Dingwall SP1 Bass Arrives with Fanned-Frets, Quad-Tone Control, and Classic Style

Dingwall Guitars has expanded their Ready to Play line of basses with the new SP1, which “puts a new twist on an all-time classic.” The model blends Leo Fender’s iconic design with Dingwall’s features, including a multi-scale fingerboard and the Novax Fanned-Fret system.

“The concept behind the fanned frets is that by positioning an instrument’s nut and bridge saddles at opposite angles, what you’re doing in effect is giving each string its own scale length; longer for the low strings and shorter for the higher,” says founder Sheldon Dingwall. “This means that each string can be set to its optimum tension when tuned to pitch – and that means a better sounding bass that’s easier to play, record and mix.”

Available in four or five-string variations, the SP1 is built with an alder body, maple neck, and a rosewood fingerboard. It comes in four finishes: Metallic Black, Vintageburst, Dark Candy Green, and Ducati Pearl White. Dingwall fits the SP1 with their own F3Dn bridge pickup in addition to their Dual-P in the neck position. While this seems straightforward, the control layout offers more than meets the eye.

“The front control is volume and at the back is a passive tone control. Between these is the notched Quad-Tone pickup selector,” a press release explains. “In its first position, this selects the front pickup alone; one click on is the front plus the back pickup in series, then in parallel; and finally, the back pickup on its own.”

You can hear all of the tonal options in this demo by Nate Navarro.

The Dingwall SP1 is made with hybrid manufacturing between Indonesia and Canada. It’s available now with prices of $2,510 for the four-string and $2,605 for the five-string.

Dingwall Guitars SP1 Bass Specs: