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New Bass: Dingwall Super P

A

Alder P Ashman

Aug 27, 2013
79
28
USA
#1
After months of waiting and saving, I finally have a Super P. It's pretty FREAKIN great! Got it the other morning, and played a gig with it last night. The factory strings are ok; they are very modern and snappy sounding...but fairly imbalanced, though. I restrung it this morning with a 5 string set of GHS Precision Flats and set the intonation. With flats this thing sounds about as quintessential Pbass as you can sound, but with a GREAT sound and balance across all strings. I'm happy with it. But guess what? It does have the m*therf***ing dreaded dead spot on the C# on the G string. It's not the worst dead spot I've ever heard, but it is unquestionably there. It's upsetting for several reasons, however, I do understand why dead spots are inherent with the bolt on neck instrument design. So I try not to obsess over it, and just enjoy the privilege of owning such a great instrument.

I have a few more gigs to play this weekend, and I'll update as I learn more about how this bass responds in the gig environment.
 

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#5
First - I dig your choice of user name. ;) Second - congratulations! I hope it brings years of joy. I don't know how, don't need to know, and certainly wouldn't badger him on the subject, but the basses that I have experienced from Sheldon's shop of wonders have been consistently free of noticeable dead spots. He stated a year or two ago that he would be studying and researching ways to minimize them. Back to your beautiful Super P - do you have alder wood hiding under that purty Fiesta Red? Does your bass have the recessed tuners?
 
#6
Just checked my Super P. No dead spots on the G-string (or any other). Can't remember the last time I needed a C#, and if I did, I'd probably be on the D-string. I like the tone and position there better.

I have DR Nickel strings on there now. Soon to be replaced by Dingwall Nickel strings!

Hope you have many years of enjoyment with the Super P!

IMG_0335_zpse7f19cde.gif
 
#10
Thanks for the comments, everyone. After just a week of gigging and practicing, my conclusion is that it's simply a great bass, and the weak C# is pretty insignificant when it comes to just playing. I play in all 12 keys every single day and I actually do use that c# sharp a lot, but when paired up against the other more important components of music making, it's easily forgettable. And after finding a well-matched set of strings for the bass (DR hi beams), the weak note is much, much less noticeable. I decided I didn't like the sound of flats on it. What happens is I just learn the bass and the unique things about that fingerboard. 6 more gigs in the next 5 days, just gotta jump in and play!

The body is alder and the fingerboard is maple, and that makes for a distinct sonic footprint to my ears. I have played other Super P's that sound different, so what the hell, I might just start saving for a swamp ash/pau ferro combo!
 
#11
Alder P Ashman said:
After months of waiting and saving, I finally have a Super P. It's pretty FREAKIN great! Got it the other morning, and played a gig with it last night. The factory strings are ok; they are very modern and snappy sounding...but fairly imbalanced, though. I restrung it this morning with a 5 string set of GHS Precision Flats and set the intonation. With flats this thing sounds about as quintessential Pbass as you can sound, but with a GREAT sound and balance across all strings. I'm happy with it. But guess what? It does have the m*therf***ing dreaded dead spot on the C# on the G string. It's not the worst dead spot I've ever heard, but it is unquestionably there. It's upsetting for several reasons, however, I do understand why dead spots are inherent with the bolt on neck instrument design. So I try not to obsess over it, and just enjoy the privilege of owning such a great instrument.

I have a few more gigs to play this weekend, and I'll update as I learn more about how this bass responds in the gig environment.
Click to expand...


I dig these. Their J bass model always looked kind of goofy to me with the asymmetrical J body and the slant, etc. But, with the P Body, it just works.

And yes, dead spots are pretty common on all basses (the Novak system does nothing to help with that), and some basses, unfortunately have stronger dead spots than others. You will just have to decide if you can work around it. For me, as long as I get a good, solid fundamental at the initial note attack, I'm not particularly bothered by a fast decay. However, if it is sever enough where even the note attack is impacted, that would be a tough decision.

Really beautiful, unique instrument. Great color also!
 
#12
Zoomie said:
The C#/ G comment is interesting as I have no dead spots on my SJ5.

My Super P5 is scheduled to go out December 7th. I am beside myself.
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I read an article with Roger Sadowsky (I think) saying how every single bolt on bass has a dead spot just some are worse than others/more prevalent and most people do not notice them. It is not like neck thru's are immune as I am pretty sure most of those have dead spots as well. I do not notice one on my Dingwall but I wouldn't be surprised if it had one. I really do not think it is a knock on craftsmanship just the name of the game. Most players do not play with an action that low anyways.

Very cool bass OP, I am always a fan of the Super P and J's (well anything they make locally really)
 
#13
KJung said:
I dig these. Their J bass model always looked kind of goofy to me with the asymmetrical J body and the slant, etc. But, with the P Body, it just works.

And yes, dead spots are pretty common on all basses (the Novak system does nothing to help with that), and some basses, unfortunately have stronger dead spots than others. You will just have to decide if you can work around it. For me, as long as I get a good, solid fundamental at the initial note attack, I'm not particularly bothered by a fast decay. However, if it is sever enough where even the note attack is impacted, that would be a tough decision.

Really beautiful, unique instrument. Great color also!
Click to expand...

Thanks :)
Man, all I can say is that Dingwall knocked it out of the ballpark with this Super P design. It perfectly fills a void in the tools available for bassists.
The C# definitely has attack on my bass--it's exactly as you described: faster decay than other notes. I feel I've already learned to compensate for it in my playing when I come across the note.
 
#14
DiabolusInMusic said:
I read an article with Roger Sadowsky (I think) saying how every single bolt on bass has a dead spot just some are worse than others/more prevalent and most people do not notice them. It is not like neck thru's are immune as I am pretty sure most of those have dead spots as well. I do not notice one on my Dingwall but I wouldn't be surprised if it had one. I really do not think it is a knock on craftsmanship just the name of the game. Most players do not play with an action that low anyways.

Very cool bass OP, I am always a fan of the Super P and J's (well anything they make locally really)
Click to expand...

I agree with Roger. This is the reality of musical acoustics: you have two objects (body and neck) that have their own resonant frequencies, then bolt them together. THEN you send vibrations thru both objects and change the frequency of those vibrations...well, what happens from there is inevitable but I'll state it: waveforms will eventually in some combination or another cancel each other out, so to speak.

I might note that I have bodies, necks, tuners, C-clamps, fat fingers, bridges that I am swapping out all the time. I do all of this searching to tune my ears in to what individual ingredients have what influence on tone. It's a long journey. I spend far more time playing and practicing :)

At the end of the day, with the Super P I got an incredibly well-thought out and built instrument that is easy to play and sounds great. Hellllll yeah! It's hard to ask for more.
At this point I don't believe that there is any other single bass out there that better suits my needs as a working sideman.

Did I mention the intonation on this sucker? Amazing. Fank you fanned fret fyftem.
 
#15
Alder P Ashman said:
Thanks :)
Man, all I can say is that Dingwall knocked it out of the ballpark with this Super P design. It perfectly fills a void in the tools available for bassists.
The C# definitely has attack on my bass--it's exactly as you described: faster decay than other notes. I feel I've already learned to compensate for it in my playing when I come across the note.
Click to expand...

Beautiful bass, and sounds like a non issue on that slight decay dead spot. You are good to go!
 

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