• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

most technically advanced bassist?

Status
Not open for further replies.
#21
DaemonBass said:
I dunno, I would say it's got stamina/speed/dexterity/accuracy and precision, but I am biased towards that style of music. He may not be doing harmonics, or thumb slap but it's still pretty technical.
Click to expand...

I agree,
metal playing can be very technical


btw,
Thanks for the clip. I've been wanting to check out Alex Webster because i have been hearing his name a lot lately
 
#23
How about Jimmy Johnson, Mike Pope, Skuli Sverrisson or Dave Carpenter?
Munji already mentioned Berlin. +1 on his attitude!
The volume on these videos vary widely.

Jeff Berlin - http://youtube.com/watch?v=OjWu9p-GTT4
Jimmy Johnson - http://youtube.com/watch?v=mDR-GlAz_Ow
Skuli Sverrisson - http://youtube.com/watch?v=u-NuC7UYJtU
Dave Carpenter - http://youtube.com/watch?v=oby42ZrR5q8

I have a few vids with Mr. Pope but I can't find any on google or youtube yet. I might just have to upload some. My favorite Pope vid so far is Mike with Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin (recent electric band).
 
#26
There's some styles of music out there, along with players who play it, that seem to glorify and deify technique as an end-all requirement in order to be worthy of existence. This is a rampant malady in Death Metal and the surrounding genres that accompany it.

Over time, I've come to realize that technique should be transparent in its highest form, and serve best as a means to perform the music that needs to be performed. It shouldn't be celebrated as technique for technique's sake.

This immediately brings to mind the current and past masters of the craft of playing electric bass well, with attention being paid to the bass in a non-traditional lead role. This, of course, usually requires higher-than-standard technique. Marcus Miller comes to mind, as well as Victor Wooten, Jaco, Jeff Berlin, and Abe Laboriel.

At the end of the day, there is no "best" in any artistic endeavor. There's no points or objective "credit" involved. You could say Tiger Woods is the best golfer based upon his performance. However, you can't say Flea is a better player than Billy Sheehan because "Stadium Arcadium" sold 1,000,000 more copies than "Compression" did.
 
#27
I've talked about this many times when people ask me "who's the best bassist?". I always tell them that there's no "best" instrumentalist since there are lots of playing styles and musical generes that cannot be compared. But when they ask me about technical proficiency, the first name that comes to my mind is Billy Sheehan. I mean, I've seen and heard lots of bass virtuosos and most of the times I think like "Hmm. That's really difficult stuff, but maybe with LOTS of practice, LOTS of patience and LOTS of years I'd be able to approximate that"... except for Billy. To me, the only way to reach his technical level is to born again. Of course, that doesn't make him the "best" bassist, but his command on the instrument is simply unbelievable to me.

BTW, I'd never figured out how Les Claypool plays "Is It Luck?"
 
#28
my thoughts are, the thread said the most technically advanced, and i'd actually put that somewhere between Jaco, Manring and wooten...with more bias toward jaco...I think what sets Jaco apart from the rest of the gang is that he was pretty much the first guy to do the stuff that all these other bassists are doing...to me, jaco has the edge, because he didn't really have any bassists to take learn those techniques from, he had to develop them himself imo, and i think that to forge such a different path from what most bass players were doing at the time it takes someone with a lot of talent to do that...i think that manring and wooten and of course all the other guys mentioned are very good at the bass, and extremely proficient technically, but i can hear their cues from jaco (except claypool...i don't know what he hears in his head ;)) and expanded on what jaco started, but i don't think they have opened as many doors as jaco did. so i guess jaco would be my answer :)
 
#30
Stanley has to get a vote somwhere in here - it's almost hard for me to accept and believe that he's a better double bass player than electric player...

There are a ridiculous number of absolutely wank-tastic players on this list.. shouldn't technical proficiency take into account the ability of a musician to make someone feel an emotion/thought/concept? When I hear Jeff Berlin or Billy Sheehan, i hear lots of notes and a lot of virtuosity, but I don't internalize anything. Am I just crazy here or something?
 
#34
sheehan, wooten, the cannibal corpse bassist cause i dont think any bassist can do what he can easily, it will take lots and lots of time to be able to synchronise 3 fingers of your right hand to play so fast for so long.
 
#36
motleystew said:
I've seen some old Prince (believe it or not) videos of live material in the 80's and he is very underrated. He pops and slaps with the best of them over WILD time signatures and chord voicings while dancing and singing! Great showman and great bassist.
Click to expand...
Prince plays like a girl.







:hiding:

j/k ladies. ;)


oh, and for most technically advanced, I'd say Nitti, Sheehan, Manring- but hes more innovative than technical.
 
#39
I agree that Mark King as well as Geddy Lee were impressive because they combined singing as well as playing. If you listen to Rush's earlier work on 2112 up to Permanent Waves, it is pretty amazing what Geddy Lee would do live with keyboards/ foot pedals ( korg/ moog) as well as singing and of couse Bass playing!!!!

Other favourites include master tapping technician Adrian Davison. He must be heard to be believed!! Invalid Link Removed
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back