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OFFICIAL DILLION CLUB MEMBERS WANTED

amimbari

amimbari

May 6, 2008
6,026
754
Pittsburgh, PA
youtube.com
#1
first things first, this may or not be a dead thread cause I have no clue how many Dillion units old or new are still out here.

WITH THAT SAID,

CALLING all current Dillion owners post a pic or 2 and perhaps some really good "DILLION-VS-???" stories will emerge to show that the Dillion company is as good at making perfect copies that do EVERYTHING the originals do, and more.

If enough TB members can post with pics and such, let's see how far this thread will go to get to the REAL "CLUB" status (meaning over 50 members )......

I found a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of Dillion stuff in threads from 2002,2003 and such, but nowhere could I find a lot of pics, or a "CLUB" thread.

LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

I will pass out numbers in order of posts to the thread. GOOD LUCK, and happy posting

here is my DFBB from 2005 --show the pics - get a number I will start with #1
P1010046-1.jpg
 
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#6
I guess they just don't have a good USA market, or they would have sold more, or found a guitarstore chain that would buy their units for the masses. Since this is a worldwide forum, like any -- I'm always curious to see what smaller companies put out, and how many people still have the older (or even new ) units who don't necessarily have to live in the USA.

It seems people hang on to something you just can't go and buy in a store today, and Dillion made a lot of nice acoustic and electrics, in all kinds of shapes wood and plastics back then, and now, so I hope this thread gets a few more pictures and members.

p.s. and if for some reason it dosen't, then I'll know our Dillions are rarer than we thought.
 
#8
RedemptionBass said:
Hmmmmm....

That Jag-style Dillion looks strangely familliar right down to the pickguard screw pattern...

Link Removed

Or maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...

another nice clone yep. Rondo vs Dillion vs ???, same thing just one has much better materials/electronics in them, and a slightly higher cost 140.00 vs probably closer to 400.00. ( left the spec sheets at work so I don't know neck and body sizes )

there's a bunch of people on youtube using the guitars, but only a couple using basses. I hope they are TB members, and see this thread :D
 
#10
lunarpollen said:
I just saw a really nice Dillion Tele bass at Skips Music in Sacramento (the one on Auburn)

If I had the discretionary funds, I might have bought it myself....
Click to expand...
hi lunar, it's been a bit since you posted in a thread I have posted in also. well you know Dillions basses were not as popular as the guitars, so for those who have em...cool. I just wish Dillion would have got a hold of a store chain back then, and flooded the world..:D

Same with BRICE the counterpart from the same factory, never really got the market to accept them.
 
#12
Webtroll said:
A Brian May bass? Interesting, how does it sound?
Click to expand...

All things considered it sounds very nice. It would sound better if the neck wasn't so prone to warping so that I could put heavier strings on it (it has ultra lights on it). But it has three Burns pickups and the same switching scheme as Brian's guitar. It's wired in series so using more than one pickup sounds nice and full. I like that it doesn't have a bridge pickup, really... In relation to the bridge, it just has neck, neck/middle, and middle pickups. Which suits me just fine. The out-of-phase PU settings are interesting but not really usable for bass tones (more for weird baritone guitar tones).

With my current band, my main bass is a short-scale six string (Burns barracuda) with three of the same type of pickups, but it's wired in parallel. The Dillion really only gets used for one or two songs where I want that clangy but full tone from using the the two end pickups, and through my Clone Theory chorus.

If you want to hear it in that context, here's a song from our most recent practice:
http://www.box.net/shared/7mpyr07z8k
 
#14
I think I'll resurrect this thread with a new entry for all my Dillion brothers:

heres a DMB500 from 2003 I think or maybe 2004, they only made em for a year or 2 anyway.

75ac_3.gif



my review...

neck is awesome, finish/fit is perfect body is very pretty with ash over maple, typical MM/OLP VVT config, but sounds NOTHING like the real-deal.

and for under 200 my GAS got the better of me once again the only thing wrong is a missing clover off one of the tuners ;)
 
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#15
The company Dillion has an interesting story. There are actually 2 Dillion's...one US and one Canadian. As far as the story goes there was a split in the company...so each has it's own models/quality. I have a Dillion Thunderbird Black set neck with no pickguard...bass sounds and plays great...better than any Epiphone and most Gibsons. It is the same bass as pictured above in the thread,but no guard. I believe the body is alder?? I purchased it in Canada. I believe the bass was built in Korea but I am not sure. Any additional info on the company(s)/bass would be great. I also believe the bass in available in white..but quantity production on both color basses is limited.?? If you can find one and like Thunderbirds you will not be disappointed.
 
