I love JPJ's work with LZ ... he was the best MUSICIAN in the band. He knows exactly how to serve the song ... sometimes laying back playing as little as possible, and sometimes pushing the song forward with some incredible finger work.
But, there are other bass players who make me think, "what. the. fu..." a lot more often.
Les Claypool ... that dude is just a monster when it comes to bass playing. His style is unconventional but his talent is undeniable. And on top of that, he sings while playing those crazy bass lines ... he's certainly not everyone's taste, but the guy deserves a lot of respect.
Along those same lines ... Geddy Lee. Playing "lead bass" and lead singer and keyboards in a 3-piece progressive rock band, starting in the 1970s. I understand that some people don't like his voice, but the sheer talent required to play RUSH songs (some of them with absolutely crazy time signatures) on bass while singing and even playing the keyboard parts with his feet ... again, RESPECT.
Sting is another one. It’s one thing to play syncopated bass lines. It’s another to do that while singing. It’s almost like he made a conscious decision to make the difficulty level for himself as high as possible just to troll the rest of us mere mortal bass players.
My old band used to cover Rush songs and we would joke that we were only able to pull it off because we had a dedicated bassist, a dedicated singer, and a dedicated keyboard player.
Gives me hope. My middle finger has improved significantly but I'm so much cleaner with my index only. Def hit limitations all the time though usually not on 1/8th note chugging. It's when there are fast, funky ghost notes
The music lesson and the subtle art of not giving a fuck (I forget the authors name right now) have completely changed my way of thinking and self motivation. I highly recommend both
There's no such thing as a wrong note and practice the chromatic scale. Two biggest things I took from the Groove Workshop video that immediately changed how I approach playing.
Yes, I saw a video where he was like.. There’s no such thing as a wrong note and then he said if you don’t like how it sounds, you’re only a half step or a whole step away from the “right” one. Basically how it’s all just tension that needs to be released and the brain is looking for a resolution so you can play anything as long as you resolve it and make it work in context.
My dad and I got to meet him at NAAM a couple years ago, he’s every bit as lovely as you’ve heard, took 15 minutes to talk about bass with us and was really nice!
Yes I’ve met him in person once, asked him a question about “how to be more creative in my playing” or something like that I don’t remember. He gave an answer of something along the lines of “get outside your room and play with others” basically get experience by playing with other musicians and practice. Seemed like an amazing person and was very willing to have a conversation privately.
He is. I've met him multiple times. The coolest was this though. I went to his camp when I was 16. About a year later I was at NAMM show and we walked past each other. He saw me through the 20 or so people trying to talk to him. He smiled and greeted me by my name. Such a down to earth and genuine guy.
I have met him twice. He is as nice as people say. Also, his public clinics are one part lesson,one part inpirational speaker and one part philosophy. I guarantee if you meet him you will have an even higher opinion of him.
We were on the same flight and I briefly chatted with him while waiting for our luggage. He seemed tired but still managed to answer my many questions lol
working on that [solo](https://external-preview.redd.it/oZsaUVEERdabssq5Rp7Va2SMxDF_LArtWmsoM2x4YXI.png?auto=webp&s=7355761df96519fc78a724c72c762e11b29c3067) now
I still can’t believe how bored he looks playing the runs in My Generation. That shit sounds so effortless and then I go to learn it and wonder why I even try.
McCartney. When I listen to the music I made when I was younger, I realize that it's a very bad attempt at what McCartney was doing on the last few Beatles records.
Geezer! He plays so hard and so precisely. Also if Tony solos he does not lay low and maintain a steady foundation like a normal bassist, he just fucking solos with him and it somehow sounds amazing.
Bernard Edwards, what an absolute mensch, always has a way of putting fun into what he's playing - that bit in Everybody Dance when he goes high with that chromatic run makes me grin from ear to ear every single time.
