4 Famous Bass Brands and the Musicians Who Played Them, Part 1: Rickenbacker and Gibson

Guitar players often become strongly associated with certain
guitar makers: David Gilmour and Fender, Slash and Gibson, Steve Vai and Ibanez,
to name just a few. But is the same true for bass players? Certainly, some
iconic pairings come to mind — including James Jamerson and Fender, Paul
McCartney and Höfner, and Victor Wooten and Fodera — but it seems that the
relationships between bass players and certain brands or instruments don’t
receive the same acknowledgment as those of their guitar-playing brethren.
Well, reflecting on that phenomenon, the bass players at Sweetwater agreed it
was high time to showcase some of music history’s most iconic bass players and
their brands of choice. In the first part of this two-part series, we’ll take a
look at Rickenbacker and Gibson basses and the legendary musicians who played
them.

Rickenbacker

Few basses are as aesthetically and sonically distinctive as
those in the Rickenbacker 4000 series. In 1957, the Rickenbacker 4000 electric
bass introduced the world to its solid maple body with a neck-through design; an
eye-catching “cresting wave” shape; and iconic bite, growl, and piano-like
sustain. And, by the mid-1960s, the Rickenbacker 4001 had become visually
synonymous with the British Invasion. Since then, Rickenbacker basses have
endured as an instrument of choice for players who value their idiosyncratic
looks and stadium-shaking sound with a diverse list of adherents including
Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, and Cliff Burton.

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Chris Squire

Chris Squire of Yes was an early adopter of the Rickenbacker 4001, and the instrument had a huge impact on producing his signature sound, which straddled the line between holding down a groove and creating melodic contours that accentuated the band’s adventurous approach to composition. For most of his career, Chris’s constant companion was a modified ’64 Rickenbacker RM1999, an import model with identical specs to the 4001S. Originally, Chris’s was decked out in Rickenbacker’s iconic Fireglo finish, but it went through a few cosmetic changes, including a flowery wallpaper wrap and a silver reflective paper wrap, before its final look: cream lacquer. Chris wired his RM1999 with a stereo output, allowing him to send the bridge and neck pickups through separate signal chains. A big fan of effects pedals, Chris would often treat the bridge-pickup output with distortion and modulation effects while leaving the neck-pickup output dry to maintain his low end. In 1991, Rickenbacker paid tribute to Chris’s trademark Rick with the Rickenbacker 4001CS, a limited edition bass sporting some of the unique features of Chris’s RM1999, including the cream finish, African vermillion fingerboard, and headstock wings.

Geddy Lee

Being a bass player in a power trio is no simple affair — it
requires you to cover a substantial portion of sonic real estate. Yet, no bass
player was more suited to that role than Rush’s Geddy Lee. Geddy’s relationship
with Rickenbacker basses began in 1973 with his purchase of a Jetglo
Rickenbacker 4001. In a discussion with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson during the
2019 Rush Fan Day at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Geddy admits that, when
he bought his first Rick, he was chasing Chris Squire’s sound. However, he
quickly realized that the bass was only one component of that sound (the most
important being Chris himself!) and focused instead on forging his own playing
style on the 4001. As with Chris’s RM1999, Geddy’s 4001 had some
player-specific modifications, including the installation of a Leo Quan Badass
II bridge and the removal of the bridge pickup cover. In the studio, Geddy
played a selection of basses including a 1972 Fender Jazz Bass scored at a
Kalamazoo, Michigan, pawn shop for $200. But, from 1975 to 1984, it was the
Rickenbacker 4001 with which Geddy spent most of his time onstage.

Lemmy

Motörhead founder and rock ‘n’ roll iconoclast Lemmy was the first to admit that, when it came to selecting the Rickenbacker 4001 bass as his primary instrument, it was all about the looks! Lemmy wasn’t shy about switching up his pickups to get the powerful bass grind he sought. In fact, his first Rickenbacker 4001 was loaded with Gibson Thunderbird pickups, which Lemmy claimed in a 2015 interview with Bass Player magazine sounded like a “[expletive] bulldozer.” Throughout his career, Lemmy rarely strayed from Rickenbacker basses and appeared with several iconic Ricks from his modified Mapleglo Rickenbacker 4000, featuring star inlays and a “Born to Lose, Out to Lunch” sticker, to his signature 4004LK “Rickenbastard.” Limited to 60 pieces, the 4004LK had a walnut body with a hand-carved relief of oak leaves and was stacked with three Rickenbacker humbucking pickups. Starting as a guitar player, Lemmy approached bass with a singular perspective and, with a plectrum-based technique, would mix in lead-style playing with his brutal, fast, and rock-solid rhythmic chops.

