Claytons first bass was a walnut brown Ibanez Musician, which he played heavily from the recording of Boy and well though the War era.
Two years later, at the age of 16, Clayton asked his father to purchase a second-hand Precision for him when Brian Clayton travelled to New York, as he felt he needed a better guitar to master the instrument.

For the rest of his career, he was mainly known for using various Fender Precision and Jazz basses.

Clayton's Precision basses have been modified with a Fender Jazz neck.
In an interview with Bass Player magazine, he said that he prefers the Jazz bass neck because it is more "lady-like" and is a better fit in his left hand.
In 2011 the Fender Custom Shop produced a limited-edition signature Precision Bass built to his own specifications in a limited run of 60 pieces, featuring an alder body and a gold sparkle finish.
In 2014, Fender announced a signature Adam Clayton Jazz Bass guitar, modeled after a Sherwood Green 1965 Jazz Bass he played during the 2001 Elevation Tour.

Clayton's basses include:
Fender Precision Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
Ibanez Musician Bass
Warwick Adam Clayton Reverso Signature Bass
Warwick Streamer Bass
Warwick Star Bass II
Gibson Thunderbird Bass
Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass
Gibson Les Paul 70's Recording Bass, unknown model
Gibson Les Paul Signature Bass
Lakland Joe Osborn Signature Bass
Lakland Darryl Jones Signature Bass (with Chi-Sonic pick-ups)
Auerswald Custom Bass
Epiphone Rivoli bass (seen in the "Get On Your Boots" music video)
Rickenbacker 4001 Bass - used in the early days of U2 circa 1978/79
Status John Entwistle Buzzard Bass
Gibson RD Bass
For amplification Clayton started out on Ashdown amplifiers, and later switched to using Aguilar amplifiers.

Aguilar DB 751 bass amp
Aguilar DB 410 & 115 cabs
Claytons first bass was a walnut brown Ibanez Musician, which he played heavily from the recording of Boy and well though the War era. Two years later, at the age of 16, Clayton asked his father to purchase a second-hand Precision for him when Brian Clayton travelled to New York, as he felt he needed a better guitar to master the instrument.
For the rest of his career, he was mainly known for using various Fender Precision and Jazz basses.
Clayton's Precision basses have been modified with a Fender Jazz neck. In an interview with Bass Player magazine, he said that he prefers the Jazz bass neck because it is more "lady-like" and is a better fit in his left hand. In 2011 the Fender Custom Shop produced a limited-edition signature Precision Bass built to his own specifications in a limited run of 60 pieces, featuring an alder body and a gold sparkle finish. In 2014, Fender announced a signature Adam Clayton Jazz Bass guitar, modeled after a Sherwood Green 1965 Jazz Bass he played during the 2001 Elevation Tour.
Clayton's basses include:
Fender Precision Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
Ibanez Musician Bass
Warwick Adam Clayton Reverso Signature Bass
Warwick Streamer Bass
Warwick Star Bass II
Gibson Thunderbird Bass
Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass
Gibson Les Paul 70's Recording Bass, unknown model
Gibson Les Paul Signature Bass
Lakland Joe Osborn Signature Bass
Lakland Darryl Jones Signature Bass (with Chi-Sonic pick-ups)
Auerswald Custom Bass
Epiphone Rivoli bass (seen in the "Get On Your Boots" music video)
Rickenbacker 4001 Bass - used in the early days of U2 circa 1978/79
Status John Entwistle Buzzard Bass
Gibson RD Bass
For amplification Clayton started out on Ashdown amplifiers, and later switched to using Aguilar amplifiers.
Aguilar DB 751 bass amp
Aguilar DB 410 & 115 cabs
Adam Clayton