Players
The most famous exponents remain bassists Jack Bruce of Cream, Graham Maby, and Robert Smith of The Cure. John Entwistle of The Who played one briefly in the early 1960s, In the seventies used Henk Bruysten of the Dutch band Hank the Knife an the Jets the six string bass as leading instrument. Eric Haydock of The Hollies is another famous Fender Bass VI user. The first to use the Bass VI in the UK was the ex bass player of the Shadows, Jet Harris who played it on his debut solo single 'Besame Mucho'.
Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO) fame played a Bass VI on many songs during his long career. Specifically he played a slab board 1962 Fender Bass VI through a small Fender tweed amp with the volume turned right up for clean distortion. There is a bass solo in the middle of "Hey You", a BTO song, that uses the Bass VI. Bachman also used the Bass VI to double bass and guitar tracks in many recordings. He used a Bass VI on the "Iron Horse" albums 1 and 2. "My One and Only", "Sweet Lui Louise" and many other songs too numerous to mention.
Tortoise bass player Doug McCombs uses the Bass VI extensively, especially on his solo/side project Brokeback. He is quoted as saying, "Brokeback wouldn't exist without the Fender six-string bass. I consider myself a bass player, and though I have dabbled with slide instruments (lap steel and dobro) I was never really interested in moving into the higher register until I became aware of this instrument and its perfect blend of twang and low tone. I began planning this album years before I could even afford to purchase one. It may seem ridiculous to give so much credit to the instrument, but most of these melodies practically wrote themselves, and they were exactly what I wanted to hear."
Andy Pyle of Blodwyn Pig http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1W1JkPKfWQ&feature=share
Don Ciccone used a Bass VI to record the "Who Loves You" album for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, as well as live in a few tours.
A Fender Bass VI can also be seen on the Beatles' videos for "Hey Jude", "Let It Be", and "The Long and Winding Road". It was played by either George Harrison or John Lennon ("Hey Jude", "Helter Skelter", "Back In The USSR", "Let It Be", "The Long and Winding Road") when bassist Paul McCartney played piano or guitar. It was also used by Harrison and Lennon on the band's last-recorded album, Abbey Road.
Peter Green made extensive use of the Fender Bass VI as a solo instrument during his live performances of "The Green Manalishi" with Fleetwood Mac from 1969–1970, and also as a session musician with Duster Bennett (aka "Peter Blue") and Peter Bardens, among others.
Noel Redding used one when he played with The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Robert Smith and Porl Thompson of The Cure uses a Fender Bass VI in writing many Cure albums, Disintegration for example.
Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 and +44 used two on the writing and recording of Blink 182 and during live shows.
Roy Babbington used a Fender Bass VI exclusively during his tenure with Soft Machine (1973–1976), often coupled with a fuzz box and wah-wah pedal while soloing. Recordings can be heard on the Softs' albums Seven, BBC Radio 1971-1974, Bundles, Softs and Rubber Riff.
John Frusciante owns a sunburst Fender Bass VI and he can be heard playing it on The Empyrean track "Dark/Light". His Red Hot Chili Peppers replacement, Josh Klinghoffer plays a Fender VI on "Happiness Loves Company", off of I'm With You.
Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys plays a Bass VI on the Attack & Release track "All You Ever Wanted".
Rick Danko of The Band made use of a white Bass VI while backing Ronnie Hawkins in The Hawks, though by the time the Hawks were with Bob Dylan, Danko had switched to a Fender Jazz Bass.
Steve Kilbey, the singer/bassist from Australian band The Church has been using the Bass VI on many recordings, as early as the 1983/84 Remote Luxury and Persia EPs.
During the guitar collection scene of This is Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel's extremely special guitar is actually an original sea foam green Fender Bass VI that has never been played and still has the price tag on it. Nigel does not even like anyone looking at it. In reality, only two sea foam green Bass VIs of this vintage exist.
Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal of Placebo were inspired to buy Fender Bass VIs with Molko commenting, "Playing the Fender VI is like playing two instruments in one, it can be treated as a guitar and as a bass. When Stefan is playing lead parts on the Fender Bass VI, he's also using his feet to play a bassline with Taurus pedals. I think if Stefan were an octopus, he'd be playing even more instruments."
Joe Perry of Aerosmith uses one on "Back in the Saddle" from the album Rocks.
Jet Harris of The Shadows used a Fender Bass VI during the recording of "Diamonds" in 1963, and also used this bass live on the Wembley Musical Express.
Luther Perkins, Johnny Cash's first guitarist, who played it on "Happy To Be With You". This guitar is currently being shown at the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum.
Peter Kimberley of UK rock band Bachdenkel, who played it both on live gigs and on studio albums.
Johnny Marr's Bass VI was used on The Cribs' 2009 album Ignore The Ignorant, notably on "Save Your Secrets". Ryan Jarman plays it during their live shows.
Paul Abrahams bassist for Australian Indie Pop band The Reels played live and recorded with this bass on 'The Reels' and 'Quasimodo's Dream' Albums from 1978-1982. The Reels were support to The Cure during their 1979 tour of Australia. The bass can be seen in many of The Reels early film clips, it was sprayed painted black, tremolo arm and bridge cover (mute) removed.
Guitarist Slash used a VI sparingly on Use Your Illusion, most notably on "Right Next Door To Hell" and "Breakdown".
Glen Campbell used a Fender Bass VI (borrowed from fellow Wrecking Crew musician Carol Kaye to play the solo heard on his songs "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston".
Producer Mike McCarthy talks about using the Fender Bass VI on records in a Dec 2007 Mix Magazine article.
Ted Nugent used a Fender Bass VI on the instrumental "Sunrize" from Hunt Music and throughout the songs "Little Miss Dangerous" and "At Home There" from Craveman
Read more about this topic: Fender Bass VI
Famous quotes containing the word players:
“The players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing, whatsoever he penned, he never blotted out [a] line. My answer hath been, “Would he had blotted a thousand.””
—Ben Jonson (c. 1572–1637)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“I do not like football, which I think of as a game in which two tractors approach each other from opposite directions and collide. Besides, I have contempt for a game in which players have to wear so much equipment. Men play basketball in their underwear, which seems just right to me.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)