J.Eriksen

I have played 5 and 4 string basses to and from for several years .Over the last year or two I have gravitated back to the 4 string. I have eventually found that the 4 str, for me is much easier to handle. The slimmer neck and string muting are main issues but I have also found that anything below E, or perhaps D, belongs to the "Special Effects" department and not all that useful for what I do. With a drop D tuner on a 4 str I do not miss much in bottom end. Ironically, I have a wonderful 5-string bass gathering dust, by far the best bass I have ever laid my hands on. I will nevertheless put it up for sale. Sigh...

Cheers bass players! I have three Dingwall basses. All of them are imho very, very good instruments and favourably comparable to anything from the very top shelf out there. In fact, when I was looking for a J-type 4 string, I bought a Dingwall Super J - not because of the fanned frets but because of the build quality and playability. The fanned frets were a bonus so to speak. However, it is on the 5 string the ff-system really shines, on a four string it does not make much difference in my experience. I have had other 5 string basses, such as the Stingray, but the Dingwall was just so much better with its tight 37" B string. And that goes for the build quality as well. These basses FEEL hand crafted (unlike your Fenders, MMs etc) But, as it has been said by others: They are expensive. Such is life. John