[quote="John H.":3mnjy2cd]And, the best for last: my daughter, Hailey, thumpin' the ABII.[/quote:3mnjy2cd] Your bass has definitely found the right home, John. Keep showin' it the love

Hey fullrangebass, looks like a maple fretboard on the Dinger in your latest pic. I'm a fan of maple fretboards, but haven't played a Dingwall with one. What's your impression or observations on how it affects the sound?

[quote="John H.":356ad1xy]Close up of the ABII shows the sligthly different finish of the Mach II in the bridge position.[/quote:356ad1xy] I noticed that too on my ABII with the Mach II. But I thought that was the original finish on the Mach I's also. I remember cleaning/polishing my bass the first time with lemon oil and shortly after that I notice that my pickups had lost their matte finish and had become smooth over most of the exposed areas. I haven't cleaned my bass since the Mach II upgrade, so that pickup still has the matte finish.

Can someone post clips of the FD3 and MachII so we can hear the difference?

[quote="JEDI BASS TRICKS":9swodgub]Hey fullrangebass, looks like a maple fretboard on the Dinger in your latest pic. I'm a fan of maple fretboards, but haven't played a Dingwall with one. What's your impression or observations on how it affects the sound?[/quote:9swodgub] Which pic of them all??? I am a bit lost with all the Dingwalls I own and have pics of I have 3 Dingwalls with maple fretboard (my blackburst Z1, my first Z2 and my avatar Z1) and my impression is that maple adds snap and brightness whereas wenge adds growl and edge and pau ferro adds a touch more warmth and snap. I have yet to play a Dingwall neck that I don't like (waiting for my Prima Artist in the next couple of years to check that neck too )

[quote="fullrangebass":11c5nytd][quote="JEDI BASS TRICKS":11c5nytd] I have 3 Dingwalls with maple fretboard (my blackburst Z1, my first Z2 and my avatar Z1) and my impression is that maple adds snap and brightness whereas wenge adds growl and edge and pau ferro adds a touch more warmth and snap. I have yet to play a Dingwall neck that I don't like (waiting for my Prima Artist in the next couple of years to check that neck too )[/quote:11c5nytd][/quote:11c5nytd] I fully agree with you about the effect of a maple board, Fullie (sorry, couldn't resist). I have very little experience compared to yours, but the Z1 I owned for a while (quilted blackburst) had a maple board and superb top end zing, likely the best slap tone on any bass I've ever played. The SJ5 I'm awaiting will have a birdseye maple board and I'm hopeful it'll have similar slap tone (with the wider spacing and shorter scale I crave).

At the now-closed Chick Hall's Surf Club, the last roadhouse in the Wash DC area

[quote="maxvintage":1jyz5r9k]At the now-closed Chick Hall's Surf Club, the last roadhouse in the Wash DC area[/quote:1jyz5r9k] Can't help but imagine the same pic with a black Dinger in your hands, Max.

Here's my band The Phantom Lovers and my ABII - "The Grizzly" - on it's first gig outing, getting some Ebow action

That bass is beautiful...I'm waiting on my new toy...something about burlburst...

[quote="jonnyrok101":3f48bm34]Here's my band The Phantom Lovers and my ABII - "The Grizzly" - on it's first gig outing, getting some Ebow action [/quote:3f48bm34] How does the Ebow thing on the Grizzly compare with the Ebow work on other basses, so far?

[quote="fullrangebass":2v1p4mmv][quote="jonnyrok101":2v1p4mmv]Here's my band The Phantom Lovers and my ABII - "The Grizzly" - on it's first gig outing, getting some Ebow action [/quote:2v1p4mmv] How does the Ebow thing on the Grizzly compare with the Ebow work on other basses, so far?[/quote:2v1p4mmv] Good question: I've only used the EBow with single-coil pup basses and it's always been hard to get a full sound when needed...until now that is! So far, I've found the there's more tonal variation possible with the Grizzly as well: without touching any controls I can go from a smooth, thick, low tone, right the way to a really aggressive, hard, overdriven tone, just by the angle and positioning of the EBow, whereas previously, the "tone palette" available was much narrower and there was much less low-end, even with a load of fiddling around. The Mach II (bridge) pup is useable as well, for a very aggressive distorted sound, whereas the bridge pup on previous basses was virtually unusable - the tone was thin & horrible and the strings where very hard to get "started"... Very importantly, the EBow was previously much harder to use, probably because of the width of the single-coils as opposed to soapbars. (The structure of FD3/MachII's means they're very responsive to the EBow - they're humbuckers, right?). Getting strings started was hit-and-miss, which is very scary when you're standing in front of an audience and it's one of the main reasons why I started looking at other basses in the first place... So, using an EBow with the ABII, there's more tonal variation, the strings are easier to "start" and much easier to work with and there's more low end to the EBow tone generally - I love it! Of course I play fingerstyle and with a pick too and we all know how good a Dingwall sounds played more conventionally...it was a no-brainer (If you want to hear what an EBow-ed bass sounds like, check out our myspace page at: www.myspace.com/thephantomloversuk and please let me know what you think - bear in mind the recordings aren't done with the Dingwall - I can't wait to record with it!)

That Ebow gizmo adds a very cool dimension to the low end!

Very nice effect and very melodic

My first gig, and one of the first (maybe THE first ?) Swiss stage for a Dingwall ! Had half of the people coming after the show to ask about this "beautiful strange instrument" The band is named Trophallaxy, Melodic-Rock-Metal-Blues-Fusion-something-whatever

another pic

My Afterburner II/6 with Spalted maple top, bubinga neck and THIS DINGWALL SOUND

Very nice bass! Cool T-shirt too!

[quote="Helcarauco":35xfrvgd]My first gig, and one of the first (maybe THE first ?) Swiss stage for a Dingwall [/quote:35xfrvgd] Nice bass and hope your gig went well. Switzerland has seen a Dingwall or two (but probably not many) as Lee Sklar had been there with his before we played at Lake Geneva last spring. The guys who did our sound had done sound for him with Phil Collins and knew all about the fanned frets and great sound. Keep rockin'.

Thanks for the comments ! John H. : I've totally forgotten Master Sklar... i wish i'll see him one day. Seems like you are pro... Can i find somewhere some of your recordings with a dingwall ?