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Multi scale Rockbass Warwick Corvette

#21
wvbass said:
Like most manufacturers, they are trying to just add fanned frets to their existing design, and that only gets you so far. Not to sound like I've drank the kool-aid, but I guess I have. Dingwalls are built from the ground up to be fanned fret basses. They may have body shapes or other design elements that look similar to other basses, but once you get one in your hands, you can see, feel, and hear the difference.

Having said that, I think this Warwick looks great and I'm sure it is as nice a bass as every other German Warwick. (I have a Thumb BO5 that is great.)
EDIT: Oops. This is a Rockbass. They are decent to good, but IMO not great.
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I don’t think it’s so much about that. I think it’s more so about the strings. For example I have to order special strings online for my 37” Dingwall. At 35.5 scale you can still run down to your local guitar center and buy a variety of strings that will work, there are zero String options for me locally for my Dingwall. The winding length is not long enough so a regular string tapers down before it reaches the nut and won’t work. I have to order sets online.
Dr. Cheese said:
View attachment 3663300

They are doing like Ibanez, 35.5-34”. After playing a Dingwall NG3, I say copy Dingwall and do the 37-33” for sixes and 37-34” for fives spread. It sounds massive!
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Im considering this bass to replace my jazz 5 as my number two (my number one is a Dingwall) and then I can take my time converting my jazz to a Fretless(always wanted a Fretless jazz 5) . But we’ll see. I’ve been wanting to get a custom made instrument and also there are a lot of cool multiscale basses coming out soon. I think the Dingwall D-roc standard 5 will be tough to beat as it’ll likely be the most affordable 5 string Dingwall you can buy. So this rockbass would have to be considerably more affordable to get me to bite. Oh and yeah I’m pretty sure the D-roc 5 standard will debut at namm
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#29
Strings. Think of strings. If the bass has the extended scale differential of, say, a Dingwall, instead of the lesser differential of, say, an Ibanez, the player is really restricted in the brands, models and gauges of strings that fit the bass. This can double or triple the cost of a set over a conventional set of strings. For example, on my custom fanned fret bass derived from a P design I spec'd a square nut instead of a backwards leaning nut, 33.25 inch G string, and a 34 inch E string, so I retain the ability to use any flavor of string, and keep string change costs down. It is just enough to give me the relief I need on my wrist and fingers, but retains some of the tonal advantages of having the multi-scale, as well as equalizing the tension in the strings.
 
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#30
I’ve been playing Dingwalls for over ten years now. There are plenty of string choices. Especially for the medium scale length Super series. 35”-32”. I’m running Boomer .030 on a Super P. Or TI flats.

Jason at Fret Nation is my source for strings. He can set you up.

The longscales are 37”-34. Most DR strings are working for my four string AB-1 at a little over 36” on the E string. I’m hoping that is true for the Dbird as well.

Payson makes strings for Dingwalls, Kalium, TI flats, Infeld, and Dingwall’s own strings in nickel and stainless, plenty of choices.

There’s way more than fanned frets going on with Dingwall. All of mine are well under 8lb for one thing. Design, fit and finish is top notch.

Spend a little time browsing the gallery pages on the Dingwall website. So many beautiful basses.
 
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#31
singlemalt said:
I’ve been playing Dingwalls for over ten years now. There are plenty of string choices. Especially for the medium scale length Super series. 35”-32”. I’m running Boomer .030 on a Super P. Or TI flats.

Jason at Fret Nation is my source for strings. He can set you up.

The longscales are 37”-34. Most DR strings are working for my four string AB-1 at a little over 36” on the E string. I’m hoping that is true for the Dbird as well.

Payson makes strings for Dingwalls, Kalium, TI flats, Infeld, and Dingwall’s own strings in nickel and stainless, plenty of choices.

There’s way more than fanned frets going on with Dingwall. All of mine are well under 8lb for one thing. Design, fit and finish is top notch.

Spend a little time browsing the gallery pages on the Dingwall website. So many beautiful basses.
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Dingwall’s are incredible. The NG3 that I played a week ago at Bass Central doesn’t take a back seat to MTD,Sadowsky, or any other boutique brand. At $2,400-$2,700, it is much cheaper too.
 
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#34
I'm another one that wishes if they're going to do multi-scale, they should go to 37" on the low B. I have a 35" 5'er, and I can't tell any difference in the way it sounds between it and the 34" ones. It may be a litter nicer when downtuning, but again, not that noticeable.

Machiavelli said:
I believe their cheapest is still around $1000.

Im talking sub $500
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Rondo has them from time to time: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

Again, this one also only goes to 35" on the low B. I have a Brice 5'er, and it's a great bass. I'd put it up against any of the sub 1K Ibby or LTD basses (which I also like) in terms of quality.
 
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#35
Nephilymbass said:
I don’t think it’s so much about that. I think it’s more so about the strings. For example I have to order special strings online for my 37” Dingwall. At 35.5 scale you can still run down to your local guitar center and buy a variety of strings that will work, there are zero String options for me locally for my Dingwall. The winding length is not long enough so a regular string tapers down before it reaches the nut and won’t work. I have to order sets online.
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You are probably right that most manufacturers are avoiding super-long scales in order to avoid issues with string availability. However, that isn't really what I was talking about. One of my Dingwalls is a Super P, and I can pretty much use any strings I want with it. (Ironically, it is strung with Dingwall strings right now.)

What I was talking about is everything else. Because the neck geometry is different, the design is adjusted to accommodate. If the bass needs to hand a little differently on the strap to account for the reach two the lower frets, that is re-engineered. When that results in the need for body contours to be redesigned, that is taken care of. In fact, what struck me most about my Super P was that the forearm contour had been reshaped and moved relative to that on a typical P bass. The redesign made it work really well with where my arm rests when I play it.

All the same, I'm excited to see another fanned fret option. Hopefully this idea will become mainstream enough to be a permanent addition for many brands.
 
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#39
wvbass said:
You are probably right that most manufacturers are avoiding super-long scales in order to avoid issues with string availability. However, that isn't really what I was talking about. One of my Dingwalls is a Super P, and I can pretty much use any strings I want with it. (Ironically, it is strung with Dingwall strings right now.)

What I was talking about is everything else. Because the neck geometry is different, the design is adjusted to accommodate. If the bass needs to hand a little differently on the strap to account for the reach two the lower frets, that is re-engineered. When that results in the need for body contours to be redesigned, that is taken care of. In fact, what struck me most about my Super P was that the forearm contour had been reshaped and moved relative to that on a typical P bass. The redesign made it work really well with where my arm rests when I play it.

All the same, I'm excited to see another fanned fret option. Hopefully this idea will become mainstream enough to be a permanent addition for many brands.
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Yeah I’m sure that’s some of it.

And yeah I’m also excited to see all the new multiscale options. I’ve already seen this Warwick, the dingwall d-roc standard 5 is likely going to be at NAMM, Ibanez has a totally new headless multiscale. Keisel seems to be selling more of them so I’m curious if they have anything new like maybe offering a longer scale, ESP And has been doing it for a couple years now. Chapman, Strandberg, Marlaeux. The list continues to grow. Some big names there. And understandably so. I dig my Dingwall a lot.i also think companies are seeing that multiscales are selling well, regular basses have been on the market for almost 3/4 of a century. If I want a fender I’m buying a used one lol, so they are jumping on Board the multiscale train.
 

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