This Donner DPJ-100 electric guitar review is written by Canadian guitarist Kevin Daoust.
Kevin Daoust is a veteran guitarist and musician based in Quebec, Canada. He has decades of stage experience and performs with numerous singers, bands, and crews on shows, music festivals, and more. His knowlesge, experience, and love in guitars is among the top.
In the musical instrument sphere, Donner Music has made quite an impression over the past few years with its line of affordable musical instruments. From guitars to effects, to electronic drums, to keyboards and almost everything else in between; musicians from all walks of life can make music with the products that they produce.
Now bass players have even more to look forward to with the Donner DPJ-100 Bass guitar, one of the newest products in their line of instruments.
Drawing on their years of design, these basses are handcrafted using the finest materials possible, all while making them accessible to all players.
The body, currently available in a beautiful and vibrant red, is shaped for comfort. The finish is also hand-polished for that showroom shine that just pops. The bass also features Donner’s Accu-cast bridge, offering great resonance and sustain to the tone of the instrument.
Donner didn’t cut corners when it came to the neck. It’s constructed out of AAA Canadian maple, which is a staple wood used by many manufacturers for its stability and tone. The slim “C” profile and satin finish make for an easy and comfortable neck to play with. A rosewood fretboard tops that maple neck, offering a combination of playability and tone which has become a standard in the industry. Rosewood offers a warm and smooth sound, compared to the brightness offered by a maple fingerboard, playing well with the electronics. The neck is also held securely to the body with five bolts, ensuring a tight fit to the pocket. You will also find four specially designed tuning machines that help ensure the instrument stays in tune during your gig.
The electronics are where this bass gets very interesting. The bass has two sets of active pickups, one single pickup at the bridge position, and a set of staggered pickups in the middle position, quite reminiscent of the classic J configuration. The bridge pickup offers up that classic J bass sound with a punchy low end and great midrange, fantastic for rock and pop music. The middle pickups serve up that great P bass sound, which is more balanced across the spectrum with a slight dip in the mids, giving the sound a nice body and clarity.
Both pickups are controlled with a blend knob. This allows you to use either pickup on its own, both at the same time at full volume, or to sculpt your sound by dialling in more of one pickup and less of the other. Once you’ve tried this, you will be pleasantly surprised with the number of tones that you can squeeze out of this instrument. This is also rounded by an active EQ, controlled by bass and treble knobs on the body. To keep all of this powered, there is a battery compartment located at the back of the body.
To round out that package, Donner includes several great accessories with the bass. There’s a quality gig bag for storing and moving your instrument from gig to gig, a 1/4” cable, a quality strap and a set of Allen wrenches for making adjustments to the bridge saddles and neck (if needed, of course). And all of this is now available for the fantastic price of $259.99! So if you’re thinking about getting into bass guitar, or are a seasoned player looking for a new, quality instrument, do check out the DPJ-100 bass!
