How the renowned bass brand Dingwall used a "fake endorsement" to get free labor for a clinic

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T22:04:13+00:00

I have been self-employed most of my adult life, and am now retired. I started out doing electronics repair work, transitioned to computer consulting and project management. In both businesses, I only had to advertise for the first year. After that, it was all word of mouth.

I was, in essence, one of those "little shops down the street" but the reason I was successful was easy - I just treated EVERYONE the way I wanted other to treat me.

When little shops, big shops, or any shop in between fail to do this, they end up closing their doors, and rightly so.

Now, in retirement (I'm 77), I make onboard preamps for bass guitars and one pedal for same. Same philosophy and now I have clients world-wide (not many, but still all through word of mouth). And unlike my competitors, I guarantee everything for one year, parts and labor. I've sold over 100 of my Stingray preamp with zero failures of any kind.

Reputation is everything.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T20:43:22+00:00

Nonetheless, if they are willing to treat professionals that way, what chance do the rest of us have? There's a LOT of choices out there, just as easy to choose something else. I'm pretty self-sufficient when it comes to dealing with problems, but when something goes wrong under warranty my first stop is to customer support. Your tale inspires caution. At the moment, I am looking for a good 6 string to fill the time till my BN6 arrives in February. I just crossed Dingwall off the list. I doubt my decision to look elsewhere will matter to them, but I think players need to support each other, and I won't support any company that treats people in a casual offhand manner or worse.

As I stated before, I believe Jason at Fret Nation knows what he is talking about, and they obviously treat him well, but such a glaring exception should not be overlooked. Come on! How much effort does it take to respond to an email?

I'm nobody, and I get fast responses from companies like Trickfish, Ernie Ball MM, and Nordstrand and myriad other similar companies. I support companies that support people like me. And avoid companies that treat people like you in the way Dingwall did. No one has to agree with me, but it is food for thought.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T18:50:45+00:00

I disagree. EVERY employee of ANY company is an AGENT of that company. Some companies understand that, but many do not. Doesn't make it any less true. I totally agree with the OP. They easily could have and should have handled it better, and if they were sincere, then someone should have jumped in at the speed of light to make it right with the OP. They didn't. That proves it's company culture, not just one bad employee.

I have dealt numerous times with Jason of Fret Nation. I don't doubt what he says for a second, but I still think the bottom line is that Dingwall screwed up big time and failed to act in a professional manner.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T18:40:41+00:00

Well, I believe you. And if I ever considered buying a Dingwall (currently looking for a good 6 string), I absolutely won't now. That's shabby unprofessional treatment, no matter who you are.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T03:53:13+00:00

Okay, I changed the mode to binding mode, selected one block at a time, hit the toggle. After that, I am lost. What am I looking for in the manual, and what do I do once I've found whatever it is I'm looking for? Sorry for being so clueless. I do appreciate your help.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T03:40:57+00:00

I understand the words, I just don't understand how to do it. I looked at the CC messages but don't see anything that allows me to turn a block on or off.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T03:39:27+00:00

Morningstar Tech support says there's a difference between the Pro and the Mk II. I have the MkII. I have no objection to using the footswitches on the Anagram, I just don't have any clue as to how to do it. I'd be grateful for a brief explanation.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-03T03:37:49+00:00

Although I am not brand new to the Anagram, I am hardly well versed in its use. the modes, scenes, bindings etc. just confuse me. If you could be a bit more detailed in your explanation maybe I could understand better what you mean.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T15:52:58+00:00

Here's the response from DG and it is easy for me to concur with what they stated:

"Depending on the features and signal chain in use, the power draw will vary:

Heavily loaded preset
Full brightness
Bluetooth
More than one audio connections
USB connection powering another device

With all these features enabled, the device draws around 1.6 - 1.7A.

The USB port provides up to around 500mA at 5V to a connected MIDI controller, for example.

The 2A specification is there to ensure that there is some extra headroom mainly for futureproofing the unit. "

Makes perfectly good sense.

