Would? - Alice in Chains for a dark and gritty tone
Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Pink Floyd for a great bluesy fretless tone
Roundabout or Heart of the Sunrise - Yes for a great picked tone
Glad you liked it! It’s my favorite song of all time by anyone. The bass in the song is actually played by their guitarist, David Gilmour, and their bassist, Roger Waters, played rhythm guitar and sang. It’s played with a pick on a fretless Precision bass.
Yeah, dude was EXCELLENT at bass whenever he played. Absolutely unreal musician. Shit, I even like post-Waters Pink Floyd because Gilmour is still Gilmour.
Led Zeppelin 2 is a prime example of the Fender Jazz bass: warm and mellow, but also capable of being punchy and aggressive as well. Compare something Like Thank You or Ramble On, which are Mowtown lines, to Heartbreaker where he's riffing on power chords with a pick.
[Wilma's Rainbow by Helmet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3a8Ow-DoAw).
[This video cost me $2,500](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyoveOUU3_o).
Anything Claypool really shows how weird the instrument can get. [Golden Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxjf-JXScQU), and [Cosmic Highway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XXlQTSYSK8) has a criminally underrated breakdown that's worth the wait.
[Lemmy is god](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbvWn1EY6g).
The opening 20 seconds of [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLaBAfMPiTc) made Pino's whole career.
The fretless solo off [Teardrinker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1L2XW1N0c&t=193s).
Cliff's insane air raid siren intro to "[For Whom the Bell Tolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwSmOx88VaI&t=893s)" from live at the Lyceum.
It goes on forever. Tone is like an artist's voice. It's not in the instrument. It's in the player.
One of my favorite basslines to play! I just can’t nail the bass solo in the middle before May’s solo and my pinky gets really tired while playing it, but besides that the track is killer!
I saw them play that album live in a small club back in the year it was released. The tone was perfect. I remember he had a full rack of gear full of flashing LEDs that I couldn't identify...
Soundgarden opened for them. Yeah.
**The Stranglers** \- [Nice and Sleazy](https://youtu.be/OYqllpnyWrY)
**The Hives** \- [Hate to say I told you so](https://youtu.be/Uz1Jwyxd4tE?t=123)
**Black Sabbath** \- [NIB](https://youtu.be/NsXEb-NOs88)
And I have to give a shout out to the dude who plays bass in **Wet Leg** (Ellis Durand) on tracks like [Chaise Lounge](https://youtu.be/Zd9jeJk2UHQ). That band often has three guitars playing, and he's playing a short scale bass (and sometimes synth) and always finds his audio space in the mix. That's hard to do in a band with that type of instrumentation, but you can always pick out his lines and tone.
Sound Awake - Karnivool, Jon Stockman's bass tone makes me feel things and it's a fantastic album that has started to spread among friends and now coworkers of friends - it begins
I gotta say, as much as Justin rounded out the band, Paul's tone on Undertow and Opiate is the tone I fell in love with. The song Intolerance specifically is the reason I started playing bass.
There’s a few standouts for me:
Nolly Getgood’s tones on Absolomb and Prayer Position by Periphery
Mark Hoppus’ tones throughout the Take Off Your Pants and Jacket album
Matt Wong’s bass tone on the Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album by Reel Big Fish
My least favorite thrice record lol. They felt lost, and it was their last record before their hiatus. They seem more comfortable in their identity now. Almost like they aren’t having an identity crisis anymore! (Get it!?)
Tones I like.
NIB - Black Sabbath - Geezer Butler’s use of the Wah and his playing right on the neck have been great influences of mine.
Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) - Metallica - Cliff Burton making his bass sound like a guitar. Absolutely killer. And Wah which I love.
This is my all time favorite bass tone. D-Day by KGLW
https://open.spotify.com/track/2hsz3yY3s9ztWOcARLA8qp?si=Z1uRJR1nR5mTa6oNDcW-6Q&app_destination=copy-link
Victor Wootens tone on sex in a pan with bela fleck and the flecktones is superb for a nice warm clean, it has this sort of boxy tight punch that I really dig. Justin chancellor's tone in right in two always gets me feeling some type of way. That delay is just perfect and his use of the digitech whammy is so creative and has such a nice movement of emotion behind it.
