New Dingwall for 2025

[Dr. Cheese]

Gorgeous as always, but a Canadian company with a Chinese made bass, how high will the tariff be? Even though Dingwalls are not that comfortable to me, there is a part of me that is tempted to sell off stuff and buy one and just make myself get used to it.

 

[alembicbones]

Dingwalls are great basses. I've owned 2 NG's and currently own a Custom Afterburner I 5 string.

There are a ton of pre tariff Combustions (including NG's) out there. I found the fanned fret transition to be similar to my transition to 5 strings. It happened within 2 days.

The Chinese Dingwalls provide some of the best bang for your buck out there.

Bones

 

[eddybuzzard]

Dingwall's are getting way too political for me

 

[monsterthompson]

Can someone help me understand the statement that binding on the neck make repairs easier?

 

[gt96g]

If I had to guess, maybe Dingwall will have their Chinese factory send them a number of "kits" for the US market. Unassembled instruments that still need to be put together and completed so they can technically be called "Built in Canada." Manufactured, fabricated, built, and where it happens is all largely a matter of semantics.

I'm sure they also sell to US dealers at a dealer discount rate, likely between 15% and 30%. So, ultimately, if Dingwall does what I said above, the price increase would only be reflective of the dealers increased purchase cost. Not great for the end purchaser, but not likely anywhere as bad as 150% on top of 25%. A lot of companies will be looking for these sorts of loop holes.

I also ultimately suspect and hope there will be some sort deal hammered out with Canada and Mexico and the EU in the end.

However, I believe any sort of settlement with China is far less likely.

 

[Sid the Kid]

My Chinese Combustion is one of the finest basses I’ve ever played and I’ve had some seriously nice Warwick’s and Spectors, and even some killer CS Fenders and Reserve Ernie Balls. I had an amazing Chinese made Warwick Rockbass Steve Bailey signature that was the most expensive retail bass made in China until Dingwall took the throne. That bass was amazingly well built too but heavy as an anchor.

Given my experience I would say that China is quite capable of making some amazing things. It is a shame that their claim to fame (in the bass world) is shipping out the cheapest poopie possible.

I like that Sheldon is not content letting things continue as they are and simply collecting checks. Small quality of life updates like this are refreshing to see.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

My Chinese Combustion is one of the finest basses I’ve ever played and I’ve had some seriously nice Warwick’s and Spectors, and even some killer CS Fenders and Reserve Ernie Balls. I had an amazing Chinese made Warwick Rockbass Steve Bailey signature that was the most expensive retail bass made in China until Dingwall took the throne. That bass was amazingly well built too but heavy as an anchor.

Given my experience I would say that China is quite capable of making some amazing things. It is a shame that their claim to fame (in the bass world) is shipping out the cheapest poopie possible.

I like that Sheldon is not content letting things continue as they are and simply collecting checks. Small quality of life updates like this are refreshing to see.

I see these now go for more than a USA EBMM StingRay . They must be good if people are willing to pay that much for them.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Can someone help me understand the statement that binding on the neck make repairs easier?

Easier to replace binding than repair a deep gouge? It helps with temperature / humidity related fret sprout.

 

[J Wilson]

Dingwalls are great basses. I've owned 2 NG's and currently own a Custom Afterburner I 5 string.

There are a ton of pre tariff Combustions (including NG's) out there. I found the fanned fret transition to be similar to my transition to 5 strings. It happened within 2 days.

The Chinese Dingwalls provide some of the best bang for your buck out there.

Bones

AB, I've always wondered, never having played or owned a fanned-fret bass: Was there any real adjustment period for you, or do your hands just find their way?

Thanks,

JW

 

[alembicbones]

I feel as though your hands just find their way. That said, the upper register is probably the biggest challenge. I have Speedo Bars on the fretboard and they really help in navigating your positioning.

Bones

 

[MultiScaleMale]

AB, I've always wondered, never having played or owned a fanned-fret bass: Was there any real adjustment period for you, or do your hands just find their way?

Thanks,

JW

Very little adjustment for me. A little getting used to the first fret and if you do chords, those might need different fingering higher up on the neck.

