Wicked bass, Fullrange. Vintage Dingwalls rule . Mark

[quote="fullrangebass":361rk6xh]Would it be possible to have 2 Hipshot drop keys on both B and E strings, on a Dingwall?[/quote:361rk6xh] Dual hipshot headstocks need a modified tuner array. 3 on the bass side, 2 on the treble.

Given his current rate of acquisition, Fullrange will soon have a Dingwall for each tuning Mark

I aim to get some more pics of my 3 Dingwalls very soon and maybe start a new topic "Gigging with my Dingwall" to have pics from gigs and concerts (or even studio dates) with our Dingwalls in action.

[quote:d7lxsp4i]I aim to get some more pics of my 3 Dingwalls very soon and maybe start a new topic "Gigging with my Dingwall" to have pics from gigs and concerts (or even studio dates) with our Dingwalls in action.[/quote:d7lxsp4i] Hey, Fullrange, FYI, you will find everybodys gig pictures in the "Still paying dues" thread under the "basses" section. 3 Dingwalls? I know about your vintage Voodoo and Prima, but have forgotten about the third one. Remind me. Mark

Hi Mark my third Dingwall is the one that is on my avatar. A very unique Z1. Each one of my Dingwalls has a voice of it's own. I will post soundclips very very soon. They are ready but i need to find time to upload them. Eddy PS As i recently had a slip of the tongue regarding a person's name i came up with a nickname for Dingwall basses as well: Done-well!!! I am sure that most (if not all people here) agree with that!!! they are really done the best possible way delivering the best possible sound

The oldie but goodie has arrived. S/N is 1122 on the headstock. Any suggestion on the date of it, Sheldon? I will get some more pics and upload them today

Hey FullRange, once you get a chance to get to know the bass, can you give us a 'review' of it? What I'm interested in (and I'm sure other are here) is how are the 'old' design elements in comparison to a 'modern' Dingwall? For example, how do you find the pickups in the parallel position differs tone and playablility, How do you find the different bridge system effects overall feel, tone and sustain? How is the overall erogonomics of the instrument? How about the large frets in comparison to the Banjo frets that most of us have (I know that the earlier Dingwalls did have bigger frets, so maybe the large frets would have been originally spec'ed instead of the smaller ones)? Also, do you have any plans to change out the Bartolini pickups for any of Sheldon's own?

Does anyone have any experience with Banjo vs Mandolin frets? I would be interested in any input as I'm still a little unsure for my new Prima? I'm leaning towards Mando frets as I do a fair amount of glissando. Thanks.

Glissing with mando frets will feel great, but your fretting technique has to be a bit more precise, IMO. Mando frets also sound more woody/organic. I'm an intermediate amateur hack, and when I went as fast as I'm able on my Rob Allen (with mando frets) I got some fret noise.....I must stress this is a weaknes in my left hand skills, since slowing a bit and focussing more always solved it. The banjo frets on my AB1 feel smoother than jumbos, and I love 'em, but the mando frets offer a greater sonic difference and even easier feel. Hope this helps.

Thanks IOMO, very helpful. How would you consider the action on your Mando fret bass? High, low, etc. andhow much difference do you think it would make with your buzzing problem if you didn't slow down? When you say precise, do you mean your fretting finger needs to be real close to the forward fret of the note you are trying to play? If you know what I mean. Sounds like the mando fret has a nicer tone to it? Thanks.

I no longer have the Rob Allen fretted, but my action was low. By precise I mean having to apply a bit more pressure and be right next to the fret. There was less room for error in this regard. The tone was very woody, although I must admit the whole Rob Allen setup is geared that way( nylon tapewound strings/piezo pup/semi-hollow body). If you're a good player who slides, you'll love those mando frets. In the end I essentially swapped the Rob Allen for his short scale fretless model (The Mouse), which I should receive next month. If I order a Z1 in the future (a distinct possibility), I'll likely opt for the mando option.

[quote="fullrangebass":7dfaxubj]The oldie but goodie has arrived. S/N is 1122 on the headstock. Any suggestion on the date of it, Sheldon? I will get some more pics and upload them today[/quote:7dfaxubj] Early 1995 is my best guess. Congratulations.

Very different compared with my other Dings. The pickups are much better than the Barts found on many other basses (very nice responce through my iamp800), but no head to head comparison with FD1's of FD3's yet (no passive option on this bass though). The unique string-to-string aural balance of my other Dings though, is not here. If we were thinking of a parrallel fret bass, the bass side of the pickups is closer to the neck and the treble side closer to the brigde making the string to string separation on passages more obvious (not a bad thing but very different). The Bass came tuned in ADGCF and still it was not floppy at all. The Sperzel locking keys are very nice. The new Dingwall brigde is better than the present Kahler one, cause you can adjust anything on the fly (whereas here you have to loosen up the string to adjust the height). Initial impression on the large frets? IMO I prefer small. Great sound nonetheless but fleet fingered passages are not 100% the same (both aurally and subjectively). Still i will join my brother's band for tonight's rehearsal to give it a real world trial, and i will let you have an in-depth review once I fine tune it to my playing style. Thank you Sheldon for another unique instrument

Thanks, FRB. Keep us updated.

Here's a picture of my Dingwalls. I converted my ABI 5-string to active via a Bartolini NTMB (the preamp from my Z2). It's one of the ABI with a 1-piece maple neck and soft maple body. The finish is transparent black, but has a tendency to look other colors depending on the lighting. The Z2 in question is the purple Z2 that used to belong to Geoff St Germain. The owner after Geoff (but before me) replaced the Bartolini pickups with FD-3s and I put an Aguilar OBP-3 into it. I also swapped out the Hipshot for a standard Gotoh and replaced the plastic knobs with metal dome knobs. The Hipshot was unnecessary due to the fact that I always tune down to A, and I kept losing the caps off the knobs. As an added benefit, I had noticed that the Z2 was a TINY bit neck heavy. The subtraction of weight on the headstock and addition of weight on the body "fixed" the balance. Gawd, I love these basses...too bad the color in the pictures is a bit "indeterminate". John Jungblut

Sounds like the mando fret has a nicer tone to it? Thanks.[/quote] My one reservation about mando frets is that I assume they must make it harder to get a good slap tone, although I never slapped my Rob Allen (they just aren't that sort of animal). Anyone out there slapping on a mando-fretted Dingwall?

AB delivery soon...can't wait! Mark

Here is super J #3681 http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/ ... ics017.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/ ... ics018.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/ ... ics020.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/ ... ics022.jpg

[quote="FrankM":2nldsfrc] SuperJ #001 P/J w/ U retro-deluxe preamp, reversed headstock, and RMC piezo bridge-freakin awesome [/quote:2nldsfrc] The electronics package in your Super J is exactly what I wanted to put in my fretless 73 P Bass. (with a J pickup and eventually a piezo bridge.) Last summer I installed a U-Retro in it but after a couple of weeks I removed it because I found that I preferred the classic passive P-Bass sound. I was curious, though, how did you work the piezo bridge into the U-Retro scheme? It's only designed for two pickups, isn't it. (I assume this is why you have a U-Retro instead of a J Retro.) By the way, if anybody wants to buy a slightly used short-shaft U-Retro (non-deluxe), let me know.