[quote="Smallmouth_Bass":3jtzslln][quote="BuffaloBob":3jtzslln][quote="John H.":3jtzslln]On BassGear.com: ABII-5 w/ Bubinga top and Mahogany body. $2,099.00. Pictures: http://www.clubbass.ca/instock/ABII.html[/quote:3jtzslln] John, Thanks for reporting this one. I'm getting this one after a significant price reduction from the originally listed price brought it more in line with market (and my bank account as well!) I'm about to join the family!! [/quote:3jtzslln] And don't forget, that's Canadian dollars, so you probably reduce that by about 15% with the exchange. Nice bass. Similar to mine.[/quote:3jtzslln] Actually, one of the first comments I made was that the price was of course Canadian dollars and he said no, it was American. But, the negotiations proceeded from there. I ended up paying a few bucks less than I've seen similar vintage ABIIs go for on TalkBass, so I'm happy. Not an incredible deal, but considering the condition of the bass, and that it comes with two new sets of strings and the OHSC, not a bad one either. I am very excited!

[quote="John H.":2flywbzk][quote="BuffaloBob":2flywbzk] Thanks for reporting this one. I'm getting this one after a significant price reduction from the originally listed price brought it more in line with market (and my bank account as well!) I'm about to join the family!! [/quote:2flywbzk] Congratulations! That bass looks as clean as clean can be. Post a picture of you and your new baby once it arrives. John[/quote:2flywbzk] Thanks John, I'm very pleased. I really would have liked to spring for one of those Cocobolo ABIIs, but just could not justify the added cabbage right now. But a slightly vintage ABII with a nicely figured top and mahogany body is not a bad compromise! I will definitely replace the knobs right away and add the Hybrid Treble control in the near future. Now the interesting thing will be whether I like this one so much, that I sell off my beloved Sadowsky P-bass.

I don't know if you'll sell the Sad.....but I'll wager this won't be your last/only Dingwall!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :B:SS:US:1 http://cgi.ebay.com/Dingwall-5-String-B ... dZViewItem Parts is parts. Mark

seller claims this hipshot bridge of for 19mm spacing. I thought the 5 strings were 18mm or 17mm Is there anyway to tell if these pickups are FD1? Since the seller is not telling us the year of the bass. I'mm assuming Sheldon and company and see the back of the p'up and say-Yup FD3, or FD1

Yeah, I nearly inquired about the pickups being FD1s, but I need another bass project like I need another hole in the head. Mark

I actually sent him an inquiry and he responded that he has no idea. But he said he would send me the serial number of the bass later, so we should be able to tell from that.

My '98 Prima has a Kahler bridge. Although I haven't tried to set it up yet, it seems that, to raise the action, you need to take the strings off... I see that this has been addressed on newer bridges. Still, I see that the bridges in Primas and Zs are different than those on ABs... so, would this ABI bridge be considered an upgrade for me? How much do new AB bridges cost, and how much do Prima/Z bridges cost? Is there a tone difference between my older bridge, the new AB bridge and the new Prima one?

[quote="FrankM":29o5m26w]seller claims this hipshot bridge of for 19mm spacing. I thought the 5 strings were 18mm or 17mm Is there anyway to tell if these pickups are FD1? Since the seller is not telling us the year of the bass. I'mm assuming Sheldon and company and see the back of the p'up and say-Yup FD3, or FD1[/quote:29o5m26w] Hi Frank, 4-string bridges are 19 mm, 5 and 6-string bridges are 18 mm. There should be a sticker on the bottom of the pickup saying what it is. If there is no sticker and the epoxy is blue, the chances are good that they are FD-1's.

[quote="Dragonlord":2yb07vj6]My '98 Prima has a Kahler bridge. Although I haven't tried to set it up yet, it seems that, to raise the action, you need to take the strings off... I see that this has been addressed on newer bridges. Still, I see that the bridges in Primas and Zs are different than those on ABs... so, would this ABI bridge be considered an upgrade for me? How much do new AB bridges cost, and how much do Prima/Z bridges cost? Is there a tone difference between my older bridge, the new AB bridge and the new Prima one?[/quote:2yb07vj6] I've never tried to fit an ABI bridge to a Prima. The new saddles are compatible with the older Kahler plates with the removal of some pins. The difference in tone is Kahlers have more of a fretless tone, Dingwall's are more clear and bell-like with slightly more volume and sustain. The saddles are $25.00 each.

Those pickups sure look like FD1's to me. The give-away is the grey wire with the orange leads. I remember those wires from the first few runs we did, also the visible magnets come from back when the shells were just a little shorter (less epoxy covering the magnet). I'd say I am 90% convinced that they are FD1s... if someone bought them, a quick resistance check would confirm or deny... either way, they are great pickups and would sound superb in any bass... (especially a Dingwall!) If I had the time to be messing around with hobby building these days, I'd probably buy both the pickups and the bridge... this kind of find is extraordinarily rare. take care... JMK

[quote="BuffaloBob":7905ysch]I actually sent him an inquiry and he responded that he has no idea. But he said he would send me the serial number of the bass later, so we should be able to tell from that.[/quote:7905ysch] He replied back to me and told me that he inadvertently sanded the serial number off of the headstock. Anyway, he believes the bass is like 3.5 years old or older, so I would think they are FD1s based on that. My bass is about 3.5 years old and has FD1s. If they were FD3s, I might have bid on them, just so I could experiment with them and see which I like better.

[quote="Sheldon Dingwall":1t2mxess]I've never tried to fit an ABI bridge to a Prima. The new saddles are compatible with the older Kahler plates with the removal of some pins. The difference in tone is Kahlers have more of a fretless tone, Dingwall's are more clear and bell-like with slightly more volume and sustain. The saddles are $25.00 each.[/quote:1t2mxess] Cool, sounds like it's time for an upgrade. So, you would suggest getting only the saddles and not the whole bridge, right? Can I order some saddles that would be compatible with my Kahler plate from you straight or through my dealer, or do I have to remove the pins you mention by myself?

FD1's on ebay, a rare find, indeed. Great price, too. I nearly got 'em, but I can't handle another project right now. I predict one of the tinkerers on the forum will buy them. Mark

Thanks, Mark. I snagged the FD-1s (your prediction was perfectly accurate) with the idea of trying them out in my ABII and/or possibly using one or both in my yet-to-be-made Z. I don't really have time for any new projects right now, either, so the 1s may sit for awhile before I get around to the experiment. Thanks again for the heads up. Hopefully they will arrive without incident. John

Oly SJ, Bassmen. The price is right. http://cgi.ebay.com:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... :B:SS:US:1 Mark

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dingwall-Z2-5-Strin ... dZViewItem

[quote="TwoPort":228cashs]http://cgi.ebay.com/Dingwall-Z2-5-String-Custom-Flame-Red_W0QQitemZ250127951357QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/quote:228cashs] Bro, you might want to break that run on paragraph/description up. Beautiful bass.

Thanks there - for some reason Safari (on mac) did not have any formatting options. Found out I had to use firefox. Too bad, it was the mother of all paragraphs. Now there's smaller infinite paragraphs describing a work of art.

Is that Z2 really resting on a concrete driveway? Just curious. Mark