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SHELDON DINGWALL is building MY DREAM BASS
- Thread starter BurningSkies
- Start date
The only problem is that I'd have to have one ordered especially for me. I think I@m still going to do it though 
They're too nice.
They're too nice.
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
The only problem is that I'd have to have one ordered especially for me. I think I@m still going to do it though
Isn't there a london dealer?
Dare I say that all my Dingwalls were bought sight unseen (apart from the Super PJ that I had the chance to try prior to finalizing the deal). Have not regretted a single purchase
The Bass Gallery is the UK dealer. Martin, Alex and Jon are very nice guys (knowledgeable too)
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
I tried to post a link to their site, but it won't come up for me currently. I would guess that that's the best venue for any UK bassist interested in a Dingwall!
Alex has seen and tested my herd for few days (Dingwalls included; only 13 at the time
)
www.thebassgallery.com
I tested the link and it works just fine
)www.thebassgallery.com
I tested the link and it works just fine
That's where I'm getting it from and they're great guys. The only problem is that they don't have any in stock and won't for a while yet. I'll probably just go for it though in the next few weeks
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
So, I have to start out by re-thanking Sheldon. He's been awesome at providing extra photographs for me, and for everyone here. I asked him back when it looked like my Z would be getting off the ground if he minded taking extra pictures as I really wanted to post a build thread here. To my knowledge, there wasn't an existing thread that detailed what Sheldon and crew do to get one of these basses from chunks of wood to finished works of art.
I really appreciate that he's been willing to give me, the other Dingwall crazies and the general bass playing world a closer look at what he does...at the expense of his own time and effort. I can attest to the fact that many of these pictures show up in my email in-box in the middle of the night or early in the morning...or in the case of this set (and another past one) on weekends...when he could be spending time with family or friends!
Anyway, this morning when I was checking my emails for today's gig info, I found some nice new pictures!
It's neck time! Last week with the batch of body photos came this:
Invalid Link Removed
What you can see, is the neck wood, a laminate of 5 pieces of nice bright clean looking maple. It appears to be routed for the graphite stiffening bars, but not yet a trussrod. (If I'm wrong, someone correct me.)
Things have come along since mid-week.
Now you can see that the neck profile has been roughed out. Here's a shot from the heel side of things:
Invalid Link Removed
Don't let that slice of Wenge next to it confuse you...I've got a maple fretboard happening!
Here's the same thing from the other side. You can see that now the head stock shape is also done, while before it was still in it's paddle state.
Invalid Link Removed
You can see that it's not quite done, but you can also see that it's a tilt-back head stock without a scarf joint. Nice and strong!
Next up? The maple fretboard is mounted. You can see that it's also a nice light even piece of maple. Because the body has such action (and headstock, and since there will be some inlay action) I thought that I'd like a fairly plain light colored maple. While I was offered bird's eye, etc....I stuck to my plan (no matter how hard it is to turn down more nice wood!).
Invalid Link Removed
I think that spalting looks awesome! It will be something once the finish is on!
The word is that the next step will be carving the compound radius of the fretboard and getting those nice banjo sized frets in place...along with the rest of the back contour being done!
In the meantime...
...there's more! The wood from the pickup cuts was reserved for my pickup covers before the top was mounted to the body. Now it's coming together. Check out this shot of the now-routed pickup covers. I'm extremely impressed by the precision of the cut. Look at those sidewalls! Amazing!
Invalid Link Removed
You can also see something that's rarely been shown...The actual shape of the pickup. You can see where the pickup shares some characteristics of the Precision-style split coil. Remember that the pickups are at an angle to the strings, so the magnets are laid out to cover the entire range and not lose signal to the outsides as you might on a regular pickup. Nice! You can see the backside of the spalted/flamed maple top wood through the back as well!
I really appreciate that he's been willing to give me, the other Dingwall crazies and the general bass playing world a closer look at what he does...at the expense of his own time and effort. I can attest to the fact that many of these pictures show up in my email in-box in the middle of the night or early in the morning...or in the case of this set (and another past one) on weekends...when he could be spending time with family or friends!
