Doug Ardito

Puddle of Mudd bassist Douglas Ardito’s introduction to guitars came at age 12 at his family’s home just outside of Boston. He’d sneak in the bedroom and pull his older brother’s ’65 Fender Jaguar out from under the bed, practice on it and then return it as if nothing ever happened. Big bro soon caught on, leading the younger Ardito to buy his own guitar (a Stratocaster) before heeding the siren song of bass guitar.

Ardito moved to Los Angeles and landed a Virgin Records recording contract with his band, Cellophane, and subsequently landed a job as an intern at Interscope Records. There, Ardito befriended Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, who introduced the bassist to vocalist Wes Scantlin, whose group, Puddle of Mudd, had formed in Kansas City, Mo., in 1993. Ardito joined Puddle of Mudd in 1998; major label debut Come Clean was released in summer 2001 and became a huge success, selling more than 5 million albums and hence earning triple-platinum status.

Ardito coauthored the album’s biggest single, “Blurry,” which won numerous awards, including ASCAP song of the year (2003), and Billboard best modern rock song and best rock single of the year (2002). Guitar One magazine named Ardito’s “Blurry” harmonic riff as one of its “Top Ten Riffs of the Decade”; Ardito said he wrote it on a Fender acoustic guitar given to him by his mother as a gift and played it every night while on tour on his ’59 Precision Bass® or ’62 reissue Jazz Bass® guitars.

Subsequent Puddle of Mudd albums featuring Ardito’s work include Life on Display (2003), Famous (2007) and Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Late & Hate (2009).

An ardent user of Fender bass guitars, Ardito has said, “I play Fender because they invented the electric bass.”

Source: http://www.fender.com/artists/profile/86/ accessed 30th May 2013