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The DONG

For a long time I have wanted a four-string bass with a bit of a prog tone - something with lots of EQ controls and with a sharper sound that would work better with distortion.

One of my favorite basses has been a friend’s Dingwall NG ADAM “NOLLY” GETGOOD SIGNATURE. It has an incredibly clear and thick tone that sounds extremely natural. Here’s a picture of me playing it, with a cone on my head.

The only downside to that model is the price - 30,290 SEK (€2,699)… That’s a bit more than I can currently spend on a bass.

So, my thought was: can I build a bass that sounds somewhat like a Dingwall, but at a lower cost?

Here’s my reasoning: What makes the Dingwall NG ADAM “NOLLY” GETGOOD SIGNATURE so nice to play?

String length is hard to replicate on a cheaper bass, so that’s a factor I’ll just have to live without. But string spacing is easy to replicate - just use a four-string bass. And as it happens, that’s exactly what I wanted. So, no problem there.

I also want a bass that can go down to at least a low D, which I think is the lowest note that still sounds good in most contexts. That’s just two semitones lower than a standard four-string bass. But for compatibility, I would rather have a four-string bass with a low B, so I could use the thickest strings in a five-string set.

Dingwall’s pickups aren’t available in “normal” form factors. They’re made specifically for Dingwall’s string spacing and angled mounting. But fortunately, another manufacturer - Nordstrand Audio - makes a model of pickups called the DINGSTRAND NORDWALL. These are soapbar pickups designed to emulate Dingwall’s, but in standard form factors.

Finally, there’s the pre-amp. The Dingwall uses a Darkglass Tone Capsule, which isn’t Dingwall-exclusive and can be purchased separately.

The Plan

My plan was the following:

Choosing a Bass

To easily swap in DINGSTRAND NORDWALL pickups, I needed a bass with pickups of the same or larger size. Unfortunately, standardization isn’t really a thing when it comes to bass pickups. Even if pickups are the same type, that doesn’t mean they share the same form factor or dimensions.

Luckily, Nordstrand Audio is one of the few pickup manufacturers that actually lists the dimensions of their pickups on their site. Why this isn’t standard for pickup makers, I really don’t know…

The DINGSTRAND NORDWALL comes in two versions: One wider, based on the Bartolini BC shape, which is 101.35mm x 32.6mm, and a narrower version based on the EMG 35, which is 89.41mm x 38.35mm.


I found a bass that already had EMG35 pickups: the Harley Benton TB-70. The only downside is that… it’s kind of an ugly bass.

So instead, I looked at a number of basses that I guessed had similarly-sized pickups and emailed Thomann to ask for measurements. Let me just say: Thomann’s customer service is fantastic. This project wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Since basses with soapbar pickups are hard to find at lower price points, I selected a few models with dual humbuckers, as they seemed closest in size. I also included some five-strings since I hadn’t yet decided whether I wanted four or five strings.

These are the dimensions I got back from Thomann:

Pickups that are a couple millimeters too small should still fit just fine, as the cavities are likely about 1.5mm wider than the pickups themselves on each side. Worst case, I could file the cavities slightly.

In the end, I went with the Marcus Miller M2 TBK 2nd Gen, since it seemed to match the dimensions closely and - bonus - I think it looks the best of the bunch.

Electronics

Mode switch

Instead of a traditional humbucker bass setup, where each of the two windings are connected in series, Dingwall has a mode switch for switching between connecting them in series and in parallel.

To achieve this, I used a 4PDT switch (Four pole, double throw. Pretty much four switches in one package). Here is the schematic for how this was connected. Note that there actually only is one switch, but it is split up into two symbols here for it to be easier to read.

It’s a bit unclear exactly how this works, so here is a diagram of what happens when you toggle the switch between parallel and serial mode.

The output pins for both pickups where then wired to a blend knob and into the pre-amp.

Blend knob

I used a stereo potentiometer (pretty much two potentiometers in the same knob) to wire up the blend between the pickups. I prefer doing it like this rather than a simple blend, but I can’t say that I’m sure if it actually matters.

Pre-amp

The pre-amp is a Tone Capsule made by Darkglass. It features a tree-band EQ with a Bass, Mid and Hi Mid knob. It runs on either one or two 9 V batteries (9-18 V), and is honestly quite simple to install. I really recommend it for anyone that wants to get a better sound out of their bass, but isn’t too comfortable with soldering, as it is pretty much plug and play.

Strings

I went with a set of Elixir 14782 Stainless Steel strings (mostly as I already had a pair, but also because those are really nice). There is not much to say here, I just had to file the nut a bit wider. I would recommend buying a spare nut if you do this. They are quite cheep, and it is nice to know that if you made a mistake, you can just swap it out. One tip is that you can actually “file” the nut by stringing the bass and tune it up and down, until the string itself has made the groove bigger.

Cost

Here’s a breakdown of what I bought to get the bass to a basic state. This of course doesn’t take into account the time I spent on the project:

Item Product Price
Bass Marcus Miller M2 TBK 2nd Gen 4,077 SEK (€372.65)
Pickups Dingstrand Nordwall 4 3,700 SEK (€338.15)
Pre-amp Darkglass Tone Capsule 1,999 SEK (€182.71)
Strings Daddario EPS230Elixir 14782 Stainless Steel Strings 629 SEK (€57.49)
Total 10,405 SEK (€951.04)

So, was it worth it? It cost me about a third of what a Dingwall bass would cost. And in my opinion, it’s about 90% as good.

But counting the time spend researching and building, I would not say that it the money would make up for it if you just want a good bass.

But I do really recommend you to try out buying and reworking a cheap instrument if you like guitars/basses and would like to learn a little more about how they work. It is a really fun process and it is not as hard as it looks!

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