Combustion

COMBUSTION

The Combustion is a break-through in terms of performance per dollar. By combining North American sourced materials and components with Chinese manufacturing we now offer many of the Dingwall tone and performance advantages at an extremely affordable price. Final setup and inspection is done in the Dingwall shop in Canada so you know the basses will play great right out of the box.

Specifications

* While our website is under construction this information is subject to change. *

Scale Lengths and Dimensions

Fingerboard Radius

Combustion Fingerboard radius – 240 mm (9.45”)

The Combustion bass features a single radius (240 mm) fingerboard. This makes for a very comfortable playing experience.

Scale Lengths

4 string model - E A D G
5 string model - B E A D G
6 string model - B E A D G C

B: 37″
E: 36.25″
A: 35.5″
D: 34.75″
G: 34″
C: 33.25

Dimensions

Bridge Spacing 4: 19 mm – .748″
Bridge spacing 5: 18 mm – .709″
Bridge spacing 6: 18 mm – .709″
Nut width 4: 42 mm – 1.65″
Nut width 5: 45.5 mm – 1.8″
Nut width 6: 55 mm – 2.2″
Heel width 4: 63 mm – 2.5″
Heel width 5: 75 mm – 2.95″
Heel width 6: 89 mm – 3.5″
Neck thickness @ 1st fret: 21 mm – .827″
Neck thickness @ 12th fret: 24 mm – .945″

Body

2-3 pc Swamp Ash body, Matte Black pickguard. Smoked Chrome Hipshot/Dingwall hardware.

Body Core

The average weight of the Combustion is a low 8.75 lbs.

Standard Top

N/A

Tone Chambers

N/A

Standard Top

N/A

Top Options

N/A

Exotic wood contrasting layer option

N/A

Matching Wood Cover Plates

N/A

Finish

The Gloss Combustion finishes are a polyester base topped with polyurethane color and top coats. This industry standard finish is long-wearing and beautiful for years of service life.

Colors

Natural (Ash)
2 tone Blackburst (Quilt maple top)
Vintageburst (Quilt maple top)
Indigoburst (Quilt maple top)
Whalepoolburst (Quilt maple top)
10th Anniversary Amethystburst (Quilted Maple Top)

Pickguard Options

Matte Black

Neck

We take neck construction very seriously due to our extensive experience in guitar repairs coupled with our geographic location and corresponding extreme climate. We’ve experimented with many different lamination and have found a 5-piece maple construction to be among the best.

Neck Construction

In my years in the guitar repair business I constantly had to deal with humidity related problems made worse by the huge temperature and humidity swings of our local climate. Many of these problems could have been minimized through simple design changes and materials choices.

Touring musicians are constantly amazed at how stable Dingwall instruments are. Many state that their Dingwall necks are as stable as their graphite necked instruments.

We’ve experimented with many different laminations and have found a 5-piece maple construction to be among the best. Years of experience have proven this design to be extremely stable and reliable.

Neck Carve

Medium thin C shape

Neck Reinforcement

Heavy duty truss-rod

Headstock

Headstock design – Flat, string retaining bar.

We combined the minimalist shape of the Afterburner headstock with the lightest import tuners we could find. The results are excellent balance and solid performance.

Headstock options

N/A

Standard Fingerboard

Maple

Fingerboard Options

Pau Ferro

Fretless Option

N/A

Fret Options

We use 18% hard nickel silver fretwire. Lee Sklar turned us onto the benefits of small frets. The advantages are a more woody, less metallic tone, smoother glissandos and a faster feel. Our standard size is “banjo” size. This is the same size as you’d find on most guitars from the 50’s and 60’s. Although its size is smaller than standard bass fretwire, its service life is about the same.

Position Markers and Inlays

3 mm plastic face dots, 2 mm plastic side dots.

Electronics

The FD-3N pickups are made to our specifications.

Pickups

The FD-3N pickups are made to our specifications. They feature Neodymium magnets which offer high output and a smooth but aggressive tone.

Pickup Options

2 pickup neck/bridge 3 pickup neck/middle/bridge

Exotic wood shells, matching wood shells

N/A

Standard Electronics

EMG 3-band, FD-3n pickups, Vol, rotary pickup selector, Bass, Mid, Treble, Active/Passive switch

Pre-amp Option

N/A

Pickup Switching

Rotary pickup selector.

Knobs

The Combustion now features Smoked Chrome knurled push-on knobs.

Jack

The jack is one of the most critical electronic components of a bass. It’s the most likely to suffer abuse so needs to be rugged in order to be reliable. We wanted the Combustion to be as reliable as it is great sounding and looking so we install the amazing socket style jack plate with a Switchcraft brand jack.

This is the most reliable system you will find in this price range.

Hardware

Hardware color: Smoked Chrome
Tuners: We tested a lot of tuners when designing the Combustion. We were able to find an open-back tuner that met our requirements of light-weight and smooth feel. These tuners will provide years of trouble free performance. We also chose them to have the exact same hole specifications as both Gotoh and Hipshot tuners so replacement or upgrades down the road are a simple process.
Bridge: We started with an available bridge/saddle system that met our requirements for lock-down solid performance and great tone. Then we improved on it by designing a custom riser system to provide increased range of action adjustability.
Strap Pins: Standard

*Available in right and left hand 4, 5 and 6 string models.

PLEASE NOTE: While the Combustion models are manufactured in China to our exacting specs, when they arrive here in Canada each bass goes through a rigorous two hour quality check including all the electronics, fret leveling and final setup. These basses don't leave our Canadian shop until they are up to our high standards.