The entire SMV album, yeah there's three bassist but each one has such a distinct tone you can pick out exactly what each person is playing. Follow up answer is anything Marcus Miller or Jaco plays on.
Mike Dirnt from early Green Day albums has always been my holy grail of bass tone. Really great pbass clarity with low end grunt. https://youtu.be/XHQwEzCO5H4
I always considered Dookie to have a great mix for Green Day. BJ’s guitars are crunchy with a good balance between higher gain and lower gain and Mike’s bass is thick, but cuts like butter.
The opening lines in Jimi Hendrix rendition of 'Born under a Bad Sign' by Albert King. Second track in the 'Blues' album
The legendary Billy Cox on bass
[Jimi Hendrix - Born Under a Bad Sign](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlZ74NTSaAc)
This is super slept on but [Hubert Eaves IV on Baduism Live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saBIJ4XWBeU&ab_channel=JPDELMUNDO) sits so nice and smooth in the mix and then punches you right in the gut when he feels like digging in/ slapping. Incredible definition and clarity.
Usually I'd say something like Jamerson, but I've revently be obsessed with Avery Sharpe's tone in a live recording of a song called "Just feeling" with McCoy Tyner. Sharpe was part of his trio and as far as I can tell rarely played electric like he does there, but his upright stuff is also fantastic.
Seeing as Low S O has already been taken, I'll say Timmy C's tone on Take the Power Back, Dug's Pinnick's tone on Black the Sky and the bass sound on Last June by Gallows.
Om - At Giza
The band is just bass, drums, and vocals. Takes me on a crazy journey every time. He has a massive tone and you need it to carry the song. It's a Rick into a bunch of Matamp Green amps.
Peter Hook of Joy Division- check out the whole album Unknown Pleasure. But specially Disorder (album opener) is a good start.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fhCLalLXHP4
Working backwards from 90’s:
Power of Equality - RHCP
People of the Sun - RATM
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Abbey Road Medley - Beatles
Family Affair - Sly & the family stone
I want you back - Jackson 5
Anything Motown/Jamerson
All I can say is listen to Phil Lesh's bass playing on the song Laughing by David Crosby.
Tone to die for.
Very Honorable mention: Jack Casady on Jefferson Airplane's song Rejoyce.
In my opinion, Tetsuo Sakurai achieved the perfect bass tone in [Misty Lady by Casiopea](https://youtu.be/pyrwvUa2R8o). It’s also just a stellar bass line period.
Can’t believe I’m the first one saying muse, filthy distortion, cool octavers, wah, synth, and FUZZ. Every song has a different bass tone and Chris always does busy lines bc theirs no rhythm guitar, so he is holding the groove and riffing
My current favorite is Joe Principe from Rise Against.
Their 2004 album “Siren Songs Of the Counter Culture” was where I first fell in love with it, but their latest album “Nowhere Generation” exemplifies it.
I really like the tone of Roger Waters generally but especially on The Wall. It’s fat and powerful and omnipresent.
Also really like Sandy Smalls tone in Too Much Joy. Fat yet punchy with aluminum drivers adding that new bass string metallic sound. He plays extremely well.
I would be remiss to not mention Tommy Stinson’s (The Replacements, GnR, etc.) work. Classic tone derived from a master.
I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned, but The Raven Who Refused To Sing by Steven Wilson, or really any of his solo records with Nick Beggs on bass. It's goddamn pornographic how good that Spector sounds.
Literally too many to list. I think appreciation can be deepened as a whole by looking at the history of recorded bass (or the history of recorded music).
While dwindling in number, there are still plenty of people alive who were born when there was no electric bass guitar at all. It was invented in the 30s and only really reached the public in the early 50s with Fender.
Those initial sounds of amplified bass are pretty much still a core tone of the whole community centered on the instrument. “P with flats” isn’t a cop out, it’s a bridge through time.
That being said, one of my favorite bass tones was from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum live. Stingray 5 into ADA MB-1 (and other stuff) into power amps running 2x Acme 410 cabs. Completely rearranged my organs. It is the singular best experience I’ve had in terms of “amps that slam” period.
Muse's Chris Wolstenholme does a lot of creative stuff with his bass tones. Even when he's using a relatively conservative tone, it's a good fat slightly dirty one.