Anyway, this morning when I was checking my emails for today's gig info, I found some nice new pictures!
It's neck time! Last week with the batch of body photos came this:
Invalid Link Removed
What you can see, is the neck wood, a laminate of 5 pieces of nice bright clean looking maple. It appears to be routed for the graphite stiffening bars, but not yet a trussrod. (If I'm wrong, someone correct me.)
Things have come along since mid-week.
Now you can see that the neck profile has been roughed out. Here's a shot from the heel side of things:
Invalid Link Removed
Don't let that slice of Wenge next to it confuse you...I've got a maple fretboard happening!
Here's the same thing from the other side. You can see that now the head stock shape is also done, while before it was still in it's paddle state.
Invalid Link Removed
You can see that it's not quite done, but you can also see that it's a tilt-back head stock without a scarf joint. Nice and strong!
Next up? The maple fretboard is mounted. You can see that it's also a nice light even piece of maple. Because the body has such action (and headstock, and since there will be some inlay action) I thought that I'd like a fairly plain light colored maple. While I was offered bird's eye, etc....I stuck to my plan (no matter how hard it is to turn down more nice wood!).
Invalid Link Removed
I think that spalting looks awesome! It will be something once the finish is on!
The word is that the next step will be carving the compound radius of the fretboard and getting those nice banjo sized frets in place...along with the rest of the back contour being done!
In the meantime...
...there's more! The wood from the pickup cuts was reserved for my pickup covers before the top was mounted to the body. Now it's coming together. Check out this shot of the now-routed pickup covers. I'm extremely impressed by the precision of the cut. Look at those sidewalls! Amazing!
Invalid Link Removed
You can also see something that's rarely been shown...The actual shape of the pickup. You can see where the pickup shares some characteristics of the Precision-style split coil. Remember that the pickups are at an angle to the strings, so the magnets are laid out to cover the entire range and not lose signal to the outsides as you might on a regular pickup. Nice! You can see the backside of the spalted/flamed maple top wood through the back as well!
Looks incredible already.
UncleBalsamic I'll be in London, UK in the last weekend of October. If I have the chance I may bring a Dingwall with me (sorry for derailing the thread)
UncleBalsamic I'll be in London, UK in the last weekend of October. If I have the chance I may bring a Dingwall with me (sorry for derailing the thread)
Thanks for the offer but I'm afraid I might not be able to take you up on it. Damn living in the north!
I am always astonished over how nice all of you guys are!
I am always astonished over how nice all of you guys are!
Regarding Dingwalls sight unseen..... I played one years ago, on a loan from luthier Steve Grimes. Bear in mind I'm a double bassist by trade, and my go-to electric is a stock MIM J bass, but I've played a lot of high end BGs as well. At the time, nobody I knew was really hip to Dingwall basses.
I felt comfortable immediately on the Dingwall.... everything just seemed to be in the right place, and there were tons of great sounds available. It passed the "vanish" test... where the instrument disappears, and you get right onto the business of making music. I remember being able to play what was in my head without any roadblocks in my hands. I was really impressed with it.
BTW, Burningskies.... that is a beautiful bass you've got going there.
Interesting PS..... the bass that I borrowed was in my house for a week, at which point I got a call from Steve Grimes... "Marcus... you gotta bring the Dingwall back... Sting's here and he wants to try it". Thus the pecking order was reestablished.
I felt comfortable immediately on the Dingwall.... everything just seemed to be in the right place, and there were tons of great sounds available. It passed the "vanish" test... where the instrument disappears, and you get right onto the business of making music. I remember being able to play what was in my head without any roadblocks in my hands. I was really impressed with it.
BTW, Burningskies.... that is a beautiful bass you've got going there.
