Bass Tone That First Blew You Away

[Stoch]

First ever where I recognized the bass: My Friend of Misery (and The God That Failed). That's when I thought to myself: "That would be a cool instrument to play".

But the one that actually blew me away: Hysteria by Muse. Somehow it ended up being the first track on a CD I got, and it pretty much changed my life. Honorable mention goes to Mr. Chancellor and Mr. Commerford.

I know that's pretty much one of popular answers when it comes to bass, but think what you may about Flea, TimCom, Justin, Chris from Muse and such bass players, their impact on young people is undeniable, as well as their influence in terms of someone choosing the bass over a guitar. Unfortunately, the kids are usually unable to appreciate the finer subtle-r nuances of true bass playing until significantly later into their playing careers, so we need those ballsy, aggressive, distorted riff playing guys to spark the initial interest in the instrument. That's how I see it.

Nowadays, for example, I would pick a 64 Precision straight into an SVT (De-Loused in the Comatorium) as my favorite tone, but I will never forget what something like Hysteria did to me in the grand scheme of things.

P.S. Apologies for typos: phone

 

[Maiden Bass]

Here's where it all started for me!

 

[BurningTheAltar]

Peter Steele...the opening distortion in White Slavery....damn! Pete's tone was like sulfuric acid made audio.

 

[blastbass]

Boney M, daddy cool, think i was 5...

 

[Backdrop]

The tone at 01:40 did a number on me.

 

[brianrost]

Jack Bruce on the Cream albums...I really had no idea what the bass guitar did before then.

 

[BurningTheAltar]

Or the opening bass to Everything Dies. This song also made me want to try running 2 channels at once (distorted and clean), as you can hear at the beginning. Not everyone's tonal cup of tea, but I was hooked.

 

[pacojas]

For me, it was by 4 bassists and I'll list the artist, albums.
Geddy Lee - A Farewell to Kings
Jaco Pastorius - Heavy Weather
Andy West - Dixie Dregs "Free Fall"
Stanley Clarke - RTF "Where Have I've Know You Before.
Being a teenager, it was the moment were I knew I wanted to be a bass player

your list is awesome. my list would be similar to yours with Bootsy Collins in place of Andy West.

 

[TJH3113]

Chris Squire
Geddy Lee
Tim Landers (with Al Di Meola)
John Glascock (Tull)
Dave Hope (Kansas)

Most of my Tone-Idols have been pick players but, unfortunately, back when I was starting out, I subscribed to the myth that real bass players used their fingers etc...
That being said, I've always strived to get that sort of clarity and attack from my fingers.

 

[TJH3113]

Has anyone mentioned Fieldy as an influence yet?

 

[TJH3113]

Mine's kinda crazy

I wore out two of these albums as a kid before I even started playing bass. Not the sound I gravitate to, but incredible bass lines on this album.

 

[Rio Haride]

Limp Bizkit.

 

[Fletz]

Mine was mostly my Dad - bar band bass player himself. Here's my story:
The History of a Bar Band Bassist, Part 1: The Formative Years

 

[kkaarrll]

the who, who are you

 

[Roxbororob]

Mine's kinda crazy

Not crazy at all.

1 2 3 4 5, 6 7 8 9 10, 11 12
from Sesame Streey
Yesss...used to watch it at school (best part of the show aside from Ernie and Bert)

But I have to say my 1st was Paul McCartney. Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road in particular (along with JCS above) were played at home by my Mom. Totally imprinted me.

 

[kernowthumper]

Bakithi Kumalo on Paul Simons Graceland

 

[Up the dose]

Toss up between "Roundabout" and "Black Dog", on my parent's Ford Torino wagon am radio.

Heard many classic tunes riding in the back of Mom's Country Squire Wagon. The car was previously owned by a funeral home and had been used to transport the recently deceased. Good times.

 

[john_g]

Duran duran's rio

John Taylor is the reason I started playing bass. I heard Planet Earth and Girls on Film and THAT is what I wanted to do. The REALLY mindblowing bass tone was several years later when I heard Geddy with the Wal. Still my favorite bass tone of all time.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Jack Cassidy from Jefferson Airplane. Crown of Creation.

Jesse Colin Young. Elephant Mountain Ride the Wind.

Berry Oakley, Allman Brothers, all of Live at Fillmore East.

Ross Valory, Journey, Who's Crying Now, Separate Ways. Awesome tone with an Ovation bass.

 

[briggy22]

A nice assortment there.

For me, it's tough to pinpoint. But it might've been Anthony Jackson on Al Di Meola's Tour de Force (1982). I had been listening to a lot of stuff at the time, ranging from Led Zeppelin to The Police to Chick Corea's Elektric Band. But it was probably Jackson's tone on Tour de Force that made me think: "If I could play electric bass, that's what I'd like to sound like." Then I heard Jackson on Simon & Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park (1982), and I began to appreciate his talents even more.

How killer is Patitucci's tone on "Light Years!"