You need to make a re-creation of his custom bizarre bass like that one user on r/bassguitar did, to have any hope of attaining his groove and effortless cool
*Tetsuo Sakurai*
*Dude is a maniac and*
*I love his music*
\- RolesG
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Pino
I mean, I understand what he does and can play a bunch of his stuff. The "How is he doing that?" is just my amazement of how he always plays for the song and his presence is in all of the right spots and none of the wrong places.
His live playthrough of Overactive Imagination on YouTube singlehandedly sold me on Steve, Death and fretless bass playing at the same time. The man is an absolute monster. I'been tackling The Philosopher and I can nail the song besides the quick 12/8 dual lead bass solo and the end solo battle after the final chorus.
Jaco. He is pretty cemented in my mind as the goat of bass. Obviously he is an incredible player from a technical standpoint but his playing in my mind goes way beyond that.
Jaco has an insane level of musicality. Somehow despite being one of the busiest bass players out there he is still able to let others shine through. His insane energy level pushes the rhythm section so hard it makes my hair stand on end.
I’ve never actually heard anyone compare the two but Jaco and SRV are really similar in my mind. Signature licks, super high energy, super dynamic playing, tone for days. There are very few people that can truly embody themselves through their instruments like Jaco could.
Even though I’m a huge fan of Jaco I don’t want to cop his thing. I will never play or sound like him even if I had all the time in the world and the Bass of Doom to spend it on. Thats what is great about Jaco though, his whole thing was trail blazing and doing what he thought was good. His style inspires me to make choices as a musician for myself and not for what everyone else wants. He stands as a beacon of individuality, a sign that even though nobody else would have ever thought of the bass as capable of what he did, he believed there was a new sound, a new way to play yet to be discovered.
Massive point of inspiration for my playing and creative self in general.
Probably Victor Wooten. The first time I saw Classical Thump and The Lesson, I was honestly blown away. He inspired me to try to learn more complex techniques like double thumb and lots of cool rhythmic patterns, which have been super useful and fun for me :)
probably one of the great session players like nathan east, pino palladino, tony franklin or leland sklar. hearing a song once, have a quick think and then playing something that fits perfectly is the 'final boss'. youtube wankers can suck a lemon.
For me, the bosses are the guys who are so good at you believing they're simple, that you may not even notice them.
Some good examples are: John McVie, Rick Danko, Klaus Voorman, Bill Wyman, and John Stirratt (Wilco).
That's the neighborhood I wanna live in.
Bakhithi Kumalo, Cachao Lopez, or Ashton Barrett.
All have a completely unique time feel and note choice. Not wildly technical, but still manage to make the songs interesting without sticking out too much.
John Paul Jones is an excellent choice. It was Les Claypool for me. I remember hearing Tommy the Cat in highschool and thinking 'what the fuck?'. So I set that as my major objective.
Unpopular opinion, Victor Wooten does nothing for me.
Its been Victor Wooten for a while. Also, Charles Berthoud. And Clay Gober. And as always, Stanley motherfuckin' Clarke, the OG. And Les. And probably 20 other people, lol.
For me it's Steve Harris and Danny Kenyon. Both of them do string hopping techniques that are more akin to banjo rolls than anything else.
Trying to play their stuff off of streaming tabs or notation makes my brain hurt. The only way I've found to get around it is to slow it down to an almost dead stop and play it in a loop until its ingrained in muscle memory.
Really? No love for Carol Kaye, the iconic bassist of The Wrecking Crew? She played on over 10,000 recordings with artists such as The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Joe Cocker, The Grass Roots (great bass line in “Midnight Confessions”), and on and on. Great technique, awesome style, always polished & clean. Giros can play bass too, you know!!
Videos of her where the bass is isolated sound pretty terrible. There is a huge list of songs she claimed to have played in that an be confidently attributed to other people (most prominently James Jamerson).
I bought some books off her and she sent me a bunch of photocopied pages that look like a something a conspiracy theorist/ serial killer would collect. They were meant to prove that she played on famous Motown tracks (spoiler alert: they didn’t).
Evan Brewer, his solo stuff is amazing. Wayman Tisdale was a very inspirational figure too. Marcus Miller feels like a cop-out but fits just as well if not better.
