Artist: Anthony Jackson

Anthony Jackson is an American bassist.

Described as "one of the masters of the instrument",  he has performed as a session musician and live artist. He is also credited with the development of the modern six-string bass, which he refers to as a contrabass guitar. 

Jackson played piano before starting guitar in his teens. When he turned to bass guitar, he was inspired by James Jamerson and Jack Casady. Jackson worked as a session musician, in the Billy Paul band, and with Philadelphia International Records. Paul’s 1972 hit "Me and Mrs. Jones" was Jackson’s first No. 1 record. His performance on "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays helped move the song to No. 9 on the pop chart and No. 3 on the R&B chart in 1974. 

Jackson was a student of Jerry Fisher, Lawrence Lucie, and Pat Martino. He has performed live in more than 30 countries and has recorded in more than 3000 sessions on more than 500 albums. 

Danelectro (1956), Fender (1961) and other manufacturers had produced six-string basses tuned one octave below a guitar (EADGBE), and Jackson had briefly played a Fender five-string bass tuned EADGC. Jackson first approached various luthiers in 1974 about the construction of his idea for a “contrabass guitar” tuned in fourths BEADGC, and  Carl Thompson built the first six-string for Jackson in 1975. He first performed on the Thompson-built bass in 1975, recording with Carlos Garnett and touring with Roberta Flack He later approached luthier Ken Smith to build him a six string bass before finally playing instruments made by New York-based bass makers, Fodera. 

Jackson said that the idea for adding more strings to the bass guitar came from his frustration with its limited range. When asked what he thought of criticism of the six-string bass, Jackson replied,