Simon Gallup
Peter Hook
JamersonMcCartneyJohnPaulJonesStingWooten
Peter Hook
JamersonMcCartneyJohnPaulJonesStingWooten
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Your 3 most influential bass players?
- Thread starter The Great Genius
- Start date
Steve Harris, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee. Honorable Mention: John Taylor.
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
Ron Carter
too many comes into mind when I think of a third;
Miroslav Vitous
Sam Jones
Paul Chambers
Jaco
Ray Brown
Oscar Pettiford
.
.
.
Ron Carter
too many comes into mind when I think of a third;
Miroslav Vitous
Sam Jones
Paul Chambers
Jaco
Ray Brown
Oscar Pettiford
.
.
.
Edit: Bass Player 0: my late Dad
James Dewar
Percy Jones
John Entwistle
Hard to keep to three.
James Dewar
Percy Jones
John Entwistle
Hard to keep to three.
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Early on it was Phil Lynott, Chris Squire and a guy called Barry Devlin from the Irish Celtic rock band, Horslips, who influenced me (plus Kelly Groucutt from ELO, John Illsley from Dire Straits and Herbie Flowers).
Later on add players like Randy Hope Taylor from Incognito, Abraham Laboriel and David Paton (Pilot, Kate Bush, Alan Parsons Project).
Later on add players like Randy Hope Taylor from Incognito, Abraham Laboriel and David Paton (Pilot, Kate Bush, Alan Parsons Project).
Carol Kaye
James Jamerson
Bob Babbitt.
Honourable Mention.
Since I have been here on T.B I notice I often play better, learn better and greatly inspired when eating carrots.
James Jamerson
Bob Babbitt.
Honourable Mention.
Since I have been here on T.B I notice I often play better, learn better and greatly inspired when eating carrots.
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Geezer Butler
Peter Rizzo
Eric Avery
[edit]
I couldn't leave it at 3. Nor could I delete any of the initial responses.
Sorry... It was really bothering me to leave out the next one.
#4 Leigh Gorman
Peter Rizzo
Eric Avery
[edit]
I couldn't leave it at 3. Nor could I delete any of the initial responses.
Sorry... It was really bothering me to leave out the next one.
#4 Leigh Gorman
Last edited:
Surprised no one has been cheeky enough yet so, fine, I’ll do it 
:
:- Me
- Myself, and
- I
Thanks for mentioning Rufus Reid. I was surprised to read his name! He had a lot of influence on me too.
McCartney
Clarke
Jamerson
Clarke
Jamerson
This is a very open ended question now, isn’t it? 
3 bass players that I reckon have had the most influence on how I play (rather than influence over the role of bass player more broadly) are probably:
JPJ; Justin Chancellor; Adam Clayton
When I really think about it, though, I think the way I play bass has been far more fundamentally influenced by the people I’ve jammed with. My best mate (and best man at my wedding) has been the guitar player in three bands I’ve played with for extended periods. These were all three-piece bands. He got me in to sludgy, bluesy riffing. My attempts to ‘fill out’ the sound when he took a solo are probably what lead me to embracing overdrive and fuzz, and also likely prompted me to lift the use of drones/pedals from Justin Chancellor.
The last five years (ish?) i’ve been with a psych/prog band that has electric violin and keys trading leads (and encouraging me to take some too!) and the other players are all really well versed in Scots Trad music, have a lot of music theory knowledge and are genuinely excellent, excellent players. They’ve inspired me to somewhat ‘up my game’ in terms of the difficulty of the parts I play, where the music calls for it, and I feel as though by some process of osmosis I’m learning more about scales, chord structures and so forth than I ever picked up in the previous 15 years or so. That’s not to say that any of this has taken priority over creatively free improvisation, it’s more that when we jam and I hit a note that’s not working, I can go find one that does way more quickly now
3 bass players that I reckon have had the most influence on how I play (rather than influence over the role of bass player more broadly) are probably:
JPJ; Justin Chancellor; Adam Clayton
When I really think about it, though, I think the way I play bass has been far more fundamentally influenced by the people I’ve jammed with. My best mate (and best man at my wedding) has been the guitar player in three bands I’ve played with for extended periods. These were all three-piece bands. He got me in to sludgy, bluesy riffing. My attempts to ‘fill out’ the sound when he took a solo are probably what lead me to embracing overdrive and fuzz, and also likely prompted me to lift the use of drones/pedals from Justin Chancellor.
The last five years (ish?) i’ve been with a psych/prog band that has electric violin and keys trading leads (and encouraging me to take some too!) and the other players are all really well versed in Scots Trad music, have a lot of music theory knowledge and are genuinely excellent, excellent players. They’ve inspired me to somewhat ‘up my game’ in terms of the difficulty of the parts I play, where the music calls for it, and I feel as though by some process of osmosis I’m learning more about scales, chord structures and so forth than I ever picked up in the previous 15 years or so. That’s not to say that any of this has taken priority over creatively free improvisation, it’s more that when we jam and I hit a note that’s not working, I can go find one that does way more quickly now
These are probably the three players who have directly influenced my playing, tone and approach the most. I may have other players that I hold in higher regard in terms of picking favourites, but that I'm either unable to steal from (because I don't understand what they're doing), or whose style or genre is not as compatible with mine.
Jason Newsted (Metallica)
For showing me how powerful bass can really be, and for the crash course in stage presence. He was the first bass player I ever took notice of, at least 20 years before I ever picked up bass myself.
Brian Marshall (Alter Bridge)
For teaching me that bass lines in hard rock don't just have to follow the guitar, and can be surprisingly busy and melodic in their own right as long as they serve the song
Chris Wolstenholme (Muse)
For inspiring me to play around with seemingly crazy effects. Also for showing that bass does not have to be subtle to serve the song, and then turning right around and also proving that a seemingly super simple, endlessly repeating bass line can be magical, and doesn't have to sound boring.
Hysteria will forever be my white whale to get just right, both in terms of playing it properly smooth, and trying to catch the essence of that tone, where it's crazy distorted and synthy, but you can still hear every note and transient.
Jason Newsted (Metallica)
For showing me how powerful bass can really be, and for the crash course in stage presence. He was the first bass player I ever took notice of, at least 20 years before I ever picked up bass myself.
Brian Marshall (Alter Bridge)
For teaching me that bass lines in hard rock don't just have to follow the guitar, and can be surprisingly busy and melodic in their own right as long as they serve the song
Chris Wolstenholme (Muse)
For inspiring me to play around with seemingly crazy effects. Also for showing that bass does not have to be subtle to serve the song, and then turning right around and also proving that a seemingly super simple, endlessly repeating bass line can be magical, and doesn't have to sound boring.
Hysteria will forever be my white whale to get just right, both in terms of playing it properly smooth, and trying to catch the essence of that tone, where it's crazy distorted and synthy, but you can still hear every note and transient.
