Best Bassist

[Simba23]

I'd have to say John Entwistle.

What do you guys think?

[Rev0lver]

william murderface.

[tombrady]

VICTOR ****ING WOOTEN

and les claypool is the man too.

I really don't know, those guys are just my favorite...victor is a gangsta.

[unionjack]

Entwistle is the greatest followed by Les Claypool and then Flea

[BhindBluEyes430]

I'd have to say John Entwistle.

What do you guys think?

definatly look at my thread "greatest band ever" all 4 members of the who are in the top 3 of their respective intruments

[Megafone]

Geddy Lee is up there on great bassists

[Eastern-Eagles]

Geddy Lee and John Entwistle are the best.

[TheKT]

What about Jack Bruce (Cream)... I can't believe no one has mentioned him yet. He's one of the all time greats.

[StealthBeagle]

Cliff Burton...RIP. :(

[Badosh]

Les Claypool

[Brickwright]

Eh, my favorites:

Geddy Lee
John Entwistle
Jack Bruce
Chris Squire
John Paul Jones

And even though I don't listen to their respective bands all that much, I do have to hand it to Flea and Les Claypool

[BubbaC]

wow... not one mention of

Matt Freeman.

he's definitely my favorite. the argument of best ever is up the air. but he holds his own in the top 5. especially if you want to factor in speed, technicality and melodic-ness. as one. there are better bassist at each. but he has it all.

some of his bass riffs are just plain nasty. and he can bass solo with the best of them.

les clay pool.. i'd like too , but cant go with. to sporadic. anyone can make up random bass lines. i do give him loads of credit for being able to repeat them time and time again. i could never ever.

[vicecityfreak]

Geddy Lee and Victor Wooten

[DIEGOROBOT26]

Even though my favorite is Geddy Lee I definitely have to say one of the greats is Chris Squire. Yes kicks ass too.

[Julio_No_Mas]

Les Claypool
Geddy Lee
Geezer Butler

[battle_axe_of_doom]

charles mingus is better than any rock bassist to ever live, but since this is a rock-based forum i gotta say

geddy
les claypool
paul mccartney

[ProgNegative]

No mention of Jaco? I know this is a rock forum and he played jazz fusion, but still...

I personally like Ryan Martinie (Mudvayne), while that music isn't the most popular, he has a certain style all his own with his finger popping double and triple stops.

Victor Wooten and Les Claypool for their ability to take focus off the guitar. Paul McCartney and Cliff Burton were great at driving the songs, you may think drums keep all the rhythm, but bass is important too. Geddy Lee, Billy Sheehan, and there's a new band called Hibria that has an awesome bassist, don't know his name.

[battle_axe_of_doom]

^ mudvayne guy is massively overrated. he gets his credit cuz he plays in a nu metal band yet he plays slap-pop bass. you want a tr00 metal bassist : tony choy

[ZosoZeppelin]

John Entwistle and JPJ

[tombrady]

les clay pool.. i'd like too , but cant go with. to sporadic. anyone can make up random bass lines. i do give him loads of credit for being able to repeat them time and time again. i could never ever.
If he is able to repeat them, they probably aren't random bass lines :P

Watch any Jerry was a Racecar Driver or Tommy the Cat vid, or of course the Awakening, and tell me he's not one of the best :\

And yeah, **** that guy from Mudvayne. a while back in WoW, I had a character named LesClaypool, and every ****ing time I logged on, this ******* would message me saying the guy from Mudvayne was better, and every time I'd tell him he was a ******.

[PaleSaint]

Dead: Cliff Burton (this man was sick, all you have to do is listen to Anesthesia, amazing).

Alive: Flea

[lankybassist]

my favorites in order:
1. john entwistle. he was a madman even in '64 when the who first hit it big. and he's famous for what is believed to be the first ever bass solo (my generation)
2. paul mccartney. he never had insane solos or anything particularly special, but paul could solidly carry a song and still remain very moveable on the neck. he and entwistle both put the bass guitar to new standards
3. FLEA. it's friggin flea, what more do you need? the best household name in bass guitar for 20 somethin years
4. Victor Wooten. this man is sick. he's developed several techniques of his own that have transformed bass playing as we know it. and have you ever caught yourself saying amazing grace is a cool song?

[TheTrooper]

Steve Harris
Dave Ellefson

[booms]

roger walters from pink floyd.

[ProgNegative]

And yeah, **** that guy from Mudvayne. a while back in WoW, I had a character named LesClaypool, and every ****ing time I logged on, this ******* would message me saying the guy from Mudvayne was better, and every time I'd tell him he was a ******.

You don't have to hate him just cuz someone was a dick to you in a videogame, they do give you the option of ignoring people, would have solved your problem right there. He may not be on par with most of the guys mentioned in this thread, but you gotta admit it takes something more than the average bassist to get noticed in a genre that is generally dominated by heavily distorted guitar and screaming vocals where most bassists will just double the guitar riffs. Oh, and I somehow forgot to mention Flea in my list.

[osirisbunnyfoofoo]

In my opinion, Flea is currently the most talented bassist alive and has been for years, not to mention that RHCP probably has 5 or 6 songs in their entire library that I consider less than great.

