Dingwall Super P Far East model?

[NJE]

I have just watched a short video on Dingwall’s Instagram showing some models from guitar summit.

 

Sheldon shows two prototype Super PJ basses which he says are new models maybe coming out next year. I am hoping they are going to be far east made versions.

 

I have commented a couple of times on their posts that they should do a far east Super P or J model and always had a cryptic reply or a like, so hopefully one is on the way.

 

 

[jonno1981]

If only they could make these at the same price as the 40th anniversary squiers! 

[MichaelDean]

The Bass Buddha shop in Denmark confirmed in their Instagram stories that it was an import super PJ. 

[Thump]

ooo thats nice 

[Bigwan]

Waiting for the 5 string model that will inevitably appear! 

[Lfalex v1.1]

Potentially difficult for Dingwall with regard to price/performance/features.

 

If they're too good, they'll undermine their other models.

 

If they're too expensive, people will trade up into the next echelon of Dingwalls or buy another brand. 

 

If the quality's not there, word will spread and players will avoid them. 

But how to achieve this at a reasonable price point?

 

If they did a 2 or 3 J pick-up passive 5 with a Rosewood board for <£800-900, sign me up.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Lfalex v1.1

[NJE]

My guess is that they will be around combustion and DRoc standard prices so roughly £1700.

 

The NGs are over 2k now but they have the Darkglass preamp and matching headstock, so probably a bit more labour and cost in those.

 

If the quality and consistency is like the other Far East made Dingwalls I have played I think they will do well.

[MichaelDean]

1 hour ago, Bigwan said:

Waiting for the 5 string model that will inevitably appear! 

 

I'm pretty sure the Super PJ 5 on the bottom row is also an import..

 

 

@NJE I reckon you're probably on the money with those prices.

[Killerfridge]

I would love to see an Ivan Far East PJ 

[Eldon Tyrell]

Check out from 06:56. According to Sheldon, everything is different - the pickups, the body, and the headstock. Everything. He hopes that they will be a hit.

 

 

[Chadu25]

Anyone ordered an SP1?

[MichaelDean]

Unfortunately not. I'd love to get my hands on one though!

[NJE]

I played what looked like the final production model at the guitar show in Birmingham. Beautifully built, set up perfectly and sounded superb. I tried the 5 string so I’m really keen to give the 4 string a go.

[Machines]

I expect these to land in the UK within the month. Have also played the demo model and I felt it wasn't setup very well, but sounded great.

 

Will be checking them out for sure, but doubt they will replace my D-Roc / JT5.

[Chadu25]

Looking forward to it. Just preordered the Ducatti white 5 string from BassDirect. Decided to gift myself something nice as I just got promoted to Senior UI Artist at work. They mentioned stocks will arrive end of this month. Going to be my first Dingwall and fanned fret experience. I requested them to have a TI flats installed

I’m really excited! 

Edited May 8 by Chadu25

[Chadu25]

https://dingwallguitars.com/bass/sp1/

Dingwall just updated their website and added the SP1

Gorgeous!

Edited Saturday at 07:02 by Chadu25

[SumOne]

On 10/05/2025 at 08:01, Chadu25 said:

https://dingwallguitars.com/bass/sp1/

Dingwall just updated their website and added the SP1

Gorgeous!

Nice! That ticks a lot of boxes for me.

 

Bass Direct have it on pre order at £1,950. 

 

I'd order one if I could be sure it would be 4kg or thereabouts. (I had a Combustion that was about 4.5kg and was too heavy for me. Competition with things like the Ibanez EHB range where a big selling point to me is they weigh about 3.4kg).

[SumOne]

I think the SP1 P bass type neck pickups solves an issue I have with multi-scale (admittedly it isn't an issue I've ever seen anyone else mention, so perhaps it isn't an issue!).

 

 

Play horizontally down the strings and the usual multiscale pickup angle/position (like the bridge one here) means that you are playing the B string just in front of the pickup, but the G behind the pickup (green line). That has always felt like an issue for me - the tone playing the G relatively further back is different to the tone of the B ahead of the pickup. But now, if playing ahead of the neck pickups (yellow line) it at least means you are playing slightly ahead of the neck pickup on the B and on the G which I expect is a more even tone across all strings.

[Machines]

Whilst true, the harmonics/timbre of the hand position are relative to the string scale, which is compensated for by the angled pickups.

 

One thing to note about the previous Dingwall models (Combustion/NG/D-Roc), is that the pickups inside the case are split coils, so the 'playing line' is additionally compensated for:

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Machines

[Dood]

8 minutes ago, Machines said:

Whilst true, the harmonics/timbre of the hand position are relative to the string scale, which is compensated for by the angled pickups.

 

One thing to note about the previous Dingwall models (Combustion/NG/D-Roc), is that the pickups inside the case are split coils, so the 'playing line' is additionally compensated for:

 

 

I loved having those three pickups on my (sadly gone) AB1 to play across as @SumOne says. I'd have gone one step further and had all three pickups made as a giant ramp, with a radiused top to suit the neck.  Sheldon and I chatted about radiused pickup shells way back, but life got in the way of making that a reality. 

[SumOne]

I think the SP1 solves a few of the issues I had with the Combustion:

 

• Strings: Combustion 34"-37" has quite a limited selection of strings available. 32-35" means the SP1 can use normal strings (possibly need to be bought indididually though  - a short scale 32" and a long scale 35").
• Length/weight: I found 34"-37" on the Combustion a bit OTT for reaching some of the lower frets on the B and the overall length of the Bass felt a bit unwieldy and long/heavy (the headstock is quite a long distance away - meaning the body has to be quite heavy to balance it), I thought it could all be a shorter scale and still sound good and balance wekk. The Combustion was about 4.5 kg, I've seen that some Super P's are <4kg so hopefully the SP1 is too.
• Passive - front facing jack: I'm keen on a passive and front facing jack just for real-world practicality e.g. can briefly put the Bass on a stand at rehearsal and keep it plugged in, sit on a sofa to play while plugged in without the jack poking in to the seat, can see it to easily plug in/out, never need to think about batteries. I plug into pedals and Amp for EQ stuff so don't really need that all to be on the bass. 
• Tone: I'd have trouble saying 'that sounds like a Combustion' in the same wasy as, say being able to hear the character of a P bass, hopefully the SP1 has some of that that passive P bass character.

 

So I'm sold - just as long as it isn't too heavy. 

 

 

 

Edited 4 minutes ago by SumOne

[Chadu25]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

Nice! That ticks a lot of boxes for me.

 

Bass Direct have it on pre order at £1,950. 

 

I'd order one if I could be sure it would be 4kg or thereabouts. (I had a Combustion that was about 4.5kg and was too heavy for me. Competition with things like the Ibanez EHB range where a big selling point to me is they weigh about 3.4kg).

Same here. Bass direct pre-order price is also better than Andertons. I watched an interview where Sheldon mentioned the SP1s will be lighter as the body is slimmer. Hope it's light. My heaviest bass is a Lakland 55-02 skyline which weighed around 4.9kgs. Sold it. Currently using a Yamaha BB435 which is 4.2kgs but still looking for something light.