I’m a big supporter of Mike Dirnt. He crafts the swing and the groove that makes Green Day stand out from other punk (pop?) bands.
Such fun lines to listen to, such fun lines to play. And his little bass moves - like the pull off in When I Come Around - and, of course, the main line of Longview - just beautiful bass work.
He got his swing from playing jazzzzzz, by the by. I love that.
For me it’s John Illsley of Dire Straits. I like how his rock solid bass lines laid the foundation for Mark Knopfler’s amazing guitar licks. Eventually I’d like to study Jaco more, but first I want to develop that rock solid presence in the pocket that John Illsley had, and I assume still has.
Well for me its of course Steve Harris! I started playing bass in Highschool, only to put it down when I went overseas, then college, then family and career… only to start again at the YOUNG age of 48 yrs old.
His precision, speed, accuracy, and totally unique percussive playing style has always amazed me. If I can die playing just ONE of his songs (The Trooper would be nice) I will die feeling like I accomplished what I set out to do so many years ago.
And one of his true masterpieces…and oddly enough one of his first Maiden songs “Phantom of the Opera” is just awesome. 3:20 min into this song really just showcases his playing style.
It honestly makes the entire song. I love how that tiny addition makes the kind of average bassline that much more awesome and unique.
How did I forget about him? Possibly because he’s just not flashy, and yet he is one of the most solid bassist ever.
Oddly, that reminds me that I completely forgot about my absolute bass idol, and player who I really would give anything to play like. Never mind, but I’m sure Led Zepplin won’t be calling on me to fill his spot any time soon…
So, are you changing your “vote/nomination” in your previous post?? Gotta make up your mind here 
As if I would do that.
It’s when you’re forced to chose only one that you begin to realise how many bassists have been influential in your music choices, isn’t it? My favourite player is easy to name, but then there are aspects of several others that lead me to the instrument, then there are others who may have only given me one bass line that I love, but it’s lasted my lifetime (so far).
I’m thinking Keith Richards might have been a better person to “be” (not play like) as I’d have had a long rock star lifetime already, and still have the prospect of a death-defying time still ahead. Even god is quoted as saying “I didn’t create Keith Richards, he was here when I arrived.”
Yes, that is part of what makes this is a bit tricky, yet interesting!
Aspiring to be Keith Richards!?! Well, hadn’t expected that
Really? Who doesn’t want to have drank the devil under the table, left him there, and gone on to become the inspiration for a Disney pirate?
Well, if you put it like that… 
we seem to be in some kind of inter-thread negociation with @joergkutter 
(ref. What will you be playing today? - #4 by terb )
I won’t let go a chance to see a video cover from one of our regular members, of course, so the negociation ends here, and I’m already waiting for the video cover
First of all I will explain why I did not answer before this little negociation started. When I discovered this new thread, I tried to find what I could answer, but that’s hard. Not that I could not choose one bass player that really inspires me but the thing is that I don’t want to be/play like him or anybody else. I just want to develop my own playing : it’s fine for me if I “just” sound like myself I don’t know if I choose the right words, what I want to say is that with time and practice we probably naturally develop our playing in the sense of what we like, around our own sensitivity and musical culture, and I don’t think we need to try to copy someone (even if we necessarily are in a general manner inspired by some musicians we listen to ; and that’s perfectly fine).
If we talk about a bass player who inspires me, I will tell about Caleb Scofield. He was about my age and died recently in a car accident 
He played with Cave In and Zozobra and I find that his bass lines were very efficient, very sludgy (fat/slow/mesmerizing), and yet often pretty melodic. Also I love his bass tone and it’s probably one of the reasons why I mainly play a Fender Precision now (one day I might talk about my relashionship with the Precision Bass, I have a few things to say). That’s really the kind of bass tone I like, for me there’s everything here : it’s fat, relatively agressive, full, yet pretty understandable, and it does not sound like something you always ear.
