zerofocus Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 hi ive started looking into fanned fret basses i use a 6 string John Myung yamaha which is very good but i think a fanned fret bass may suit better the main thing that intrigues me is the scale length is farily long for my band we tune down to f with a 175 string for it and it still feels a little loose for my liking so does anyone know of any makers that do 6 string fanned fret basses that arent over the top pricing and does anyone have any expirience with fanned fret basses that can tell me what there like?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I'll put a quid on the next post saying "Dingwall"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) The cheapest fanned fret bass you're going to find will be a Dingwall Combustion, they go for about £1300 new, I sold one 2nd hand for £800 recenttly. They're only 5 string though. You'll probably be looking at about £2000 for a 6 string. They're good, they feel great, sound good. I just found it was missing something for me. Edited April 18, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 You rang? (said in "Addams Family" Lurch's voice) Sadly the most affordable Dingwall being the Combustion, does not come in a 6 strings and your next best thing for a couple of hundred pounds more is the ABZ 6 strings. as featured in this video: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 It's already been said but Dingwall is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 [quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1203165' date='Apr 18 2011, 07:40 AM']The cheapest fanned fret bass you're going to find will be a Dingwall Combustion, they go for about £1300 new, I sold one 2nd hand for £800 recenttly. They're only 5 string though. You'll probably be looking at about £2000 for a 6 string. They're good, they feel great, sound good. I just found it was missing something for me.[/quote] Someone owes me a quid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I believe ACG are building their first fanned fret bass just now might be worth giving Alan a ring. He is building me a seven string with standard scale for my low F#. His prices are very very reasonable and you would get to come up with your own spec. Also Shuker have also done fanned frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Here is a link for the ACG build: [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/254/"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/254/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 [quote name='Gust0o' post='1203324' date='Apr 18 2011, 10:18 AM']Someone owes me a quid [/quote] We never shook on it! AFAIK Dingwall are the only company that make fanned fretted basses as standard, so it was pretty unavoidable. A few luthiers are doing fanned fret basses as customs now, but if the OP is on a budget, he'll probably be looking at a Dingwall, especially with a 6. The other option is getting a bass with a long scale, Overwaters are available with 36" scales and 6 strings, that should do the job and would cost less than a new Dingwall (and you don't see many 2nd hand Dingwalls). The other option would be to get an even thicker string on your current bass. Depending on what you play at the moment, that should be fine. There's a lot of 7/8 string basses around that go to F# (as standard, I doubt an extra semitone would make a lot of difference) that people play without any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 [url="http://www.knuckleguitarworks.com/instruments/quake.html"]Why stop at 36"?[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Dingwall Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Everyone has different ideas about what a low string should sound like. Some people only want to rumble and fill the low end. For that a thick string will do. If you're looking for a little more definition in your notes either to actually hear the pitch or the notes you're playing you'll need more harmonic content than just a huge fundamental. This is where things get complicated. IMO you'll need a combination of extended scale length and custom strings. I can only think of one guy who's really focused in on the super-low-end. He makes strings for both fanned-fret and parallel fret basses and his specialty is in the range you're looking for. [url="http://circlekstrings.com/store/index.html"]http://circlekstrings.com/store/index.html[/url] Check him out. I know one of our customers has converted one of his Dingwall's to F# tuning using Circle K's and is quite happy. He's a picky guy so that says a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymilitia Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Here comes the new guy question........ but what do you gain from a fanned fret board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 [quote name='big25g' post='1206001' date='Apr 20 2011, 03:47 PM']Here comes the new guy question........ but what do you gain from a fanned fret board? [/quote] Here you go [url="http://www.dingwallguitars.com/faqs/why-fanned-frets/"]http://www.dingwallguitars.com/faqs/why-fanned-frets/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymilitia Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Very interesting, thats would make sense... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I had the oppotunity to try a fanned fret Dingwall at my teacher's (his son has one). Suprisingly the fanned frets didn't feel as wierd as I thought they would, but I thought the tone of that particular instrument a bit 'Dull' (others might say it was smooth). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Dingwall Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 [quote name='Count Bassy' post='1206253' date='Apr 20 2011, 11:46 AM']I had the oppotunity to try a fanned fret Dingwall at my teacher's (his son has one). Suprisingly the fanned frets didn't feel as wierd as I thought they would, but I thought the tone of that particular instrument a bit 'Dull' (others might say it was smooth).[/quote] In order of brightness Combustion pickups - smoothest Super-Fatty pickups (Super J, Z-series) - aggressive upper-mids but fat top end. FD-3 pickups (ABZ, Afterburner I&II, some Z-series) - the most sparkly top end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbassdoherty Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hi Zerofocus, you should take a trip to Bassdirect, i'm sure Mark would let you try out a fan fret 6 string, I bought my 2 Dingwalls without trying them out first luckily i wasn't disapointed (got the combustion first and was hooked), or if you go onto Dingwallguitars.com they have a forum, and ask if any members are in your area, if they are like me they would only be more than happy to let you have a test drive on one, also take note the man himself (Sheldon Dingwall) has replied to your post, just shows you the kind of after sales service we get from him, i have contacted him a few times for advice (no problems with basses) and he has always got back to me, hope this helps and good luck with your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerofocus Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 [quote name='johnbassdoherty' post='1214772' date='Apr 29 2011, 12:09 PM']Hi Zerofocus, you should take a trip to Bassdirect, i'm sure Mark would let you try out a fan fret 6 string, I bought my 2 Dingwalls without trying them out first luckily i wasn't disapointed (got the combustion first and was hooked), or if you go onto Dingwallguitars.com they have a forum, and ask if any members are in your area, if they are like me they would only be more than happy to let you have a test drive on one, also take note the man himself (Sheldon Dingwall) has replied to your post, just shows you the kind of after sales service we get from him, i have contacted him a few times for advice (no problems with basses) and he has always got back to me, hope this helps and good luck with your search.[/quote] awesome will deffinately check it out, thanks for everyones comment =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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