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Ok, so I've had a while to plug in my new AB1-6 now and get some initial impressions on playability and sound.
Firstly, the biggest thing to get used to was not the fanned frets but the number of strings. I've only ever owned 5-stringers for the past 18 years. I think I'm pretty much getting used to that and I even used the C string quite naturally when I used it at church last Sunday. More on that later.
I noticed there is a huge amount of treble available from those pickups, which I've read about here. I have a Bass V-AMP Pro and I also noticed that many of the presets which were previously pretty useless with my other basses actually made respectable noises now.
I like the thin neck profile, but boy it's a long way across that 6-string fretboard.
So, I took it out for the first gig on Sunday and there was an amazing amount of fundamental coming through. I had this strangely vintage sound happening - really solid and thumpy. Sounded good but not what I expected having experimented at home. I wondered if my second speaker box (I have a pair of a 15" EV TL cabs) had a completely different sound or if it was something to do with speaker placement. Anyway, I liked what I heard so I thought nothing of it.
It was only later when I got home I realised I was using a completely different preset to the one I normally use with my other basses, one which probably would have produced a weak, woolly muffle - I'd forgotten to change it back after stuffing around with it. But it sounded great anyway! That's amazing for a passive instrument.
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Glad to see it finally made it to you! I'm sure you'll find TONS of great sound in that one, I know I did!
I have to agree, getting used to the flight deck is much more of a challenge than the fanned frets on the sixer. Still, it's not too bad, just takes a little time. I still get bummed when I think about having to sell that bass, so take care of it!
Joe
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I had bought two 6str basses before and I sold both cause I found their necks hard to play (both were high-end custom made basses). When I got the chance to purchase my first 6st Dingwall I did so out of confidence that Sheldon would make it right for my hand cause the neck of my "Uber Alles" has been the absolute fit to my hand as if Sheldon had my hands in front of him when he designed it (having said that, Sheldon first made the neck to the Primas, Voodoos and Zebras and then he made up a character that he named Fullrangebass to distract the public from his work, namely the Ding-aholic crowd). When I first tried the Champagne 6 it was as easy as a 5er to play!!! (and I play 7string basses as well). I did not find it intimidating for a minute
I just got around to installing straplocks (Shallers) on my AB1. I did the trick with filing down the original screws so they would fit inside the strap pins. I did this by holding the screw in a drill and just running it against a file (I don't have a bench grinder).
So tomorrow morning I'm good to go again!
This is a shot of the new knobs I was able to source locally in order to rectify my slipping knob problem. It's actually hard to find knobs that match in both metric and imperial sizes, but I think these look good. The only minor drawback is the body is slightly short so they sit off the bass a touch higher than normal. Nice quality plastic too, and there is an indicator dot, the lack of which was a bit of a problem with the old ones as I turn down between songs.
Total price was the princely sum of $4.50 ($1.50 each).
I like the dot and think the knobs work well, especially at that price. 
If you want to bring the knobs closer to the body, some washers could be installed inside the electronics bay on the shafts of the pots/rotary switch...assuming you can still get the nut to grip on the top side.
If you want to bring the knobs closer to the body, some washers could be installed inside the electronics bay on the shafts of the pots/rotary switch...assuming you can still get the nut to grip on the top side.
I finally managed to drop around to Callum's place and check out my first ever Dingwall, and man, what a great bass! It really does look stunning in the flesh and is the most playable sixer I've ever laid my hands on!
For comparison, I brought around my trusty Tobias Classic 5, which probably cost twice as much as Callum's Dingwall. Through his gear, there wasn't that much of a tonal difference between them, except when you went below low E, at which point the Dinger swept the floor with it!
I did have one question though, what exactly is that rear knob on the AB-Is? It sounded a bit like a passive tone knob, but didn't seeem to be anywhere near linear sounding.
And what's all the hoo-ha about taking around five minutes to get used to the fanned frets? How about 30 seconds? 
Thanks again, Callum!
Cheers,
EG
Thanks again, Callum!
Cheers,
EG
[quote="evilgus":1vyiplxu]For comparison, I brought around my trusty Tobias Classic 5, which probably cost twice as much as Callum's Dingwall. Through his gear, there wasn't that much of a tonal difference between them, except when you went below low E, at which point the Dinger swept the floor with it![/quote:1vyiplxu]
Well, I found a Tobias to be very punchy in the mids, not at all like my ABI which is more hi-fi and not as capable in the mids contest. I still love it!
