moonchild

For me the most talented bass guitar player is Steve Harris ( Iron Maiden ).
Amazingly fast and powerfull, his bass riffs are just impossible to play and the way he uses all his four fingers to play the horse beat is just amazing ... i myself being a bass guitarist find it so hard to play some of there numbers actually speaking all of his numbers are hard to play ...

Then i feel Billy Sheeahn of Mr. Big as a very good bassy ... lots of talent and amazing musician ....

Who do you think is the best bassy ?

Derwood

Best Bassy? I don't know.

But best Bassist? Les Claypool owns everyone.

And anyone who says Geddy Lee can lick my butthole!

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quadro2000

Surprise, surprise, I choose John Entwistle from the Who. I imagine most professional bassists would place him up there in their top 5.

I have a hard time even putting his talent into words, but to simplify, the man's dexterity in both hands over an extremely long fretboard allowed him to not only supply the backbone for the band, but also use his bass as a lead instrument.

See: My Generation, The Real Me, his bass solo in 5:15 from 1996 to early 2002, etc.

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vanblah

I would have to say Tony Levin. I'm not sure why exactly. His bass lines are more melodic without losing the whole groove bed than anyone I've ever heard.

stonegrody

I'm a big Flea fan but I would have to go with Stu Hamm on this one.

Glory's Sun

Les Claypool no doubt about it.. and this is coming from someone who can't stand Primus. No matter how much I hate them I have to give credit where it's due.

roachboy

electric?
acoustic?
with arco?
what genre?

this kind of question is ridiculous.

bass players that i like:

there are many many many jazz players who in every sense wipe the floor with their pop counterparts.

a list seems arbitrary, even reframed in this way. trying again.

a list of people i can think of whose playing i admire:

reggie workman
malachi favors maghoustut (r.i.p.)
scott lafaro (r.i.p.)
charlie haden for his tone
dave holland
henry grimes (back in the day....haven't heard him since he started playing again)
richard davis
charles mingus (r.i.p.)
jean-jacques avenel (edit: i remembered his name---he played with steve lacy for the past 15 years or so)
fred hopkins
sirone...
the list goes on and on, and i stop here only because my memory is not what it once was.

for electric bassists, its a bit harder.
stanley clarke.
i like alot of funk players, which means that you have to hail larry graham as the guy who more or less invented the main techniques associated with the form now.
some of the players listed above i quite like.
but i do not think any of them "owns" anyone.
and in this sort of music, it is more often placement than chops that is determinant of how cool the bassplaying is--so i dont know even here how to respond....

and again, it is impossible to know what any of this means, given the number of classical players out there, the nature of classical music insofar as the bass is concerned, the relatively little emphasis placed on it as a solo instrument--the number of remarkable players who never get recorded or who decide to play types of music that restricts their latitude because they love the style.

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tspikes51

Flea from RHCP, Nathan East (Clapton, Springsteen), Matt Freeman (Rancid).

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God of Thunder

I ain't lickin nothin' pal.

Geddy is a damn good bass player.

I'll second the vote for Nathan East.

I also nominate Paul McCartney. He took a different approach to bass playing by trying to make it more melodic rather that just a walking bass line. The bass line of "Paperback Writer" carries the song. Same as "Silly Love Songs" from his solo days.

I'll also mention Jim Creegan from Barenaked Ladies. He uses a standup a majority of the time.

Nods also go out to Bootsy Collins, Flea, Sting, Stanley Clarke and of course Gene Simmons (mostly because everyone expects that from me.)


edit: (slaps head) D'oh, I forgot to mention "The Ox" John Entwhistle. That boy played like a muthaf***er!!

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Paradise Lost

Chuck Rainey -- has played with just about every great group out there...

One song that I can remember off the top of my head is Kid Charlemagne by Steely Dan.

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Dane Bramage

One of my all time favorites would have to be Cliff Burton (r.i.p) from the early days of Metallica. His song on Kill 'em All is just brilliant.

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absorbentishe

Without a doubt, Les Claypool. He makes more music with it than some bands.

Also, Flea, he totally rocks out, with is cock out.
Geddy Lee is a phenominal musician.
Then there's a guy around here that plays in a band, can't think of his name, but he reminds me of Claypool.

thriolith

John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin is pretty damn good.

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kutulu

I'll second Cliff Burton

World's King

Les Claypool.

No fuckin' doubt about it.

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Mr_Wall

I reckon matt freedman from rancid to but the playing he did for op ivy Beautiful. I know he isn't the most talented but some great memorable riffs.