Interesting PS..... the bass that I borrowed was in my house for a week, at which point I got a call from Steve Grimes... "Marcus... you gotta bring the Dingwall back... Sting's here and he wants to try it". Thus the pecking order was reestablished.
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Yeah...I can't imagine how often that kind of cut ends up in a blow-out. I'd guess its not a time for a dull router bit!
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Update!!!
Now that the neck is being worked on, things are coming along quickly!
The fretboard is on, radiused (compound) and the fret slots are cut (fanned, of course!).
Originally I had gone with no inlays or markers on the neck. I really liked the clean look of nice maple. But as time went on, I got more feedback on the fact that my AB has no face markers...and the feedback was negative! A lot of guitarists and keyboard players I was on stage with were having a hard time 'reading' my playing when we were in improvisational or 'backing riddim' mode. When a singer or guest on stage calls a riddim they don't usually give a key, and I'm pretty quick to figure out where they're singing (or should be!) The other players were having problems figuring it out with the 5th string and also fanned frets.
Soooo...about a year in I contacted Barry & Sheldon and requested I have dots or bars at 5 & 12. Just enough to let everyone read me, but not enough to be all down the neck! Sheldon came back to me with the idea of something with a bit more action...as the body/headstock already had so much, he thought small markers would be underwhelming. After a bit of thinking, I figured he was right!
The idea he posited is for large 'block' inlays at 5 & 12 (keep in mind this is before the 70's style Super-J was around)...and better yet, the blocks are of the same spalted wood as the top!
Here's some action:
Invalid Link Removed
You can see that the inlays consist of two pieces...the center, spalted block, and a black surround. I think the surround does a good job of anchoring the blocks visually, so the spalt blocks aren't "floating".
Here they are in place:
Invalid Link Removed
And here's the whole neck so you can get a feel for the layout. I was hoping that the 5th and 12th would be fairly evenly spaced, and I think it really works!
Invalid Link Removed
So, that gives a nice idea of how things balance nicely! Of course they're not quite done yet...there's some finishing magic to happen, but that will be a bit more of a wait!
Now that the neck is being worked on, things are coming along quickly!
The fretboard is on, radiused (compound) and the fret slots are cut (fanned, of course!).
Originally I had gone with no inlays or markers on the neck. I really liked the clean look of nice maple. But as time went on, I got more feedback on the fact that my AB has no face markers...and the feedback was negative! A lot of guitarists and keyboard players I was on stage with were having a hard time 'reading' my playing when we were in improvisational or 'backing riddim' mode. When a singer or guest on stage calls a riddim they don't usually give a key, and I'm pretty quick to figure out where they're singing (or should be!) The other players were having problems figuring it out with the 5th string and also fanned frets.
Soooo...about a year in I contacted Barry & Sheldon and requested I have dots or bars at 5 & 12. Just enough to let everyone read me, but not enough to be all down the neck! Sheldon came back to me with the idea of something with a bit more action...as the body/headstock already had so much, he thought small markers would be underwhelming. After a bit of thinking, I figured he was right!
The idea he posited is for large 'block' inlays at 5 & 12 (keep in mind this is before the 70's style Super-J was around)...and better yet, the blocks are of the same spalted wood as the top!
Here's some action:
Invalid Link Removed
You can see that the inlays consist of two pieces...the center, spalted block, and a black surround. I think the surround does a good job of anchoring the blocks visually, so the spalt blocks aren't "floating".
Here they are in place:
Invalid Link Removed
And here's the whole neck so you can get a feel for the layout. I was hoping that the 5th and 12th would be fairly evenly spaced, and I think it really works!
Invalid Link Removed
So, that gives a nice idea of how things balance nicely! Of course they're not quite done yet...there's some finishing magic to happen, but that will be a bit more of a wait!
Really interesting...
I know you're probably not going to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but are those blocks going to have the same finish as the body and headstock?
I know you're probably not going to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but are those blocks going to have the same finish as the body and headstock?
Look's insane so far, and I really like the regular maple fretboard, rather than birdseye, etc.
