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Dingwall Innovations

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Dingwall Afterburner I Elite Novax Fanned Fret System

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Sheldon Dingwall is obviously a very meticulous & talented individual.  His designs are beautiful and fully functional in many ways.  Look at the control cavity.  To guitar builders this is a thing of beauty a work of art !!!!

1,  Notice the full shielding in the cavity.

2,  Notice the copper grounding tape on the left side that is being grounded to the pot and the back cavity plate at the same time.

3,  Observe the set in brass screw fittings that serve to hold the cavity cover on.

4,  Gaze upon the neatness of the layout on the overall compartment.

5,  Look at the neatness of the solder joints on the custom made printed circuit cards within the compartment.

This type of attention to minor details is seldom seen today. Speaking as a guitar builder I am proud to have been selected to carry the Sheldon Dingwall bass guitars in Las Vegas.

Ed Roman

2005


Dingwall Basses showcase Many Beautiful Features Like Matching Wood Pickup Covers (Shown)

Attractive & Elegant Matching Wooden Knobs.

Gorgeous Woods W/ Multi Laminations.

Minimalist Elegant Paua Bar Neck Inlays.

Select Woods Matching Headstock


Ed Roman Recommends Dingwall Basses


NOVAX ® FANNED-FRET ® INSTRUMENTS

WINNER
Industrial Design Award, 1992

The Fanned Fret Concept

The NOVAX ® Fanned-Fret ® concept evolved from a desire to produce an instrument with balanced tone and string tension. As a guitar player and professional repair technician with extensive experience, Ralph Novax had grown dissatisfied with the performance of instruments as they existed. Lack of definition in the lower frequencies, harsh, percussive trebles, and general "muddiness" of tone seemed pervasive, even when the performance of these instruments was optimized. Experimenting with composite materials and state-of-the-art electronics only made matters worse by highlighting these problems. Ralph's repair experience led him to examine scale length as a possible solution.

What Is Scale Length

The vibrating length of the string (the "scale length") is determined by the "nut" and the bridge "saddle." Fret placement is a ratio based on scale length so longer scales have more distance between frets.

Why Is Scale Length Important

Scale Length influences both the tonal quality of the notes produced and the tension of the string at a particular pitch. The tonal effects of scale length are crucial to the final tone of the instrument. Woods, hardware, and electronics act as "filters" to string tone. They do not produce tone of their own and only modify input from the vibrating string. If particular harmonics are very strong, or altogether absent, those characteristics will be present in the final tone of the instrument.

Why Fanned Frets

The "fanning" of the frets results from manipulating the scale length of the bass side of the neck relative to the treble side: the fret spacing is wider for the long scale and closer for the short scale.

Looking inside a grand piano, or at a harp, we see that the string lengths vary with the pitches of the strings. But fretted instruments are traditionally constructed to a single scale length, negating the benefits of scale length relative to pitch. Since there are relatively few strings on most stringed instruments, compromises are made and string gauges are manipulated for workable results. Players, accustomed to the compromises of single scale-length construction, are often pleasantly surprised by the richness and clarity of Fanned-Fret ® instruments. When the fanned-fret concept is applied to the six-string guitar, the resulting instrument has a "focused" sound - clear, articulate and balanced. Some players say "more in tune" or "more accurate."

One of the real advantages of the Fanned-Fret ® concept lies in its application to instruments like the seven-string guitar, eight-string guitar, five-string bass, six-string bass, baritone guitar, and mandolin. The range of tunings and number of strings force compromises that make these instruments poor performers or even impractical when constructed with the traditional single scale-length. The fanned-fret concept addresses those problems and makes these instruments playable and practical.


Dingwall Means Innovation....

Dingwall Means Quality
Dingwall  Means Stability
Dingwall Means Beauty
Dingwall Means Versatility
Dingwall Means The Best Ed Roman Has To Sell

People who know me know I don't bestow complements real easily..., It took 6 years to get this dealership and believe me I looked for other brands to carry, I even started building my own basses.

Most of the other basses didn't come close, they didn't play as well, sound as good even the insanely overpriced ones.

Some of these other companies are charging stupid money for instruments that are jobbed out to 4 different shops and assembled by the supposed maker.

There is nothing wrong with jobbing out components for your instruments. It's efficient and less costly, I do it myself on my lesser cost models. What really grinds my gears are these fake boutique brands that are priced through the roof and are nothing more than Fender Clones for 4 times the price.

Ed Roman

 

 

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