The "Best" Bass Player?

[Muaguana]

Or "Better"? I see remarks quite often made (mostly in Youtube video comments) regarding how so-and-so is the "best" bass player alive, or of all time, or of (insert music genre.) Even more frequently I read debates on which bass players are "better" than others - Les Claypool vs. Flea, Victor Wooten vs. Stanley Clarke, Billy Sheehan vs. John Entwistle, etc. These assertions and contentions occur amidst other instrumentalists, drummers and guitarists being particularly "prolific" in these endeavors.

Here is the question I pose to you: Is it possible to objectively determine "superiority" between musicians, thus creating a hierarchy by which one individual can be deemed the "best?" (Basically, can "better" and "best" be applied to bass players?)

If you answer yes: what aspects of musicianship can we objectively quantify for the purpose of determining if one is "better" than another, e.g., technical prowess (which would need to be defined and have its parameters outlined), the body of their work, their versatility in music genres, etc.?

If you answer no: Would whatever justifying principle you cited be applicable to musicians of all walks of life? If you say it's not possible to determine whether Wooten is "better" than Clarke or vice-versa, then would it not stand to reason that it's equally impossible to say Wooten is a "better" bass player than Bob Hardy of Franz Ferdinand, or Les Claypool is a "better" bass player than any number of young bass players just starting their first band?

[thomashawk]

This question can no more be answered than "what is the best sandwich ever?". However, everyone on earth would absolutely agree that this sandwich will include bacon and cheese.

[ric3xrt]

I'll get back to you on this

[JMac4strngr]

Way too subjective, and will fall on the choice of ones personal taste. I think its kind of like asking, What is Your favorite Fuddrucker's hamburger?.......