Donald "Duck" Dunn - Musical Equipment

Musical Equipment

When he was 16, he acquired his first Fender Precision Bass, a 1958 model with sunburst body, 1-piece maple neck and gold anodized pickguard, an instrument he owned until his death. During the 1960s, he used a 1959 model, which was identical to his 1958, but with a rosewood fretboard. He was an avid user of thick La Bella flatwound strings, as was James Jamerson. While filming The Blues Brothers, Dunn used a sunburst mid-sixties Fender Precision bass with a rosewood fretboard and a tortoise pickguard. In 1998, Dunn collaborated with Fender to produce a signature Precision Bass, a candy apple red-colored model based on the late 1950s style, with a gold anodized pickguard, a split-coil humbucking pickup and vintage hardware. The Duck Dunn P-Bass became the basis for a Lakland Skyline Series signature bass made by Chicago bass company Lakland a few years later, which is still available in an updated version featuring a thinner Jazz neck with cream binding and rectangular block inlays. Lakland actually produces a US-made version of the bass sporting a graphite-reinforced quartersawn maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, a Lindy Fralin split-coil humbucker (also available with optional DarkStar and Chi-Sonic pickups) and a chrome-plated ashtray pickup cover.

Dunn used an Ampeg SVT-4PRO head and SVT-810E 8×10 cabinet through his endorsement deal with Ampeg.