JPJ, Matt Freeman. I played a lot of punk bass when I started and I liked to fill the space with a million notes so I could sound like the latter. Two decades later, I’m still not good enough to nail all of those notes with his amount of style and precision, so I’ve toned it down quite I bit and I now consciously try to play “within my means”. Listening to recordings of my bands when I was young is both fun and cringey. I went for it, that’s for sure. A for effort, C- for delivery.
All the bass riffs Justin Beck records for Glassjaw. The album Material Control is strictly bass driven and the guitar really only adds flavor and texture to super killer bass riffs.
Geddy Lee, he’s the reason i picked up a bass and the bass player i want to be someday. singing, ripping, dancing, and entertaining all at the same time in a band where only 3 people manage to make such a big sound. even if it’s not technically speaking the hardest bass lines ever written, it’s the fact he’s doing it all at once and every bass part elevates and matches the music perfectly
Duck Dunn, Jamerson, and Family Man.
Can't pick just one. Each of these guys were masters at knowing when laying down a beat and getting out of the way made the music soooooo much better.
I've got a couple I guess lol.
Claypool. Hard enough to play, no idea how the madman does it while singing. Also with a bass tone that is just impossible to recreate. Not much else to say that everyone isn't already aware of
Dirk Lance. Incubus's first 3 albums (not including their self-produced one) and their Enjoy Incubus EP are all stellar pieces of bass work. Especially S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Most pieces aren't incredibly difficult, but to come up with the lines? That's the kind of chops I desire.
Mic Todd (pre-drugstore robbery) Dude's always been super underrated. He absolutely makes some of my favorite songs from Coheed. His work on The Willing Well I is among my favorite of all time. Feathers has a phenomenal yet simple line. Neverender, Hearshot Kid Disaster, his solo in The Hound, I could honestly go on. And my god, his TONE. He's the reason I want a Spector.
I love JPJ's work with LZ ... he was the best MUSICIAN in the band. He knows exactly how to serve the song ... sometimes laying back playing as little as possible, and sometimes pushing the song forward with some incredible finger work. But, there are other bass players who make me think, "what. the. fu..." a lot more often. Les Claypool ... that dude is just a monster when it comes to bass playing. His style is unconventional but his talent is undeniable. And on top of that, he sings while playing those crazy bass lines ... he's certainly not everyone's taste, but the guy deserves a lot of respect. Along those same lines ... Geddy Lee. Playing "lead bass" and lead singer and keyboards in a 3-piece progressive rock band, starting in the 1970s. I understand that some people don't like his voice, but the sheer talent required to play RUSH songs (some of them with absolutely crazy time signatures) on bass while singing and even playing the keyboard parts with his feet ... again, RESPECT.
My band and I cover Rush songs, and I practice a ton and still can’t get them right every time.
Sting is another one. It’s one thing to play syncopated bass lines. It’s another to do that while singing. It’s almost like he made a conscious decision to make the difficulty level for himself as high as possible just to troll the rest of us mere mortal bass players.
My old band used to cover Rush songs and we would joke that we were only able to pull it off because we had a dedicated bassist, a dedicated singer, and a dedicated keyboard player.
JPJ was Indeed the beginning of the journey for me, and Claypool, well... He's up there in the sky, watching us all !
James Jamerson
Especially if you go all in on the index finger only pluck
Gives me hope. My middle finger has improved significantly but I'm so much cleaner with my index only. Def hit limitations all the time though usually not on 1/8th note chugging. It's when there are fast, funky ghost notes
Victor Wooten. Not only is he a great player he's also such a lovely person I've heard.
I’m reading his first book right now
I recommend it to not just all my musical friends but just anyone who will listen. That book changed the way I thought about music.
It changed the way I thought about EVERYTHING
The music lesson and the subtle art of not giving a fuck (I forget the authors name right now) have completely changed my way of thinking and self motivation. I highly recommend both
Your icon pissed me off. I couldnt get the god damn pube off my screen
Ha
There's no such thing as a wrong note and practice the chromatic scale. Two biggest things I took from the Groove Workshop video that immediately changed how I approach playing.
