Top 20 Basses of Famous Rock Bass Players

This is our new top list at Clickenbacker, ENJOY!

This first list is supposed to be famous instruments, not players; but there is some crossovers to my favorites.

 1. Les Claypool – Carl Thompson Bass – Talk about Bass Magic? Amazing talent Primus Bass Player Les Claypool took over where Frank Zappa left off w/ some of the greatest modern progressive music known to man! Les made the Carl Thompson Bass famous originally in the "John the Fisherman" video.

2. Steve Harris - Fender Precision Bass- This is the reason I started playing bass! Say no more, Steve Harris is the ultimate bass player in my eyes, a warrior of he 4 string!!!

3. Paul Mcartney 1965 Rickenbacker 4001  - Since the time he obtained his Bass in 1965, Paul McCartney’s original Rickenbacker 4001S bass (actually made in 1964) has “evolved” through Numerous modifications. Using the 4001C64 starting point, the 4001C64S fast forwards to incorporate these changes to replicate his Bass as it finally exists today. Most evident is the reshaped body, zero-fret Fingerboard, pickup type, and tailpiece detail. A satin sealer-only finish helps protect The natural Maple body and neck, as well as the Rosewood fingerboard. I saw the movie (Magical Mystery Tour) at the Orsen Wells Cinema, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, in 1976 w/ my parents.

4. Flea, Music Man Sting Ray - For me, no one says it more for bass guitar than Flea. In a week’s time I was exposed to the Higher Ground Video, Knock Me Down, David Letterman Appearances, then came the “Bust a Move” Video, which blew me away. Making the Music Man Sting Ray, always the main stay Flea bass!

5. John Entwistle’s Alembic Explorer Bass - This bird’s eye maple bass was featured in 1978’s “The Kids are Alright,” and remained The Ox’s main bass up until the ‘90s.  Entwistle was famous for his collection of vintage basses – any number of which were well worthy of this list.

6. Jaco Pastorius’ 1962 Fretless Fender Jazz Bass - Influential American jazz musician, Pastorius is known for his unique playing style, his intricate solos in the higher register and for the “singing” quality he achieved on his 1962 Fretless Fender Jazz bass. In 1988, Pastorius became the only electric bass guitarist ever inducted into the “Down Beat” Jazz Hall of Fame. The original 1962 Fender is now owned by one of today’s most exciting bass player, Robert Trujillo, currently of Metallica and formerly of Suicidal Tendencies.

7. Phil Lesh’s Guild Starfire with Alembic Electronics - After a few less-than-favorite instruments including a Gibson EB-O that  “had telephone poles for strings”, The Dead’s famous bassist, Phil Lesh met his match in his Guild Starfire Bass.  Dubbed the “Godfather”, the instrument had 3 Alembic pickups – a quad pickup with four outputs (one for each string) and standard bass and treble humbuckers. How did he get that amazing sound? The bottom half of the bass is loaded with electronics and the top half is full of foam rubber to eliminate feedback.

8. Dee Dee Ramone – Fender Precision Bass – 1-2-3-4-GO!

9. Geddy Lee – Fender Jazz Bass – Let’s face it, there are a lot of Rics on this list, I prefer Geddy on the 4001 vs. the Jazz Bass, but he really seems to like them, and who can forget him playing one on the video for “Vital Signs?” 


10. Gene Simmons’ Axe Bass - As if their pyrotechnics and shock-rock make-up weren’t enough, Gene Simmons’ flair for the fantastic even made its way to his instruments.  In the late 70’s, there was no bigger band in the world than KISS, and Gene Simmons wanted the most rock-n-roll bass guitar ever. He hired guitar luthier Steve Carr to design an instrument with shock value. Given that one of the big moments in a KISS live show was when Simmons spit blood all over the stage, he wanted his bass to resemble an olde English executioner’s axe. As ornate as the instrument looks, it’s actually simple and effective – just one pickup, one volume knob and one tone knob. It was originally manufactured by Kramer guitars with the aluminum neck designed to increase the sustain and improve structure and durability. Probably the most famous  kramer bass guitar ever, these guitars are extremely rare and definitely not cheap. Original run of Axe basses was intended to be 1,000  but collectors feel that the number actually produced was much lower, with only around 500 original Axe basses around today. Most have been signed by Simmons himself.

