Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Top 5 bassists


Recommended Posts

We share 3/5! [Klausenitzer, Arif & Claypool]

My other two are Paul Simonen from The Clash and Martin Mendez from Opeth



[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1466079345' post='3073214']
theres loads i could mention and most have already been mentioned but my current listens are

Linus Klausenitzer - Obscura (mind blowingly good), Alkaloid, Noneuclid
Arif Mirabdolbaghi - Protest the hero (sadly no longer with the band)
Dominic "Forest" Lapointe - Beyond Creation (again no longer with the band, their new bassist is pretty handy too), Teramobil
Duff McKagan - He's the reason i play bass and i learnt all of Guns and Roses songs to learn the bass, just solid
Les Claypool - hes a god and bonkers
[/quote]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me it's:

Flea - since day one, 25 years ago, he was my main influence, my reason for playing, the reason I practiced for hours EVERY day, why I bought my stingray, why i wanted to get good, just WHY full stop. However I must admit that I have shied away from the chilis in the past couple of albums, but he'll always be the reason that I worked so bloody hard to get to the standard I'm at now.

John Paul Jones - I spent ages nailing the Lemon Song.. the guy is a melodic master, yet so laid back. Him & Bonzo, tight but loose.

Robert Trujillo - I just like him, have done since being a teenager at a club, hearing "violent and funky" by Infectious Grooves for the first time and doing that thing where you stare at the speaker being blown away by it.

Matt Bisonette - see my other topic on him (man crush).

Mark King - Incredible player and the ability to sing over the top too blows me away, top bloke and having worked for him for ten years now, his contribution to my mortgage via my invoices means he makes my top 5.

Also, a special mentinon in despatches for John Deacon. Not only for being a solid bass player and prolific song writer, but also for performing at one of the biggest shows of his career, Wembley '86, in the shortest pair of denim cut-offs known to man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1465717324' post='3070343']
Top 5 inspirational to progress, rather than start playing would be

Flea
Aston Barrett
Robert DeLeo
Sly Dunbar
Billy Talbot
[/quote] I assume you mean Robbie Shakespeare as Sly was the drummer...unless of course he did some bass work somewhere?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not necassarily my top 5 favourite but the 5 that are inspirational to my playing I guess:

Roly Wynn (RIP) - Ozric Tentacles
Mike Howlett - Gong
Aston 'Familyman' Barrett - The Wailers
Bootsy Collins
Flea

5 favourite
Jaco
Miller
Wooten
Johnson
Graham

Edited by Raslee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy Fraser...the man knew how to use the [i]rest.[/i]
Jaco...I know it's cool to dis him in some quarters these days but there is a 'before & after' thing here much like Hendrix on guitar.
Bernard Edwards...just as an obvious example for the myriad of funk/disco bass-players of the 70's that I secretly loved whilst grooving to Zep.
James Jamerson...not sure I can say anything that hasn't been said, probably far more eloquently, by thousands of other bass-players.
Bruce Thomas...highly inventive and melodic, Rarely played the same line in consecutive verses; a bit like Kenny Gradney of Little Feat.

Noticed how I slipped a sixth in surreptitiously and inferred a seventh ?

Honourable mentions have to go Norman Watt-Roy, Pino, The Ox, Trevor Boulder, Ronnie Lane and no doubt many others that will occur to me once I've posted. How can anyone pick just five?

I must doff my cap to the guy who picked Dennis Dunaway; I frequently use the bassline to Gutter Cat as my soundcheck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='pjb13.bass' timestamp='1470138553' post='3103483']
Noticed how I slipped a sixth in surreptitiously and inferred a seventh ?

[/quote]

PEDANT ALERT..

you 'implied' a seventh, we would be the ones to infer. (I'm assuming you meant JPJ, one of the greats)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris Squire (I bought a Ricky cos of him)
Bruce Foxton (the tone and it's The Jam FFS)
Gerry McAvoy (I am a major Rory fan)
Jean Jacques Brunel (tone)
Jack Bruce - number 1 for me

and Chris Hodgkinson, Spencer Davis Group - best bass solo I've ever seen live - he was bending notes like a lead guitarist.....must have fingers of titanium

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just picking five is massively difficult. But here goes:

Doug Wimbish
John Paul Jones
Tony Levin
Eddie Jackson
Les Claypool

Honourable mentions to Jaco, Justin Chancellor, Geddy Lee, Pino Palladino, John Taylor, Nick Beggs, Mark King, Norwood Fisher, Flea, Cliff Burton and Steve Harris - any of these guys could enter the top 5 on any given day. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not very original or the pinnacle of absolute excellence but definitely the bassists that influenced me in my formative years, namely:
Jamerson
Macca
Bill Wyman
Andy Fraser
Jack Bruce

And the five that I feel really bad at leaving out are Chas Chandler, Chris Squire, Pino, Phil Lynott and Nick Seymour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1465227372' post='3066312']
Changes with the weather but here's the five I'm thinking of at the moment:

Chuck Rainey (Motown legend)
Ryan Martinie (Mudvayne)
Chi Cheng (Deftones)
Josh Thompson (Waking Aida)
Roger Waters (Pink Floyd/solo)
[/quote]

Same martinie at the top though.

Edited by Alex Tootstick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...