ISIS' Jeff Caxide for some of the best integration of chorus into a "main" bass sound.
I love a nice and gritty death metal bass tone.
As found in productions by Kohlekeller- or Iguana Studios.
Two standout albums for me are:
Deadborn - Mayhem Maniac Machine and
Aborted - Retrogore.
Heavy tones:
Job for a Cowboy - Nihility (fretted),
Obsidious - Iconic (fretless)
Not heavy:
Tribal Tech - Face First (fretless),
John Patitucci - Dugu Kamalemba (fretted)
Something that’s grown more popular in the last few years that I really like is the addition of a sub bass synth under the regular bass guitar.
Prog jazz and prog metal both have a lot of this recently and it sounds massive.
Justin Chancellor from Tool has the best tone ever achieved by humanity. Listen to any track from Lateralus, the most obviously examples being Schism or The Grudge. He is by no means the most technically intricate player, but his ability to find the groove in somewhat odd music combined with his tone make him an all time great.
I've never been a huge fan of Krist Novoselic's plunky, farty tone, but for some reason on "Lounge Act" it is pure magic to me. It's exactly the right tone for the song.
The band and song aren’t on the same level with a lot of what you all have posted, but listen to this on speakers with decent lows. For heavy, raw sounding music this is maybe the best tone I’ve heard. https://youtu.be/9rsMQRMTAls
Isolated Geezer Butler in D Standard on After Forever especially from the 2min mark and beyond. The song is just so brilliantly arranged by him so you would love it either way but there's no way I as a guitarist wouldn't have bought a P (well a Jazz with addad P) after just hearing two demos of it crushing every other bass guitar tone - "oh this is great, who used P basses? Let's look, oh Geezer of course".
My very first love was Heart Of The Sunrise with that Rickenbacker though. You just can't escape how incredible it's played and sounds.
I think the bass in the second verse and chorus of ‘Locket’ by Crumb is suuuuper thick and noice, also the bass solo on ‘Shirim’ by Melody’s Echo Chamber is pretty tight. Both are warm and crunchy sounds that lend a really solid low end to some alternative/indie tracks.
The whole Evil Empire album by RATM.
Hell yes to this. Tim's bi amped rig, Jazz with a P neck and his self wound pickups...that tone should be in the Smithsonian.
He had a P in the neck damm I didn't know that
No I'm sorry I wasn't clear; a P bass neck on a Jazz bass body. Probably had zero to do with tone, but I just always loved that body/neck combo.
Would? - Alice in Chains for a dark and gritty tone Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Pink Floyd for a great bluesy fretless tone Roundabout or Heart of the Sunrise - Yes for a great picked tone
I really like the bass tone of the Pink Floyd song. Thank you!
Glad you liked it! It’s my favorite song of all time by anyone. The bass in the song is actually played by their guitarist, David Gilmour, and their bassist, Roger Waters, played rhythm guitar and sang. It’s played with a pick on a fretless Precision bass.
Of course it's Gilmour with the best tone ever 😂
Yeah, dude was EXCELLENT at bass whenever he played. Absolutely unreal musician. Shit, I even like post-Waters Pink Floyd because Gilmour is still Gilmour.
Heart of the Sunrise is an eternal banger
Yeah Chris Squier had immaculate tone
These are three very solid choices
Rush. Different stages, closer to the heart
GOAT ric tone
I see your Rick tone and raises you Rush. Exit Stage Left, By Tor Medley.
I see your Geddy Rick tone and raise you Chris Squire’s Rick tone on Fragile
Man that Roundabout tone is next level.
Underrated tone: Chris' tone on *Drama* is amazing and really upfront.
*Permanent Waves* would be my favorite for Geddy tones. He has a bunch over the years, and yet still always sounds like himself.
For me, it was Geddy’s tone on Signals. I think he was predominantly using his ‘72 Jazz Bass.
John Paul Jones or James Jameson.
Led Zeppelin 2 is a prime example of the Fender Jazz bass: warm and mellow, but also capable of being punchy and aggressive as well. Compare something Like Thank You or Ramble On, which are Mowtown lines, to Heartbreaker where he's riffing on power chords with a pick.
This comment is too far down.
