High-performance John Taylor Signature Bass
The Dingwall Guitars John Taylor Signature 5-string electric bass delivers the superior ergonomics, playability, and sound that today’s professional bassists demand. Designed to the exacting specifications of Duran Duran’s bassist, this thoroughly modern instrument features a sleekly contoured nyatoh body, a fast 5-piece maple neck, and a pau ferro fingerboard with fanned frets for the most comfortable playing experience imaginable, while a custom electronics package featuring three neodymium pickups and a groundbreaking 2-band bass preamp from Rupert Neve Designs that delivers the tonal flexibility you need to ace any live gig or recording session.
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The advantages of fanned frets
On multi-scale instruments such as pianos, harps, or fanned-fret guitars, each string has its own individual scale length. The lower the string’s pitch, the longer it is — this is in keeping with the laws of physics, because lower frequencies generate longer wavelengths. If you’ve played a short-scale bass with conventional frets, you undoubtedly noticed how flaccid the lower strings feel (and sound) compared to a bass with a standard 34-inch scale length. The advantage of a multi-scale bass is that the tension of each string is optimized for its pitch, so you have an evenness of feel across all registers. This characteristic not only improves playability and tone, but also provides superior ergonomics in that the frets fan out in a way corresponding to the shape of your hand and the reach of your fingers. If you’ve never played a bass with fanned frets before, you’ll soon discover it’s nothing short of a revelation.
Custom electronics deliver a powerful punch
A highly customized version of Dingwall’s popular Combustion model, the John Taylor Signature bass is equipped with a special electronics package that features a revolutionary 2-band bass preamp from Rupert Neve Designs. The instrument is fitted with three of Dingwall’s powerful FD3n neodymium-magnet pickups. The control set includes a master volume, Dingwall’s Quad-Tone 4-position rotary pickup selector, low EQ, high EQ, an active/passive toggle switch, and a passive tone control that works in tandem with the preamp EQ. This configuration gives you quick access to a versatile potpourri of tonal flavors. The unique setup offers the best of both worlds: you have a wide range of fat, punchy active sounds, as well as classic, old-school growl in the battery-free passive mode. The Quad-Tone selector makes it quick and easy to navigate through the near-endless range of tonal colors on tap in the John Taylor Signature bass.
About Rupert Neve Designs
For bassists unfamiliar with Rupert Neve Designs, it is the company founded by legendary console designer Rupert Neve. Rupert’s 80-series consoles had a huge, punchy, and authoritative sound that defined ’70s rock. From London to New York to Los Angeles and beyond, top studios installed Neve boards as fast as they could. By 1977, with the introduction of the NECAM automation system, Neve consoles were the main component of the success formula for any recording studio with world-class aspirations. Today, Rupert Neve Designs continues to advance the state of the art with cutting-edge products that sound incredible and intelligently address the challenges of the digital age. RND’s 2-band bass preamp design for Dingwall Guitars is a game-changer. While the relative merits of various bass preamp designs have traditionally been a bone of contention among discerning players, this formidable preamp puts that debate to rest.
Dingwall Guitars: innovative designs for innovative players
Sheldon Dingwall’s affinity for crafting custom-built guitars dates back to working in his uncle’s workshop during his pre-adolescent years. By age 19, he had formed a record company, after which he toured with his own band. Returning to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1987, he founded Dingwall Guitars with a specific purpose: design and build the most versatile instruments the industry has ever seen. Among the company’s revered achievements are its exquisite electric bass guitars, which are replete with Novax’s Fanned-Fret system, proprietary pickups, innovative electronics, and tailor-made hardware. Appropriately, Dingwall’s artist roster comprises a succession of acclaimed bassists across a gamut of genres, including John Taylor, Leland Sklar, Adam “Nolly” Getgood, Jacob Umansky, Stefan Lessard, Tony Levin, Pete Griffin, Mason Nagy, and Jean-Michel Labadie. Here at Sweetwater, we’re confident that high-caliber players searching for a high-performance axe will find their perfect match in a Dingwall Guitars instrument.
Dingwall Guitars John Taylor Signature 5-string Electric Bass Features:
- Sleekly sculpted, comfort-contoured nyatoh body with Duran Duran Rio graphics
- 5-piece maple neck with Slim “C” profile and satin polyurethane finish
- Pau ferro fingerboard with 9.45-inch radius, 24 fanned frets, and pearloid dot inlays
- Selectable Active/Passive modes
- Rupert Neve Designs 2-band bass preamp
- 3 Dingwall FD3n neodymium pickups
- Controls: Master Volume, Quad-Tone rotary pickup selector, Passive Tone, Low EQ, High EQ, Active/Passive toggle switch
- Dingwall “Minimalist” 1-piece recessed bridge
- Graph Tech Black TUSQ nut
- Custom open-gear tuners
- Custom Dingwall padded gig bag included
