Throughout a four year collaboration with luthier Steve Klein, Bob Taylor realized that he could one day manufacture a worthwhile acoustic bass guitar that would appeal to electric bass players for its sound, playability and aesthetic qualities. Klein's experience in complex guitar designs which help to make his guitars have an ultra-low, full bass tone coupled with his research into the guitarron, complemented Taylor's computer-assisted body design and advanced manufacture techniques. This collaboration resulted in the first prototypes being shown at the 1994 NAMM Show in Anaheim.

The Taylor Bass' body is made from imbuia or Brazilian walnut with a sitka spruce top and is all finished in a low gloss satin. The neck is made from mahogany and has a 34-inch scale. The fingerboard is ebony with an imbuia headstock overlay and a Steve Klein signature/logo inlay. The bridge is imbuia while the nut is made from ebony. There are 24 frets and the neck is 1.6 inches wide and has an adjustable truss rod. The body length is 22 1/4 inches and the overall length is 51 3/4 inches. The first basses are four-string with fretless versions under consideration. Some special features are: a removable "access panel" on the bottom to allow access to (I would guess) the Fishman saddle transducer and in-board pre-amp; the soundhole is located in the very non-traditional place of the upper bout on the treble side in the interest of having the largest possible active top plate for full reproduction and projection of the instrument's sound.