Cliff Burton's bass has seen some better days

3D Model

The legendary Metallica ex-bassist Cliff Burton has been an icon in the metal world for decades, with some of his most prolific work being played on and recorded with this just as iconic custom Rickenbacker 4001. Cliff made this instrument fully his own with the replacement of the two stock single coil pickups, in favour of a Gibson humbucker and Seymor Duncan Jazz bass pickup, creating a tone like no other. However, in this rendition of the instrument, it hasn’t been carefully preserved in a museum, but rather continued to be used, getting worn down and rather filthy over its lifetime. The rubbed-off varnish and paint on the body and neck tell the story of a player, or players, who have improved and grown as musicians through this one-of-a-kind bass guitar, while the rust and wear around the electronics, the pickguard and the edges of the wood suggest that this piece didn’t just sit in a lonely room gathering dust, but that it has travelled and experienced all sorts of environments, forever engrained within.