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Who sold more basses?

Texas Blues

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Apr 13, 2008
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Like the thread about Les Pauls.

This one is about the bass.

Who sold more?


Jack Bruce.

John Paul Jones.

Paul McCartney.

Jaco Pastorius.

Stanley Clarke.

Noel Redding.

John Entwisle.

Duck Dunn.

Steve Harris.

Les Claypool.

Cliff Burton.

Willie Dixon.

Flea.

Bootsy Collins.

Chris Squire.

Geddy Lee.


I gotta' go with Geddy Lee.

How could anyone not sell more Fender basses than this guy?


As an added bonus.

When Yes needed a bassist after Chris Squire.

Who stood up?


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Have mercy that bass tone!!!!


Love the one you're with y'all.
 

4string

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James Jamerson certainly although at the time few knew his name.
 

Texas Blues

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James Jamerson.

I forgot about him but should have included as well.

Same for Carol Kaye.

Or Billy Sheehan.

I'm sure there are many more great bassists that I'm missing.


However.

I still gotta' go with Geddy.


Very few musicians can play at this level.

Especially in front of a huge crowd like this.

And yet...

There are 3 of them.


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And Neil Peart will live forever in our hearts.

Perhaps the question should be...

Who sold more drums!!!
 

Ed Driscoll

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One of the reasons why instruments from the 1950s are so desirable is that they were built before Beatlemania exploded in America in 1964, and sales of electric guitars went into the stratosphere. A lot of those guitars were purchased by guys who started their first rock groups inspired by the Beatles. Those bands all needed bass players, so wouldn't McCartney be at the top of the list of selling basses?

(Which isn't to say that all of those players aren't inspirations, but in terms of sheer product being moved, it's got to be McCartney.)
 

Wilko

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Geddy Lee sold a lot of 4001s too! my high bass player got one 'cause of he and Squire
 

4string

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Level of influence may also be a function of when one started playing. I started in 1968 and it was the British invasion, Cream, Hendrix, Jack Cassidy, James Brown's band, Stax, Motown, Muscle Shoals, the wrecking crew and a few studio guys like Joe Osbourne who inspired me. Top 40 radio was also a massive influence on a lot of players, myself included. Most bassists, especially studio players were anonymous. McCartney, Bruce, Entwistle and at least for me, Jack Cassidy, were notable exceptions. A little later it was John Paul Jones, Larry Graham, Glenn Cornick, Chris Squire and eventually Geddy Lee and Jaco. I've been primarily a Fender player as a result (still am actually) but find still Rickenbacker's a lot of fun to play.
 

J.D.

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A lot of monster players named here. All fantastic talent.

Don't forget Geezer Butler.

Few musicians can sing while playing at the level of Paul McCartney. Jack Bruce could. Geddy could. Les Claypool could. Sure there are a few others.

For me personally it was Lemmy. He played it like a rhythm guitar through a cranked Marshall.
 

Texas Blues

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Lemmy.

Not the greatest bass player.

But the one we wanted.


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jtees4

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A lot of monster players named here. All fantastic talent.

Don't forget Geezer Butler.

Few musicians can sing while playing at the level of Paul McCartney. Jack Bruce could. Geddy could. Les Claypool could. Sure there are a few others.

For me personally it was Lemmy. He played it like a rhythm guitar through a cranked Marshall.

I'm not a big Rush fan...BUT Geddy just amazes me when he plays bass with the foot pedals, keyboards with his hands and sings! I can't even fathom that! :yah
 

jrgtr42

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This is a hard one. There's a lot of talent listed above, but |I think they all have one thing in common: their sound and technique (and likely the band they're in) brought them to the forefront of the sound. How many of the rock guys noted are in 3-price bands? With that, the bass is more noticable than even a 4 peice (2 guitars.) IN that case, the second guitar or keys are playing lower down, and a busy bass player would jumble things up (there are exceptions to that of course.)
Personally |I think high on the list would be Paul McCartney, Jonsey and Flea.
|I don't know that Geddy really got enough airplay to really inspire someone to go for bass the first time. Rush lived up their tongue-in-cheek self-proclaimed billing as the most popular cult band. They were popular, but I don't know they really got the airplay to inspire someone to pick up the instrument.
He, Entwistle, Squire, Bootsy, and so on, were all so skilled that a lot of people, when hearing them, would basically think they couldn't possibly do what they are doing, and not think about it.
 

Aceman

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I don't know, Geddy is up there no doubt. But there are a LOT of Iron Maiden fans, and there are some seriously prominent bass lines.:yah

I mean, the ultimate answer will be Joe Bonamassa as soon as he gets into the bass game. Until them it's probably Geddy, McCartney, Harris, Flea, Entwhistle, and Lemmy.

Popular people make things popular. Jaco pales in comparison to any of those guys.
 

herb

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I bought my only bass, a '62 Precission RI, because of Entwistle and John Lodge of the Moody Blues. Those were my bass heroes as a teenager. Was going to get a Gibson EB-2 because of Jack Bruce but my bass knowledgable buddies told me not to waste my money. :bh
 

Norton

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I'm probably a bad example, I was an upright player for years and got my first bass guitar because I want to lean Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Specifically got inspired by Ed King's recordings. That said, my first bass was a Hagstrom and I never even considered what he played on the record. I did however buy a Thunderbird because It thought it looked cool when I saw Leon playing one.

As far as answering the question honestly, no doubt it was Paul McCartney. How many 500/1's and variations has Hofner sold because of him? and would the model even still be massed produced today if he hadnt made it famous 5 decades ago?
 

J.D.

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Agree. Nobody else really played that style "violin" bass (Beatle bass) and likely nobody would have bought one unless Paul played it.
 

Aloha_Ark

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Followup question: Who actually purchased a model of the bass that your favorite bassist played?

I have a Gibson EB3 (Jack Bruce inspired) in mint condition and a Rickenbacker bass similar to Lemmy's. Once owned a vintage P-bass with similar specs to Sting's. No longer have that one. Pretty stupid considering what I have left.
 
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