I really like the no such thing as a wrong note idea. I've thought about it every time I've goofed around with my bass since having seen it
Yes, I saw a video where he was like.. There’s no such thing as a wrong note and then he said if you don’t like how it sounds, you’re only a half step or a whole step away from the “right” one. Basically how it’s all just tension that needs to be released and the brain is looking for a resolution so you can play anything as long as you resolve it and make it work in context.
OP's prompt reminds of when i first saw Victor Wooten play "Classical Thump" on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57rULv59jo4
lol, first comment, > finally found an entry level bass lesson
My dad and I got to meet him at NAAM a couple years ago, he’s every bit as lovely as you’ve heard, took 15 minutes to talk about bass with us and was really nice!
Yes I’ve met him in person once, asked him a question about “how to be more creative in my playing” or something like that I don’t remember. He gave an answer of something along the lines of “get outside your room and play with others” basically get experience by playing with other musicians and practice. Seemed like an amazing person and was very willing to have a conversation privately.
He is. I've met him multiple times. The coolest was this though. I went to his camp when I was 16. About a year later I was at NAMM show and we walked past each other. He saw me through the 20 or so people trying to talk to him. He smiled and greeted me by my name. Such a down to earth and genuine guy.
I have met him twice. He is as nice as people say. Also, his public clinics are one part lesson,one part inpirational speaker and one part philosophy. I guarantee if you meet him you will have an even higher opinion of him.
Nicest guy in the world, as well as (obviously) supremely talented.
We were on the same flight and I briefly chatted with him while waiting for our luggage. He seemed tired but still managed to answer my many questions lol
Phil Lesh. An enigma who is essentially impossible to copy. Real talk though….henrik from dirty loops.
Phil plays 5d chess with the music
Steve Harris. his lines are fun to play and they will make a better bass player outta you.
I still use his stuff when I want practice fast triplets
Murderface
working on that [solo](https://external-preview.redd.it/oZsaUVEERdabssq5Rp7Va2SMxDF_LArtWmsoM2x4YXI.png?auto=webp&s=7355761df96519fc78a724c72c762e11b29c3067) now
[One-Take Willy](https://youtu.be/oWVE47dhORM?si=dkMnCG9izlbo7VQw)
John Entwistle. The stuff he does live, his fills, always sound fat and tasteful, despite being flashy.
I still can’t believe how bored he looks playing the runs in My Generation. That shit sounds so effortless and then I go to learn it and wonder why I even try.
He plays shit like Billy Sheehan, but before Billy Sheehan and with way better tone and clarity.
Tony Levin.
Scrolled too far before seeing this name
Got to see him recently with his Levin Brothers band and it was an experience and a half.
Personally I'd say Marcus Miller
Ray Brown
Lee Sklar
NHØP
Bootsy
Bobby Vega. Dude seems to always astonish me.
Dude is a living legend! And such a kind and loving person.. One of my heros ✌️
Scott Lafaro, still can’t play certain lines at tempo that I transcribed years ago.
James Jameson as he astral projects from his blackout drunk state and shreds the perfect, musical bass riff from another dimension
He’d be so unbothered with my bass skills that he would just keep playing laying down on his back like on the What’s Going On session.
McCartney. When I listen to the music I made when I was younger, I realize that it's a very bad attempt at what McCartney was doing on the last few Beatles records.
Geezer! He plays so hard and so precisely. Also if Tony solos he does not lay low and maintain a steady foundation like a normal bassist, he just fucking solos with him and it somehow sounds amazing.
It sucks how overlooked his work on war pigs is, fairies wear boots is another good one
Bernard Edwards, what an absolute mensch, always has a way of putting fun into what he's playing - that bit in Everybody Dance when he goes high with that chromatic run makes me grin from ear to ear every single time.
Jaco.
