wow, i cant believe i forgot these two, and i started this thing....
Les Claypool (primus sucks)
and Steve Harris.
seeing im the only one who had Paul Grey i shall explain, im a freak and play lefty, and being he is lefty i like that. also because he is fairly good, not uberfreakinawesome!!!1! but good enough.
I've always liked Stu Hamm but I really like John Myung a little more. Billy Sheehan is good too. Others I like~ Nathan East, P-Nut from 311, Phillip Bynoe, Tony Franklin, Geddy Lee, Verdine White, Victor Wooten, Sean Malone, Steve DiGiorgio, Roscoe Beck, Kyle Brock, Chris Maresh, Les Claypool, etc..I could keep going on....there's too many to list! I'd have to put Myung up on top of the list. He's phenomenal.
I read the first page and since I saw no Sean Malone in there I thought something very very wrong happened to the world as we know it. Then I saw him mentioned on page 2 and felt much better
I'd like to mention Jeordie White (Twiggy Ramirez) as a good bassist I'm familiar with. Not the most technical player on earth, but full of charm, stage presence and good taste Saw the guy three times live, all three with different bands (Manson, APC, NiN).
Number one is Alain Caron. He has eight 8" fingers on each hand!
Followed by: Victor Wooton (You MUST see him live!) Billy Sheehan (He does all that impossible stuff with ease) Colonel Clay Cesspool (Any time he is accompanied by Buckethead) Bootsy Collins (You'd be surprised at how many things he has done)
Byron Stroud Christian Olde Wolbers (former but always .. he has been the Bass player for FF's Best Albums...) Cliff Burton Robert Trujillo Tom Araya -
Bootzilla!!! - P Funk and James Brown(among numerous other projects) James Jameson - uncredited bassist for approximately 80% of Motown Stanley Clarke. Les Claypool - Primus etc.(the "PRIMUS SUCKS" slogan has been retired) David J (Haskins) - Bauhaus Noel Redding - The Jimi Hendrix Experience John Entwistle - (CANNOT STAND THE WHO, but he is a wonderous bassist) Chas Chandler - The Animals (also the producer the the Experience's first two releases) Peter Hook - Joy Division Tim "Lil' Wang" Commerford - Rage Against the Machine and numerous others I cannot properly credit.
I am a somewhat of a slap bassist, consequently much of my extended range guitar playing is funk derivative.
I used to be into flashy bass playing but these days I can't stand it. To me, Victor Wooten is bass playing taken to the extremes of tastelessness. It's interesting to see how a guy like Les Claypool takes a similar level of technical ability and runs in a totally different direction with it, but I can't say I've felt the urge to listen to any of his stuff in a long time.
There are plenty of bassists who find ways to define themselves as players and play with style without showboating or playing the role of surrogate guitarists. Favourites right now include Ben Shepperd from Soundgarden, the guy from Muse whose name escapes me, Nick Oliveri (Kyuss/The Dwarves/QOTSA) and Kevin Rutmanis (The Cows/Melvins/Tomahawk). As far as jazz bassists go, so many, especially upright players, are so nondescript, but guys like Charles Mingus and John Pattitucci have always played tastefully to my ear, not to mention Jaco, the Coltrane of electric bass.
Charles Mingus is among the more extraordinary upright voices.
Tony Levin is a recent annex to my admired bassists.
Additionally, as technically inclined as Les Claypool is, I do not feel him even remotely flashy. Admittedly, he does utilize advanced, eclectic technique in order to create visceral musical communication; but rather than doing so for its own sake, perhaps like Victor Wooten(or even Jaco in my humble opinion), he imbues his work with substance. Having investigated his technique throughly, his playing is not technically advanced so much as it is the unique expression of a technician.
Of course it is all a matter of opinion, and I don't mean anyone or their rightful opinion hostility.