“I'm made for bass – I'm supposed to play bass, that's what I'm supposed to do,” said lan ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who departed for the great gig in the sky in December 2015. Born the son of a clergyman in 1945, Lemmy – said to be so nicknamed because of his habit of borrowing cash from his bandmates, we're told, although this was never fully confirmed – indulged in the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle with as much commitment as any of the elite. Describing his overdriven bass tone isn't easy, although many have tried.
“Lemmy’s bass playing with Motörhead was just so insane,” said Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan. “His tone was so huge that you can’t talk about distorted without mentioning him.” We asked Lemmy in 2003 and his bass tech Tim Butcher in 2015 how this uncompromising tone was reached.
“I'll tell you the controls on my amp, left to right,” said Lemmy, adding, “Presence is at three o'clock. Bass is off. Middle is full.
Treble is off. Volume at three o’clock.” By that he meant that Presence and Volume were at approximately 8 out of 10, a fact confirmed by Butcher.
“As far as how to sound like Lemmy, I have let a few well-known bassists loose on Lem's rig, and no-one sounds close to him. He has his own unique style, which is loosely based on banging it really hard!” Never precious about the secrets of his tone, Lemmy was the polar opposite of certain bassists we've come across who refuse to divulge the contents of their . Perhaps this was.
