davio Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 I appologize in advance because I don't get out much. That said, I played a Dingwall Afterburner I 5 today. I must admit, when I first saw a picture of a Dingwall's fanned frets a few years ago in my first Bass Player issue (oh, the happy memories) I was pretty skeptical. I thought to myself, "Geeze, bass makers have really gone off the deep end!" Ah, youthful ignorance...so...blissful. Anyway, guys, I think I'm in love. "Mom, dad, her name is Dingwall. She looks kinda weird but once you meet her I'm sure you'll love her just as much as I do. Well, maybe not in the same way but once you get to know her I'm sure you'll learn to accept her the way she is. Oh, and she's blonde!" (see pic in "Triumphal Return" thread) JBFLA brought an Elrick 5 over to me while I was trying out the Bill Dickens AccuGroove cab and wanted to see what I thought of it. I played it a bit and told the Bass Central employee standing by that I wasn't crazy about the floppy B string. Being a 34" bass and having pretty low action you can't really avoid that though. He smiled and said "You want a tighter B? Try this!" and proceeded to place into my hands my very first Dingwall to test fondle. 37" on the B string!!! 37" of wood is alot of Dingwall to fondle but it felt soooo good and the fanned frets felt very natural. I thought it would be difficult to get used to but after about 5 minutes I almost forgot they were different than what I'm used to. I think Mr. Dingwall might just be on to something. My congratulations to the designers and builders for a beautiful bass well made. P.S. - It sounded great too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATM Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 I was there, and I've seen fondling, and what Davio was doing to that bass was beyond the measures of good taste. If Mr. Dingwall knew what Davio was doing to his daughter... well, let's just say that it's a good thing neither Mr. Dingwall nor Davio's girlfriend were there to witness this display. I'm sure that Davio's girlfriend will from now on be calling the Dingwall, "The Other Woman." ATM http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/atmofmn/Bass/DeepThoughtsBS.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 19, 2005 Author Share Posted June 19, 2005 Was it just a weekend fling or will Davio be going back to visit? We'll see. She will be mine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnb Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 I tried a Dingwall at Bass Central a few months ago. Very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Dingwalls are nice basses. Got to play one at the BP Live event this past October. Capasso has pictures. Really nice bass. Peace. --SW spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraub Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 I also played my first Dingwall at the aforementioned BPLive event. I also fell in deep, deep lust. Completely natural feeling, great sounding, and a lovely, balanced sensation to play, both in string-to-string tension/tone, and instrument playability. My next bass WILL be a Dingwall 5. Somehow. Peace, wraub I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Originally posted by wraub: My next bass WILL be a Dingwall 5. Somehow. Ditto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Oh yeah, Z2=phat. Peace. --s-uu spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 So what's the difference between the Afterburner I and II? Is it just the electronics? And how do the Prima, Z1 and Z2 differ from the Afterburner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Prima is the original design. Z1 is more J-bass sounding, with swamp ash body and repositioned pickups. Z2 has a big humbucker in the 'sweet spot' and only 22 frets for the ultimate slap tone. Afterburner is the budget model: Passive electronics, one piece hard maple neck, soft maple body, non-tiltback headstock, simpler bridge. Afterburner 2 keeps simple design but replaces maple with bubinga and mahogany for darker more complex sound, and adds active preamp. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfiend Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Interesting footnote: The afterburner was the design sheldon dingwal made after his shop in saskatoon(i think) was destroyed in a fire. Hiram Bullock thinks I like the band volume too soft (but he plays guitar). Joe Sample thinks I like it way too loud (but he plays piano). -Marcus Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Quite interesting musicfiend. Alex, the Afterburner I that I played had a switch on it that I assumed, at the time, was a passive/active switch. If only the Afterburner IIs are active, do you know what the switch was for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfiend Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Was the switch for pickup selection? Hiram Bullock thinks I like the band volume too soft (but he plays guitar). Joe Sample thinks I like it way too loud (but he plays piano). -Marcus Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 You know, it might have been. I played a good number of basses that day so I don't remember exactly. But you could be right. I remember it had a 4-way switch for series and parallel configurations but I'm not really sure about the switch. Pup selection would make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Also, I've seen pics of Afterburner IIs with 4 knobs, 4 knobs and two switches and one with just a single volume knob. I know that one of the switches is an active/passive switch but what's the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfiend Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 series/parallel/? mid frequency selector switch? humbucker/single coil? Hiram Bullock thinks I like the band volume too soft (but he plays guitar). Joe Sample thinks I like it way too loud (but he plays piano). -Marcus Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted June 22, 2005 Author Share Posted June 22, 2005 I just want to say that Sheldon Dingwall is the coolest owner of one of the coolest businesses on Earth! I emailed the company today about some of the specifics on their instruments and he replied promptly (within an hour or two) and he's one of the most helpful individuals ever. Just wanted to say that he's cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfiend Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 I had a similar experience with warwick. Roger Sadowsky was also very nice to me at NAMM a couple of years ago, as was Timothy B. Schmitt. I these guys deserve their success by my count! Hiram Bullock thinks I like the band volume too soft (but he plays guitar). Joe Sample thinks I like it way too loud (but he plays piano). -Marcus Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfiend Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Originally posted by davio: Also, I've seen pics of Afterburner IIs with 4 knobs, 4 knobs and two switches and one with just a single volume knob. I know that one of the switches is an active/passive switch but what's the other? So, what's the word in the province? Hiram Bullock thinks I like the band volume too soft (but he plays guitar). Joe Sample thinks I like it way too loud (but he plays piano). -Marcus Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Secondino Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 The switch you're referring to should be the switch for the "blue cube" function. it is a passive EQ circuit that cuts the high midrange and gives the sound a HI Fi vibe. Visit Paul Secondino.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabottomend Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 ........ and all I have are pictures in a magazine! Dang! Do not be deceived by, nor take lightly, this particular bit of musicianship one simply describes as "bass". - Lowell George "The music moves me, it just moves me ugly." William H. Macy in "Wild Hogs" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thank you Paul. I had forgotten about this thread. I have purchased an Afterburner I since that time. If you're interested, you can see it HERE in a few horrible camera phone-taken pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Just to further clear things up, the ABI model is passive and includes a mini-switch for the BlueQube frequency selector. The ABII model is active/passive, and the two mini switches are for this active/passive control and for the BlueQube selector. Hope that helps. blueberryhillbass.com Blueberry Hill Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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