Sheldon Dingwall

[quote name='Meenie' post='1067110' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:15 PM']Ive been talking to a few luthiers about modding up my five string T-Bird with fanned frets, unfortunately the price of the work makes it a bit prohibitive, so ive been drooling over the Dingwall's too. Looks like the perfect answer to all my drop tuned intonation issues. Any chance of a Dingwall T-Bird Sheldon? aaah, go on, you know you want to! Ive made myself come over all perculiar just thinking about such a beast![/quote] We've got one drawn up. The look of the fanned-frets work really well with the shape of the T-bird body. I've got a bunch of products that I need to finish with then I'll take on the D-bird.

[quote name='charic' post='1066400' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:30 AM']I had a thought last night. Has anyone done a fanned fret pbass? We all know that a P bass is normally great a cutting through the mix. Imagine how could it could be also imagine how good it could look if you used the dingwall super j aesthetics![/quote] It's on our future development list. I'd really like to do it in the original P style with the big black pickguard and sharper edges.

[quote name='deepbass5' post='1065533' date='Dec 21 2010, 06:00 AM']Well Sheldon, you sure know how to stop a thread dead in its tracks. On behalf of all that admire your work a Very Merry Christmas.[/quote] That's me "The thread killer". I was being serious though. I think those guys are brilliant. Merry Christmas to you too.

We've tried lesser fans in the past. They work. They don't even things out as well as our existing pattern. Right or wrong we have an attitude that if it doesn't do the job 100% then why do it at all. I'm too lazy to find the post asking about playing styles but if he was interested here's Leland's wiki bio. The list is far from complete, but still mind boggling to look at. About 25% of all work from 1994 on would be one of our basses. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Sklar"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Sklar[/url] If you'd rather just listen to something, here's some really tasty bass work by our friend and endorser Paul Slagle. The bass Paul used on this cut was from the Bartolini era. Pre FD-3, pre dual density body etc. That said, when he drops down to a B flat it still sounds pretty good. [url="http://soundcloud.com/paulslagle/i-try-too-hard"]http://soundcloud.com/paulslagle/i-try-too-hard[/url]

I'd like to try the LeFay sometime. I think their work is brilliant.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1062157' date='Dec 17 2010, 06:30 PM']One thing I don't understand about Dingwalls is that the whole design is based around that low B (which it does superbly, I almost ended up with one myself recently) but it seems a bit of a waste on 4 strings. What's the scale length with the 4 strings and are there any advantages other than the natural wrist rotation (which, with all due respect, seems a bit wasted on a narrower 4 string neck)? Lovely basses and I'd love to own a super J 5 someday. [/quote] We're known for our B-string. It's a blessing and a curse. Our 4-strings sound even better than our 5's. A 36.25" E has the same punch and clarity as the A. Dropped down to D it's outrageous. The 35.5" A has articulation and transparency that is second to none. The D and G-strings sound pretty normal compared to a 34" scale, but sound fatter and less tense than a 35" scale. The Super J has the same advantages but dials down the articulation in favor of fatness and punch. The real advantage is that instead of cramming 4 or 5 different timbres (one for each string) down a single cable, through a single row of eq settings and ending up with half of your notes unable to cut through the mix. We offer as close to the same timbre on all strings as possible. The result being your bass is easier to eq, easier to mix (soundmen and engineers love us), and way easier to hear in the mix. Communicating the groove is no different than any other form of communication. If it's not communicated clearly enough to be heard the meaning gets lost.

[quote name='MythSte' post='1061691' date='Dec 17 2010, 09:30 AM']I don't mean to hijack the thread at all but where abouts in Canada are you based Sheldon? I've a few trips over planned next year! P.S, I'm aware its a kinda big place, worth asking [/quote] We're slightly west of dead-center. Saskatoon, SK. Drop us a line if you're going to be in the area.

I recognize that the comparison to a Yamaha was to illustrate the problem we may face when players first try the Combustion. I'll be looking into this further to see what we can do because that's an important point. I think I mentioned before that the real benefits of what we do become more apparent in a live or practice setting. Here's a comment I noticed today from a Yamaha owner on talkbass who bought a Combustion. "Been telling the guys in the band about my "new" Combustion and they were a little skeptical about the whole thing. They were really happy with the sound I was getting from my Yamaha TR5BII and were wondering why I was considering changing it. My wife couldn't understand why I wanted one either. Had our first practice with it tonight. Just to give it a work out we played a pile of stuff we don't normally play on stage. Started off with some Rodney Crowell, switched to Fats Domino, followed up with some Dire Straits, jammed a good long time to Stormy Monday, some 60's surf music and finished off with some Bluegrass (not the kind you can smoke). Everyone was absolutely blown away with the sound of it. No more questions on why I wanted to change, only why did I wait so long to get one. My wife was totally blown away. First time she has ever commented about the sound of any bass I've ever played and that's after 38 years of her listening to the bands I've played in. I could not believe the range in sound I could get by merely moving my right hand just in front of the middle pup, over the middle pup (my usual spot) and back to the bridge one. It was like dialing up a total EQ change." To me the most significant comment was from his wife - a non-musician. I've been hearing the same thing from our customers for years. The reason I think this is significant is that as a performer (unless you're Victor Wooten), the majority of your audience will be non-musicians. They are the ones we need to connect with to be successful. We need to give the non-musician a reason to leave their computer, gaming system, home theater etc. and come and hear you play. It's become my opinion that the bass player is the most important link in this process.

Holy Crap!

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1059888' date='Dec 15 2010, 01:04 PM']What can I say, my Dingwall ABZ has totally changed my life and... me too See for yourself!! [/quote] In Canada at this time of year, that's what you'll look like if you go outside without your winter jacket LOL.

