Melodic bass players.

[Tonetodiefor]

Paul McCartney, Felix Pappalardi, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, Mike Rutherford, Tony Levin, Kasim Sulton, James Jamerson, Larry Graham, Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Charles Mingus... To name a few

 

[GrizzleTone]

I'll offer Jeff Ament as one of my favorites. Tons of very melodic lines imo.

 

[Timmy-Watts]

It took to the fourth page to get a mention of Pino Palladino?
Sting.
JS Bach.
Marcus Miller.
Paul Denman

 

[fmachia]

Anybody mentioned Matt Freeman yet?

 

[thewildest]

All basists are "melodic". Like with every other instrument, sometimes the melody is repetitive, uninteresting or it just does not add anything to the whole other tan lower frequencies.

Someone that is the perfect blend of undeniable bassist role yet a master of orchestrating songs with his bass and Stick is Tony Levin. He breaks my heart sometimes.

 

[sxaxsx]

No mention of Joe Osborn?

 

[j0616bass]

There are some great ones this thread already.

One that I haven't seen mentioned yet - I've always enjoyed Mine Watt's playing because of his melodic lines.

 

[son_of_mogh]

Jon Camp ( Renaissance )
any of the guys who played in Jethro Tull ( names escape me right now )

 

[sonicnuance]

Duff from Guns 'n Roses on "Sweet Child of Mine"
John Entwistle on "Can You See the Real Me?"
John Deacon on "Sail Away Sweet Sister" (has an outro bass solo that is one of my favorites)
John Paul Jones on "The Song Remains the Same"
Tom Scholtz? - everything on the first Boston album

 

[rtslinger]

Back in the 70's Gene Simmons melodic horn lines over movable chords.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

Tiran Porter of the Doobie Brothers.
He would do everything, except get in the way of the vocals. I especially liked Counterpoint lines. Oh, my...

 

[sotua]

80's Geddy Lee.

 

[Ewo]

Jon Camp ( Renaissance )
any of the guys who played in Jethro Tull ( names escape me right now )

Glenn Cornick?

 

[Mattster]

Mike Mills

 

[bassandkeys42]

Andy Rourke - The Smiths

 

[bonespatrol]

so much melody up in this thread! i've been digging this recently:

 

[PortlandBass77]

Cliff Burton.

lol Cliff Burton is as lead as they come.....

 

[Flabass]

Pete Sears of The Jefferson Starship.

 

[danomite64]

I didn't see Dan K. Brown (The Fixx) mentioned, so here I am mentioning him.

 

[Flabass]

Jon Camp ( Renaissance )
any of the guys who played in Jethro Tull ( names escape me right now )

Glenn Cornick
Jeffery Hammond Hammond
John Glascock
Dave Pegg

The bass players with Jethro Tull from the beginning through 1995. All were great players.