Ben McKee

In this photo of Ben McKee performing live with Imagine Dragons, he can be seen playing a Fender American Standard Precision Bass during the 2013 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Fender Precision may have been Ben's well-known basses in the early years of fame in Imagine Dragons. He had played various Precision Basses, but the notable ones are the Olympic White (seen in the picture above), and in Sunburst finish with EMG Split-Coil Pickups (see On Top Of The World music video - only can be seen for a split second).

"This Sadowsky Jazz bass is tuned to B-E-A-D for specific tunes on the band’s latest album, Smoke & Mirrors."

-Premier Guitar; Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons

Ben McKee is using this amp as he is on Matchless' list of Pro's who use their gear.

In this photo, Ben Mckee can be seen playing a Stambaugh Mahogany Fossil Bass in a live performing with Imagine Dragons.

"McKee also keeps this Mike Lull T4 tuned to B and it features passive electronics, a mahogany body and acoording to McKee, makes him feel like a “badass"."

-Premier Guitar; Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons

"He runs the Matchless heads into a Bergantino NV412 cab."

-Premier Guitar; Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons

In this photo of Ben's pedal board, taken from the article on the Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons, an Avalon U5 is rack-mounted just above the board.

In this photo of Ben's pedal board, taken from the article on the Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons, a Bass MicroSynth sits at the bottom-left corner of the board.

In this photo of Ben's pedal board, taken from the article on the Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons, B:Assmaster sits at the bottom-right corner of the board.

"Shane Johnson also built McKee’s bass rig. The goal was to be bulletproof yet still offer plenty of sonic options. His pedal drawer houses a Malekko B:Assmaster, Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-2, Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth, and an Xotic EP Booster."

-Premier Guitar; Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons

In this photo of Ben's pedal board, taken from the article on the Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons, the Crossover distortion sits directly at the center of the board. This is the XD-2 model.

At 2:00, you can spot Ben playing a Guild B4CE Acoustic Bass.

At 2:38 - 2:40 you can see Ben hitting the pad. In the second link you can see Ben at 1:11:16 - 1:11:18 standing next to it. Also at 1:11:43 - 1:11:45 you can see him using it on the very left.

Used on the Hell and Silence EP and by extension Night Visions, as featured on Imagine Dragons' official Blue Microphones artist page and the now deleted Blue Microphones Podcast Session 7.

Artist Page

THEIR GEAR

• Bottle
• Mouse
• Yeti
• Dragonfly

Podcast Episode Summary

Imagine Dragons talk to Blue about their recent EP, "Hell and Silence"

From 2013 to 2014, Ben Mckee had asked a close friend of his to create a custom bass that would be used on both studio and tours, and one of the basses is a custom-built Strambaugh Hollow-Body Bass coated in all-white. This bass in particular mainly appears in shows such as SNL, the Grammy, and the 50th-anniversary concert of The Beatles. Ben Mckee had not really talked much about this bass, as he would only talk about his Strambaugh Fossil Bass that he had received prior to this hollow-body. The body of the bass resembles the style of a standard Gibson ES-335, or a Chowny bass, giving it a vintage look and sound, along with the help of two humbucker-style pickups. Ben McKee only had used this bass up until the making of the Smoke and Mirrors album, as he would switch to a Sadowsky Jazz Bass and a Mike Lull Thunderbird.

Though the bass can be seen in the music video for Monday, and close-ups of the bass itself are seen. This indicates that the bass is still in his collection.

Ben McKee can be seen using a Gibson Les Paul Jr. in this performance of Whatever It Takes during the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.

Though Ben McKee is well-known as the bassist for the band, he had played a few songs where he plays guitar (both acoustic and electric), but his electric guitar (though it may be his only, the information is still unknown) is a Gibson Les Paul Jr. and its finish differ between shows, in 2017 during a show for the BBC, his Les Paul Jr. was in a dark finish, while on this show it has a sparkling dark-gold finish, it may be speculated that he either has multiple models or had it refinished. Overall, Whatever It Takes may be the only song that he brings this Les Paul Jr. out.

In the music video of On Top Of The World, towards the end of it, Ben McKee is seen playing a Hofner Ignition Series Violin Bass. The setting of this music video is in 1969 during the filming of a moon landing (in lieu to the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was fake), and Ben McKee was supposed to impersonate Paul McCartney, evident with a picture of Paul just before Ben came into frame during the intro. The Hofner Ignition Violin Bass is only seen in this music video as a prop for Ben McKee to play during the music video.

In this photo of Ben's pedal board, taken from the article on the Rig Rundown with Imagine Dragons, the Crossover distortion sits directly at the center of the board.