see where the production model ones bridge will rest. Should be right to the end of the bass, without going over.
 
#53
well, I would guess it is part of the design, but flaw-- nope, not IMO. There are dozen dingwall Primas and Z basses out there where the B string pin holder sits outside the dimension of the bass, I can't recall reading anywhere on the 'net about a bridge piece getting broken off as one of the problems.
The bridge piece is solid metal, tightly bolted down to the body, I would guess its over engineered, but it doesn't stick out more than the strap pin, so the strap pin takes the first blow.
Anyway as mentioned by Juneau, you gotta use every inch of space on these basses to keep them compact yet maintain a longer 37" scale, so the compromise was to have the bridge tip hang out slightly.
I haven't had a problem w/ it. Maybe other dingwall-ians can pipe up

As for slapping...no problem what so ever, the Super-J's are made for slapping as are the Z2 basses. The basses have a natural mid boosted tone and the playability is unmatched. You really don't notice the fanned fretboard
frank
 
#54
MikeBass said:
Quick question to you Dingwall playas.
How is slapping on those things??
Click to expand...
Absolutely Dinglicious!!
So good I made up a new word to describe it!!
On my bass low C's and D's can easily be slapped cleanly enough to use as the low and consistant "anchor note" for "traditional slap patterns, and the highs cut through distinctly and evenly. It's great to be able to use the whole bass to slap, two and a half octave slap lines are no problem. I use both pick-ups full, mids and highs up a bit, bass way up for the juicy modern slap. What is awesome is, since upgrading to the FD-3 pups, I can get a straight-up vintage P-BASS sound when using the neck pup on it's own! I've never been able to get that P slap sound on anything except a P bass before, it's incredible!!
 
#55
fraublugher said:
ding ding ding ding ding!

design flaw , i predict the butt of that bass getting bumped and
broken....often.
Click to expand...
Well, after MANY years of playing, and more than a few "bumps" I have had no problems or breakage. If you could break or strip any part of this bridge in any way I would be surprised. In this thumb the overhang looks extreme because of the photo angle, in reality the bridge does not really stick out further than the end of the bass.
I am not trying to defend Dingwall here, it's not necessary and I'm really nobody anyway....but... I think it is fascinating that we are getting a chance to look at and comment on what may very well turn out to be a "working prototype", and from one of the more progressive minds in the business no less!! To toss out the term "design flaw" after looking at a couple of pics is silly, especially in THIS context.
 
#56
I just wanted to add, that if you ever "bumped" the bass with sufficient force to do any damage to the bridge, you'd have all sorts of other things to worry about (like tearing the neck off, breaking the body in half, mangling the headstock etc)

the best way to break it off would be to put the headstock on the floor, ballance the bass by the overhanging saddle on your amp and jump on the body with both feet... even then judging by the 1/4 bolts that hold the bridge down, my money would be on serious damage to the neck before seeing any appreciable wiggle from the bridge.

next time I go to work, I'll try it and see what happens... -I'll let you know! ;)

(I'm kidding... really... jumping on a bass would be... sinfull.)

jmk
 
#57
I played a Super J the other day at Barry Lamb's place and it was killer. whicked fender mistique and marcus miller slap tone. The new pickups sound awsome and the neck is super slim with easy playability. Great bass for the money and apeals to plenty. The other bass of Barry's I played was his new prima, but thats a whole other story that involves alot of interjections.
 
#58
fraublugher said:
ding ding ding ding ding!

design flaw , i predict the butt of that bass getting bumped and
broken....often.
Click to expand...

Having played these basses going on 5 years (with the extending bridge on the B) I can say that you would have one heck of a time trying to damage the bass that way. Certainly not with a bump. Maybe with a hammer... well several hits in all honestly.

There's no design flaw and it is structurally sound. Like Martens-Koop said, you'd have to jump on it and honestly, I bet the neck would break before that bridge. The bridge is bolted through the body and the saddle is held on with two long machine screws.
 

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