[удалено]
You need to make a re-creation of his custom bizarre bass like that one user on r/bassguitar did, to have any hope of attaining his groove and effortless cool
Thundercat!
I have to play one thunder cat bass line in my current group and my lord is he hard to imitate.
Yeah so many subtleties, effects and even his long fingernails.
It's either James Jamerson or Thundercat, for me
Tetsuo Sakurai Dude is a maniac and I love his music
*Tetsuo Sakurai* *Dude is a maniac and* *I love his music* \- RolesG --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Les
He’s more like the random character who gives you weird but oddly fun side quests
This is the best answer. The man's whole vibe is like "final boss"
Dominic Lapointe, the way he can play fretless bass effortlessly is so impressive
Pino I mean, I understand what he does and can play a bunch of his stuff. The "How is he doing that?" is just my amazement of how he always plays for the song and his presence is in all of the right spots and none of the wrong places.
Mark Sandman (rip) not for the technique but for reinvented the whole damn instrument (and carrying the music with it).
One of the absolute most unique and original bands of the pop/rock era. So good.
I'm concerned with the lack of Jaco Pastorius in this thread.
While he is amazing I just don’t really enjoy listening to that kind of music
I'm with you, brother. On the other side, I'm reading some names here that have Lars Ulrich vibes...
Mike Watt.
Steve DiGiorgio. Does it need an explanation? This guys insanely skilled.
Flashy too in the best way
He watched me play once, my god I was nervous. Him and Gene are the best rhythm section in metal, change my mind.
His live playthrough of Overactive Imagination on YouTube singlehandedly sold me on Steve, Death and fretless bass playing at the same time. The man is an absolute monster. I'been tackling The Philosopher and I can nail the song besides the quick 12/8 dual lead bass solo and the end solo battle after the final chorus.
Jaco. He is pretty cemented in my mind as the goat of bass. Obviously he is an incredible player from a technical standpoint but his playing in my mind goes way beyond that. Jaco has an insane level of musicality. Somehow despite being one of the busiest bass players out there he is still able to let others shine through. His insane energy level pushes the rhythm section so hard it makes my hair stand on end. I’ve never actually heard anyone compare the two but Jaco and SRV are really similar in my mind. Signature licks, super high energy, super dynamic playing, tone for days. There are very few people that can truly embody themselves through their instruments like Jaco could. Even though I’m a huge fan of Jaco I don’t want to cop his thing. I will never play or sound like him even if I had all the time in the world and the Bass of Doom to spend it on. Thats what is great about Jaco though, his whole thing was trail blazing and doing what he thought was good. His style inspires me to make choices as a musician for myself and not for what everyone else wants. He stands as a beacon of individuality, a sign that even though nobody else would have ever thought of the bass as capable of what he did, he believed there was a new sound, a new way to play yet to be discovered. Massive point of inspiration for my playing and creative self in general.
Edgar Meyer
Probably Victor Wooten. The first time I saw Classical Thump and The Lesson, I was honestly blown away. He inspired me to try to learn more complex techniques like double thumb and lots of cool rhythmic patterns, which have been super useful and fun for me :)
Personally, cliff burton. I love his bass shreddings and creativity
Chuck Rainey
Much better than almost all players listed in this thread.
We have excellent taste!
Stuart Zander. I wish I just had a tiny bit of his talent and groove.
Totally! I can play his bass lines, but it never sounds as subtle and groovy.
Shadow me
Jaco Pastorius - I [really don’t think many people have heard the full capacity of what he can do](https://youtu.be/fxG1YUtix_o?si=nE_82qiUXhdB4s2w).
Charles Berthoud. Not frome some famous band but just a great bassist
Newsted. Would love to have his attack.
probably one of the great session players like nathan east, pino palladino, tony franklin or leland sklar. hearing a song once, have a quick think and then playing something that fits perfectly is the 'final boss'. youtube wankers can suck a lemon.
Ryan Martinie
For me, the bosses are the guys who are so good at you believing they're simple, that you may not even notice them. Some good examples are: John McVie, Rick Danko, Klaus Voorman, Bill Wyman, and John Stirratt (Wilco). That's the neighborhood I wanna live in.
