For nearly 40 years, Sheldon Dingwall has been creating a voice for bass players. His work connects international musicians with a wide-listening audience.

“We have bases hanging on the wall right now they’re sculpture and it’s the artist that gives them a voice so being able to hear their music through our basses is a pretty amazing feeling,” he said.

Dingwall is the CEO of Dingwall Guitars and has been building high-end electric bass guitars in Saskatoon since 1987. With the growth of his company over the years, Dingwall travels the world featuring his creations.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

He also credits his success to his team of about 30 people. There is a three-year backlog on his custom shop, he says that’s about the longest it’s ever been. Overall, saying this is still a small business and a small market in any given city. Dingwall Guitars has focused on exports from the start, with 90 percent of his business outside of Canada. Dingwall says right now, Europe is probably the strongest market.

“We have a reputation in the industry of being some of the most playable instruments right out of the box, pull the base out and there’s nothing that needs to be done to it it’s still in tune, plays really nice, feels really nice,” Dingwall adds.

Artists playing on a Dingwall custom-made bass include John Taylor of Duran Duran and bass legend Lee Sklar to name a few.

“I remember when Cher played in Saskatoon for the last time, her bass player came down here and spent most of a day playing basses and then took one with her and then played it that night,” Dingwall said. “So had a chance to see Cher singing all the songs I remember from my childhood and seeing our bass being played with her. That was pretty surreal actually.”

Learn more about Sheldon Dingwall’s story and international business success in the video above.