lowregisterhead

I've owned both. I had a twin pickup 5-string about 10 years ago, but I couldn't get it to sound the way I wanted, despite a pickup upgrade. I bought a new 5-3 a few months back, and it's tonally much more versatile IMHO. All 4 positions on the selector are very useable sounds, and I'm really happy with it. It depends what you're looking for of course, but I'd recommend you try before you buy.

So did I !! The bass doesn't slide into the gigbag quite so smoothly now, but I can live with that.

I had a second-hand 2-pickup Combustion over a decade ago, and although I loved how it played, I could never get it to sound the way I liked, despite pickup upgrades etc. I bought this 5/3 new a couple of months ago, and it's a very different animal. I upgraded the FD-3N pickups to a set of Super Fatty II's, which gave a subtle lift in the mids and overall warmth of tone, and my other basses (Lakland, Bogart, Status) don't seem to get a look-in now. After going to hear Sheldon Dingwall speak at guitarguitar in Epsom a couple of weeks ago I'm considering a Canadian build, but they're well beyond my budget for now. There's a very nice AB1 on eBay at the moment though...

Don't worry, just found some at Bass Direct...

Very nice! Where do you source the control knobs? I had a look at the Dingwall site, but with shipping, taxes and duties it worked out at about £20 a knob...

This was shared by fretmeister, who apparently saw it on a YouTube video by the user LowEndLobster. I found it made a big difference, but I have to say at this point that you obviously try this completely at your own risk - if something fries, I accept no responsibility! It's probably also advisable to have nothing plugged into the jack socket when you do this so the preamp isn't active, or better still, remove the battery. There's a long connector board uppermost in the control cavity. The plug furthest to the right is in a socket marked '0dB IN'. If you move that into the empty socket to its left marked '+6dB IN' it gives a noticeable boost in overall output. I also found that moving the plug on the end of the board which is in 'VM3 OUT' to the adjacent socket marked 'BEQ3 OUT' boosted the treble and overall clarity of the tone quote a bit, giving the Bartolinis more edge and bite.

I just picked up a new EHB1265MS-NML from Andertons, after seeing it on their website a couple of weeks back due in soon, and putting a deposit down. It's one of only two they got into stock, and the other one was sold before it arrived as well. After my niggles with the EHB1505MS two years ago, I have to say this is quite a different animal. Knowing what the potential pitfalls are helped, but not only was this very playable straight out of the box, but the preamp re-plugging (as suggested by @fretmeister and @6feet7 in my original review thread) made a substantial difference to the sound - not just a higher output, but noticeably more top end bite. I'll stick with the factory-fitted Barts for now, but I'm interested in the replacement Aguilars, just not interested enough to shell out £299 for the set! I love the look of the walnut top and ash body combination, much less gaudy to my eye than the pacific blue burst, but more interesting than a solid colour. I also have a Dingwall Combustion, so the multi-scale was no surprise, but the 35"-33" scale is really nice to play - not as much of a stretch as the Dingwall's 37"-34" scale. Particularly since re-plugging the preamp, the EHB has noticeably more zing and bark to its sound, making the Dingwall sound a little pedestrian in comparison. The strap button's going to have to move though. At least with the fanning of the tuners due to the multi scale, it can be re-sited on the body in a more traditional position in line with the middle tuner, which will help with the neck tilt issue. I've got a rehearsal with one of the bands on Sunday, so I'll report back once I've had a chance to use it in anger! First impressions are very positive though.

Thanks for that. I just picked up a new EHB1265MS-NML from Andertons, after seeing it on their website a couple of weeks back due in soon, and putting a deposit down. It's one of only two they got into stock, and the other one was sold before it arrived as well. After my niggles with the EHB1505MS two years ago, I have to say this is quite a different animal. Knowing what the potential pitfalls are helped, but not only was this very playable straight out of the box, but the preamp re-plugging made a substantial difference to the sound - not just a higher output, but noticeably more top end bite. I'll stick with the Barts for now, but I'm interested in the replacement Aguilars, just not interested enough to shell out £299 for the set! I love the look of the walnut top and ash body combination, much less gaudy to my eye than the pacific blue burst, but more interesting than a solid colour. I also have a Dingwall Combustion, so the multi-scale was no surprise, but the 35"-33" scale is really nice to play - not as much of a stretch as the Dingwall's 37"-34" scale. Particularly since re-plugging the preamp, the EHB has noticeably more zing and bark to its sound, making the Dingwall sound a little pedestrian in comparison. The strap button's going to have to move though. At least with the fanning of the tuners due to the multi scale, it can be re-sited on the body in a more traditional position in line with the middle tuner, which will help with the neck tilt issue. I've got a rehearsal with one of the bands on Sunday, so I'll report back once I've had a chance to use it in anger! First impressions are very positive though.