A number of musical artists have cited Danko as an influence , including Elvis Costello , John Doe , Mumford & Sons , Lucinda Williams , Jay Farrar , Neko Case , Robbie Fulks , Cindy Cashdollar , Craig Finn of The Hold Steady , Chris Tomson of Vampire Weekend , , Mike Watt , and Eric Clapton who said " Rick 's singing has had a tremendous influence on me ... you have to be a great musician before you can sing like that . " Danko used various basses throughout his career . He played a mid-sixties sunburst Fender Jazz Bass on the 1966 World Tour with Bob Dylan , and on the recording of '' Music from Big Pink '' and '' The Band '' , as well as early live shows by The Band , including Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival . In late 1969 , the Band was given some equipment by Ampeg , which included a fretted Ampeg AEB , a fretless Ampeg AMUB and an Ampeg " Baby Bass " , a fiberglass-made electric upright bass . The fretless AMUB , modified with jazz pickups , was his bass of choice for the next years to come , and can be heard prominently on '' Stage Fright '' and '' Cahoots '' , and was used live , as can be seen in the film Festival Express also in video footage included in the '' Live at the Academy of Music 1971 '' release . This fretless bass was sold on eBay from a private collection in early 2012 for $ 35,000.00 USD . Danko owned four Gibson Rippers , and would change out the pickups to experiment with different tones . Photos and video show him often playing a blonde one and also a sunburst , which was featured in The Last Waltz . Throughout the 1990s , Danko played a custom-built hollow-body electric bass by luthier Mark Dan , with Alembic pickups , which he referred to as " One of the greatest basses that I 've ever had " . His other main bass throughout the 1990s was a red electric hollowbody bass from the Norwegian Workshop Guitar Company with two types of Olympic Pickups . His amp of choice was a blueline Ampeg SVT , and he also used a 1959 Fender Bassman .
1966 World Tour with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan World Tour 1966
Rick Danko