Saskatoon, SK (January 22, 2014) -- The all new Afterburner HS (Heavy, Solid) model features a solid bubinga body with a variety of top choices and neck materials. Dingwall has always made lightness of weight a top priority but with the HS the goal is to satisfy the needs of the player looking for the extreme sustain and attack of a heavier bass. Available in 2x and 3x pickup configurations, passive, 2-band or 3-band electronics options.
The Combustion has been the best selling model in Dingwall history. New for 2014 is a 3-band EMG pre-amp, FD3n (neodymium) pickups, a magnetic battery compartment, a sleeker 240 mm radius Fretboard and the optional Swamp Ash body.
Adam “Nolly” Getgood has been making a name for himself in the low-tuned progressive metal scene both as the bass player for Periphery and as producer of Animals as Leaders. Dingwall basses have been a key part of Adam’s signature tone for the last two years.
We are proud to announce the NG-2 Adam “Nolly” Getgood signature model. Featuring an Alder body, 5 pc maple neck, maple fretboard, Dingwall FD3n pickups, a custom Darkglass 3-band pre-amp. Adam wanted the bass to be affordable, have a distinctive custom car look, and be able to deliver the tight, controlled bottom end that he uses live and in the studio. Available colors include Black, Ferrari Yellow, Ferrari Green, Ferrari Red and Laguna Seca Blue.
The NG-2 comes stock tuned to B standard but can be setup for F# standard using Dingwall custom gauge strings or just about any tuning imaginable using Circle K custom gauge strings.
The all new Super J series features the thinline body dimension for increased punch with lower weight. All controls are rear-routed now with the addition of available options such as individual series/parallel switching for each pickup and a 3-band Glockenklang pre-amp. Custom FD3 pickups are now standard and come in both 2x and the optional 3x array to cover a huge variety of traditional and modern tones.
As soon as we launched the Super P we started getting requests for a Super PJ. The PJ has always seemed like a bit of a compromise to us. Getting the J bridge to blend well with a P neck pickup is not as simple as it might seem. We spent a lot of time working on the bridge pickup and it's position. The results are that the pickups compliment each really nicely and the parallel combined tone is one of the best we’ve heard on any bass.
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MXR Rockman X100 Recreates Tom Scholz's Iconic Boston Guitar Sound | First Look
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.But just as decades of advances in listening technology make the Walkman now seem clunky and dated, modern guitar tech makes the Rockman look like old news. Multi-effects units, modelers, and portable interfaces all surpass the convenience of the Rockman in form factor as well as in sheer number of sonic options. But while there are any number of ways to dial up an ’80s-style guitar tone these days, nothing’s better than the real thing. The Rockman’s analog tones are still as legit as it gets. Though Dunlop continues to produce the Guitar Ace, Metal Ace, and Bass Ace headphone amps (for a cool $99 street), a pedal version with the functionality of the original would be the ultimate modern package for ’80s fetishists, right? Enter the MXR Rockman X100.
With Tones Like These, Who Needs Options
After the release of the original Rockman, Scholz continued to develop the product, spawning a whole line. But for its pedal resurrection, the MXR team set their sights on the Rockman X100, which used hard-clipping LED diodes for its two distorted settings. The new stompbox version recreates all four modes from the original: cln2 is the default setting, cln1 in the second position is EQ’d with a mid-boost, edge delivers moderate clipping, and dist is high-gain. All are switchable via a small LED-lit mode button, and a control input allows for external mode switching. Another button activates an analog chorus circuit using MN3007 bucket brigade chips, as in the original.
To drive home the ’80s aesthetic, MXR used sliders for volume and input gain controls. Volume determines output, while input gain is tied to compression. Higher input gain means more compression, which is tuned for slower release on the two clean modes, and a fast release on both dirty modes. The X100 works in both mono and stereo, but to change between them, you have to pop off the back to access an internal switch. Just make sure a TRS cable is used for stereo mode, or else the output will be muted while the pedal is bypassed.
The only things I noticed that are missing from the original’s simple set of features is the headphone output and the echo settings. I don’t know how many players would find value in the headphone jack, and considering that would add circuitry, it’s probably best for cost and space savings that it was excluded. As for the echo, you can argue that it’s canon, but I find it to be the least essential feature and don’t miss it, personally.
(Much) More Than a Feeling
Since I do not have an original Scholz X100 sitting on my desk, I’m using YouTube videos and records—Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Huey Lewis and the News’ Sports, and Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien, for example—as my reference points. Those are high bars to clear, and the MXR gets there.
The default cln2 setting delivers instant gratification, with a full-bodied, sparkly tone, no matter what guitar I played through it. And though it provides loads of ’80s fun, it’s much more versatile than that, offering a great all-round clean tone that requires no additional processing. Though it might seem odd that cln2 is the default, switching to cln1’s thinner, more mid-focused sound makes the design decision clear. I can imagine situations where I’d need to cut through a mix and cln1 would be preferred, but I found myself sticking with the default mode for all my clean needs.
The distorted modes are differentiated mostly by how much gain they offer. Edge tones live just beyond the point of overdrive, and the input gain control adds a range of extra texture. The dist mode is full-on, pick-squeal-inducing high-gain saturation, with loads of everlasting sustain. These modes lean into the aesthetic much harder than the clean modes, making it a less versatile tool, but for ’80s rock excess, I can’t imagine a better option.
On a couple recording sessions, I plugged the X100 right into an interface and board to deliver spanky direct clean tones as well as tight, saturated distortion. In doing so, I discovered that direct recording is my preferred use for the X100. That’s not to say it doesn’t sound great through an amp—it does. But plugging into a front end of an amp yields less classic and authentic Rockman sounds, as the amplifier’s preamp colors the tone. Plugged through a few Fenders, I found that the treble needed taming, a problem I didn’t have when forgoing the amp. For live playing, I might explore plugging the X100 into the return input on an amp’s effects loop or right into a powered speaker to deliver an unadulterated Rockman sound more in line with the original.
The Verdict
MXR nailed it with the Rockman X100 pedal by focusing on the limited options of the original unit and getting them just right. For $229, you not only get a great ’80s rock tone, you get what is arguably the ’80s rock tone, with no other gear required, unless you want to add a little ’80s-vintage reverb too. As a performance tool, it’s probably best to think less like you’re using a pedal and more like you’re using the original in a different form, which is to say that plugging straight into an amp isn’t the only way to get the sound you want—and, in fact, it’s probably not even the best way. For recording, it’s a perfect tool. PG
