You give them way to much credit, im as big as any Nirvana fan, a little bigger actually, and as a true fan i know they in actuallity and to the opinion of the soul of the band(Kurt) that they were not as good as hyped. You have to take a step back and think, okay, they road the $@!& of the building underground alt scene and got lucky, simple as that. Im not saying that their not great, easily top five greatest rock band of all time, but really hope of their dick, theyre not the greatest, everything Kurt pooped out was not gold. Kurt was a talented singer songwriter, best of his generation, not a good guitarist. Dave was a great tight drummer and overall musician, Krist was just enough to keep the band going. He is a regular bass player, all of the alternative people you mentioned, except for Ms. Pixies, is regular. Thats what alternative was, regular guys and players who wrote great and unique songs. When considering the best musical ability on an instrument, except for R.E.M., you can pretty much take everyone out. It was a playing down music, everything was stripped and raw, not technical and mind blowing.

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Graham - He redefined what was possible with the bass. Even with Sly.. in fact without him and his uniqyue sound Sly & The Family Stone would have been just another band.
Jaco - Same as above. Jaco took the bass to places where it just wasn't before and brought it out to the masses. Even if some guy in a studio somewhere was dong similar stuff.. Jaco put it out there like no one before him.
Wooten - Again ... same thing... There were some great bassists out there... but not too many were doing with their fingers what Wooten was doing the way he was doing it at the time he was breaking wild. Others may have been more melodic or making killer records.. but Wooten took it to another level. I will always remember the first time I saw him with the Flecktones.. "Who is that guy.... ??!! What a bassMONSTER!!"
Manring - Similar .. Michael Manring brought tapping on bass to the forefront.. again changing the way the instrument is played.. I could mention Sheehan & Hamm in the same breath because they did too .. but the reason I put Manring ahead of them is because he has been active longer than they have..
Kaye - Carol Kaye has probably been one of the most influential bassists around and her influence is easily taken for granted.. Considering the volume of her work, in teaching, film scores, studio work etc... IMO she deserves a place on any top five bassist list and is often overlooked.

However truth be told .. there are just too many bassists to corner a "greatest of all time" I make my list based on their contributions to the playing of the instrument and what they did to alter that ... but that in no way takes away from the hundreds of great players that are still out there.. or have passed on .. or are yet to be born... hence my major issue with " ... of all time" comparisons in the first place..

My 2 cents......

geddy lee, cliff williams and cliff burton.

Geddy Lee
Jaco Pastorius
John Entwistle
Mars Cowling
Jack Cassidy

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1986 Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
1990 Fender Red Knob - "The Twin"
1992 Fender Newporter - Acoustic
2000 Fender American Series Strat - Natural ash
2010 Fender Mustang 1
2011 Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster -Sunburst
2012 Fender Champion

1 Charles Mingus
2 Jaco Pastorius
3 Willie Dixon
4 Berry Oakley
5 tie James Jamerson -Duck Dunn

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

1. Geddy Lee
2. Jack Bruce
3. Tal Wilkenfield
4. Ron Asheton
5. Ron Blair

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2013 Fender Pure Vintage 65 Stratocaster
2003 Gibson ES-355
2015 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
2002 Gretsch Duo Jet
1980 Rickenbacker 360/12 Fireglo
2014 Martin 000X1AE
2014 Fender Blues Junior III

Indeedy. Absolutely superb, and one of the best examples of being a notable bass player who keeps it 100% in tune with the performance of the band as a whole - Everything he does just fits in perfectly. There are far better bass players technically, but very few who sit so well with a band as Ged.



Good to hear Tal mentioned too - First saw her on the Jeff Beck Ronnie Scott's performance, then tracked down a copy of her album. Superb stuff, particularly the first track. She owes me a new set of speakers for my car after I turned the bass up too far.

I have those same thoughts at least once a week. The morons are taking over.

Flea
Geddy Lee
Les Claypool
Will Lee
John Paul Jones

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Welcome to the Forum Sav'nBass. Great post. Thanks.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Not one mention of Steve Harris.

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'05 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS
'07 Gibson GOTW week 40 1984 reissue Flying V
'08 Gibson Robot Explorer
'08 Gibson Robot SG
'09 Dave Murray Artist Series Stratocaster
'09 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
'09 Gibson Les Paul Studio

1. Jaco Pastorious
2. Stanley Clarke
3. Bootsy Collins
4. Victor Wooten
5. Marcus Miller
& just to be fair , Jermaine Jackson was a damn good bass player

Yeah, I couldn't play his lines while doing the synchronised dancing.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

+1

Steve Harris
Geddy Lee
Paul McCartney
Roger Waters
Mike Gordon

are some of my favorites.

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YMMV

Chont's Mustang Presets