Your 3 most influential bass players?

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Bootsy, Bootsy, and Bootsy.

 

[Blue Moose]

John Klingberg
Paul McCartney
Just about all the funk players from the 70s

 

[HolmeBass]

John Paul Jones
Family Man Barrett
Phil Lesh

 

[Appogee]

Peter Gifford (Midnight Oil in the 80s)
John Archer (Hunters & Collectors)
Everyone who played a Steinberger L2

 

[Benj-jammin]

Chris Squire
JPJ
Geezer

 

[The_Meatwagon]

Les Claypool
Mike Gordon
Geezer

 

[bench]

For me, and chronologically:
Flea.
Les Claypool.
Jeff Berlin.

 

[E Joe]

Larry Graham

Bootsy

Marcus Miller

Still trying (and will always be) to get them all into my playing, but I like to think my style rips them off the most evidently.

 

[groovepump]

My biggest initial influences when I started playing at age 13 were definitely Mel Schacker and John Entwistle.
I was a Grand Funk Addict, but tried like hell to copy Entwistle's runs on Summer Time Blues, etc.
At University I turned around musically listening to Tower of Power through the neighbor's wall and was heavily influenced by Rocco Prestia.

 

[Geddy Claypool]

Geddy Lee
Donald "Duck" Dunn
Tim Commerford

Completely different worlds, but no other bass players have inspired me to play and learn more new things than these three (honorable mentions to Rex Brown and Les Claypool though)

 

[Thumpin6string]

Alain Carron
John Patitucci
Kim Stone

 

[r_bnks]

Duff Mckagan, Flea, Cliff Williams

 

[WG Plum]

Alan Spenner, Tony Levin, Charles Mingus (or Pino Palladino).

 

[Standalone]

Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Berry Oakley

 

[LowEndThrasher]

Steve Digiorgio, Steve Harris, and my all time favorite, Alex Webster. I wouldn’t be the player I am today without them.

 

[TyBo]

Too late to edit my initial reply, but I've realized that Carol Kaye should be in there somewhere. I got her instruction book early on (and heard all those tunes she played on, without knowing at the time it was her on the bass), so most definitely an early influence.

 

[Sergi]

Billy Gould
Mike Inez
Jay Bentley

 

[Headless horse]

Jaco Pastorius
Gary Willis
Marcus Miller

 

[swarfrat]

Cliff and Abe. After those two the computer exploded before it could come up with a third.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Paul McCartney
Colin Greenwood
I could pick any of several names ranging from Jaco to Sting to complete my holy trinity, but I'm going with my latest obsession: Jessy Caron of the band Men I Trust. He makes the kind of basslines I want to be able to come up with now.