Museum to let visitors play Lemmy’s bass guitar
A new exhibition dedicated to Motörhead will give visitors the unusual chance to pick up Lemmy’s bass guitar, plug it in and play it themselves, rather than leaving it behind a glass case.
The show will bring together several items from the late Motörhead frontman’s personal collection, including photographs and handwritten lyrics. But it is the installation devoted to his equipment that is expected to attract the most attention.
The approach is strikingly unusual for an instrument of such historical value: visitors will be able to actually hold the bass, connect it and play with the equipment that accompanied Lemmy. The museum did not say how long each person would be able to use it, or what the practical arrangements would be for gaining access to the instrument.
Lemmy used different models from the brand during his career, and his approach to the bass went far beyond a simple backing role. Aggressive playing, chords, distortion and volume turned the instrument into an extra rhythm guitar.
Motörhead in a punk museum
Seeing Motörhead enter the Punk Rock Museum is not as contradictory as the name of the venue might suggest. While the band is a cornerstone of hard rock and heavy metal history, Lemmy always kept close links with the British punk scene and notably played bass with The Damned. Motörhead’s speed and directness later influenced many punk bands.
That crossover between scenes was part of the group’s identity, with Lemmy himself always preferring to describe Motörhead in far simpler terms: rock’n’roll. The Rickenbacker bass driven through Marshall amplifiers became one of the most recognisable parts of that formula.
Handwritten lyrics and Lemmy’s amps
The rest of the exhibition will offer a more traditional look at Motörhead’s archives, with documents, photographs and personal objects.
But the most singular reminder is unlikely to be found behind a display case. For a few visitors, the exhibition will offer something rather rare in a museum devoted to rock: hearing a Lemmy bass sound out of his own equipment once again, this time with their hands on the strings.