Dingwall SP1 5-String - gloss metallic black

On this DINGWALL SP1 4-String (Dark Metallic Black), the Alder body profile is thinner, so you get a lightweight body, but with a more solid tone while the bolt-on neck is a single piece of Maple. The Rosewood fingerboard is flawlessly finished, with smoothly rounded edges and 22 banjo-sized frets.

The SP1 is passive, so there are no batteries or EQ boost, but the quality of the tonewoods, alnico-loaded pickups, and the overall construction mean that there’s absolutely no need for them. The front control is volume, and the back is a master tone. Between these is Dingwall Quad-Tone Pickup Selector. In its first position, fully clockwise, this selects the front pickup alone; one click clockwise is the front plus the back pickup in series, then in parallel; and finally, the back pickup on its own.

The Dingwall Minimalist bridge features a custom riser system that’s designed to provide an increased range of flexibility when it comes to adjusting the action. If you play with a heavy technique, instead of raising your individual bridge saddles, which can put stress on the string and cause premature breakage, you can raise the entire bridge unit. That way you can move between a high action or a low action just by adjusting the shims, which leaves the saddles only for fine tuning. The tuners are lightweight, open-gear designs, and there is also a bullet string retainer to help maintain a decent break angle across the Graphtech nut.

Aside from the multi-scale design, visually, the first thing you’ll notice that’s different about the SP1 is the transparent scratchplate, which started out as a hand-painted design by Hugh Fisher, digitized then UV printed. Each one is slightly transparent, so the colour of the body also influences the look of the pickguard.

For players who need a versatile instrument that can deliver a studio-quality sound, be comfortable to play and remain straightforward to use.