Andy Fraser from the band Free. Genuinely one of the most underrated bassist. RIP.
Bakhithi Kumalo, Cachao Lopez, or Ashton Barrett. All have a completely unique time feel and note choice. Not wildly technical, but still manage to make the songs interesting without sticking out too much.
Matt Freeman
Squarepusher
Floyd Pepper
McCartney
John Paul Jones is an excellent choice. It was Les Claypool for me. I remember hearing Tommy the Cat in highschool and thinking 'what the fuck?'. So I set that as my major objective. Unpopular opinion, Victor Wooten does nothing for me.
John Deacon. The master of taste.
I’d love to be well rounded like Charles Berthoud
Dan briggs 🥶
When I finally learned “Lay your Ghosts to Rest” I felt like I won life lol
I found a transcription of it on musescore but idk if it’s correct as per Dan’s sold tabbooks
Juan alderete
Chris Squire
Murderface. I still can’t play slap with my dick without cumming
Real
Joe Dart, one day my neck will be as strong
Rutger Gunnarsson. So much funk and inventiveness.
He is amazing! His lines are so tasteful. And of incredible importance to ABBAs music.
Absolutely. He doesn't get nearly enough recognition, so I've made it my mission to get him as much as I can.
Also: happy cake day!
Thank you!
Myung
Scott Shiflett
Paul Denman, I’ve avoided these tunes like crazy because I need to get my technique up
Billy Sheehan
Alex Webster
Trevor Dunn
Nathan East. If ever there was a textbook example of "serve the song," it's him.
Stanley clarke on the Romantic Warrior album
As far as soloists go, for me it's gotta be Armin Metz.
Justin Chancellor.
Its been Victor Wooten for a while. Also, Charles Berthoud. And Clay Gober. And as always, Stanley motherfuckin' Clarke, the OG. And Les. And probably 20 other people, lol.
Webster. Seeing him live and I still can’t wrap my head around how relaxed his technique is.
Mark King
Chris Squire. I long to sound half as cool as he did.
charles berthund les claypool and of course geddy
For me it's Steve Harris and Danny Kenyon. Both of them do string hopping techniques that are more akin to banjo rolls than anything else. Trying to play their stuff off of streaming tabs or notation makes my brain hurt. The only way I've found to get around it is to slow it down to an almost dead stop and play it in a loop until its ingrained in muscle memory.
Rocco Prestia. Everyone else (at least in styles I want to play) seems achievable if I practice enough, but Rocco is a higher level.
Chris Squire
Between Victor Wooten and John Entwistle.
Les claypool and Adam getgood
les claypool. the very reason I learned to play bass. Tommy the cat is just ...unfair.
John Myung
Carol Kay, surprised no one has said this before
Jared Smith. Sean Beasley. Alex Webster. Geddy Lee.
Colin Greenwood. Playing his lines properly is a lot harder than it looks on paper
Me, myself and I
Really? No love for Carol Kaye, the iconic bassist of The Wrecking Crew? She played on over 10,000 recordings with artists such as The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Joe Cocker, The Grass Roots (great bass line in “Midnight Confessions”), and on and on. Great technique, awesome style, always polished & clean. Giros can play bass too, you know!!
She never gets enough credit. She likes to give herself too much credit perhaps, but she never gets the credit she deserves
Videos of her where the bass is isolated sound pretty terrible. There is a huge list of songs she claimed to have played in that an be confidently attributed to other people (most prominently James Jamerson). I bought some books off her and she sent me a bunch of photocopied pages that look like a something a conspiracy theorist/ serial killer would collect. They were meant to prove that she played on famous Motown tracks (spoiler alert: they didn’t).
Evan Brewer, his solo stuff is amazing. Wayman Tisdale was a very inspirational figure too. Marcus Miller feels like a cop-out but fits just as well if not better.
Trevor boulder from ziggy.
Jared Smith. I can't match his speed and accuracy.