[quote name='markstuk' post='1059248' date='Dec 15 2010, 01:11 AM']Hi Sheldon, I believe they're the "old" ones as the guy I'm buying from said that newer knobs were available from you.. I was not having a dig by the way, just that this was the only thing I could find fault with.. Reminds me of a good friend of mine who when he was living in Texas had his mother in law visit from the UK - she was always critical of everything Mark did for her daughter.. As they sat having dinner, the sun setting over the Gulf, she looked out over the idyllic scene and said "the seagulls are smaller than the ones we have in Southend"... Cheers Mark PS - do the pots have splined shafts or screw locking type shafts? :-) Cheers Mark[/quote] Hey Mark, no worries. The volume and tone are 6 mm split-splined and the rotary switch is 1/4" solid. All of our knobs have a 1/4" bore so there will be a small brass tube inside the V/T knobs to size them down to 6 mm. There should also be a plastic shim in the pot shaft slot to keep the set screw from bending the prongs. If you replace the V/T knobs with push-on style remove the plastic shim.

[quote name='markstuk' post='1056387' date='Dec 12 2010, 01:46 PM']Hi, I'm picking up an ABZ on Thursday, and my sole criticism was that the knobs feel cheap.... Easy to fix for £30 but....... Cheers Mark[/quote] Those knobs are the opposite of cheap - they're handmade by us. Let me know if they are the new ones or the old ones.

I was talking to my sales manager yesterday about a new potential endorser for us who was a long time Kubicki endorser. He said that he asked Phil years ago for suggestions for a really good 5-string and Phil said Dingwall. Again, a true gentleman.

Some good feedback here. The neck finish and knobs are the first I've heard complaints about. Both are easy to deal with both at the factory level and at the consumer level. We get comments from both directions. Some players used to meaty necks prefer the Combustion over the ABZ, others prefer the slender feel of the ABZ, others who are used to the even slimmer Z-series necks thing the AB necks are too bulky. Origin of perspective really influences first impressions. Off topic a little. It's been on my mind to comment on the Kubicki X-factor since it's been mentioned in this thread a couple of times. There's a bass that deserves more recognition. I bow down to the brilliance of Phillip Kubicki. He's a real gentleman too.

I appreciate the comments - good and bad. OK not so much the bad ones LOL I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions. Gimmick - I can say from experience that using fanned-frets has probably done more to hurt our sales than taking a safer route. Fanned-frets are the most obvious feature of our basses but they are only one ingredient of many that we use to achieve an end result. If we could figure out a way to get the results we're looking for, namely even feel and tone across the strings, smooth transition of tone up the neck with a more steady pitch in the higher frets of the low strings, increased clarity and focus, light-weight in combination with all of the above (that's one of the tougher things to pull off) we'd be all over it. Fanned-frets are partially tied to increased scale length - at least for most of our instruments. I'm surprised to hear a Kubicki owner argue that increased scale length doesn’t make much difference. That's one of the basses that made me realize how much richer the drop-D was with a longer scale. By comparison de-tuning the E and leaving the clamp on makes the D sound muddier to my ears. One of our shops "test mules" is a fanned-fret 5 with three B-strings. One strung at 37", one at 35.5" and one at 34". This is the best test I can think of to evaluate the effects of scale length on the B with as many variables eliminated as possible. I know of know one else who can actually say they've done this test. The results are easily noticeable - not earth shattering but easily noticeable. The longer scale speaks with more clarity, articulation and is less "wonky" in the upper frets. Thunderous, huge, solid - That's not what we're about. You can get those qualities with just about any scale length. We're about balance and a tight bottom-end. You're not likely going to hear much difference in a store or at home. At a club - especially a really rumbly or echo-prone one - a tighter bottom-end makes a huge difference. Piano-like - That's not what we're about either. You can get a pretty good piano-tone out of our basses but that's not what we focus on. Purposely. "Emperor's new clothes" - That fear keeps me up at night. All luthiers fall in love with an idea - it helps motivate them along a path. I see this all the time. At it's worst I get the idea that the concept just sounds so damn good that they don't test it to see if it does what they say. We're no different, we fall in love with concepts and "believe" they should work as we envision. Over the years however we’ve done a lot of testing to avoid the "Emperor's new clothes" syndrome. It's pretty disappointing when they don't work out. I can safely say that if it's on our bass, we've made sure it does what we say it does. So not looking to offend just hopefully add a little clarity.

This address would apply to a lot of musicians in general, not just bass players.

Where does McEwan's Strong sit in the mix? That's the first beer that made me sit up and say woah!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='994249' date='Oct 19 2010, 04:16 PM']If it is genuinely SD, I claim a free (OK discounted) bass for uncovering this fraud! ... No serious I do. [/quote] Would you settle for a beer instead? I've never been to the UK but I'm due for a visit.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='994224' date='Oct 19 2010, 04:01 PM']Wind up, or genuine? If you really are Sheldon Dingwall, then welcome, and I rather wish I hadn't sold my Z2. ( [url="http://tinypic.com/a/pjy1/3"]http://tinypic.com/a/pjy1/3[/url] )[/quote] Who would want to impersonate me? That Z2 was a nice one.

Who are these guys? I appreciate that even though they based it on one of our designs they put a lot of their own design ideas into it.

[quote name='mattbass6' post='981220' date='Oct 8 2010, 01:49 AM']Hi. The scale length on the "B" is 37" and on the "C" it's 34" [/quote] The C is actually 33-1/4" which makes it sound a little bigger and feel a little more supple than 34"