Who has the most unique tone?

[India_Sierra]

Originally Posted by klaus486

I always loved Kai's tone during this period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7w8njCYZ9s

Kai truly had a great sound in those days. The Schack basses sounded incredible. Incredibly rich and full.

[zachoff]

Justin Chancellor.

[electracoyote]

Hard to pick one.

I like to throw Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) and his Spectors in the hat. "Growl" defined.

[jdfarrell81]

I agree with a lot of what's been said already. I'll try to give love to a guy who hasn't been mentioned:

Peter Steele (Carnivore / Type O) - Really distinct tone that I've never heard anyone try to cop.

[jay tay]

I always felt that Aston Barrett, had a really distinct tone with the wailers. He sounds much more roots orthodox with other acts, but with Bob, I always felt there was a strange earthy, hollow texture to his sound, that I've tried but failed to emulate throughout my playing.

[theretheyare]

More a sound on an album. Gerald Veasley on Odean Pope trio's Almost Like Me lp. never heard that exact tone again from him (I think it's a heavily compressed Stingray directly into the board). Great great player under any cirucmstance though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iejK0ybs9jw

[jdfarrell81]

Originally Posted by jay tay

I always felt that Aston Barrett, had a really distinct tone with the wailers.

+1

Family Man is a bass monster!

[bagapac]

For a modern metal sound, nolly from periphery has killer sounds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCp8v...e_gdata_player

[ZeroSymbolic]

Lemmy. All Mids and picked, the Rhythm bass. Nobody else does it.

[ooktar]

Jarred Warren from Big Business and The Melvins has a pretty sick tone. When he plays with The Melvins, I know he uses a couple of effects like a Boss Super Overdrive, Malekko B:assmaster, and an EHX Pog 2. But when he's playing with Big Business, I believe he's just playing straight into a Sunn Amp (not sure what kind, but I think its a regular guitar amp, not a bass amp) with the gain cranked. Big Business' first two albums had very little actual guitar work, so the bass drives pretty much all the songs, but he manages to make the band sound whole regardless.

[tleebassist11]

Matthew Garrison, Oteil burbridge

[jdfarrell81]

Originally Posted by ooktar

Jarred Warren from Big Business and The Melvins has a pretty sick tone. When he plays with The Melvins, I know he uses a couple of effects like a Boss Super Overdrive, Malekko B:assmaster, and an EHX Pog 2. But when he's playing with Big Business, I believe he's just playing straight into a Sunn Amp (not sure what kind, but I think its a regular guitar amp, not a bass amp) with the gain cranked. Big Business' first two albums had very little actual guitar work, so the bass drives pretty much all the songs, but he manages to make the band sound whole regardless.

Good call with Jared.

For years, the heart of his sound has been the Sunn Beta Bass. When I saw Big Biz late last year, Jared had a massive board, but he rarely used it.

In the early Big Biz days, I remember seeing Jared play with a massive stack of crappy heads and dinky Crate combos. It looked like he cleaned out a pawnshop. It was hilarious, but it actually sounded really good.

[Stevorebob]

Originally Posted by RhynoRock

I honestly feel that Chris Squire's tone from the legendary Yes album "Fragile" is pretty stand alone, tonewise. There's no mistaking Roundabout. It almost sounds like a clavinet, which freakin rules. And for those of whom that don't know what a clavinet sounds like, listen to Superstition by Stevie Wonder.

+1 Chris Squire's Ricky clank.

[ooktar]

Originally Posted by jdfarrell81

Good call with Jared.

For years, the heart of his sound has been the Sunn Beta Bass. When I saw Big Biz late last year, Jared had a massive board, but he rarely used it.

In the early Big Biz days, I remember seeing Jared play with a massive stack of crappy heads and dinky Crate combos. It looked like he cleaned out a pawnshop. It was hilarious, but it actually sounded really good.

That's rad, I saw him with Big Biz a couple of years ago and I just remember he had that sunn amp cranked up so loud he had to use a volume pedal when he would stop playing otherwise it would incessantly feedback, sounded sick though. But I just saw him with The Melvins two days before new years, and he had a Rack-mounted Gallien-Krueger amp and was getting his distortion from the pedals when he needed it.

Joe preston's got a pretty sick tone too. Lysol is one of my favorite albums and his solo band (Thrones) is pretty cool too. He opened for Big Biz and it was just him playing bass and a drum machine. I couldn't recognize what kind of bass he was using or what amp (My guess would be a Sunn :P), But he did this weird thing in one of his songs, it was like a Pinch harmonic, but it sounded like it going through like an octave pedal or something. Whatever it was, I've been trying to recreate it but no such luck.

[petrus61]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

I completely agree on both counts except that Kenny is still alive.

Except he's using different gear now...sure he still sounds like Kenny though.

[KunkBass]

Dave Konopka from Battles.

Only bassist I've heard that I just can't put together how he gets that sound.

[eukatheude]

Not the most unique nor my favourite, but i really love this guy's sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwd1upICb0

Also the guy from Ufomammut, an italian band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU-ZyGK5M1w
Only three guys but it feels like they're in 10

On of course the mighty Lightning Bolt, just bass&drums: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ5o-GtG-T4 The guy has a banjo string in place of his G string.

Mark Sandman and Morphine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNEYKrFJgRo Two stringed bass, played with a slide and a pick, sometimes some overdrive.

[Monkey]

I first heard Roxy Music's album "Country Life" when I took a trip to Germany in the mid-70s when I was a kid. John Gustafson's bass on that album is great and I think his tone on this tune is very distinctive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LbBj0x_VRA

[Altarsmadness91]

Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver and Danny Lilker of Nuclear Assault/S.O.D/Anthrax...those 2 have tones that I've never heard anywhere else

[jdfarrell81]

[quote]Joe preston's got a pretty sick tone too. Lysol is one of my favorite albums and his solo band (Thrones) is pretty cool too.[quote]

+1

I had never bothered to check out Thrones. Wow! Now that's a massive bass tone!