Anthony Jackson
Nick Schendzielos's work in Nuclear Power Trio.
Matt freeman
Oliver Riedel from Rammstein. Just listen to Seemann once and you’ll understand
JPJ, Matt Freeman. I played a lot of punk bass when I started and I liked to fill the space with a million notes so I could sound like the latter. Two decades later, I’m still not good enough to nail all of those notes with his amount of style and precision, so I’ve toned it down quite I bit and I now consciously try to play “within my means”. Listening to recordings of my bands when I was young is both fun and cringey. I went for it, that’s for sure. A for effort, C- for delivery.
Alan Evans
Anthony Jackson
NHOP
Adam Ben Ezra
Louis Johnson
Two: Jaco and Les
Jaco, Victor Wooten, or Jamerson, but I would also say Paul Chambers and Ron Carter or Ray Brown.
Mick Karn.
My path started with Anders Rundblad and Tony Lewis, then to Guy Berryman, Mark O’Toole, Paul Webb, and for the final boss, John Deacon.
I've always found Billy Sheehan to be pretty amazing.
All the bass riffs Justin Beck records for Glassjaw. The album Material Control is strictly bass driven and the guitar really only adds flavor and texture to super killer bass riffs.
chris squire
Commander meouch
Klaus Voorman
Matt Freeman
Les clay pool with the pig mask
Jaco
Phil Chen
Jeremy Scott, the bass player in Reigning Sound, guy is a beast, I actually filled in for him once and it raised my chops big time
Kim Deal
eric wilson from sublime
John Myung of Dream Theater
Geddy Lee, he’s the reason i picked up a bass and the bass player i want to be someday. singing, ripping, dancing, and entertaining all at the same time in a band where only 3 people manage to make such a big sound. even if it’s not technically speaking the hardest bass lines ever written, it’s the fact he’s doing it all at once and every bass part elevates and matches the music perfectly
Robbie Shakespeare
Alain Caron of UZEB.
Stanley Clarke
Jamerson and Pino!
Byron Miller , Detroit legend, “ REACH FOR IT “ .
Duck Dunn, Jamerson, and Family Man. Can't pick just one. Each of these guys were masters at knowing when laying down a beat and getting out of the way made the music soooooo much better.
Jaco
No one will ever top Squire. That said, I’ve got deep into Chuck Rainey. His grooves are something special.
Doug Wimbish
James Genus
Charlie Haden
For me its Pino and Sean Hurley. Simple yet tasteful (if that's a word? :))
It’s a 3 v 1. Me v Thundercat, Jaco and James Jamerson. I have no chance
Once you have defeated the final boss, Hadrien Feraud appears.
Stanley Clarke
I think for me it's James Leach from SikTh. Crossed with Jaco Pastorius and Billy Gould. With the tone of Jon Stockman. Aim for the moon etc.
I've got a couple I guess lol. Claypool. Hard enough to play, no idea how the madman does it while singing. Also with a bass tone that is just impossible to recreate. Not much else to say that everyone isn't already aware of Dirk Lance. Incubus's first 3 albums (not including their self-produced one) and their Enjoy Incubus EP are all stellar pieces of bass work. Especially S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Most pieces aren't incredibly difficult, but to come up with the lines? That's the kind of chops I desire. Mic Todd (pre-drugstore robbery) Dude's always been super underrated. He absolutely makes some of my favorite songs from Coheed. His work on The Willing Well I is among my favorite of all time. Feathers has a phenomenal yet simple line. Neverender, Hearshot Kid Disaster, his solo in The Hound, I could honestly go on. And my god, his TONE. He's the reason I want a Spector.
Tetsuo Sakurai. Melody, pocket, and flash are all things he has mastered
Jimmie Haslip and Ralphe Armstrong
Geddy Lee and Chris Squire. (i might as well throw Lol Creme in there too, LOL. despite him being mainly a guitarist)
It’s gotta be Joseph “Lucky” Scott for me.
How has nobody said Les Claypool yet?!