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Wednesday December 6th, 2000
Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx: On learning bass guitar, the Gibson T-Bird, the Opti Grab and more
This exclusive interview with Mötley Crüe's bad boy bassist Nikki Sixx comes to gibson.com from Gibson USA alumnus Brian Vance who recently spent time with Nikki at the Mars Music Amphitheatre.
by Brian Vance for marsmusic.com
As a tribute to Nikki's sound, style, and influence on modern rock bass playing, Gibson USA has honored Nikki with the their first artist signature bass, the Blackbird. Based on his life-long companion, the Thunderbird, The Blackbird combines the traditional T-bird body shape with a few of Nikki's trademark features. During a recent visit to Mars Music Ampitheatre, we met with Nikki to discuss his life as a musician and the making of his signature bass.
Very few bass players are household names outside of the music business, but Nikki Sixx has become a hard rock cultural icon to the masses. Nikki and Mötley Crüe have influenced countless modern rock and metal bands for nearly twenty years and are still pumping out classic L.A. metal as witnessed by their return to glory with a new CD, New Tattoo and a national tour. You've seen Nikki discuss his dark drug addicted period on VH-1 and witnessed the inner turmoil within the band through years of tabloidish press coverage, but we wanted to get to know Nikki the bass player.
marsmusic.com(mm): What drew you to bass guitar as opposed to another instrument?
Nikki Sixx (NS): The bass was to me was the low grind of the song. It's really a sexy instrument. In Rock and Roll it's an aggressive instrument and it's a beautiful and exciting instrument in all forms of music. A lot of people down play it, you know? The players who play the busiest get all of the credit, but I enjoy the simple ones, the ones who just lay it down in the pocket.
mm: Do you play other instruments besides the bass?
From its intimidating aesthetics down to its terrifying tone, the Signature "Blackbird" Bass embodies all the musical mayhem that Nikki is (in)famous for.
This formidable four-string boasts mahogany neck-through body construction for sinister sustain. Its ebony fingerboard is graced with iron cross inlays, while its three-piece mahogany body features a Nikki Sixx "Blackbird" pickguard, black chrome finish hardware and an exclusive Thunderbird bridge combo with "Octagrab" handle so you have no problem getting a grip.
Armed with dual Thunderbird pickups and an on/off toggle switch for simple operation, the "Blackbird" will take you over the edge into uncharted tonal territory - and, believe us, once you're there, you won't want to come back. If you dare to get behind the wheel of the bass that helps drive the Crue's devastating rhythm section, try the Sixx Signature on for size. Includes Nikki Sixx signature hardshell case!
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NS: I play guitar and piano, but I always come back to the bass.
mm: What artists influenced your playing growing up?
NS: Mostly bands, not bass players - Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Slade...
mm: The Tubes?
NS: Not really, but I liked the Tubes.
mm: What made you decide to cover The Tubes' "White Punks on Dope" on "New Tattoo"?
NS: Because the song sounds like we should have written it first (laughs).
mm: Were you self-taught or did you take lessons?
NS: I taught myself.
mm: You've been closely associated with the Gibson Thunderbird bass for most of your career. What drew you to that bass?
NS: Pete Way from Mott the Hoople, (John) Entwistle. The first time I ever picked one up it just felt so substantial.
mm: When was that?
NS: I first became aware in probably the early 70's. The first one I ever got was a '76. White. I had P-basses and Rickenbackers, but the T-bird just felt at home. My original 'bird, I used to light it on fire with pyro gell every night and it finally just disintegrated.
mm: Once you fell in love with the T-bird, did you ever use any other basses?
NS: When we were a club band, a company named BC Rich got a hold of me and said "hey man, you guys are up and coming we've a bass called The Warlock that would be perfect for you and we want to give them to you". We didn't have enough money to even eat in those days so, I said "awesome". The Warlock never really sounded that good, but at the time, it was a free bass and it worked for me. As soon as I started to make some money, I had gotten a couple of more Thunderbirds, but they just didn't have the growl that I was looking for, but I loved the shape of it, so I made a Kramer Thunderbird. I had modern EMG pickups, it had the weight, it had the size and sounded amazing. Then, I went to Spector and started making Spector Thunderbirds. The bottom line is I was always trying to replicate my original bass.
mm: How did you get back to the T-bird?
NS: In 1988, a Gibson rep came down with a brand new Thunderbird reissue. I plugged it in and said "I'm back -- that's it". That bass was named my "Iggy" bass (after Iggy Pop) and was my main bass through recording and playing all the time. I still had my Rich's, Spector's, and a few vintage P-basses, but that was the bass that got me back on track to playing only Thunderbirds. Now my whole rack is filled with Thunderbirds.
mm: How did the Thunderbird contribute to the Mötley Crüe sound and Nikki Sixx style?
NS: It's the rattle that's important. It's the sound of like a huge, low piano string. That growl that you are able to manipulate inside between the kick and the snare and it fits perfectly with guitar and guitar can just ride on top of it.
mm: Tell us how the Nikki Sixx Blackbird Signature Bass come about.
NS: The Blackbird started out by taking all of the volume knobs and tone knobs off of my basses because I believe that live Rock and Roll is either on or off. It's like drag racing, so I just wanted a toggle switch. We started putting toggle switches in all of my basses then we started spray-painting them flat black. Then we would sand them to make them look all beat up and I would cover them in baby powder to make them look like old flat black hot rod primer colors. One day I came up with the idea to put iron crosses inlayed into the fingerboard and do a special pickguard that was clear. I also wanted the pickups wired so that everything ran to the toggle switch, but also mounted directly into the wood of the body. We take the (mounting) foam out which gives you that extra crunch.
mm: Tell us about your exclusive "Opti Grab" device that's mounted to the top of the body.
NS: All of my basses have to have the Opti Grab, which is where I keep my finger to move my basses when I'm playing since the T-bird is a neck-heavy instrument. A lot of guys that have picked up my bass have said "man, why didn't anyone else think of that?"
Go here to see the Gibson Nikki Sixx Signature "Blackbird" bass.
Call 1-800-4GIBSON for more information anytime about any of four Gibson USA bass guitars or email Gibson Customer Support.
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