He has used a few different instruments over his career though - so some Joy Division tracks are very distinctively Rickenbacker. I think I preferred his style then - when he was somewhere between bass and guitar - but still holding the "groove" of the band together. I saw one of New Order's earliest "secret" gigs after the death of Ian Curtis and the sound was amazing - great energy in the band as well.
Since New Order got heavily into sequencing, he has given up playing bass really and is just the lead instrument for the band. I think the "playing down by the knees" is to indicate that he is now the lead guitarist really!!
