John and Patty visited our office a day after John arrived from London where he was working on Duran Duran’s new album. John brought with him this funky pink fur and a "fucked up fabric" in military green and he told us that he wanted a case that "looks like it just showed up in the middle of the desert".
The requirements: It had to be sexy, and he informed us that it will hold his dream bass which we should think of like, "a precious pearl."

We tell him we can do it.

In the conversation we asked, "What else can we do for you to make a dream case for a dream bass?" He told us that he wants it to be plug and play. He discloses that this limited edition project is going to be through Juicy Couture for the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. "The guys/girls who get this play or maybe they have never played, but I want them to be able to plug a cord in to an amp, strap their bass on and have a great time right after they open it." Then he said, "What fun is getting an electric instrument and not having sound when you play it?"

John
Taylor

Photos:Michel
Jean-Philippe

So Ted J. McCann, the amazing designer we call our President, decides to create a full play station. First we are going to R & D a removable amp combined with tuner (even though we only have about 4 months to get the whole project completed and nothing like this exists, and even Peavy has already told John that creating a custom amp and putting it in production in less than one year would be impossible). He suggests a hanger idea that he has been thinking about for about 10 years, and if we are going this far into looks-like-an-impossible-endeavors world, we decide that the black Classic Straight/Straight Coil Bullet Cable should be the cord; and then, Ted puts together this military strap he has been working on as a part of the Trench brand, and adds a bunch of Juicy brass medals;and then, he designs a small shaving accessory bag-like case to hold everything along with a secret door to hold the treasure trove of music accessory goodies.

(Did I mention that John just wanted a "sexy case"?)

He spends the weekend hand making the proto-type and sewing some canvas that we found in a fabric store in Downtown LA and putting a cardboard box together that was supposed to be a combo amp and tuner. It looked kind of rough, but we showed it to John and Patty and they instantly knew that communication was very clear in our partnership for this project. We also realized that we had a lot of work to do to get everything built, fabricated and assembled and then back to Peavey in time for them to put a limited edition bass or guitar in it and get it to Neiman Marcus for the holidays (now minus 1 month of the 4 original months).

When we got the real amp back from our engineer, we gave it to John. We thought it sounded raw and robust with a cool edge to it, but when John played his bass through it, his recommendations made us rethink the sound. John, having more experience listening to a bass through amps and a pretty reliable record for sound, had his own ideas of what this unit needed. (Besides, how awesome is it to have the guy who created the distinct driving Euro-funk bass lines of "Girls on Film" and "Rio" giving you advice on how to make the amp for his bass sound just right?).

(The limited edition gift pack of 400, which included 1/2 bass and 1/2 guitars and a signed certificate by JT, sold out within a month…)

To Read John Taylor’s Story:

"Earlier this year, Peavey asked me to create a "John Taylor" signature bass guitar. I have been using the same Peavey bass guitar on stage with Duran Duran for several years, and I love their products. A light bulb went off in my head… " [Read the Story]

Visit Official Duran Duran Site