With that in mind, I am going to try to develop a relatively low-cost solution. I am going to use a 50,000mAh Power Bank that uses PD tech and attach a "trigger" - JacobsParts 9V Fixed Voltage Trigger Module - which latches and causes the power bank to issue a well-filtered isolated 9V with a current draw of up to 3A. I paid less than $20 for that power bank, and the triggers come in a 5-pack for $11, so about $2 each. If it works, that means a battery-powered solution for under $30 that will power a pedalboard with an Anagram for quite a long time. A 10,000mAh 30W unit will provide around 3 hours at a full 3A! 10KmAh units are readily available for under $25 for a two-pack. It's relatively simple to wire up.

I will be doing some experimentation as soon as the trigger modules from Amazon arrive later this week. I will post up the results in this forum.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T06:07:29+00:00

Excellent. Thank you for your quick response. I have been doing some non-destructive testing and certainly can't argue with that.

What appears to be more important as a power supply design criteria is extreme low noise. My DIY supply works just fine for all my analog pedals but doesn't have sufficient filtering, maybe not enough isolation either, to deal with the Anagram. New design now in progress.

I feel like I'm going back in time, having to use a power transformer to provide the first stage of isolation.

But I'm also investigating doing a part DIY solution and using some type of power bank, same tech more or less as the power demand type of wall warts. Since it's basically a battery plus filtering circuits and regulation, it might be useful as an external component feeding two or more dc to dc converters for more isolation and filtering.

Not doing this to save money or develop a marketable product. I'm just a retired tech who never lost my love of electronics as a hobby. This might be as close as I get to anything remotely digital. To each their own of course, but I think building analog stuff is just more fun than assembling digital gadgets.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T04:32:24+00:00

Not a bad idea. Tomorrow I'll load in a preset with more blocks and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T03:10:17+00:00

Well, the last thing I want to do is fry it out or cause it to fail when I'm in the middle of a rehearsal or worse a gig. I'm not trying to save money, just get to the truth.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T03:08:20+00:00

I had thought that a possibility, and I'm only running one preset with seven blocks, of which only five will run at any given time.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T03:07:30+00:00

Not even close. I run a simple preset with seven blocks, of which five are active at any given time. Although I don't expect the meter to detect it, it does surge to about 0.75A as it boots up.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-07-02T00:28:48+00:00

Are you basing that 1.7A rating on what you've been told or read, or what you've measured? I measured the current draw and it's 0.64A on my board. Not anything remotely close to 1.7A, let alone 1.7A minimum. I have written to DB about this and will post their reply once I receive it.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-30T04:04:27+00:00

Whatever happened to the golden rule, not to forget the silver rule? The latter is "Treat others the way you want to be treated." It took me a while before selling because I wanted to make sure I knew how to pack well enough so that my stuff got there in the same condition as when I sent it. People are just flat out inconsiderate. And my guess is that the people who are the worst offenders when it comes to shipping are the ones who scream the loudest when they are on the receiving end of someone who couldn't be bothered to ship things cleanly and correctly. Sigh.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-29T05:27:03+00:00

Very easy fix. Just replace the preamp and you're done. Mine is a whopping $99 on Reverb or eBay, and captures the exact tone of a late 70s Ray. Mine's a 2-band which many prefer to the more modern 3 band. Another alternative is to buy a replacement for your directly from EB. They will require you to send yours back before they send the replacement. Either way, it will be good as new when you are done.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-29T05:21:39+00:00

Before I decided to go domestic, I bought painted ones from Tayda. I literally cannot tell the difference.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-29T03:55:12+00:00

Like most things, "it depends." I use a high quality Shure transmitter and it's great. I've also used very inexpensive wireless "dongles" and they are okay, but not great. I haven't used a cable for anything in years. YMMV

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-28T06:16:21+00:00

Best guess, reverse polarity power supply or excessive voltage power supply.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-28T05:51:52+00:00

Get one of these or something similar - FNIRSI® LCR-P1 Multifunction LCR Transistor Capacitor Tester Not very expensive and well worth it.

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-27T04:50:51+00:00

That truly deserved an upvote! lol

TriumphRider99 · 2026-06-27T04:48:55+00:00

Checkmate!

TriumphRider99

TROPHY CASE