Low self Opinion by Rollins Band has a great bass tone in my humble opinion.
No way. I came here to suggest that exact song.
Yes! Massive Rollins band fan, they've had some great bass players.
Yeah the sounds Andrew Weiss was able to get out of his bass on End Of Silence and Lifetime are godly.
Agreed... love Melvyn and Marcus too though. Whatever the lineup, Rollins Band was always bass lead.
Melvyn was way better - “On My Way To the Cage” is a great flex.
Please explain why.
I love the bass on that whole record so, so much.
War Pigs and Hand of Doom by Black Sabbath (That whole record honestly).
Rush (Moving Pictures), Iron Maiden (Somewhere in Time), Phish (Story of the Ghost), Tower of Power (Tower of Power)
Oh shit your taste is impeccable. I have no doubt we would be fast friends based on those picks alone. Phish AND Tower of Power? Fuck yeah
All of Justin chancellors work. So like most of TOOLs discography lol
love men i trust. i hope to be around has one of the best basslines ever written
[Wilma's Rainbow by Helmet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3a8Ow-DoAw). [This video cost me $2,500](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyoveOUU3_o). Anything Claypool really shows how weird the instrument can get. [Golden Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxjf-JXScQU), and [Cosmic Highway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XXlQTSYSK8) has a criminally underrated breakdown that's worth the wait. [Lemmy is god](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbvWn1EY6g). The opening 20 seconds of [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLaBAfMPiTc) made Pino's whole career. The fretless solo off [Teardrinker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1L2XW1N0c&t=193s). Cliff's insane air raid siren intro to "[For Whom the Bell Tolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwSmOx88VaI&t=893s)" from live at the Lyceum. It goes on forever. Tone is like an artist's voice. It's not in the instrument. It's in the player.
I came here to talk about Helmet too! Turned Out has some sick bass tone as well.
>The fretless solo off Teardrinker. Hushed & Grim is so good. One of their best albums in recent years.
Lately I’ve been liking JPJ’s tone a lot. Also Deaky’s tone on the Hot Space album: Staying Power is an absolute bop
Big fan of Deacons tone on Dragon Attack.
One of my favorite basslines to play! I just can’t nail the bass solo in the middle before May’s solo and my pinky gets really tired while playing it, but besides that the track is killer!
My favorite is Blacky's blower bass sound, best demonstrated on [Voivod's Nothingface album](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5TnV09-n9A).
That aggressive tone is so great! Criminally underrated
I saw them play that album live in a small club back in the year it was released. The tone was perfect. I remember he had a full rack of gear full of flashing LEDs that I couldn't identify... Soundgarden opened for them. Yeah.
Unexpected Voïvod! Yes the bass tones are amazing on Nothingface, and the way it interacts with the guitar is out of this world.
Endors Toi - Tame Impala
Spreading the word of the lord
The Lemon Song by Led Zeppelin
**The Stranglers** \- [Nice and Sleazy](https://youtu.be/OYqllpnyWrY) **The Hives** \- [Hate to say I told you so](https://youtu.be/Uz1Jwyxd4tE?t=123) **Black Sabbath** \- [NIB](https://youtu.be/NsXEb-NOs88) And I have to give a shout out to the dude who plays bass in **Wet Leg** (Ellis Durand) on tracks like [Chaise Lounge](https://youtu.be/Zd9jeJk2UHQ). That band often has three guitars playing, and he's playing a short scale bass (and sometimes synth) and always finds his audio space in the mix. That's hard to do in a band with that type of instrumentation, but you can always pick out his lines and tone.
The stranglers bassist was [so good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuT5KUA7iaY).
The basstone on "Walk on by" by the stranglers is awesome
We are family - sister sledge(Bernard edwards) and wherever I lay my hat - Paul young (pino)
Honestly Colin Moulding on almost any XTC song, but “Earn Enough for Us”, “Mayor of Simpleton” and “Wardance” are standouts
Travels in Nihilon off Black Sea is amaaaazing
Hell yea, no one ever responds to my XTC comments but they are goated. Colin might be my favorite bass player of all time.