And Jaco Pastorius again not the most technical but a pioneer

Cedar

"The best" is debatable by the type of music played, but for rock my vote's with Les Claypool. (I don't like jazz, so I won't talk about jazz bassists.) I like Geddy Lee, too, but Rush has been my favorite band for fifteen years so I'm a little prejudiced

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Midnight_Son

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krwlz

I always enjoyed listening to Jon Paul Jones, I wouldn't necesarily say he is the best, but without a doubt the most underrated. Page, Plant, and Bonham got all the spot lights in that band, but I think Jones was a very important member, and an awesome bass player.

BuddyHawks

Victor Wooten gets my vote.

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Nancy

John Deacon for sure

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Shizukana

Vic Wooten all freaking day long.

And twice on Sunday, just for good measure.

Runners up - Les Claypool of Primus/various side projects (edited in, oooops), Flea of RHCP, Robert Trujillo (currently Metallica, formerly Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy's backup band), Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam, P-Nut of 311, and the bassist from Faith No More (but I can't remember his name off the top of my head.)

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Derwood

You'll lick it and you'll like it!

Now if we're talking UGLIEST bass player, Lee wins by 23 lengths.

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radioguy

Les Claypool all the way.

Now craziest bass player - Flea by a longshot!

klt2

Mick Karn
Doug Wimbish
Melvin Gibbs

BigBob234

*raises hand for Victor Wooten*

With most bass players, I can recreated their riffs. I may have to practice it but I can usually get damn close.

With Wooten: :/ I don't know what he's even doing half the time.
-bb

castex

Pino Palladino, Muzz Skillings, my friend Neil.

K-Wise

Chris Squire of Yes is pretty fuckin awesome. He did a whole song that was one long bass solo. I think it's called The Fish (Shindleria Praematurus) I hear it's pretty fuckin awesome. Someone who knows what their talking about should check it out and give an inside opinion of it. I myself have never heard it...only stories about it from my dad. But I've heard enough Yes to know the man is awesome. Asside from that I hear the Relayer album has solos from all of the members including vocal solos from Jon Anderson.

Asta!!

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shred_head

Jaco Pastorius. Hard to even think of someone being compared to him, that's crazy.

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gallopingwanker

john myung is pretty crazy, but i'd have to go with les claypool....

Tusko

in no order

john paul jones
jaco pastorious
les claypool
victor wooten

Booray

coincidentally, it was 17 years ago today that Jaco left this world

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Stompy

I really don't think anyone can do what Les Claypool does.

Flat out, he is a one man band. I've never in my life seen or heard any of these other famous bass players even REMOTELY come close to what Les can do. His dexterity give him some of the most amazing effects, so he literally could play his bass so that it sounds like lead guitar/bass/drums at the same time (ok, without the cymbals, but you get the point).

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gazzarc

pino palladino....excellent

unkle_escobar

Everybody seems to forget about the best songwriting bassist of all time, Paul McCartney. And JPJ is in the top 5 as far pure talent goes, but most Zeppelin tunes were dominated by wailing page solos or huge fills by Bonham. He did get to show of in a couple of songs though, listen to the bass line in The Lemon Song, its simply amazing.

KWSN

Les Claypool and Charles Mingus are in a league of their own if you ask me.

Claypool is probably the most technically gifted bassist to ever live. Really. He's at the helm of a band where the GUITAR takes a total back seat to the bass, something almost unheard of in music. Plus he sings at the same time! He truly has a natural gift (plus some COLOSSAL fucking hands. See them live and you'll see what I'm talking about.) As for Mingus, he was THE first man to turn the bass into a melodic instrument, rather than (as someone on the board once said), a drum with four thin pads.

My personal favorite, however, while certainly not the most talented or innovative, is Bootsy Collins. There is nothing cooler than Bootsy.

EDIT: GASP!!! I was only the second person to mention Mingus on here!?! FOR SHAME!

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Anomaly_

Forgive me for not knowing jazz virtuosos (I will try to listen to some though), but my favorites are John Norwood Fisher (Fishbone), Billy Gould (Faith No More), Flea, and of course Bootsy.

kickin wing

victor wooten followed by claypool for a close second then flea in third

brinkn1

Yep... Victor Wooten for sure. Then Les Claypool. If you wanna hear a Wooten album, I'd recommend "A Show of Hands"

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BoomTruck

Electric bass: Stu Hamm.
Upright bass: Jimbo Wallace.

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