PLAYABILITY
First off, this is the first five-string Taylor variant, a crucial consideration because if there’s one thing that Dingwall basses do well, it’s low B-string performance, delivering the tones via a fanned-frets system. This arrangement varies the strings’ scale length from a standard 34” at the G string to a whopping 37” at the bottom end, meaning that the B string benefits from maximum tension and feels great to play, with none of the dull-sounding flopping around that you get from a regular-scale five-string. The JT is also available as a four-string. Dingwall’s fanned frets themselves have been discussed endlessly before this, and for good reason, because if you’ve never come up against them, they look pretty intimidating. Rest assured you’ll get used to them after a couple of hours of practice. The fret angles are only extreme below the fourth fret and above the 15th or thereabouts, and even in those areas your brain will take your fingers to the right places if you let it.
SOUNDS
First off, this is the first five-string Taylor variant, a crucial consideration because if there’s one thing that Dingwall basses do well, it’s low B-string performance, delivering the tones via a fanned-frets system. This arrangement varies the strings’ scale length from a standard 34” at the G string to a whopping 37” at the bottom end, meaning that the B string benefits from maximum tension and feels great to play, with none of the dull-sounding flopping around that you get from a regular-scale five-string. The JT is also available as a four-string. Dingwall’s fanned frets themselves have been discussed endlessly before this, and for good reason, because if you’ve never come up against them, they look pretty intimidating. Rest assured you’ll get used to them after a couple of hours of practice. The fret angles are only extreme below the fourth fret and above the 15th or thereabouts, and even in those areas your brain will take your fingers to the right places if you let it.
FINISH Stealth
BODY Nyatoh
NECK 5-piece maple, bolt-on
FINGERBOARD Pau Ferro
SCALE LENGTH 34-36.25 inches
HEADSTOCK Matching
NUT Graphtech Black Tusq
PICKUPS Dingwall FD3n, Neodymium Magnets
PREAMP Rupert Neve Designs 2-Band EQ
CONTROLS Master volume, 4-Position Quad-Tone pickup selector, 2-Band Active EQ, Active/Passive Toggle Switch
CASE Dingwall Padded Gigbag
After playing a custom Dingwall live with Duran Duran, John Taylor has launched his production model, loaded with a new bridge design, a Rupert Neve Design preamp to die for and a monster tonal range Reviews. You couldn’t escape John Taylor’s bass parts in the ’80S because they were all over the radio and MTV, from mid-heavy Rickenbacker lines through to slicker parts played on an Aria Pro II. Slippery, 16th-y and beyond catchy, Duran Duran’s basslines demanded both low-end girth and crispy mids, a requirement that Taylor fulfilled with a signature Peavey in later years. He’s been using a custom Dingwall on the last couple of Duran tours, fitted out with Rio decals in honour of that album’s 40th anniversary, causing us to wonder if a signature model would be on the way at some point.
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