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Jack Bruce, Photo: F. van Geelen, Omroepvereniging VARA (Wikimedia Commons)

Photo: F. van Geelen, Omroepvereniging VARA (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Jack Bruce. Every item links to its public source.
18 items · Last checked

What bass does Jack Bruce play?

Jack Bruce, who died in 2014, made the Gibson EB-3 famous with Cream, through Marshall 100 heads and 4x12s, after recording most of Fresh Cream on a Fender Bass VI. From 1976 he played fretless Warwick Thumb basses, later his own Warwick signature models, through Hartke heads and XL cabinets with S.I.T. strings.

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What bass gear Jack Bruce uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Cream years

4 items

Warwick years

7 items

Recording

1 item

Amps and rig

6 items
Questions

About Jack Bruce's gear.

What bass does Jack Bruce use?

Jack Bruce has said they use the Gibson EB-3 (premierguitar.com, May 2014). Jack Bruce has been seen using the Fender Bass VI (jackbruce.com, October 2026). Jack Bruce has been seen using the Gibson EB-1 (premierguitar.com, May 2014).

What bass did Jack Bruce play in Cream?

A Gibson EB-3, which his official site says he made famous on Cream's live tours. He told Premier Guitar he paid 40 pounds for it. He played most of Fresh Cream on a Fender Bass VI, and a Dan Armstrong diode in the EB-3 wiring gave him distortion without overdriving the amps.

What amps did Jack Bruce use?

Marshall 100 heads with Marshall 4x12 cabinets in the 1960s, per his official site. Later he moved to Hartke: his site lists a Hartke 7000 head with four XL cabinets, and Premier Guitar's 2014 gear list shows a Hartke 7500 head with two XL 4x10s and two 1x15s.

What strings did Jack Bruce use?

S.I.T. medium gauge roundwounds, .050 to .105, according to his official site and Premier Guitar's 2014 gear list. He told Premier Guitar he liked light strings so he could bend notes.

Did Jack Bruce play a fretless bass?

Yes. His official site says he moved to fretless in 1976, tried Aria and Spector long-scale basses, then settled on a fretless Warwick Thumb Bass modified to his specs, which became the Warwick Jack Bruce Signature Model with MEC active pickups.

What is the Warwick Jack Bruce Survivor bass?

The JB3 Signature Survivor, released by Warwick in 2012 and based on the Jack Bruce CRB bass made for Cream's 2005 Royal Albert Hall reunion. His site quotes him calling it "The best there is."

JB
Jack Bruce
About this guide · Last checked

Jack Bruce was the bassist, singer and main songwriter of Cream. He died on October 25, 2014, at 71. This legacy guide covers the basses, amps, strings and wireless he was documented playing, from the Gibson EB-3 and Marshall stacks of the Cream years to his fretless Warwick signature basses and Hartke rig.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Jack Bruce didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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