[quote="Jjango":1rma2sqo]Sheldon, do the maple fingerboards have any kind of protective coating on them... or are they bare wood? I hate the way bare wood maple gets dirty (like on Musicman basses), so knowing this might help me in my decision.[/quote:1rma2sqo] They have a light polyurethane coating.

[quote="Sheldon Dingwall":15ra0d4p]They have a light polyurethane coating.[/quote:15ra0d4p] Excellent, thank-you! (but my decision just got harder again! )

That blonde with maple and white pickguard looks great! Also the CAR with pearl and maple is sweeeeet. Its one of those classic combinations that pushes my buttons (my first guitar was a strat in that configuation). The green looks sweet too, and I'm sorry I can do one right now!

Blonde, maple, without pickguard. This is my No.1 Excellent bass!

My FOB CAG Combustion is shipping out Monday, per Dr. Wood. Hope it makes it by the weekend in time for the gig. Thanks for turning it around ASAP, Sheldon. And thanks again for caving under the pressure of yet another special request. This is gonna be the coolest bass in town. Now, how's the SuperP coming along? So, has anybody taken retail delivery of a Combustion yet? Will I be the first? Mark

FOB?

Fresh Off the Boat. Mark

With any luck, mine will be next in line!

Awesome Mark- Congrats on a FOB CAG combustion. Cant wait to see it in print. You'd think Senior Wood would save a few canadian dollars and ship both texas-bound CAG combustions together (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

[quote="guitarded":1gwskqup]So, has anybody taken retail delivery of a Combustion yet? Will I be the first? Mark[/quote:1gwskqup] No, I won't be the first. Forum member TheGrandEnigma took delivery of a CAG Combustion at about 4:15 PM last Friday. That's what living in Saskatoon gets you - Dingwalls direct. It would never do for me to live there. Anyway, congrats to Matt on having the first Combustion. With a little luck, there will be two Combustions gigging this weekend. And here's some shots from Matt detailing the bridge area: Mark

Well, I actually ordered my bass through Axe Music in Edmonton, but due to school Axe and Dingwall agreed to let me pick it up here. This was a one time deal and both places took some coaxing to bend the rules to let me do this (thank you both ) due to financial reasons. I don't imagine they'll do it again. These pics are showing the spacers under the bridge pieces except for the g-string. I was just wondering what the reason for that was, which is why I sent the pictures to Mark. There also seems to be a wire between each piece, but I'm assuming that has something to do with the ground? Maybe I'll post pictures of that later. Bass plays as nice as people have said - that award is well earned. It blows my MTD out of the water (respect to Michael Tobias).

Now go to TalkBass and gloat Congrats!

[quote="TheGrandEnigma":4d8t0cn4]Bass plays as nice as people have said - that award is well earned. It blows my MTD out of the water (respect to Michael Tobias).[/quote:4d8t0cn4] USA or Kingston? Both are great, but I want to get a good point of reference.

[quote="TheGrandEnigma":1blkv3ga] These pics are showing the spacers under the bridge pieces except for the g-string.[/quote:1blkv3ga] Those shims are to keep the saddles in the sweet-spot of their adjustment range. The standard is the middle three saddles, but there will be variances where they might be only under the E and A saddles or in your case the B too. [quote="TheGrandEnigma":1blkv3ga] There also seems to be a wire between each piece, but I'm assuming that has something to do with the ground?[/quote:1blkv3ga] That's correct. It's a ground wire to connect all the saddles.

[quote="nastyn8c":1kihpo7l][quote="TheGrandEnigma":1kihpo7l]Bass plays as nice as people have said - that award is well earned. It blows my MTD out of the water (respect to Michael Tobias).[/quote:1kihpo7l] USA or Kingston? Both are great, but I want to get a good point of reference.[/quote:1kihpo7l] MTD Kingston Heir 5str http://www.dingwallguitars.com/forum/vi ... php?t=1073 (BTW, fretless is sold, fyi) I really liked my MTD, but to say it compares with the Dingwall, well that just isn't true. The Dingwall is lighter, sounds brighter, plays easier, and is SO much more versitile than the MTD. I also like the body shape of the Dingwall much better. Again, respect to Micheal Tobias, but the Dingwall is better. I suppose I should validate this comparison however - I did the setup on the MTD myself - that could have something to do with it. I recorded my MTD before I got the Combustion. I'll record it soon and post both audio files either here or on youtube.

[quote="Bocete":xhk6wgu7]Now go to TalkBass and gloat Congrats![/quote:xhk6wgu7] Not a big fan of talkbass, seems to 'big'. I like it here, good times, camaraderie, and beautiful basses!

[quote="TheGrandEnigma":o4zxfm5y]Not a big fan of talkbass, seems to 'big'. I like it here, good times, camaraderie, and beautiful basses![/quote:o4zxfm5y] Understandable. Gloating here is not bad either

[quote="TheGrandEnigma":1pjguiqh][quote="Bocete":1pjguiqh]Now go to TalkBass and gloat Congrats![/quote:1pjguiqh] Not a big fan of talkbass, seems to 'big'. I like it here, good times, camaraderie, and beautiful basses![/quote:1pjguiqh] Yeah-TB can get a bit edgy, for sure.

I checked into retrofitting black hardware to the Combustion. Looks like about $150 will do it. Mark

[quote="guitarded":6giqiayn]I checked into retrofitting black hardware to the Combustion. Looks like about $150 will do it. Mark[/quote:6giqiayn] Easily worth it imo.