#16
wow MR.RAY, this was such a dead thread.

My DFBB is from 2003-2005 it was from the old Canada Dillion before the split, According to John Dillion made in Korea, mine is #118 of 151 made for the 2 years they did them back then. like yours - set neck and alder body, and does it compare to a Gibby? HECK ya it does, and even better, for a 1/2 grand I got it in mint condition, and it is used quite often along side my other Tbirds.

Mine did come with the pickguard with the cool isis lady bird on it.

zero hum out of the whatever pickups Dillion uses, excellent piano or growly tone depending on the blending of the 2 pups.

the ONLY thing I don't like is the slab body with the sharp edge against my arm, but besides that I would easily say it performs as good as a Gib-Bird ( for the cost Dillion vs a Gib if both were brand new )



as to the other colors? yes white was available, and if you search BRICE, another name from the same Korean factory, made identical units to the Dillions, but with their own brand of pickups. J.Dillion said all the Dillion line pups were exclusively wound for his guitars/basses.
 
#17
amimbari said:
wow MR.RAY, this was such a dead thread.

My DFBB is from 2003-2005 it was from the old Canada Dillion before the split, According to John Dillion made in Korea, mine is #118 of 151 made for the 2 years they did them back then. like yours - set neck and alder body, and does it compare to a Gibby? HECK ya it does, and even better, for a 1/2 grand I got it in mint condition, and it is used quite often along side my other Tbirds.

Mine did come with the pickguard with the cool isis lady bird on it.

zero hum out of the whatever pickups Dillion uses, excellent piano or growly tone depending on the blending of the 2 pups.

the ONLY thing I don't like is the slab body with the sharp edge against my arm, but besides that I would easily say it performs as good as a Gib-Bird ( for the cost Dillion vs a Gib if both were brand new )



as to the other colors? yes white was available, and if you search BRICE, another name from the same Korean factory, made identical units to the Dillions, but with their own brand of pickups. J.Dillion said all the Dillion line pups were exclusively wound for his guitars/basses.
Click to expand...

My serial # is 014xx. I don't know what that stands for as with regards to year etc. And yes the pickups are great. Plays and sounds great.I got it new for $419.99 CAD...so yes it is a fantastic bass for the money. Did you relocate the strap buttons?...where? I am surprised there are not more Dillion fans out there.:)
 
#18
Mr. Ray said:
I am surprised there are not more Dillion fans out there.:)
Click to expand...
there are we just don't know about them...theres a LOT of Dillion guitarplayers on youtube, but only a couple including me that play a DFBB I ever saw.

I may have been misleading in my numbers, my serial is 01811 and it was just the 1811th bass to be made at the factory up to that point of that year, and out of all the basses they made, according to them it was the 118th one of a total run of 151 for that year, but they could have serialized 5000 total basses that year for distribution worldwide....

I assume they just did a run of tbird bodies within the other ones which makes sense like any company does in mass production.

probably the same with BRICE they just add their own electronics on a "standard body" :confused:
 
#19
hey all, there's a nice all black Dillion set-neck Tbird ( DFBB ), this one has no pickguard, and this guy put some Bassline actives in there on ebay this week for 400 or best offer...someone go nab that thing up, as from my own experience owning mine, it is a hell of a player for the price. I would buy it, but I have enough basses for the moment to keep me happy :)
 
#20
amimbari said:
hey all, there's a nice all black Dillion set-neck Tbird ( DFBB ), this one has no pickguard, and this guy put some Bassline actives in there on ebay this week for 400 or best offer...someone go nab that thing up, as from my own experience owning mine, it is a hell of a player for the price. I would buy it, but I have enough basses for the moment to keep me happy :)
Click to expand...

+1 I have the same bass with stock pickups and it's my main bass right now. Excellent value considering the pickup upgrade. I will add that these play and sound better than the Gibsons I've played/own.
 

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