 

[EricOnTheBass]

I have an NG3 5-string I bought last year. It’s an awesome bass, plays great. I haven’t touched the setup at all since I took it out of the box. And you can get a million different tones out of it.

But I think you kind of have to commit to being a Dingwall player. I have other basses that are not multiscale, and the Dingwall feels hard to play when I get it out. If I played the Dingwall and only the Dingwall, muscle memory would kick in and there would be no issue.

Every once in a while I think about selling it, and then I take it off the wall and play it for a while and it’s like “nah, I’m not selling this baby!”

 

[Cory rich40]

I own a Dingwall DRoc and love it. I got mine before the prices went up last September. I’ve never tried the combustion, or NG series unfortunately. In January I had considered getting the NG3 or either the John Taylor signature bass. I ended up going with a 4 string music man Bongo, stealth black. No regrets. My DRoc was worth what I paid for it. Is it worth the 400 dollars increase in price since September though? Hard question. It really is an awesome bass. It already has the bridge that was recently added to the combustion and NG series. It is easily the best passive bass I have ever played. I’m a bit skeptical of the combustion and NG series because I have seen too many complaints with the active/passive switch breaking. I’m sure it’s an easy fix. I ended up getting the Ibanez BTB 806 ms to end my fixation on an active Dingwall. It delivers. I sold the sterling by music man darkray bass I had to help finance that. I’m finally happy with the basses I have. I think you need to spend a little time with the dingwalls to see if you can bond with the one you are looking at before you buy it. Get used to the control knobs and all its tones. Maybe even play it though your own personal amp to see if you can ever click with it.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Gorgeous as always, but a Canadian company with a Chinese made bass, how high will the tariff be? Even though Dingwalls are not that comfortable to me, there is a part of me that is tempted to sell off stuff and buy one and just make myself get used to it.

That is why I ended up with the budget bass you featured here a while back. Still from China but got it in before the nonsense happened.

Now that I have it I am more curious about the Dingwalls that I would have not thought anything about before getting my budget multi-scale.

Man, I hate it here

 

[J Wilson]

Thanks for the feedback, gents. I think my hands would figure it out, but I really do need to try one whenever I run across one, that's the proof.

All the Best,

JW

 

[Dr. Cheese]

AB, I've always wondered, never having played or owned a fanned-fret bass: Was there any real adjustment period for you, or do your hands just find their way?

Thanks,

JW

Some people jump right in, but I really notice the reach. That said, I have seen small people fly around on Dingwalls.

 

[micguy]

Gorgeous as always, but a Canadian company with a Chinese made bass, how high will the tariff be?

On what day? Seriously, noone can predict what's gonna happen with this administration. Trying to make plans to take advantage of chaos is not going to be a long term fruitful endeavor - you might get lucky once or twice, but trying to time the mood swings of Washington DC is not really wise.

 

[RSmith]

I played one that looks just like this at Bass Central recently and that tone was amazing to me. I know Lee Sklar rocks these, but I can't picture myself gigging with it covering CCR, Skynyrd, and the like as we do with one of these.. that said, I too am tempted to get one to see if I can get used to it.

 

[jojobean39]

AB, I've always wondered, never having played or owned a fanned-fret bass: Was there any real adjustment period for you, or do your hands just find their way?

Thanks,

JW

For me, there was no real adjustment except for one area. If I do any chording above the 10th fret, I have to be very careful. I don’t do a lot of chords, so it’s pretty rare. Other than that, the learning curve was very low. I find it a little more ergonomic, actually.

 

[DJ Bebop]

For me, there was no real adjustment except for one area. If I do any chording above the 10th fret, I have to be very careful. I don’t do a lot of chords, so it’s pretty rare. Other than that, the learning curve was very low. I find it a little more ergonomic, actually.

That was something I noticed playing my single cut multi-scale. I thought the single-cut thing would get in the way, but it was the famed frets up high. The direction of the fan up there was the learning curve or the learning fan that I needed to learn to deal with. Fingers need to lean into the fan rather than try to go straight across

I am okay with single notes on the G string and double stops on the G and D strings. Triads or Seventh chord, I am working on