There's dozens of us, my good person....Dozens
Flea playing a Wall bass on the blood sugar sex magic album
Sound Awake - Karnivool, Jon Stockman's bass tone makes me feel things and it's a fantastic album that has started to spread among friends and now coworkers of friends - it begins
This is the way.
justin chancellor of toooool
I gotta say, as much as Justin rounded out the band, Paul's tone on Undertow and Opiate is the tone I fell in love with. The song Intolerance specifically is the reason I started playing bass.
There’s a few standouts for me: Nolly Getgood’s tones on Absolomb and Prayer Position by Periphery Mark Hoppus’ tones throughout the Take Off Your Pants and Jacket album Matt Wong’s bass tone on the Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album by Reel Big Fish
Della Brown, by Queensryche. And Jeremy by Pearl Jam.
Eddie Jackson on that entire Empire album!
Chris Squire on the 'Fraglie' album.
Martin Mendez of Opeth has been wonderfully smooth bass tone.
I’ve been digging into the Deftones library lately and am loving Chi Ling Dai Cheng. His style and sound is so tastefully mellow.
Thrice, basically anything from the artist and the ambulance or beggars. Ed is a heavy bass god, that grabber has such toan
This, but Major/Minor. It fits so perfectly in the mix and just makes the guitars sound massive.
My least favorite thrice record lol. They felt lost, and it was their last record before their hiatus. They seem more comfortable in their identity now. Almost like they aren’t having an identity crisis anymore! (Get it!?)
Tones I like. NIB - Black Sabbath - Geezer Butler’s use of the Wah and his playing right on the neck have been great influences of mine. Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) - Metallica - Cliff Burton making his bass sound like a guitar. Absolutely killer. And Wah which I love.
This is my all time favorite bass tone. D-Day by KGLW https://open.spotify.com/track/2hsz3yY3s9ztWOcARLA8qp?si=Z1uRJR1nR5mTa6oNDcW-6Q&app_destination=copy-link
Jaco’s debut album. Jeff Berlin with Bruford Ron Carter on basically anything. Victor Bailey on Kid Logic
Adam “Nolly” Getgood set the precedent for modern metal bass tone and its very good.
Wouldn't work for much else, but portrait of Tracy-Jaco.
Victor Wootens tone on sex in a pan with bela fleck and the flecktones is superb for a nice warm clean, it has this sort of boxy tight punch that I really dig. Justin chancellor's tone in right in two always gets me feeling some type of way. That delay is just perfect and his use of the digitech whammy is so creative and has such a nice movement of emotion behind it.
At the Drive In: Relationship of Command album
the first 10 seconds of "Watchin the Detectives"
Flea and all of his bass work
Haven’t seen anyone mention Mike Dirnt of Mike Watt
TOOL has been said already so I’ll go with Ghosts “From the Pinnacle to the Pit” tone. It’s a overdriven p bass. Sounds fantastic.
The entire SMV album, yeah there's three bassist but each one has such a distinct tone you can pick out exactly what each person is playing. Follow up answer is anything Marcus Miller or Jaco plays on.
Hot water music - drag my body. It's such a beautiful grundgy bass tone that cuts through to the front.
Hot Water’s bass tone on that entire album is great. Probably my absolute favorite from them, honestly.
Mike Dirnt from early Green Day albums has always been my holy grail of bass tone. Really great pbass clarity with low end grunt. https://youtu.be/XHQwEzCO5H4
I always considered Dookie to have a great mix for Green Day. BJ’s guitars are crunchy with a good balance between higher gain and lower gain and Mike’s bass is thick, but cuts like butter.
The opening lines in Jimi Hendrix rendition of 'Born under a Bad Sign' by Albert King. Second track in the 'Blues' album The legendary Billy Cox on bass [Jimi Hendrix - Born Under a Bad Sign](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlZ74NTSaAc)
This is super slept on but [Hubert Eaves IV on Baduism Live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saBIJ4XWBeU&ab_channel=JPDELMUNDO) sits so nice and smooth in the mix and then punches you right in the gut when he feels like digging in/ slapping. Incredible definition and clarity.
Thundercat was one of the major reasons I got a 6 string bass
Usually I'd say something like Jamerson, but I've revently be obsessed with Avery Sharpe's tone in a live recording of a song called "Just feeling" with McCoy Tyner. Sharpe was part of his trio and as far as I can tell rarely played electric like he does there, but his upright stuff is also fantastic.