Cliff Burton

As Lemmy demonstrated, Rickenbacker basses aren’t just for
Brit rockers and progressive musicians; they can easily play in heavier genres
like hard rock and metal. For further proof of that assertion, look no further
than Cliff Burton of Metallica, who exclusively played a heavily modified
Burgundyglo Rickenbacker 4001 during Metallica’s early days. Like Lemmy, Cliff
stripped the stock pickups from his 4001 and replaced them with a unique custom
set, including a Gibson EB-0 humbucker in the neck position, a Seymour Duncan
stacked Jazz pickup in the bridge position, and a Seymour Duncan stacked
Stratocaster pickup wedged into the bass’s bridge cavern. Cliff was another
bass player who took on rhythm and lead duties, pulling from diverse musical
interests ranging from classical and jazz to country and Southern rock. As one
of heavy metal’s most influential bass players, Cliff inspired others to
broaden their musical lexicons and proved that shredding wasn’t just for guitar
players. Augmenting the sound of his modded Rick with a slew of effects, Cliff’s
tone was as varied as his musical tastes, and his bass compositions — such as
his signature solo performance, “(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth” — continue to
serve as master classes for norm-busting heavy-metal bass players.

Gibson

Unlike Fender, who has had an enduring presence in both the standard six-string guitar and bass guitar spheres, Gibson has never been as well known for their basses. That said, over the last 70 years, Gibson has produced several stunning and innovative bass guitars. In response to Fender’s smashing success with the 1951 Precision Bass, Gibson released the Gibson EB-1 in 1953. While Fender’s take on the bass guitar was decidedly modern, Gibson stuck with classic aesthetics for the EB-1, mimicking the look of a double bass down to a pair of painted-on F-holes. The EB-1 never took off commercially, and Gibson went back to the drawing board, culminating in the EB-2, a 335-inspired instrument released in 1958. The EB-2 began a trend that Gibson would follow to this day: applying existing, popular guitar designs to the electric bass. For example, the EB-0, arguably the most well-known Gibson bass, was originally based on the Les Paul Special for the 1959 release and then on the SG one year later. While Gibson would adhere to this strategy with the Thunderbird and the Explorer Bass, they did make some notable departures, including the Ripper, the RD Bass, and the Victory, which have bass players at Sweetwater asking, “How about those reissues?” So, let’s check out some notable players who were all about the Gibson bass: Jack Bruce, Krist Novoselic, Mike Dirnt, and Suzi Quatro.

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Jack Bruce

Like many of his contemporaries, Jack Bruce of Cream started out playing bass on an upright. Yet, when Jack decided to go electric, he had no interest in attempting to replicate the tone of the double bass. Jack was committed to crafting an entirely new sound; and, in the process, he redefined the function of the electric bass in popular music. For Fresh Cream, the band’s first full-length album, Jack relied on a Fender Bass VI as his primary instrument. However, when the band hit the road to support the record in 1967, Jack switched to a Gibson EB-3, an instrument with which he would be forever associated. With its 30.5-inch scale, the EB-3 was an ideal instrument for Jack to hone his innovative playing style, which employed rapid contrapuntal melodic movements to highlight Eric Clapton’s guitar lines and untraditional techniques for the bass such as string bends. To achieve his crunchy tone, Jack played his EB-3 through a Marshall stack, and he had legendary luthier Dan Armstrong install a diode into the EB-3’s wiring to give him a distorted sound without having to overdrive his amps. Jack and his Gibson EB-3 were constant companions from 1967 until 1977, when Jack moved on to the fretless bass.

