BassPlayer 2017-01

S
SPECIFICATIONS
Tiberius Attack Bass
Street $2,700
Pros Lightweight; evenly balanced; lots of
tone options; stylish
Cons High price point
Bottom Line A great bass for funk/fusion
or rock that’s equal parts quality and style.
the Tiberius Attack’s light weight and good balance.
The pickups on our tester were two MM-style Seymour
Duncan Humbuckers, but they can be substituted
optionally with Bartolinis or Aguilars. You
can also switch seamlessly between active and passive
modes with the neck volume knob’s push/pull
switch. There’s an easy-access cavity on the back
for quickly changing your battery.
The Dudacus utilizes an Aguilar OBP-3 with an
active/passive tone circuit and 3-position pickup
switch. The EQ knobs have center detents to indicate
a flat setting. The Attack Bass has a wide range
of tones, yet even at its darkest it retains a great
deal of punch and treble response, partially due to
the bridge pickup being much closer to the bridge
than Baxter’s previous designs (hence its name). The
Aguilar preamp also contributes significant gain,
with the bridge-pickup control having a pull-out
boost to change the filter’s center frequency. The
bass’s midrange flexibility is great for fingerstyle
16th-note funk-fusion lines, as well as for rockers
who like to use a pick. With all of the tone options,
this bass lends it self to a diversity of styles. The
Dudacus’ wide string-spacing and neck made it
great for slapping or picking, and the low action
was ideal for fusion and jazz soloing.
Each bass is handmade from start to finish
entirely by Steven Baxter in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and his craftsmanship and attention to
detail come across. More often than not, conformity
is the easy path, but the road less taken can
lead to rarer things; with big risks come big rewards.
If we never move beyond our comfort zone, stick
our necks out, and try new things, then we will
never grow. For this reason I truly appreciate the
spirit of individuality and innovation that Baxter’s
vision for Dudacus represents. No one ever said
you have to reinvent the wheel, but it would be a
pretty boring world if no one tried. BP
SPECS DUDACUS
Construction Bolt-on
Body Alder
Neck Maple
Fingerboard Ebony
Frets 22, medium
Bridge Schaller adjustable
Neck width at nut 41.3 mm
Tuners Custom lightweight
Pickups Two MM-style Seymour Duncan
humbuckers running through an Aguilar
OBP3 preamp
Scale length 34"
Weight 9 lbs
Made in U.S.A.
Contact dudacus.com
bassplayer.com / january2017 47