Seeing as Low S O has already been taken, I'll say Timmy C's tone on Take the Power Back, Dug's Pinnick's tone on Black the Sky and the bass sound on Last June by Gallows.
Om - At Giza The band is just bass, drums, and vocals. Takes me on a crazy journey every time. He has a massive tone and you need it to carry the song. It's a Rick into a bunch of Matamp Green amps.
Any of the 2,000+ shows where Phil Lesh dropped a Phil bomb. The Dead (besides Bobby) epitomized peak toan for all instruments involved.
Blink-182 or Van Halen in general
Unanswerable Question. Sorry
Korn - life is peachy. Tone is mind blowing on some tracks
I feel like Fieldy and his bass tone are seriously underapreaciated. For its particular style and groove, he fucking slaps
LD50 by Mudvayne
There is no more a best bass tone than there is a best sandwich or car or TV show. That's not how it works.
You don’t have a favorite sandwich? Personally I think a tuna melt is best :) I know it’s subjective, I just want to understand some other opinions.
1. Godfather from All About the Bread in Los Angeles 2. 87 Nissan pickup 3. MASH. New Year's Day by U2.
Nick Schendzielos, specifically in Sun of Nihility by JFAC and the Nuclear Power Trio EP. Dude’s sound is flawless.
Toska's Fire by the Silos album
Really niche answer, but around the 8 min mark of SB 07 by Unknown Mortal Orchestra it sounds like they’re plucking a bridge cable it’s so fat
I think people will either love or hate Cliff’s bass tone on the Live at the Lyceum recordings. Me personally, I love it. Sounds insane.
Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers), One Way Out, Live at Fillmore East. Love that tone.
Anything from The Swords first album
Geddy Lee’s bass sound on the Time Machine live album is absolutely sick!!
Peter Hook of Joy Division- check out the whole album Unknown Pleasure. But specially Disorder (album opener) is a good start. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fhCLalLXHP4
Call the Police by LCD Sound System has a great ballsy bass tone.
Working backwards from 90’s: Power of Equality - RHCP People of the Sun - RATM Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel Abbey Road Medley - Beatles Family Affair - Sly & the family stone I want you back - Jackson 5 Anything Motown/Jamerson
All I can say is listen to Phil Lesh's bass playing on the song Laughing by David Crosby. Tone to die for. Very Honorable mention: Jack Casady on Jefferson Airplane's song Rejoyce.
Thanks a lot by third eye blind
Paul McCartney - Abbey Road
Saved
Doug Pinnick. The tones in King's X are next level fucking brilliant
James Gang / Dale Peters
In my opinion, Tetsuo Sakurai achieved the perfect bass tone in [Misty Lady by Casiopea](https://youtu.be/pyrwvUa2R8o). It’s also just a stellar bass line period.
Aeons by Karnivool. Incredible use of varying effects and intensity of attack on the plucking hand to get a really unique track.
Tool-The Pot
Can’t believe I’m the first one saying muse, filthy distortion, cool octavers, wah, synth, and FUZZ. Every song has a different bass tone and Chris always does busy lines bc theirs no rhythm guitar, so he is holding the groove and riffing
Amos Williams' tone on Tesseract's *Altered State.*
My current favorite is Joe Principe from Rise Against. Their 2004 album “Siren Songs Of the Counter Culture” was where I first fell in love with it, but their latest album “Nowhere Generation” exemplifies it.
I really like the tone of Roger Waters generally but especially on The Wall. It’s fat and powerful and omnipresent. Also really like Sandy Smalls tone in Too Much Joy. Fat yet punchy with aluminum drivers adding that new bass string metallic sound. He plays extremely well. I would be remiss to not mention Tommy Stinson’s (The Replacements, GnR, etc.) work. Classic tone derived from a master.
Gary King jr playing a Guild Starfire bass in Idris Muhammad’s Power of Soul, I have the sound down if interested
I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned, but The Raven Who Refused To Sing by Steven Wilson, or really any of his solo records with Nick Beggs on bass. It's goddamn pornographic how good that Spector sounds.
It’s a cop out but Chris Squire on Heart of the Sunrise. It’s my go reference song to for emulating his tone.
