From Cream to the Cure, witness Fender's six-string bass in action.

By Jeff Owens and Adam Houghtaling

A close relation to the Jaguar, Fender’s original Bass VI-a six-string bass with a floating tremolo arm-debuted in 1961. It was discontinued in 1975, but brought back in 2013 as part of both the Fender Pawn Shop series and in a more affordable Squier version. Each song is a great example of the deeply distinctive sound of an instrument that has now made a welcome return.





1. Jet Harris: “Main Title Theme (from The Man With the Golden Arm)”

Former Shadows bassist Terence “Jet” Harris used a Bass VI on his first two solo singles, 1962’s “Besame Mucho” and “Main Title Theme (From The Man With the Golden Arm).” The latter, in all its twangy, low-end glory is heard here as Harris wields his Bass VI on European television.





2. Cream: "Strange Brew"

Probably the most visible Bass VI player of the instrument’s original era, Jack Bruce played one during a brief mid-’60s stint with Manfred Mann before forming Cream in 1966. He used a Bass VI—which soon received a psychedelic paint job—on much of the band’s 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream. Bruce slings his custom-painted Bass VI here (again, a three-switch model) as Cream perform “Strange Brew” on German TV’s Beat Club in May 1967.





4. 10CC: "Dreadlock Holiday"

Based on experiences Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward had in Barbados, pop pranksters 10CC had a surprise hit in 1978 with this stranger-in-a-strange-land tale of a man’s troubling excursion to sunny Jamaica. Co-founders Kevin Godley and Lol Creme had already exited the group by this time and “Dreadlock Holiday,” which features bassist/vocalist Graham Gouldman on the Bass VI, would prove to be the band’s final hit following a string of successes that included “Donna,” “Rubber Bullets” and the soft-rock smash most associated with the group, “I’m Not in Love.” Here they perform “Dreadlock Holiday” on Top of the Pops in August 1978.





5. Soft Machine: “The Tale of Taliesin”

As bassist for acclaimed U.K. progressive rock/jazz fusion outfit Soft Machine, Roy Babbington played a Bass VI throughout his 1973-1976 tenure with the band. As he does here, in a televised performance of “The Tale of Taliesin” shortly before he departed the band.





6. The Church: "Ripple"

Bassist/vocalist Steve Kilbey has been a longtime Bass VI fan ever since he first saw one (and immediately bought it) in Sydney, Australia, in 1984. He used it to record acclaimed 1992 Church album Priest=Aura, and has often played one onstage, as seen in this performance of a track from that album, “Ripple,” in Sydney in 2011.





7. The Cure: "Pictures of You"

If Jet Harris is the past master of the Bass VI, Robert Smith is surely the modern master. Perhaps no band has put the instrument to more prevalent contemporary use than the Cure, starting in earnest with third album Faith (1981)—the first album on which Smith used it—and concurrent lengthy instrumental piece “Carnage Visors.” His Bass VI work appears sporadically on mid-’80s albums such as The Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, and figures prominently on Disintegration (1989), Wish (1992), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Bloodflowers (2000) and 4:13 Dream (2008). Periodically in-and-out guitarist Porl Thompson also occasionally played a Bass VI, and Perry Bamonte played one extensively during his stint with the Cure from 1990 to 2005. Get a good picture of Smith’s Bass VI work in this 1992 live version of “Pictures of You”.





8. Placebo: "Slave to the Wage"

Placebo’s Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal have both used a Bass VI for stage and studio work, particularly on albums Placebo (1996), Without You I’m Nothing (1998) and Black Market Music (2000). Molko used his on tracks including “Scared of Girls,” “Narcoleptic” and, as seen here, “Slave to the Wage.” Olsdal used his on tracks such as “You Don’t Care About Us,” “Pure Morning,” “The Crawl,” “Burger Queen” and “36 Degrees”.





9. The Dandy Warhols: "Godless"

The Dandy Warhols guitarist Peter Holmstrom has been known to put a 1962 Bass VI to good use and "Godless" is a prime example. The third single from their 2000 album, Thirteen Tales from Under Bohemia, The song opens with the swirling sound of a Bass VI being played with an e-bow and just gets better from there, as can be seen in this live performance for Moshcam in October 2008.





10. Wanda Jackson with Jack White: "Shakin' All Over"

Having lent his talents to country royalty when he produced Loretta Lynn’s 2004 album, Van Lear Rose, Jack White went behind the boards again a few years later for the 2011 comeback album by the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson. The Party Ain’t Over opens with the explosive track featured here, “Shakin’ All Over.” That bassy growl is helped along in no small part by guitarist and frequent White collaborator Olivia Jean (the Black Belles), showing us all how to get it done on a Bass VI.





11. Yo La Tengo: "Nothing to Hide"

Can you strum the Bass VI? Absoultely. Look no further than Yo La Tengo bassist James McNew as he keeps the low end in lockdown through guitarist Ira Kaplan’s freakout strat solo during this live rendition of “Nothing to Hide” from their 2009 album, Popular Songs.





12. Kurt Vile: "Jesus Fever"

Philly psych-rock auteur Kurt Vile gets a woozy assist from a Bass VI with a tremolo arm in full play during this 2012 rooftop performance of “Jesus Fever,” the second track from his 2011 album, Smoke Ring for My Halo.