Thinking of switching the preamp on a Dingwall

The DarkGlass shouldn’t be distorting. It’s a bright, clear, slightly aggressive sounding preamp, but it doesn’t venture into what we think of as “distortion”. If it is distorting, then it might be running out of headroom. Are you running it on 9V or 18V?

Can you describe what kind of “niche sound” you’re looking for?

 

Hi! I finally had a chance to listen to your sound clips.

Ummmm…

Can you record something clean, without any outboard effects? Frankly, there is so much fuzz tone in those samples that it’s impossible to tell whether or not your onboard preamp is distorting…

18V is good. Are your batteries fresh?

 

Notice that it may not be the preamps that make basses sound different. They most probably has different pickups in different locations.

More you add effects, especially distortion or fuzz, more difficult will it be to understand what is wrong with you sound. Start analyzing clean, uneffected sound first to understand how does it need to sound to achieve the desired effected sound.

I did this for my identical basses with different pickups. Distorted sounds where pretty similar but one was somehow better over the other. Only with new strings and fully clean DI sound I realized that one bass had more high end sizzle that cooperated just right way with distortion. I wouldn't never find that out by comparing two distorted sounds.

 

I'm not sure what you are looking for but for me Dingwall sounds thin, so maybe that highlights the highs especially with distortion. If you kept preamp flat and tried different pickup settings would it make any difference? Dingwall has 4-5 selections to pickup configuration that should really make difference to sound.

 

Thanks for the new, clean recording. That helps.

First, I’m not sure that what I’m hearing is actually distortion, or perhaps some fret rattle? Is your action really low, so that the strings are buzzing against the frets? How does it sound acoustically, unamplified?

Second, if it is distortion, is it actually coming from the bass? What else is in your signal chain? Pedals, outboard preamp? Did you record that with a mic, or taking a line out from an amp/pedal, or directly into an instrument interface?

Third, the Darkglass is capable of some significant boost. How are the Darkglass knobs set? Are any of them maxed out?

 

How about trying both pickups and setting preamp to flat. Then work with Quad cortex or plugins to tailor the sound for your taste. I have understood that Dingwall pickup placement has certain role for bass sound, not just the preamp so if you don't like the sound, maybe other bass would give your more what you are searching for.

 

But maybe clank is not in preamp but in bass itself. I have had always impression that Dingwall is somewhat thin or mid forward sounding bass, not fat, like Spector. When there are less lows then also clank is more present.

What I have noticed over the years, is that preamp cannot hide or alter totally the nature of bass and pickups. This is just my impression, not absolute fact.

If you still feel that new preamp will tame the clank, go for it. I just tried to help based on my experience.

 

Maybe someone more familiar with Dingwall could help you. I'm not sure but I always told myself its pickup locations has big part of the sound, plus long scale for lower strings.

 

Have you considered different strings? I know the choices for Dingwalls are limited, but perhaps you might find a mellower set?

Or perhaps an outboard EQ that can notch out the offensive frequencies without disturbing the rest of the signal?

 

Changing the instrument's setup (by increasing the action) so you get less clank is a zero cost option. Try raising the bridge saddles a little bit to see if it puts you in the right track.

 

You know when it's uncomfortable to you, there's no hard rule really.
Some want a really high action (think Motown stuff), and some strive for the lowest they can get (think shredding/tapping stuff).