OK...I'm all in. You're the guy. I'll contact Lew.

Stu, one of the main reasons that my favorite time for music was like 1952-1957 is that I much prefer the sound of the stand up bass to the electric bass.

To me it's a much fuller, cooler, and more solid sound. Especially with rockabilly, or 1950s R&B or blues. Jazz too, although I'm not big on jazz, but the stand up sounds much better on the jazz I do like.

The only genre I can think of where the electric bass sounds better is funk.

Double bass was my first true bass passion, and I played classical (too bad guys have forgotten how to bow these days...even in jazz), then onto jazz, and even started playing rock and R&B on upright until at about the age of 14 I saw the need to go electric if i wanted to play any gigs. True, upright has a unique deep sound which is unmistakable and fits in many genres when played properly. That said...as pop/rock music became more complicated from the early four chord structures you refer to during that 50's era, the bass began to stray from the cocktail rooted patterns of that earlier era, and um-pa-pa didn't fit every sub set of music. Along comes Jamerson adding melodic syncopation to the instruments stylistic tendencies and bass bacame more than just a bottom filler and in many cases carried the leads and hooks of songs. Unfortunately for upright, you just cant play a lot of that stuff with a clean sound and sonic clarity with the pace necessary for more sophisticated musical arrangements which evolved in rock music. The arc of the strings on an upright doesn't support of lot of what came along, especially for difficult and fast parts. Now I'm not a huge fan of bassists playing in upper registers leaving the bottom groove open, although some guys like Entwistle and Geddy Lee (to name a couple) have parlayed that style into popular and familiar sounds to some...but basically, I'm a bottom end guy when it comes to bass...but combining sophisticated patterns to the instrument and having the necessary amplification in order to be noticed amongst the ensemble, which is really only possible on a bass guitar, has giving the bass a prominence in the rhythm section which it really didn't enjoy in the earlier days. But you're right...nothing sounds quite like the deep thump of a wood bass played well.

I asume you are talking about live performances in fairly big venues here, because there's no problem getting the stand up to sound right on a studio recording.

Not just that...but it's a tougher string to pull (upright) which can lead to buzzing and clicking...even in a studio, plus you can't get a lot of smooth speed. Jamerson cut a lot of the early Motown stuff on upright...but as the complexity of the music progressed, he made the transition to P Bass to be able to pull of those incredible lines wich would have been difficult if not impossible to perform on upright.

Add...That's why a guy like Ray Brown, arguably one of the finest upright bassists of all time started going electric in the 60's in many situations...but that said, I have a great deal of respect for players like Pattitucci, Stanley Clark, and Jack Bruce who have the ability to feel comfortable on either electric or upright. Ampeg did come out with an electric upright in the early 60's...the Baby Bass which Ray Rown endorsed...but that instrument has serious intonation problems.

Ack. (Re: Intonation problems.) Very interesting story there though, cheers.

Well let's get this show on the road. On the last page of this thread, page 34 I mentioned my synopsis of how the 30s spots ought to be changed. Comments? Assent? Dissent? Hit me up (by which I mean, post!)

And Stu, I thank you eternally for helping me get this (mod) position...a dream come true (seriously, I started reading this forum back in the Bassfreak days, in 2005). We're gonna make this list the best on the site.

How would it be your top 30 Ariel?

I think the top 30 right now is excellent. Can be (should be) changed somewhat in the end, but the least of our problems right now. I'm trying to see what people think about my ideas for changing spots 30-39...what do you think?

I think Sting totally needs to be on this list. I find it shocking (yet being Bassfreak's list fairly typical) that he isn't.

Hey everybody, I'm back.

I agree, he is a huge influence in the rock world, same with Waters. (I believe they have a significant influence, others might not though.)
Peter Cetera is another good bassist, and some of his playing ("I'm a Man", "Liberation", and basically every other track he plays on the Chicago Transit Authority album.) is quite overlooked. and I've recently become a huge fan of Marillion and Pete Trewavas as a bassist. His playing on "This Strange Engine", the beginning of "Hotel Hobbies", "Chelsea Monday", "Forgotten Sons" and even "Grendel" show he's a pretty good bassist.
Also, Ray Shulman of Gentle Giant is fantastic.

Are Sting and Waters really that influential as bassists, or just influential guys that happen to play bass? Nothing by either one of them really sticks out well (except Money obviously). They may be decent, but there are definitely other players that are more qualified for a Top 100 list.

Peter Cetera is one of them, as his playing really is awesome. He's one of the few really active bassists that doesn't overshadow everyone else and plays tasteful lines.

Trewavas and Shulman are also good, but I wouldn't call them good enough for a Top 100 list. Their spots would be much better filled with the likes of Justin Chancellor, Paul Simonon, Steve DiGiorgio, and Stuart Zender. Here's some of the samples of each:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHvzybkqfo[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lJfvY57NLk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lJfvY57NLk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ft3RUvZgE[/youtube]

I'd also like to recommend Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, as like DiGiorgio, he does awesome basswork in death metal with his fingers in a manner that very few other players are able to. He has tons of influence and has more versatility than most people would expect. His technical fusion stuff with Blotted Science is second-to-none.

Wtf, you think Chancellor and the fucking Cannibal Corpse bassist should be on this list but not Sting? Probably not one of the thousand reasons this forum hates you, but it should be.

Also Sting is a way better bassist than Waters. I'm not sure about Waters making the list, if he does I don't think he should be very high, I say that a major Floyd fan. His minimalistic style was an important part of the band's early sound though, so he doesn't really deserve the flack he often gets from bass musos, even if Gilmour was actually the better bassist.

The Police may have not been a real show off band, but they were one of the most talented ensemble bands of their time nonetheless. Every instrumental ingredient was of equal importance, dynamics and space were a defining part of their sound, that can never be avoided, if you say you like The Police but you don't think the bass is important, then you don't really like The Police.

Unlike most bands the rhythm section was at the forefront (well starting with the second album anyway) and rather than being a traditional lead guitarist Summers was more about atmosphere. Sting added the reggae element to the band, and he did it without sounding like a Paul Simonon wannabe. I know his claim to fame is as a singer/songwriter. But his bass work really deserves credit.

Links to some awesome bass performances by him? I love him as a songwriter, but never really noticed any amazing bass playing on his part.

And I recommended Chancellor because of his creativity and increasingly-large reputation and Webster for reasons I already explained. I specifically said Sting is a great songwriter but had no remarkable bass work that would put him among the best 100 players of all time. If you can post a few awesome performances, I'll probably change my mind.

As for The Police, I always noticed Copeland much more than the other two members, but that's most likely because drums were my first instrument. His hihat patterns are essentially reggae.

As for the top 30 concerning, I think there are some guys not properly "rock" so I'm not totally persuaded about their presence on the list.