I just wanted to post a huge “thank you” and shout out to @Al1885 for putting me in touch with his guy, Jason M. at FretNation and helping me get my bass situation resolved.
I have only ever bought two basses - an entry level and my everyday player - and I had an issue with a preorder when I was trying to upgrade to a premium bass. I reached out to the OG of bass collecting here on the forum and asked for help and he was gracious enough give me some advice and point me in the right direction.
I talked to Al’s guy, Jason, and he was knowledgeable and helpful so I ended up ordering a Dingwall JT3 Stealth 5 from him back in December. It just got here yesterday and I have the weekend off so I’ve been playing non-stop since it got here. The set-up was on-point and it plays like a dream. The sound is unreal too. Thanks for all your help, Al. I appreciate it immensely. Oh, and here’s the bass:
Hey, it’s gorgeous man. I’m sure glad it worked out. Wait you only ordered one? I thought you’d order a spare,
I might give Jason a call as I have my eye on another Warwick, I really want a Dolphin, if he can give me a good deal I might just go for it. I’ll be sure to mention you so I’d get additional discount,
Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t call it high-end, but certainly not a beginner/intro level. I was expecting like an Ibanez Gio or Squire Sonic or something.
$1000-$1500 is definitely the sweet spot, it’s where spending more is mostly diminishing returns from then on out in terms of absolute instrument price/performance - it’s mostly luxury after that. There’s nicer instruments, but they arent nicer in ways that materially impact the utility of the instrument.
That’s my everyday player. I got a B-stock one off of ProAudioStar for $670 two years ago (it’s worth every penny; I love that bass). My starter, the one I did BassBuzz with, was an Ibanez GSR 320. I got that when I was stationed in Okinawa 20 years ago as part of a starter kit for something like two or three hundred bucks. It sat in a closet for a long time and then I pulled it out when my wife got me BassBuzz for Christmas two years ago. It was a good beginner for me. Once I got into the hobby and knew I was going to be playing every day and when I completed the lessons I got the Schecter. I’m definitely moving up the bass continuum with this purchase. It started as a fund to get another bass and got bumped up to the premium tier when I won my fantasy football league and rolled that money in the fund. Obviously, I want to make progress and get better too but my overarching goal is to enjoy when I play and use it as a decompress after work. To that end, the Dingwall delivers. In my ears it sounds so good that I look forward to playing it.
