Dingwall Prima 5-String

Made in 1999, in Canada.
24 frets (plus zero fret)
5 strings (B to G, or most commonly used in Bb to Gb and sometimes down to Ab)
Body: Walnut with wenge top and back
Neck: Maple (graphiter reinforced) with Pau ferro fingerboard
Pickups: 2 Dingwall pickups FD-3
Controls: Volume push/pull (active/passive), 4 position rotary switch (neck, neck+brigde in series, neck+brigde in parallel, brigde), high/mid/bass controls, 3 position mid frequency selector (9 volt Bartolini preamp)
Finish: Oil (neck and body)
body style: dinwall's own
Bridge: Kahler
Tuners: Gotoh
Neck/scale: mid to thin, novax system scale (37" in B - 34" in G), mandolin frets
Accessories: all relevant wrenches (screwdriver handle to allow precision and accuracy) and manuals
Adittionaly i don't think that from a designer's standpoint a bass can be more ballanced, in terms of the laws of the physics. Just like a grand piano.

I perform in different bands with materials ranging from heavy metal, to poser rock, progressive, latin, jazz, ethinc, drum and bass (both live, NO SAMPLES!!!), disco and pop to name a few.
it's the only bass that i can use both in active and passive mode to accomodate different styles. I never have to touch the eq section. I just select active or passive and the pickup configuration. the rest is just matter of touching the bass. It produces the widest range of tones available. anything from fat and growly to bright and snappy (there is no issue of losing definition, body or presence within the band or the mix in the recording). Comments from professional and seasoned players include "the most harmonically rich and balanced instrument i've ever heard" "this is a grand piano, in every way; call it any other way and you are insulting the instument". Some of the top notch drummers i perform with, refuse to enter the studio, the rehearsal room or the gig place unless i have the "fanned" bass.
I use it through an EBS Gorm combo 350w (1x15" + horn), Carvin red head I 600w with Goliath III + EBS 615 sub woofer and a Markbass 210.
All amps are set flat with no compression, effects, bells or whistles. In the studio i run the bass through an Avalon U5 with the tone section off (i admit that i am a purist).
It's a pleasure to use it both in studio and live situations. Things that are hard to be performed on other basses (either cause of the fingering or of the clarity and full range needed to be both felt and heard), can be performed in a breeze on this Bass.
At one rock gig, the guitar player had the brand new strings on his 2 guitars broken halfway before the end of the 3rd song. Unrehearsed for the band, I performed the "Wait for sleep" (with the keyboard player joining in the second verse), "Roxanne" and "Unchain my heart" till the guitars were restrung. The audience commented on the sound of the bass (both pros and non-musicians). The comments went on till for the rest of the show as well. It stands out alone and blends in a band (guitar, 2 keybords, drums, 3 vocalists and bass) just as well.

The bass arrived in a very hot summer day (around 40C, maybe more). it needed no adjustments. It performed great out of the box. Sheldon Dingwall took notice of my preference in mid to low action (i have a light touch in general, but it can go to the other extreme of John Entwhistle of taping the strings against the frets) and adjusted the bass accordingly. The bass needed no adjustment for 2 consequtive years!!! (just strings and overall maintenance; NO trussrod messing!!). NO issues with construction or electronic flaws (i have had big flaws on other big name boutique basses, but this is another story). When i received the bass the bass was fitted with 2 Dingwall ordered Bartolinis and a balance control. the bass sounded great (better than anything else i had heard). 2-3 years later, when Dinwall produced his own FD3's i purchased a pair of those, plus the 4 position rotary switch. The great bass became even better. The sound opened up (never sounding sterile, plastic, fake or artificial).
in fact, as soon as i left the bass to have the pickups, rotary switch and new strings installed, i needed to enter the studio. I went to pick up the bass few hours later and i recorded a composition of mine (sort of a Victor Wooten 2 hand thing). The sound left all people at the studio speechless. When the recording was over, i got a call. It was the person who intalled the pickups and the switch. He apologized for not noticing that the pack of stings had fallen behind an amp, so he had installed the same strings on the bass; so he wanted me to go back and install the new strings. I was left open mouthed. THAT SOUND WAS WITH THE OLD STRINGS!!! to this day i still cannot believe it.

Having used this bass as my main bass, both for recording and gigging for the past years. Had no problems with hardware or costruction so far (summers in Greece can be very very hot, and winters ahve been very harsh the past few years).
I have been in many gigs with no back up (risky but i've done it). Even when the battery died in the mid of a gig, i just went into passive mode with no loss in volume or tone (that's one great thing when you set the preamp into unity gain!!!). I believe that having used this bass for these years supports the staement of durability and reliability.

Sheldon Dingwall is a very nice and knowlegdable person; he treats every inquiry seriously and he can communicate greatly. The same goes for Barry Lamb (he handles the sales issues). In fact i've met Barry in person and he is just as nice. Not fake. All my needs were catered in the best way. I so happy with the product and the support that i went on and ordered another bass from them (this is a story to follow).

I started out as a guitar player (Steve Lynch, Angus young, Wolf Hoffmann, Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai) back in 1985. In 1995 i turned to be a bass player (cause all bass players found a girlfriend as soon as the joined the band and they left soon after; is this a lucky band for the bass player, or what?). I sat as a bass player a week before a concert and i only bought my first bass 2 days before that (Hamer Chaparal 5 string; blame Rick Savage for my choice). Do i think that a guitar is similar to a bass? no. it's like comparing a saxophone to a xylophone. when i play the bass (5 string always) i am a bass player. When i touch the guitar i am a rhythm player. I love grooving.
what other gear do i own? Let me name just a few that i am happy with: Hamer Chaparal (US), Status Graphite Empathy (UK), Spector NS2 (US), Kenneth Lawrence Brase (US). For amps look further up.
Still this is the above all bass for me