• 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.

Who's the better slapper: Flea or Les Claypool?

#81
Not sure who the better slapper is, but it's always seemed to me that Claypool's playing was a set of parlor tricks only effective in situations where the bass is the centerpiece of the music. I dig playing Tommy The Cat loud as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure Claypool would be a really effective player if thrown into musical situations other than his own.
 
#82
WJGreer said:
Not sure who the better slapper is, but it's always seemed to me that Claypool's playing was a set of parlor tricks only effective in situations where the bass is the centerpiece of the music. I dig playing Tommy The Cat loud as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure Claypool would be a really effective player if thrown into musical situations other than his own.
Click to expand...

From the relatively limited exposure I've had to his playing I'd agree
 
#84
I know in the rock world that Flea and Les Claypool are thought of as 'the best bassists' and they are both killer players with unique styles and great chops. However, it is my opinion based on personal experience that there are a ton of cats out there in the jazz, smooth jazz, funk, RnB, and Neo Soul Worlds that rock fans would be blown away by, but, sadly, a lot of us only like and listen to a handful of genres. This video link is a cat that plays around my city in Phoenix Az named Mel Brown...and i know ill get flak for this from some of you....but he runs circles around Flea and Les imo.
 
#87
Altitude said:
Not sure who the better slapper is, but it's always seemed to me that Claypool's playing was a set of parlor tricks only effective in situations where the bass is the centerpiece of the music. I dig playing Tommy The Cat loud as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure Claypool would be a really effective player if thrown into musical situations other than his own.
Click to expand...
Not to dig up an old thread.. but i legit just signed up ( i'm a bass player) to reply to this. Have you learned anything since you wrote this a few years back? because you are quite wrong and i'm kind of disappointed and confused hearing this from a fellow bass player. I'm a huge Flea and Les fan ( flea being first, and more les as i got older). Les has done WAAAAY more collabs and projects then flea, and he can improvise like a motherf***er. To add my vote, I would say Les is better, being more original and exploring much deeper into the world of playing bass and music in general. Flea is great, and probably is better at writing more of a listenable radio type of music that appeals to the average music listener, but c'mon.. Les has much more going on if you are there to hear it.
 
#88
Well Les didn't get the Metallica gig because of his style not working with Metallica, so I think there's a little something to it. But I don't blame Les. He doesn't need to play in any other style but his own so why should he? Even when he jams with others, he's still Les.
 
#90
Claypool can hold down a groove without being the lead instrument just as well as his typical antics, the guy is a god on earth, just look at...anything outside of Primus. Some of C2B3 improvs were just...hnnnng. I've heard a lot of great jazz players, but they just never sounded nearly as good as Claypool in my opinion and I'm sure a lot of people will hate me for this, but I love Claypool faaaaaar more than someone like Jaco Pastorius or Victor Wooten.
 
#92
Les is sick in the head, but a genius.
Flea is (perhaps through no fault of his own) more "commercial" in his approach. That being said, maybe he writes really screwed up riffs like Les, but his bandmates reject said riffs.
Who knows?
Personally, I like them both, though I might venture that Les is ahead on the technique side of things.
PRE-EDIT: WHO CARES ANYWAY? JUST ENJOY THE MUSIC!
SENT FROM MY "SERIOUS FACE"
Disclaimer: Please don't take what I say, or indeed the entire thread, seriously. :)
 
#94
gdp024 said:
Have you learned anything since you wrote this a few years back? because you are quite wrong and i'm kind of disappointed and confused hearing this from a fellow bass player.
Click to expand...
You signed up for Talkbass so you could insult my taste and challenge my experience? I'm honored.

Claypool is a great player. He sort of does his own thing. Even his collaborations sound like his thing. Kind of like Eddie Van Halen. Both players are excellent. It would be really hard for either to not make a given musical situation sound like them all over.
 
#95
guitar<bass said:
Slap.gif
Click to expand...
:facepalm::roflmao:
 
#97
Altitude said:
You signed up for Talkbass so you could insult my taste and challenge my experience? I'm honored.

Claypool is a great player. He sort of does his own thing. Even his collaborations sound like his thing. Kind of like Eddie Van Halen. Both players are excellent. It would be really hard for either to not make a given musical situation sound like them all over.
Click to expand...

Not to insult whatsoever, just seemed a bit misinformed with the bit about how he probably couldn't manage in other musical styles. "It would be really hard for either to not make a given musical situation sound like them all over." Now that i can understand where you are coming from. Though that is what makes a great bass player a great bass player, you're not just some boring bass player like the rest of them out there quietly in the back. Just like any of the MANY many well known guitar players with their own tone. You can't show me a piece of music with Jerry Garcia or Jimi Hendrix or Tom Morrello (the list goes on and on) where I wouldn't be able to tell that was them playing in an instant. Again though, I love both flea and les. Everyone should check out John Ferrara or rather his band Consider The Source... these dudes will melt your brains into bits, i've seen them a hundred times and met them all, all of them being awesome dudes. Ferrara play's custom Fodera's (what wooten plays).. and at times i think this dude might be on another level then les or flea.. he is a machine. I know this is unrelated to the post but I promote them everywhere I go, take a second and go youtube consider the source!
 
#100
gdp024 said:
Not to insult whatsoever, just seemed a bit misinformed with the bit about how he probably couldn't manage in other musical styles. "It would be really hard for either to not make a given musical situation sound like them all over." Now that i can understand where you are coming from. Though that is what makes a great bass player a great bass player, you're not just some boring bass player like the rest of them out there quietly in the back. Just like any of the MANY many well known guitar players with their own tone. You can't show me a piece of music with Jerry Garcia or Jimi Hendrix or Tom Morrello (the list goes on and on) where I wouldn't be able to tell that was them playing in an instant. Again though, I love both flea and les. Everyone should check out John Ferrara or rather his band Consider The Source... these dudes will melt your brains into bits, i've seen them a hundred times and met them all, all of them being awesome dudes. Ferrara play's custom Fodera's (what wooten plays).. and at times i think this dude might be on another level then les or flea.. he is a machine. I know this is unrelated to the post but I promote them everywhere I go, take a second and go youtube consider the source!
Click to expand...



Not knocking this dude at all...he's got mad technique! But...F minor.....F minor.....F Minor....F Minor...no chord changes...no key changes....that drives me nuts personally...same thing with Les....all i hear is an E....underlying everything. I guess I'm just a HUGE fan of chord changes..
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back