After playing both back to back several times, the Dingwall ALWAS has the edge in my honest opinion. And the Dingwall being used is the passive only DROC standard 5. So I have thought about this for a while of what is holding back the Ibanez BTB 805/806 multiscale basses. They have the same 37 scale B string, but the G and C strings sound thinner because of being slightly different than the Dingwall basses. The Ibanez has stainless steel frets. Well, my theory is that those banjo and mandolin frets on Dingwalls somehow contribute to part of the tone on those basses. I’ve noticed it when doing slides. It can come close to giving fretless vibes. I’ve noticed that stainless steel or not, there have been a lot of folks complaining about fret sprout with the Ibanez. Probably a fairly easy fix. Finally I have to ask this question. If the BTB had an 18v preamp instead of 9, would it make a substantial difference in the bass? Dingwalls use 18v for their active basses that can be used in passive mode. I used the BTB on a 210 combo amp that was putting out maybe 300 watts at full potential in 8 ohm mode without the extension cabinet and felt quite underwhelmed. I plugged the Dingwall into it and it immediately seemed to have a lot more presence. Both basses shine through a 410 or greater rig. Just my observations. Doesn’t mean I’m right about any of this.
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What could make the Ibanez BTB multiscale actually compete with Dingwall
- Thread starter Cory rich40
- Start date
The DROC costs about a thousand dollars more, presumably you're getting something for it.
Both these manufacturers are going to be sourcing their preamp from someplace else, Dingwall does not manufacture small electronics and neither does Ibanez. There are relatively few companies that produce them and it's likely a lot of brands are sourcing parts from the same few manufacturers.
In any event questions of presence are EQ questions. Different instruments require different EQ settings.
I've had an 805 for a few months and have no issues whatsoever getting it forward in a mix or shaping the tones I need. I also played 3-4 of them and never saw any with fret spout.
And obviously, the Dingwall is twice the price.
In any event questions of presence are EQ questions. Different instruments require different EQ settings.
I've had an 805 for a few months and have no issues whatsoever getting it forward in a mix or shaping the tones I need. I also played 3-4 of them and never saw any with fret spout.
And obviously, the Dingwall is twice the price.
The difference in pickups and locations between the two is huge and will very likely play large role in the difference. 
Ibanez should sand the BTB's body bevel.
They're kind of in a different league, but the electronics are definitely the main weakness with the Ibanez.
I played the Ibanez in a store, also a NG3 but no Droc. The Ibanez was much harder to handle ergonomically. Soundwise they were different but both good. A multiscale bass should be designed with tthe multiscale in mind. The btb was not...
The “confirmation bias” term is a lazy/easy way out when one doesn’t understand the perspective of someone else and doesn’t care to.
A lot of Dingwall owners go purely passive (whether custom ordered without a preamp at all, or just switched into passive mode), just like the DROC you've been trying. So the preamp alone doesn't make the difference.
Dingwall offers several different types of pickups, up to 3 per bass (although I might have seen a 4-pickup Dingwall?), with the option of toggling each pickup into split coil mode for even more gain. There is so much tonal variety just in passive mode, and so many variations between Dingwalls, that I suspect it's not possible to provide a useful answer when comparing BTBs and Dingwalls in general.
not in the multiscale scene but...
Doesn't a $1k lower price count as competing?
Doesn't a $1k lower price count as competing?
trash may be a bit harsh, but you aren't lying here. i replaced the stock pre in my BTB670 with a Bartolini unit. The difference in tone was significant. also added a mid frequency select and a pre-amp bypass integrated into the knobs. well worth the upgrade.
I wondered if an 18v preamp would make a difference but I’m sure all 18v preamps aren’t all great either.
No Dingwall comes with an option toggle between split and single coil operation. You're probably thinking of the series-parallel switches.