Krist Novoselic

It’s safe to say that Krist Novoselic of Nirvana is a huge
fan of Gibson bass guitars. Over the years, he’s been spotted playing numerous
Gibson bass models, including the EB-2, the Thunderbird IV, and rarer beasts
such as the Gibson Ripper — which he owned in black and natural finishes. Fun
fact: it was one of Krist’s black Rippers that nearly decapitated him onstage
during Nirvana’s infamous performance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. The
sleek lines of the Ripper certainly mirrored Nirvana’s stripped-down punk-rock
aesthetic, but it’s Krist’s Gibson RD Artist Bass that’s the real standout of
his Gibson bass collection. Used during the tracking sessions of Nevermind
and often accompanying Krist onstage, the RD Artist Bass was developed in 1977
alongside Gibson’s RD (research and development) electric guitars in an attempt
to modernize Gibson’s offerings. Equipped with active electronics designed by
legendary synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog, the top-of-the-line RD Artist Bass
included a compression and expansion circuit, giving it a voice unlike anything
available at the time. Krist also used the RD Standard Bass, a passive version,
which was re-released in 2011 as the Gibson Krist Novoselic Signature RD Bass.

Mike Dirnt

Mike Dirnt of Green Day is often thought of as primarily a
Fender bass player, which is not surprising given the highly popular Fender
Mike Dirnt Road Worn Precision Bass. Yet, Mike has never been a brand
loyalist; during his career, he has played basses from Peavey, Jackson, Music
Man, Kramer, Höfner, and more. And, to get the punchy, distinctive tones on
both Kerplunk and Insomniac, Mike turned to a Gibson G3. A
variation of the Gibson Grabber (an oddball bass with a sliding pickup), the G3
ditched the grabbable pickup design, substituting it with what Gibson referred
to as a “buck-and-a-half” trio of single-coils created by pickup maker Bill Lawrence.
The G3’s three-way switching system provided a unique palette of tones. The up
position activated the neck and middle pickups, which were wired out of phase
for a humbucker-like effect. The down position offered the same pseudo-bucking
but with the bridge and middle pickups. But the middle position is where things
got interesting; it activated all three pickups, including the out-of-phase
middle pickup, for a remarkably balanced sound with a fat bottom end and a crispy,
clean top end. Check out Mike’s stellar intro to “No One Knows” from Kerplunk
to hear it for yourself.

Rick Danko

Rick Danko and Levon Helm of The Band exemplified the
synergistic relationship between drummer and bass player. Forming one of the
tightest sections in rock ‘n’ roll history, Rick and Levon prioritized groove
and feel over musical pyrotechnics, always serving the song first. Though Rick
has performed with the usual suspects (Fender Jazz Bass and Precision Bass), he
had a strong affinity for the Gibson Ripper. While with The Band, Rick owned
four Rippers — his sunburst model notably featured in Martin Scorsese’s seminal
concert film, The Last Waltz. Introduced in 1973, the Gibson Ripper had
an edgy, aggressive look and an equally aggressive set of Bill Lawrence–designed
“Super Humbuckers” along with a four-position Varitone knob. However, Rick
viewed the Ripper as a platform for experimentation, modifying his Rippers with
custom electronics and pickup configurations. The Ripper was discontinued in
1983, but it remains sought after on the collector’s market — due in large part
to Rick Danko.

Suzi Quatro

In the 1970s, Detroit-born Suzi Quatro blazed a trail for
women in rock ‘n’ roll. Fronting an all-male four-piece band, Suzi lit up the
stage with an undeniable swagger and bravado while holding down the groove on
bass. A self-taught bass player, Suzi learned on a 1957 Fender Precision Bass
gifted to her by her father in 1964. However, like Krist Novoselic, Suzi
embraced Gibson basses throughout her career, starting with a Gibson EB-2 for
her eponymous debut album in 1973 and later appearing with a 1969 Gibson Les
Paul Recording Bass as well as EB-0s, Rippers, and Grabbers. Growing up in a
family of musicians and receiving formal training in classical piano at an
early age, Suzi brought a deep sense of musicality to her hard-driving bass
lines. Though Suzi found greater success in the UK and Europe than she did in
the United States, she has had an enduring impact with artists such as Joan
Jett (the Runaways), Chrissie Hynde (the Pretenders), Tina Weymouth (Talking
Heads), Kathy Valentine (The Go-Go’s), and KT Tunstall citing her as an
influence.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this look at the artists who picked, slapped, plucked, and rocked out on Gibson and Rickenbacker basses. In part two, we’ll check out Fender and Music Man, two manufacturers of bass guitars with a shared lineage, along with the artists who love them!

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