A Bass Post

Les Claypool, Cliff Burton, Flea, and Victor Wooten are the most talked about bassists on YouTube. I will state my opinion:
1. Les Claypool is a monster slapper with great stamina and coordination (he sings at the same time)!! Everything about his playing is different and groundbreaking, he's just a joy to listen to. But the best? No. Few people can do all he does, but I have a feeling that he can't play like Victor Wooten.

2. Cliff Burton was the bassist for Metallica in the 80's. People herald him as groundbreaking, but he was not that groundbreaking really. He's seen as a "bass shredder" but Billy Sheehan would make him cry. Metallica was and is a popular band, so people think he's the best because all other popular music has poor bass representation.

3. Flea is like a modern-day Cliff Burton. He's excellent, no doubt, but the only reason he's heralded as the best is because people a. think showiness=quality and b. the Red Hot Chili Peppers are very popular. A few months ago my friend who plays keyboard challenged me to find a better bassist than Flea. Of course I pulled up Victor Wooten on YouTube, knowing that he would never appreciate Jaco Pastorius (or James Jamerson). What I quickly garnered from his reaction to Victor was that he sought the flashiest player. That eliminated Stanley Clarke also. So I brought up Stu Hamm, whose intricate tapping was not perceived as more difficult than rapid slapping. I figured out that my friend pretty much only liked bass and thought it was awesome whilst slapping- like most of the population. Forgetting about Les Claypool, I brought up Jonas Hellborg, but he still didn't concede. I knew he would hate Alex Webster and Billy Sheehan, so I just let him drown in ignorance and self-righteousness. I didn't know about Franck Hermanny back then. Here is a list of bassists that I believe I could surpass in my lifetime:
John Myung, Flea, Alex Webster, Juan Alderete, Chris Squire, Cliff Burton, and Paolo Gregoletto.