11. Mike Watt – 1963 Gibson EB-3 Bass STOLEN in 2008! Mike Watt is an American Bassist, most famous for fireHOSE, Minutemen and the reunited Stooges. An underrated genius, amazing bassist and staple in punk rock American roots was famous for playing this modified EB-3 w/ a Dimarzio neck pickup and a badass bridge.

Check out Mike Watt's Opera "Hyphenated Man"

12. Sting, Ibanez Fretless Musician Bass - As seen on Don Kirshner's Rock Cocert, this neck-through Japanese beauty was Sting's bass of choice for the Regatta de Blanc period of the Police. I can remember watching the VCR tapes my Dad recorded me and took note of his masterful playing.

13. Stanley Clarke’s Alembic Signature Standard with Bigsby Vibrato is the classic jazz bassist’s most recognizable instrument. It not only donned the Cover of “I Wanna Play for You,” but it’s vibrato adds extra flavor to the album’s track, “School Daze”. Alembic honored Stanley by offering a signature model Stanley Clarke bass, the first time in the company’s history of making only custom built instruments to do so. Whatever the instrument: acoustic bass viol, electric bass guitar, tenor bass, piccolo bass, acoustic bass guitar, electric upright, or any of the hundreds of axes in his arsenal, Stanley’s musicality and command of these instruments clearly define him as the greatest living bass virtuoso in the world, second to none, hands down, end of discussion.

14.Bootsy Collins - Space Bass - William Earl “Bootsy” Collins made his name in the 60’s with James  Brown, and in the 70’s with Parliament-Funkadelic. His trademark Space Bass was made by Larry Pless of Gus Zoppie’s music store, based on a hand drawn picture Bootsy brought into the shop. Pless made the now famous, star-shaped bass for him, and when the original was stolen, Pless was asked to make another. The first bass had a mahogany body and a maple neck. The second was made with a basswood body and a maple neck. Bootsy preferred the first bass. He lucked out when the original was found in a Cincinnati pawn shop and returned to him.  Ed Roman makes a respectable copy of the original. There is also a Warwick Bootsy signature model, but it lacks the Space Bass shape.

15. Jack Bruce Gibson EB-3 - The classic Gibson EB-3 was made famous during Cream’s live tours during the 60’s, one of the most famous Vintage Gibson Bass Guitars. By cranking up the volume on his Gibson EB-3, Bruce unwittingly produced the heavy distorted sound he made popular. Later, by installing a diode into his EB-3’s wiring, Bruce was able to produce the same effect without overdriving his amps.

16. Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick-12 String Hamer Bass - Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick played the first-ever 12 string bass guitar. It was created by The Hamer Guitar Company in the late 70’s, by combining a 4-string bass with a 12-string guitar. (Think 4 bass strings with 2/3s of a 12-string guitar, 4 + 8). It’s really just an extension of the 8-string bass invented in the ‘60’s by the Hagstrom Guitar Company. The 12-String Bass has grown in popularity and is probably best known in the intro. Of the Pearl Jam Classic, Jeremy, when played by Jeff Ament (honorable mention).

17. Mike Gordon of PHISH's Modulus 5 String Bass - Ten years ago this would have been the Paul Languedoc Dragon Bass, but Mike has been steady with the Modulus for some time now. One of the world's underrated bass players, Gordon brings 100% of the funk every show.

18. Cliff Burton’s Rickenbacker 4001 Bass – Cliff Burton, Metallica Bass Player for its glory days of its first 3 albums was a unique thrash metal bass player who uniquely played lead bass lines with signature fuzz that declared a dominant existence on some really classic tunes.

19. Allen Woody of Gov't Mule's Gibson Thunderbird Bass – Woody was a gear head and a lover of Gibson Basses. He played SG’s, Hofners, even an 18-String Bass. Epiphone has a signature model that combines Gibson-esque features w/ a touch of Hofner, which is a great instrument, but his bestr work was what he did on the Gibson Thunderbird.

20. Roger Glover’s Rickenbacker 4001 Bass – Although not famous for playing a unique branded instrument, I feel Glover deserves to be on this list. I have seen him play Fenders, Ovations, Music Mans and others, but his coolest instruments by far were the 4001’s he played w/ Purple in the 1970s. Always has been a favorite, steady player, who has had the responsibility to have played on some historical rock classics.