[Wangsandsuch]

Sid Vicious

[tombrady]

You don't have to hate him just cuz someone was a dick to you in a videogame, they do give you the option of ignoring people, would have solved your problem right there. He may not be on par with most of the guys mentioned in this thread, but you gotta admit it takes something more than the average bassist to get noticed in a genre that is generally dominated by heavily distorted guitar and screaming vocals where most bassists will just double the guitar riffs. Oh, and I somehow forgot to mention Flea in my list.
ROFL it was a minor inconvenience if anything, and I was joking mostly :(

[joegibes]

Paul McCartney (can't believe nobody mentioned him yet... he is the king of melodic bass lines)
John Paul Jones
Flea
Vic Wooten (of course)

Geddy Lee is OK as well (and props for singing at the same time).

[osirisbunnyfoofoo]

Paul McCartney (can't believe nobody mentioned him yet... he is the king of melodic bass lines)
John Paul Jones
Flea
Vic Wooten (of course)

Geddy Lee is OK as well (and props for singing at the same time).

Somebody HAD already mentioned Paul, but now I feel like and idiot for not mentioning him and that I need to give my two cents worth on him. He transformed the bass from a rhythm instrument to the guitar's equal pretty much on his own and definitely before anyone else. I still think Flea is better (especially in his current state, that kinda new single "Nod You Head" is absolutely dreadful), but if Paul never came a long, Flea and every other bassist would probably still play a generic quarter-notes only line on every song. Yep, that's what it was like before Paul, really. Not that those lines always sound bad.

[dave93]

Dave Phoenix Farrell of Linkin Park!!

[imeistermandude]

Geddy Lee from Rush and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[ultrawiz]

Cliff Burton alive or dead he was amazing. He did not deserve to be crushed by a bus. RIP

[starkukraine]

Should be a poll question...

These guys in this order:
1. Les Claypool
2. John Paul Jones
3. Bootsy Collins
4. Geddy Lee
5. Chris Squire

[Prisoner_KSC2303]

I'm really into Fumi from Polysics right now. I dunno, something about her style of playing just really appeals to me. So I'm gonna say she's one of the best. Not enough girls get props as bass players.

I also dig Keith Entwistle, Les Claypool and Bootsy Collins.

[BIGZFOOT]

Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, im probably forgetting a lot

[Caarlosgs]

well what about cliff burton? :confused:

this is my top 3:

1-Cliff Burton
2-Geddy Lee
3-Geezer Butler

[Caarlosgs]

i forgot john paul jones too

[Wangsandsuch]

Guys, Sid Vicious, you can't forget about him.

[blue_dragonzero]

I'm really into Fumi from Polysics right now. I dunno, something about her style of playing just really appeals to me. So I'm gonna say she's one of the best. Not enough girls get props as bass players.

I also dig Keith Entwistle, Les Claypool and Bootsy Collins.

Wait, what?

[Prisoner_KSC2303]

Wait, what?

I assume you are referring to the part in bold. I thought I spelled his name right, but I was referring to the bass player from The Who.

Oh crap I just realized what I did. I meant John Entwistle. I'm sorry about that. Gah.

[Phategod1]

Bootsy Collins and Fieldy.

[JukeBoxHero]

Geddy Lee-I like his bass lines, most of them are not repeats of what the guitar plays.

Chris Squire-This guy is just a great base player, check out Roundabout-Yes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7o9DDGIxs&feature=related

John Entwhistle-Another great bass player

John Paul Jones-Nice bass player, the bass line for What is and What should never be is great.

[TrunkMonkey]

Geddy Lee

Geddy Lee

[Tyno_2025]

Cliff Burton or Steve Harris

[Crecat]

Nikki Sixx and Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies and new Metallica bassist)

[splintermonkey2]

Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Flea, John Myung, Duff McKagan, Les Claypool, Steve Harris, John Paul Jones, Cliff Burton

For me, in that order

[Prisoner_KSC2303]

Dave Phoenix Farrell of Linkin Park!!

I will be shocked if you are not a.)trolling or b.)still in high school or junior high.

[Gyojirokun]

Jaco!

Thread needz moar Pastorius

[TheCrimsonSaint]

Absolutely no mention of Steve Harris? What up with that? The man perfected the super-fast tripilet galloping rythm, not to mention carried Iron Maiden's melodies in many songs (see Wrathchild, Revelations, and Invaders). He may not be the best, but he definetely deserves a mention. He also was the most raw bassist ever. His sound was uncontrolled and precise at the same time, something that is waaaay tough to do. If you haven't listened to him, do it soon.

[Rastak]

Nice lists guys....Geezer Butler cause that's all I listened to when I learned to play Bass so I have those Geezer riffs inserted in every damn song.....LOL


Les Claypool is pretty damn good.

The guy who put Chris Squire's name out there is 100% correct. Excellent bassist.

Bootsy was also mentioned.....totally agree!

[zymologist]

Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Banyan, Stooges)

[Leni Pocky]

John MyungIt saddens me that it took so long for someone to say Myung. His bass lines are awesome. For that matter, Dream Theater in general is awesome.

My faves are John Entwistle, John Myung, Steve Harris (in fact, his playstyle is one I intend to emulate when I get better at bass), Flea, Geddy Lee, and my friend Jake (who has done nothing for my bass career except detune my bass from standard once because he plays in a drop tuning :eek:).