Dingwall bass Tone Comparison - 4 different models, Passive mode only
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Comparing the tone of four Dingwall models, all in Passive mode, comparing 3 pickup settings: Both pickups, bridge pickup solo, and neck pickup solo.
*The purpose of this video is to hear the raw tone difference, comparing different pickup models, different neck woods, fingerboard woods, and body woods, without having the tone altered by any EQ from a preamp.
The basses are:
1. Combustion (ash body, maple neck and fingerboard, FD3n pickups)
2. Prima (walnut body, roasted maple neck, ebony fingerboard, Super Fatty II pickups)
3. Combustion NG3 (alder body, maple neck and fingerboard, FD3n pickups)
4. Z3 (dual density ash body, wenge neck and fingerboard, FD3 pickups)
Leave a comment - which tone do you like best and why?
The signal chain for this video was very simple, so you would just hear the raw tone of each bass without any preamp or amp or EQ:
Basses:
Mogami Platinum Silent Cable
IK Multimedia iRig Pro Quattro
Sony a7 IV camera with Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Lens
Voice:
Audio-Technica - AT831b Cardioid Condenser Lavalier microphone
That Prima is the chef's frickin kiss. Beautiful looking and sounding. Just incredible.
Great comparision video John. Thanks for this.
Ive been fortunate to own Afterburners, Z2, Super J, Combustion, and a D Roc. My humble opinion is you get 60% of the Dingwall magical tone in the combustions, but the best value for the dollars are the Afterburner series which are so close to the Z series and Primas in playability, construction, and tone. Anyway, your side-by-side testing show that the Prima has a rich more complex fatter tone, while the combustions are articulate, and clear with a more mid forward bump. The Z3 is pretty stellar too. I suspect you can dial in a similar tone in all 4 Dingwalls if you wanted to. The evolution of the Dingwall pickups and the high mass or single piece bridges are really the discriminators. To me thats where the major differences lie.
2:25 That's my future bass, ha! Nice video, take care.
I love that warm fat tone of the Prima.
If I can be completely honest, I can only tell a significant difference with the Prima, and I suspect that's because it has different pickups. That being said, all of them sound beautiful. Personal opinion - quality of the build, playing style, pickups, pickup selection (i.e. neck or bridge), amp/cab and the mic you use all have a big contribution to sound, perhaps moreso than the wood choice (may be an unpopular view).
1. Prima (standout!)
2. Z3
3. NG3
4. Combustion
I can imagine the prima in active mode and the ability to bring those killer base tones alive.
This particular Prima is a one-of-a-kind, it is passive. It has two tone controls, one for each pickup, and a volume and a blend knob instead of the usual four-way rotary switch. So any EQ has to be done at the amp. But you are right, the tones are absolutely killer. I have started contemplating selling it, the collection has grown out of hand and I have no time to play them all. Feel free to reach out if you have an interest in owning it.
Prima sounded best to my ears
Yup! I still have that one, and it's available now.
Prima is definitely exceptional - unrelated, but if you could only have the Berg B amp 2 or the Forte HP which would you pick
For home and studio, I LOVE the flexibility and tone shaping of the B|Amp. For stage, the Forté HP for sure, or Aguilar DB751 if you have a roadie. I can't wait to start using the new Super Pre, which will be a pedal version of the B|Amp, without the amp section. I will be able to use that for studio and practice and for these videos. Speaking of practice, the headphone amp in these things is stellar. Paired with a set of Sennheiser HD 280 phones, you never heard yourself sounding so good.
Did you ever try FD3's in the Prima? I'm curious on the difference between FD3's & SFII's. That Prima is a killer beauty in sound and appearance. Also how do you find the solid roasted maple neck vs. the usual 5 piece laminated? How does it affect the tone (solid vs. laminated), and are there any drawbacks?
I have never tried swapping to pickups in the prima, it's an interesting idea, maybe I'll do that when I change the strings. Come to think of it, I have had that one here for a few years and have not changed the strings yet, they are still fresh. They might be the factory original ones on there still. Regarding the neck, it's so tough to say because not only is the neck different, but the body wood is also completely different. It's sort of an academic question anyway, since roasted maple is not even an option to order, and a solid one piece walnut body is also not an option. This particular Prima is one of a kind and cannot be recreated. I love the tone of it exactly as it is, but you did make me curious about the FD3s and I think it would be an interesting experiment to put them in there, so I will give that a try at some point. Thanks for the idea!