[quote="evilgus":1vyiplxu]I did have one question though, what exactly is that rear knob on the AB-Is? It sounded a bit like a passive tone knob, but didn't seeem to be anywhere near linear sounding.[/quote:1vyiplxu]
Right, it's a tone control. I keep mine rolled back 50-80%, depending on how old my strings are.
Mark
[quote="guitarded":2ubso6f1]Well, I found a Tobias to be very punchy in the mids, not at all like my ABI which is more hi-fi and not as capable in the mids contest. I still love it![/quote:2ubso6f1]True, the Tobias probably has more mids in general, plus mine has coil switching (double/inner/outer), so it's pretty versatile. I was still very impressed with the Dinger, a great sounding bass and exceptional value for money!
It's possible that Callum's 15" speaker is a bit stuffed, so maybe that's why we didn't hear much of a difference with the tone control. I might have to go back with my Thunderfunk and Acme rig....
Cheers,
EG
Cheers,
EG
Hopefully Callum will chime in soon, but it could be because of his speaker cabinet. I think he said it was a spare and was getting on a bit in age. It didn't sound too healthy to me, distorted easily too. It was a 15" main driver, but I can't remember whether it had a horn or smaller drivers as well. It's quite possible the higher frequencies weren't being reproduced.
EG
Just a 15" and no horn. I'm not convinced it was the driver as I know that bass is much hotter than my others and I wasn't able to find the global attenuation (I found it tonight - you just have to press enough buttons and hold your tongue right). So it's quite possible the input stage on my pre-amp was going also - will need to experiment.
In any case that didn't make a huge difference to the treble response, that was just when you had it cranked up in the low end. I think all you were noticing is that the pot was a log instead of linear. Most of the adjustment was in the first quarter turn (1-3) and then less for the rest up to 10.
It's true in general that those cabs don't have a good treble response though, so maybe you would have noticed more change with the remaining 6-10 range with a horn? I might try with headphones and report back.
Ok, just had a little play through headphones. I can confirm a couple of things.
Firstly, there is almost no adjustment in treble level in the tone control past 1-2 (imagining it goes to 10). It doesn't seem to matter what the pickup selector switch is on, nor the mid switch thingy. After 2 it seems full on. I don't know if this is wired weird, the wrong sort of pot or just the way it is.
Secondly, I'm pretty sure the distortion we heard on Saturday was the input stage on the amp. I run my basses at around 4/10 usually, and the Dingwall is unusually hot. There was distortion even in headphones of a very similar nature to what we heard when using the pickups in series but I could eliminate it with the global input gain dialled back. I can't be conclusive by cranking up the amp to a large volume to compensate at this time of night I'm afraid.
Apart from that, I found some nice tones which I could use some time.
Thanks Callum, I think you're right about the pot. And I'm probably used to more treble response too, my cabs all have 10" drivers and separate mid and treble drivers. Sometimes they are toooo clear, you can hear every mistake!
Still on the hunt for a suitably-priced Dinger-Beast....
Cheers,
EG
Still on the hunt for a suitably-priced Dinger-Beast....
Cheers,
EG
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[quote="callum":18qfj5zt]
Firstly, there is almost no adjustment in treble level in the tone control past 1-2 (imagining it goes to 10). It doesn't seem to matter what the pickup selector switch is on, nor the mid switch thingy. After 2 it seems full on. I don't know if this is wired weird, the wrong sort of pot or just the way it is.
[/quote:18qfj5zt]
This is not unique to Dingwalls. I have other passive basses where most of the tone (even volume controls) is in the first or last quarter turn of the rotation.
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Yup. I agree. The tone control is a traditional passive tone circuit. It works nearly identically to all my other basses, and my sweet spot is almost in the same place as my P.
[quote="BurningSkies":24mxfym5]Yup. I agree. The tone control is a traditional passive tone circuit. It works nearly identically to all my other basses, and my sweet spot is almost in the same place as my P.[/quote:24mxfym5]
Could it be improved by using a linear pot instead of log though? I haven't looked to see what it's using, but it would be more useful if there was some way to make the response more linear.
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