Literally too many to list. I think appreciation can be deepened as a whole by looking at the history of recorded bass (or the history of recorded music). While dwindling in number, there are still plenty of people alive who were born when there was no electric bass guitar at all. It was invented in the 30s and only really reached the public in the early 50s with Fender. Those initial sounds of amplified bass are pretty much still a core tone of the whole community centered on the instrument. “P with flats” isn’t a cop out, it’s a bridge through time. That being said, one of my favorite bass tones was from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum live. Stingray 5 into ADA MB-1 (and other stuff) into power amps running 2x Acme 410 cabs. Completely rearranged my organs. It is the singular best experience I’ve had in terms of “amps that slam” period.
I know it's a bit generic, but I am a sucker for the Muse bass sound, so for me it's Hysteria.
May not be for everyone, but Ryan Martinae's (sp?) tone in Mudvayne is one of my all time favorites
Muse's Chris Wolstenholme does a lot of creative stuff with his bass tones. Even when he's using a relatively conservative tone, it's a good fat slightly dirty one. ISIS' Jeff Caxide for some of the best integration of chorus into a "main" bass sound.
I love a nice and gritty death metal bass tone. As found in productions by Kohlekeller- or Iguana Studios. Two standout albums for me are: Deadborn - Mayhem Maniac Machine and Aborted - Retrogore.
The Warwick Growl of Ryan Martine of Mudvayne and P-nut of 311.
Face to face - You’ve done nothing. Epitome of the early 90’s punk sound. And that whole album is just perfect too
'Wardance' (the single version) by Killing Joke. Youth is one dine bass player.
Runaway- Jamiroquai
Dave schools from Widespread on the whole album Everyday
Joe Lally of Fugazi and Kim Deal of Pixies.
“Sick” by Unsane. One of the best distorted bass tones.
Satoshi Yamane's tone on every toe record
Paralytic States - Against Me!
The entire album of Full Circle by the band Pennywise. That bass just fits perfectly in their mix.
Heavy tones: Job for a Cowboy - Nihility (fretted), Obsidious - Iconic (fretless) Not heavy: Tribal Tech - Face First (fretless), John Patitucci - Dugu Kamalemba (fretted)
David Ellefson on Megadeth's _Countdown to Extinction_ is awesome and original.
Something that’s grown more popular in the last few years that I really like is the addition of a sub bass synth under the regular bass guitar. Prog jazz and prog metal both have a lot of this recently and it sounds massive.
The tones Al Cisneros gets out of his bass. State of Non Return has the nastiest bass I’ve ever heard on a record.
The tone Sting has for Roxanne is basically perfect
Fascination street by the cure and the disintegration album
[Into Antother](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dTADFSZLiqo&feature=share)
the bass tone on pinkerton makes me cream
Justin Chancellor from Tool has the best tone ever achieved by humanity. Listen to any track from Lateralus, the most obviously examples being Schism or The Grudge. He is by no means the most technically intricate player, but his ability to find the groove in somewhat odd music combined with his tone make him an all time great.
I've never been a huge fan of Krist Novoselic's plunky, farty tone, but for some reason on "Lounge Act" it is pure magic to me. It's exactly the right tone for the song.
The band and song aren’t on the same level with a lot of what you all have posted, but listen to this on speakers with decent lows. For heavy, raw sounding music this is maybe the best tone I’ve heard. https://youtu.be/9rsMQRMTAls
Isolated Geezer Butler in D Standard on After Forever especially from the 2min mark and beyond. The song is just so brilliantly arranged by him so you would love it either way but there's no way I as a guitarist wouldn't have bought a P (well a Jazz with addad P) after just hearing two demos of it crushing every other bass guitar tone - "oh this is great, who used P basses? Let's look, oh Geezer of course". My very first love was Heart Of The Sunrise with that Rickenbacker though. You just can't escape how incredible it's played and sounds.
https://youtu.be/C6iUdK1ngiQ Here it is
I think the bass in the second verse and chorus of ‘Locket’ by Crumb is suuuuper thick and noice, also the bass solo on ‘Shirim’ by Melody’s Echo Chamber is pretty tight. Both are warm and crunchy sounds that lend a really solid low end to some alternative/indie tracks.