@@JohnFoxBass It is an amazing bass...I have listened to your tone demo's on it at least a dozen time each lol. I've never played 5 string - lost my 2000 4 string AB1 (2xFD3's) in a house fire last year and watching out for a replacement. Not gonna lie this one is very tempting despite being a fiver.
@@owenscott5063 Oh man, what a drag. Really sorry to hear about the fire. Coincidentally, I have an AB1 4 string with two pickups that is due to be coming here soon. The customer is not certain he's going to be able to afford to complete the purchase at this time, so it might potentially become available, which would be amazing. You can drop me a line through the website so that I will be able to easily get in touch with you in case that happens, if you think you might be interested.
Hi John, great video. I already own a D-Roc Standard 4 string, and I'm thinking of upgrading another bass I own to either a Combustion 4 string or NG-3 4 string. I'm not interested in a 5 string at the current time.
My question is, is the Combustion or NG-3 just an active version of the D-Roc?
Not at all. Scale length is the same. But D-Roc neck carve is different, and it has fewer frets. D-Roc has Mahogany body, while NG3 is Alder and Combustion is Ash. Also, pickup selector switch is different. (3 out of 4 settings are different on D-Roc compared to the Combustion/NG3.)
@@JohnFoxBass Thanks for the quick reply John. Just have one more question if that's ok. Is there a big difference in the tone of a Combustion in active vs passive modes? Which do you prefer to run them in?
By the way, I currently have in stock both of those two 4-strings you saw in the video, the Combustion and the NG3.
@@Campo007 I pretty much always run active basses in active mode. For slapping I use bridge and neck pickups and cut the mids a little, and for everything else, I boost the mids very slightly and cut the slightly. I will sometimes boost the bass a little as well. If using a distortion pedal, I cut the mids down to 2 or even 0, and cut the bass down to 2 or 3, or even 0 with heavy distortion, then reintroduce the lows in the EQ on the amp. For old school stuff, the neck pickup solo in passive mode can be good.
Added to what John said, the pickup placement is also different, on the Combustion/NG 3 the pickups are closer to the bridge than on the D-Roc.
hmm...
The tone was better when you left the lav mic open.
Is the Z3 for sale?
I already made the mistake of selling that one once. Luckily, I was able to buy it back. I don't think I want to make that same mistake again. But I can certainly get you an identical one! Contact me through the website.
They all sound anemic. Too much treble, not enough low end. Lee Skar's bass sounds amazing. Perhaps the amp or the settings? I listened with $350 studio headphones.
Thanks for watching. I will have to update the description. I made the video just plugging each Bass directly into the camera through a DI there is no amp, no EQ settings, everything completely flat. So of course it's going to sound very different how it would sound in the real world with some EQ or an amp or preamp. If I had Lee's bass here and plugged it in the same way, it would sound about the same as the Prima or Z3.
DI tone is always like this with most basses. I do agree though it's hard to roll off the top end with the Darkglass preamps but I can manage it fine on my amp if needed.
I listen to 1:43 of this video before writing this comment. I won't listen to any more of it because you didn't use the active preamps !! Why even put it on the damn bass in the 1st place?! We want to hear it!! If not then don't charge us for the preamp or don't make any active basses! It's like saying here test drive this BMW for sale but don't turn on the stereo. Or, here, have this delicious meal but don't touch the filet mignon or chicken marsala !! These are some of the most, if not THE most killer sounding basses on the market no matter what the price , and we didn't get to hear the preamps.... You did these bass guitars a great disservice ! They look great, they're built like tanks, And you get so many different sounds out of them! I have a purple 5 string Combustion which is active, and an aquamarine sparkle D roc which is passive I purchased them because of other videos .... Rock on Sheldon ! You're a genius bro!!
I thank you for watching, and I do appreciate your perspective. I think that I might have done you a disservice by failing to mention the reason for this video. I recently had a customer purchase a Combustion from me, and he is contemplating changing the pickups and wanted to know what some of the other pickups sounded like so he could compare just the pickups. He normally plays in passive mode and wanted to hear just the pickups themselves without being modified by any preamp, so that was the goal of this video. Also, since that Prima is passive, in order to do an apples to apples comparison, all the basses had to be played in passive mode. You can hear plenty of other Dingwalls on my channel being played with the preamp engaged. That was not the purpose of this particular video. I am sorry if it wasted your time.
There 100’s of videos on RUclips demonstrating the preamps. I thought it was quite helpful to hear these basses in passive for a change