Zozobra was Caleb’s solo-project, he has done everything on those songs except the drum track :
fun fact about this song : it’s me who uploaded this video on YT, on one of my very old channels, back in 2011 when Caleb Scofield were still alive
a more melodic bass line :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb2zlv1rUMo
I’m pretty sure nobody here knew Caleb Scofield ever existed, except @Gio probably.
Yes, I figured it would be, for some of us… not so much for others!
That’s awesome - but, in my opinion, it is also the “harder” path - trying to achieve something without someone to aspire to probably makes it harder to define goals… Or, perhaps, I am just overthinking it!
PS: now, if you all excuse me, I have a video cover to put together 
I really do appreciate the bass playing in Green Day. Eclectic mix of what we in the south call “Beach Music” (think Beach Boy era), rock, and punk… Mike Dirnt has definitely forged his own style.
I think that’s the path we all follow in fact ! trying to “copy” someone’s groove/feeling won’t work : you will get this inspiration for sure but you are yourself and you will play with your own feeling. that’s how I see the things … maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. I really think we can get inspired but we should not try to copy. just my point of view !
ooooh yes
Oh, man, you nailed it!! That’s pretty much what I was aiming for, but probably didn’t make a good enough effort in my original question to coax that out of you guys 
We all start off “monkey see, monkey do”, but hopefully, sooner or later, transcend that… driven by inspiration… whether that comes from the neighbor kid, and old buddy, or a guy filling stadiums with his band doesn’t matter!
It was actually really hard for me because even I initially thought Hooky, but it’s just not the case, as my own style sounds only a bit influenced by him.
Wolstenholme was a pretty obvious choice; heavily effected, modern bass tone, and a style I really like. Much closer to how my own style is developing. He’s not exactly right either.
Another I considered was Simon Gallup from The Cure. I love playing his basslines, my own sound kind of like his when I jam, and I love all his work.
I’ve also got more than a touch of Simon Raymonde going on, though. Some nights when I practice end with me spending like a half hour just playing with sounds in my chorus and reverb/delay pedals. Love the rythmic soundscapes he produces.
So it was tough to say just one as well 
It’s just “human” that we all get influenced by music. We are exposed to various music before we are even born and then throughout our lives. I don’t think you can just switch that off. It’s also hard to come up with truly original music that doesn’t sound a bit like something else and that still sounds good to others. Of course, there is also TONS of music out in the wild, so the chances of coming up with something unlike anything else it low probability. It is hard to pinpoint your influences sometimes, but that’s mainly simply due to just how much music most people have heard. How many thousands of songs have we listened to? I have no idea, but I know it is a lot.
You are definitely right that some people can’t (or struggle to) come up with original material. This is usually simply because some people are more creative than others. Again, it’s just biology. However, I bet your friend could do some original material if they really set their mind to it. I think for a lot of people it is mostly a lack of confidence. Sure, not everyone can write awe inspiring songs, but we all can think of music in our heads besides covers to some degree. Even more so if we have the tools and techniques.
Think of playing the bass like painting a picture. At the beginning, your creative options will be limited, because you haven’t been shown the tools and techniques. This is why most people start by drawing stick figures for people. I personally never got much beyond stick figures. 
But those that put their mind to it and study how to paint better, open up their creative options.
Ultimately, it’s about having fun and it is a journey for sure. I can’t wait to be able to play what I think of, but I need to learn how to do that first.
For me it’s Radiohead‘s Colin Greenwood. The foundation that keeps layers upon layers of sound and two(!) drummers together. He’s able to „tidy up“ (for lack of better words) super complex arrangements and is the point guard for his brother, Yorke and O‘Brien who all have their own unique and recognizable style. If Radiohead were indeed a basketball team, Greenwood would have something like 16.4 assists and 2.6 points on average (with the points being game winners or 100% open shots only…). Hope this makes sense. The guy fascinates me.
Plus they play in such weird time signatures. He’s definitely an amazing bassist.
Their vblog cover of Joy Division/New Order’s Ceremony is about my favorite thing they ever did, and he’s basically looking bored, despite it being an amazing bass piece:
Funny that Yorke is great there and is still the weak link in that cover 