Lemmy Kilmister's bass strings: the Motörhead rig, sourced
Documented bass-string gauges, brands, and tunings Lemmy Kilmister used with Motörhead from 1975 until his December 2015 death. Rotosound Swing Bass 66 documented use, Rickenbacker 4001/4003 customized basses, Marshall stack overdrive. Historical, with citations.
Motörhead · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Ian Fraser 'Lemmy' Kilmister (December 24, 1945 – December 28, 2015) founded Motörhead in 1975 and was the band's continuous bassist + lead vocalist + bandleader for forty years until his death four days after his 70th birthday. Documented Rotosound Swing Bass 66 user across the canonical Motörhead catalog (Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, etc.). Played heavily-customized Rickenbacker 4001 + 4003 basses through Marshall stacks; the overdriven-Rickenbacker-into-Marshall signal chain is the defining hard-rock + speed-metal bass tone. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Motörhead, inducted 2020 (posthumous).
Strings Lemmy Kilmister played
Historical use · documented by the Change Your Strings editorial team · Affiliate links
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At a glance
Active
Affiliations
- Motörhead (bassist + lead vocalist + bandleader, 1975–2015)
- Hawkwind (bassist, 1971–1975)
- The Head Cat (rockabilly side project with Slim Jim Phantom + Danny B. Harvey, 2000–2015)
- Sam Gopal (early career, 1968–1969)
- Rotosound (signature artist relationship, documented historical)
- Marshall Amplification (signature touring rig)
- Rickenbacker 4001 / 4003 (signature instrument, multiple customized examples)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Motörhead inducted 2020 (posthumous)
Notable credits
- Motörhead, Overkill (1979)
- Motörhead, Bomber (1979)
- Motörhead, Ace of Spades (1980)
- Motörhead, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (1981, live)
- Motörhead, Iron Fist (1982)
- Motörhead, Orgasmatron (1986)
- Motörhead, 1916 (1991)
- Motörhead, Bad Magic (2015)
- Hawkwind, Doremi Fasol Latido (1972)
- Hawkwind, Space Ritual (1973, live)
Who Lemmy was
Ian Fraser Kilmister, born December 24, 1945, in Stoke-on-Trent, England, founded Motörhead in 1975 after being fired from Hawkwind earlier that year. He was Motörhead's continuous bassist + lead vocalist + bandleader for forty years until his death on December 28, 2015, four days after his 70th birthday.
Across Motörhead's canonical catalog (Overkill, 1979, through Bad Magic, 2015), Lemmy's overdriven-Rickenbacker-into-Marshall signal chain defined the speed-metal + hard-rock bass tone. The Hawkwind years (1971-1975) precede Motörhead and are documented on Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) and the live Space Ritual (1973).
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Motörhead (2020 induction, posthumous).
Style signatures
Three things across the Motörhead catalog you can identify as Lemmy's:
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Pick attack as canonical right-hand technique. Lemmy's pick attack drove Motörhead's faster catalog; the technique anchored the band's speed-metal direction.
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Rickenbacker-into-Marshall signal chain. Distortion at the input stage from the Rickenbacker's natural midrange + Marshall's gain structure; the signal chain is the canonical British-hard-rock bass setup.
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Bassist-as-frontman role. Lemmy was Motörhead's lead vocalist + bassist + primary songwriter; the four-decade run is one of the longest continuous bandleader stints in heavy-metal history, comparable only to Steve Harris's Iron Maiden tenure in scope.
Related
Documented strings. Rotosound Swing Bass 66 (.045-.105) as the documented historical production set across the Motörhead catalog.
Bassist hub. Bassists index. Historical hard-rock + metal-bass canon parallel: Cliff Burton (Metallica 1982-1986), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden, contemporary).
Historical context. Lemmy's Rotosound + Rickenbacker + Marshall combination is the canonical hard-rock-bassist setup that influenced four decades of metal + speed-metal bassists. The signal-chain simplicity is the signature.