bassists like Justin Chancellor??

Kentucky Ryan · #1 02-27-2012, 06:11 AM

im fairly new to the bass, and in the band im in, i take sort justin chancellor approach (tone/style) but with my own style mixed in. i was just wondering if there were any other bassists that had a similar style to justin? thanks

Hamlet7768 · #2 02-27-2012, 10:24 AM

Geddy Lee has a similar use of high attack and a more "lead" approach. Best songs to hear this on are Animate (Counterparts), YYZ (Moving Pictures), and...actually, almost everything Rush has done.

Chris Squire uses a pick like Chancellor does, and is a very unique bassist in that his lines often run independent of the main melody, making a counterpoint. Best place to hear this is on Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround (both from Fragile). Long Distance Runaround also segues into The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus), which is almost entirely bass overdubbing.

Paul McCartney (Macca) is another really good bassist to try to emulate, especially if you, like he, are in a two-guitar band. Almost everything he played bass on was great in terms of being simply creative and fun. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) is a great example of a nontraditional bassline he played. Taxman (Revolver) is another good one from him.

Cliff Burton also managed to carve out a specific niche in a two-guitar band. Best exemplified on Orion, Master of Puppets, (Master of Puppets), Ride the Lightning, The Call of Ktulu, Fade to Black (Ride the Lightning), and some others, he added small flourishes that colored the music and added to it, setting Metallica above other thrash bands at the time (except perhaps Megadeth).

Check out these bassists and other bassists like them, like Dave Ellefson, Frank Bello, Greg Lake, and Chas Chandler (odd one out there, but he was good with his band). Integrate some of what you like about them, and add your own flair.

socialleper · #3 02-27-2012, 10:45 AM

My feeling is that one of the things that defines a "good" player is their unique qualities as far as sound, technique and approach to music. What makes Justin Chancellor "good" in my opinion is that there really isn't someone that is similar to him. Tool is a very unique band, so one can ponder whether Justin is unique because of them, or is Tool is unique because of Justin. Which ever it is, if you read the TB forums enough you'll see that he has one of the most jocked sounds in the rock world these days.

Someone mentioned Geddy Lee who used Wal basses some years ago, so those albums will have a bass tone that is similar to Chancellor's because I think Wal basses have a very specific sound. However, my opinion is that Lee's approach to music is very different, so similarity ends at tone.

Frank Bello of Anthrax has an aggressive tone, but I feel that his play style is more similar to Steve Harris or Geezer Butler, mostly because fingers and picks just lend themselves to different things. Dave Ellefson plays pick and has a pretty aggressive tone too, but I don't hear similarities in their playing.

I guess one player you could look at is Billy Gould of Faith No More who uses a pick and fingers, can have a growly tone, and who is given some room in the musical arrangement to have some fun. He's a pretty good player that I think is under appreciated.

fenderhutz · #4 02-27-2012, 10:51 AM

Check out Feersum Ennjinn.

Paul D'Amour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul D'Amour was Tools bassist before Justin and the riffs he writes on the new album are scary similar to other Tool tunes, even after his departure.

Kentucky Ryan · #5 02-27-2012, 02:01 PM

im really digging feersum enngin!

fenderhutz · #6 02-27-2012, 02:03 PM

Yeah, you can see what left Tool when Paul left. What I considered to be the Tool "groove".

thombo · #7 02-27-2012, 04:42 PM

He's far from a Chancellor clone, but Jeff Caxide from ISIS (RIP) is in the same ballpark. The bands are friends and have toured together a bunch of times. They are both good at bass; heavy on effects; play heavy music; and both take a melodic approach to their playing. Chancellor actually started playing Gallien Krueger heads after playing Jeff's while jamming w/ ISIS at their rehearsal space.

Epitaph04 · #8 02-27-2012, 04:43 PM

Absudrcus on youtube does some pretty cool stuff.

Kentucky Ryan · #9 02-29-2012, 05:35 AM

thanks guys. i guess what i mean is other bassists that are into progressive rock. but i hesitate to say that because it needs to be melodic and flow well. not choppy "we play in different time signatures just because"

Hamlet7768 · #10 02-29-2012, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kentucky Ryan

thanks guys. i guess what i mean is other bassists that are into progressive rock. but i hesitate to say that because it needs to be melodic and flow well. not choppy "we play in different time signatures just because"

You definitely want Chris Squire and Geddy Lee for the reasons I mentioned before. They're two of the archetypal prog-rock virtuoso bassists. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Chancellor was influenced by them.

vegas532 · #11 03-01-2012, 10:27 AM

If you're referring to experimental with effects, try Caxide (as mentioned before), Hugh Hopper (RIP) of Soft Machine, Early King Crimson with John Wetton, anything with Tony Levin, Brian Cook's Russian Circles stuff, Matt Armstrong with Murder by Death, Juan Alderete's stuff with The Mars Volta, Big Sir, and Distortion Felix, The Flying Luttenbacher's two bass album (Infection and Decline) featuring Alex Perkolup and Jonathan Hischke...

The guys in the effects forum can tell you, I can literally go on forever about this. Consider this both a starting point and a long term homework assignment.

Spirit of Ox · #12 03-01-2012, 05:01 PM

Rob Wright from Nomeansno

Kentucky Ryan · #13 03-04-2012, 09:28 PM

im digging russian circles right now.

vegas532 · #14 03-04-2012, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kentucky Ryan

im digging russian circles right now.

It's GREAT stuff...and Brian Cook is such a nice dude, as an added bonus.

jmattbassplaya · #15 03-04-2012, 10:05 PM

I am personally a lot like him in style, phrasing, and note choice. Oddly enough, I was like it before I had even heard who Tool was, so I'm guessing we share some influences.

Kentucky Ryan · #16 03-05-2012, 05:30 AM

cool man. would love to hear you play!

Curmei · #17 03-05-2012, 08:47 AM

David Wm. Sims from The Jesus Lizard, and Scratch Acid, is someone who I think of as being very good, and sounding very distinctive. David Yow "sings" for them, and is an acquired taste, but those bands are very tight and very interesting.

vegas532 · #18 03-05-2012, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curmei

David Wm. Sims from The Jesus Lizard, and Scratch Acid, is someone who I think of as being very good, and sounding very distinctive. David Yow "sings" for them, and is an acquired taste, but those bands are very tight and very interesting.

David Wm. Sims = favorite bass tone ever!

rpmcmurphy · #19 03-16-2012, 11:36 PM

Not sure about (tone/style) but similar to some of the suggested

Massimo Pupillo of the band Zu (check out the alublm) Carboniferous
Pat Morris and Eric Emm of Don Caballero
Dylan Posa of Cheer Accident
Gareth Williams of This Heat
Ethan Buckler and Todd Brashear of Slint
There are good amount of bands that don't have a problem with "experiential bass"
IMHO there needs to be more.