Jellyfish Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Today I received my Dingwall Combustion with upgraded FD3 pickups. It's a brand new bass and Mark from Bass Direct kindly installed the FD3 pickups for me. However, upon first playing the bass, I noticed that there was a smaller-than-1mm gap between the corner of the neck pickup and the G string. It was so close that it was causing the G string to strike the pickup every time I played it. For comparison, there is ~3mm gap between the bridge pickup and the G string. To cut a long-ish story short, I pulled out the pickup to see and it seems that there's no way to get it to sit flush because of how the wire goes through the bass. The pictures explain it better, but the wire is such that the pickup ends up sitting atop it just on the one corner and sticks up against the G string. Below is the pickup unscrewed and screwed down and, as you can see, it sticks up. I've tried screwing it down further but it won't go any further and I don't want to adjust the string height just for the one string. I've contacted Mr. Dingwall regarding this, but have yet to receive an answer and am dying to get playing. I've also contacted Mark at Bass Direct and he admitted that it was his first time installing these pickups and that, while the pickup seemed quite high, it didn't seem a problem and that he should have checked properly. What to do?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) Obviously it [i]is[/i] a problem though, isn't it? I would definitely fire it straight back to Mark and get him to sort it to your satisfaction. Just seen your status update re the other problem. That would be it for me - return it, quick! If it was a second-hand beater P bass I might get the hammer out, but I wouldn't attempt [i]any [/i]DIY on an instrument of this calibre. Edited March 9, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellyfish Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 It's hard to tell whether immediately asking to send it back would be a rash decision or not as I'm usually quite forgiving, but perhaps you're right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 It's not a Dingwall problem, these are aftermarket pickups that it was never designed to take. The answer is to route out a recess for the cable to run into and have the cable hole enlarged so the cable will run smoothly into it. I'd be inclined not to do a DIY job on it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) [quote name='Jellyfish' timestamp='1362865292' post='2005662'] It's hard to tell whether immediately asking to send it back would be a rash decision or not as I'm usually quite forgiving, but perhaps you're right... [/quote] What's rash about it? If you're not happy now, the situation isn't going to improve, is it? You will start obsessing about it. I know I would. It's quite clearly not what you were expecting and is not 100%. I'd send it back, me. YMMV, etc. Edited March 9, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellyfish Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1362865406' post='2005668'] It's not a Dingwall problem, these are aftermarket pickups that it was never designed to take. The answer is to route out a recess for the cable to run into and have the cable hole enlarged so the cable will run smoothly into it. I'd be inclined not to do a DIY job on it though. [/quote] Are you sure? " Our Neodymium powered FD-3 pickup coils mounted in Combustion shells ready to install in your Combustion 5-string bass. These pickups will increase your output, frequency response and dynamics compared with the stock pickups. Mounting hardware and instructions are included." [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1362865472' post='2005672'] What's rash about it? If you're not happy now, the situation isn't going to improve, is it? You will start obsessing about it. I know I would. It's quite clearly not what you were expecting and is not 100%. I'd send it back, me. YMMV, etc. [/quote] That's given me a lot of confidence. I will wait to hear back from Sheldon and see what he thinks first before I get the boxes back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 [quote name='Jellyfish' timestamp='1362865734' post='2005681'] Are you sure? [/quote] Apologies, I hadn't clicked they were Dingwall issue. However, they certainly aren't going to fit in that bass as it stands - there's just not enough room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Heck...just seen your status. First time I've seen a Dingwall issue to be honest, but with two issues, you need to make sure you are happy with the outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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