Seems to be their logo, though it still bugs me. Makes me appreciate my Dingwalls all the more. I got the real thing, not a knockoff.

Sure it bugs me quite a bit too. I do have Dingwalls. Period. Wonder if Sheldon cares enough to call up some lawyers. Those lawsuits and cease and desist letters, can be quite expensive and time consuming and force you to drag you away from everyday work, i e making basses. Would be a pity, if Sheldon has to start hunting down counterfeits and copies all over the world, and that it forces him to a priority choice. Or hired guns, for detective work. Very expensive. Since there are growing numbers of fanned frets basses now, Ibanez, ESP/LTD and more, they definitely don't need to rip off Dingwalls like that. Ibanez, and ESP/LTD has their own design still, not in any way similar (even remotely) to any Dingwall. Which beats me. Acacia used to be built by Matt Friedman (who actually built fan frets too) but later on sold his company name to someone else that seemed intent on keeping it up. So Acacia used to be high end basses too. Not at the moment it seems.

They do say that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Agreed Smallmouth.

Copied but never duplicated But honestly....even if Dingwall never existed....I find that this bass is ugly! Might play like a dream and sound like a monster...but it's still ugly as hell LOL!

The thing is that the general and lesser informed audience that consists of bass players, and thus, when watching the logo in concert or TV, which reminds me much of the stylicized D of Dingwall, may throw people in the wrong direction. The thing is, that people may be think it's a Dingwall. No other fan fret bass (Ibanez, ESP/LTD, Bryce) I've seen has stolen so much, even if it's just the right side of copyright and design infringement. I mean...if they (Acacia) should've put out any regular fretted bass, do you think they would copy Dingwall? Like the sales pitch would go: "Here's a regular fretted... Dingwall". And while Dingwall doesn't make ones with straight frets, no one can compare it to any real deal. The thing is, if people would try this one out in the stores, and go ... meh, they're nothing, and will not bother when they [i:97vnqa2s]see [/i:97vnqa2s]a real Dingwall. They judge by the looks only.