Bassist4-stringroundwound

Marcus Miller's bass strings: the jazz-fusion + Miles Davis session canon, sourced

Documented bass-string gauges, brands, and tunings Marcus Miller uses across his solo + Miles Davis + Luther Vandross + David Sanborn + session catalog. DR Strings signature relationship, Fender Jazz Bass primary instrument, defining slap-bass + jazz-fusion tradition. With citations.

Solo / Session · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team · 2026-04-29

William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959, Brooklyn, New York) is a jazz-fusion + R&B + soul + smooth-jazz bassist, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Defining slap-bass voice in modern jazz-fusion + R&B contexts. Documented DR Strings signature artist (Marcus Miller Signature line). Played + produced + composed Miles Davis's Tutu (1986) + Amandla (1989). Long collaboration with Luther Vandross + David Sanborn produced multiple Grammy-winning records. Solo career since 1983 (M² won Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, 2001). Plays a Fender Jazz Bass + signature Sire Guitars Marcus Miller models. The defining modern slap-bass figure + one of the most-recorded jazz-fusion + R&B bassists of his generation.

Jazz fusion Jazz R&B Soul Smooth jazzE Standard (4-string)

At a glance

Role

Bassist

Active

1977–present

Based

New York City + New Jersey

Genres

Affiliations

Solo recording artist (1983–present)
Miles Davis (bassist + producer + composer, Tutu, 1986; Amandla, 1989)
Luther Vandross (bassist + producer, multiple records)
David Sanborn (bassist + producer)
Saturday Night Live band (bassist, 1980-1981)
DR Strings (Marcus Miller Signature line, current endorsement)
Sire Guitars (Marcus Miller signature bass models, current endorsement)
Two Grammy Awards

Notable credits

Miles Davis, Tutu (1986, Miller produced + composed most of the record + played most of the instruments)
Miles Davis, Amandla (1989, similar role)
Marcus Miller, The Sun Don't Lie (1993, solo)
Marcus Miller, M² (2001, solo, won the Grammy)
Marcus Miller, Renaissance (2012, solo)
Luther Vandross, Never Too Much (1981) + many subsequent Vandross records
David Sanborn, Voyeur (1981) + many subsequent Sanborn records

Sourcing4 citations · reviewed 2026-04-29· by Change Your Strings editorial team

Who Marcus Miller is

William Henry Marcus Miller Jr., born June 14, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York, is a jazz-fusion + R&B + soul + smooth-jazz bassist, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans four decades + multiple distinct contexts: producing + composing for Miles Davis (Tutu, 1986; Amandla, 1989), partnering extensively with Luther Vandross + David Sanborn, anchoring Saturday Night Live's house band (1980-1981), and building a solo + leadership catalog (1983-present, including M², 2001, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album).

Documented DR Strings signature artist (Marcus Miller Signature line). Fender Jazz Bass primary instrument; signature Sire Guitars Marcus Miller models in current production.

Two Grammy Awards. The defining modern slap-bass figure + one of the most-recorded jazz-fusion + R&B bassists of his generation.

Style signatures

Three things across Miller's catalog you can identify as his:

Defining modern slap-bass vocabulary. The modified Jazz Bass + active electronics produce the canonical Marcus Miller slap voice; the technique has been imitated by countless modern bassists.
Counter-melodic + chord-playing bass lines. Miller's bass parts often function as compositional voices, with extensive double-stops + chord work that's rare for primary bassists.
Multi-instrumental versatility. Bass + bass clarinet + soprano sax + keyboards + drum programming across solo + production work; the breadth is unusual for a primary-bassist career.

Documented strings. DR Strings Marcus Miller Signature line (CYS DR Strings product page ships when the broader bass-string catalog expansion reaches that brand).

Bassist hub. All bassists on CYS. Tier A jazz-fusion + virtuoso bass canon parallel: Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report, fretless canon), profiles for Stanley Clarke + Victor Wooten pending.

Related locations. New York City (Miller's birthplace + early-career base).

Frequently asked questions

What strings does Marcus Miller play?

Documented DR Strings signature artist with the Marcus Miller Signature line. The Marcus Miller signature DR set is built around his preferred specifications for the Fender Jazz Bass + Sire signature models he plays. The DR relationship is current + extensively documented; the signature set is the canonical Marcus Miller string set.

What basses does Miller play?

Fender Jazz Bass primarily; his canonical instrument is a 1977 Fender Jazz Bass that he had modified with a Bartolini preamp + various other electronics. The bass is one of the most-photographed jazz-fusion instruments + has been featured in countless Bass Player magazine features. Modern: signature Sire Guitars Marcus Miller models extend the Jazz-Bass-style design across multiple price points + configurations. The Sire Marcus Miller line is one of the most-popular signature-artist bass series in current production.

What was Miller's role on Miles Davis's Tutu?

Producer + composer + bassist + multi-instrumentalist. Miller composed most of Tutu (1986), played most of the instruments (bass, keyboards, drum programming, soprano sax + other woodwinds), and produced the record. Davis added trumpet + final touches but the album is unusually composer-driven for a Miles Davis record. Tutu won Davis the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance + is widely cited as one of his late-period high points. Miller continued in the same role on Amandla (1989).

What's Miller's playing style?

Defining modern slap-bass vocabulary inside jazz-fusion + R&B contexts. Three identifiable signatures: (1) Slap-bass technique + thumb-on-the-fretboard percussive attack that defined modern slap-bass tone (the modified Jazz Bass with active electronics produces the canonical Marcus Miller slap voice). (2) Counter-melodic bass lines with extensive chord-playing + double-stops; Miller's bass parts often function as compositional voices. (3) Multi-instrumental versatility; Miller plays bass + bass clarinet + soprano sax + keyboards + drum programming across his solo + production work, which is unusually broad for a primary-bassist career.

What's Miller's solo career?

Active since 1983; ten+ studio records under his own name including The Sun Don't Lie (1993), M² (2001, Grammy winner), Silver Rain (2005), Free (2007), Renaissance (2012), Afrodeezia (2015), and Laid Black (2018). The solo records combine jazz-fusion + R&B + soul + Latin + African music; Miller's eclecticism is part of why he's so consistently recorded across multiple genres.

What's the Luther Vandross connection?

Marcus Miller was Luther Vandross's primary bassist + producer + co-songwriter from Vandross's 1981 debut Never Too Much through most of Vandross's catalog until Vandross's 2005 death. Miller composed many of Vandross's hits + produced extensive portions of his records; the partnership is one of the most-documented bassist-vocalist + producer-artist relationships in modern R&B. Miller's Saturday Night Live band membership in 1980-1981 was the period when he + Vandross were establishing the partnership.