If Lanny can find a way to put a string on it… he will play it 
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I aspire to be like Bill Wyman. I don’t know the various styles and techniques of various bass players like most of you do. When I started listening to music as a teenager, over half a century ago, I liked Bill Wyman. He was always in the background doing his job, not seeking the spotlight. This fits my personality and he is the one who inspired me to learn the bass.
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Most of us didn’t either - until we did. 
Some folk around here are pretty clued-up though, and it’s great to be able to learn from them.
Interestingly, I think you’re the first person to mention Bill Wyman, and yet he was part of a solid rhythm section of one of the all-time most successful and long-running bands. You sir, have added to the conversation with your knowledge. Glad you joined in.
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I’ve been really struggling with this question. There are plenty of people with the knowledge I would like to have but I don’t want to play like any of them.
I kinda wish I did want to play like someone else because then I would have a solid direction for my practice. As it is, learning someone else’s stuff is just a means to an end and that can be really frustrating.
I keep reminding myself to slow down, take a breath, this what they mean by going to the shed and just working through it. The whole time I’m looking at how do I get what ever it is I’m supposed to get out of this as fast as possible so I can move on to experimenting with what I want to play.
I’m chomping at the bit to do my own thing but I also know I have so much to learn. I hate to derail this thread but, is anybody else feeling any of this? Is the answer to just keep grinding through?
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No derailing whatsoever… if I take my teacher’s hat on (and I am a teacher), then a question like the one I posed isn’t necessarily always meant to produce an specific answer, but to make the “student” think and reflect more on the topic discussed 
Mission accomplished, I would say, @eric.kiser 
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You should do what is right for you and only you really know that. Some people hate covers. Some people love them. Some people just want to learn a riff or two from a song. It’s all acceptable.
I personally think of covers or learning someones style as just another tool to add to my toolbelt. I don’t want to play covers. However, I can find enjoyment in learning them as it is a good process to go through. So is transcribing music. Being able to work with other peoples music is a good skill to have. But sometimes, it feels like I’m copying a book word for word and that’s no fun. For me, it needs to be a song that I really like, or it just feels painful.
But as I said, each to their own. The key is to enjoy whatever you are doing. If you don’t enjoy it, you will probably stop playing at some point. Most of us aren’t training to be studio musicians as a career. We just want to have some fun.
What I’ve wondered is how much the influence changes from listening to songs to playing songs. I listen to a lot of Floyd for example. I haven’t played any Floyd covers yet though. However, I bet it still unconsciously influences the music I come up with.
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Indeed, thirteen days since you started this thread and thirteen days I’ve been thinking about it.
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Don’t get discouraged, all the people we see playing have probably have had a lifetime practise.
Take small steps , record your progress and finally you will have made that big leap.
I sometimes have the same feeling, but than find out I made so much progress.
Things I could not play before, suddenly are under my fingers
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Hey Eric, I feel you, because I haven’t been able to answer this thread either. At all. And I read so many of the answers here, it seems like most people have that one person, or maybe a handful of bass greats that they are aspiring to play like.
I just don’t know, for myself. I haven’t felt some big connection to any one bass player and their style. And I haven’t felt called to fix on someone, and just learn how they play. I’ve sampled the field here and there. And there is some neat wisdom, technique, sound I’ve come across.
Maybe down the road I’ll feel that inspiration. Maybe I’m just too new to bass playing. I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. I’m in the same boat on this topic. But it is something I’ve reflected upon a little, maybe put on a back burner in my mind, and I’ll just leave it at that for now.
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I think your answer is as valid as any of the others, @vik! Perhaps, one could even say that you and @eric.kiser have reflected much more over this than some of us who have “just” shouted out the name of a bass player… although even that hopefully gave people some “pause for thought” as I asked for only one name to be put forward 
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@JoshFossgreen Thanks for directing me to Tim Lefebvre! What a find! Now I cannot wait for the new JZ Replacement Record. He is so, so versatile.
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OK, it’s summary time!
To answer to my original question proved to be very easy for some and very hard for others. Having to choose one certainly didn’t make it any easier… We all get inspired/motivated by many sources, bass players or otherwise… but that doesn’t necessarily mean we all aspire to sound or play like a certain individual. Still, none of us plays in a vacuum - we are all influenced one way or another by the music and sounds we hear and the generations of bass players we are increasingly more and more aware of!
I tried to “paraphrase” your replies to provide an overview - nothing more, nothing less. I think we should refrain from commenting on individual choices - they are what they are. But, I welcome your feedback and perhaps more general comments on this issue.
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That’s really good, well done!!
Looking through that though, I realise now, that I omitted to give a reason for my choice.
That reason is . . .
‘The greater the artist, the fewer the brushstrokes’.
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Ooh hadn’t heard of that! Checking it out now.
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@joergkutter: damn! That hits close to home! Sebastiaan is one of my very closest friends, and Frans is stellar! You mind if I pass this on to him tomorrow?
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For me… I think it depends on the weather, the moon phase, when I last had my period… stuff like that. Or what music I listened to today.
And yet… the bass player that’s inspired me most may have been Mick Karn. I do keep returning to his work every now and then, and he always leaves me in awe, and inspired to try new stuff.
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I think maybe some are confusing want to be/play like with who do you “admire”.
I admire Steve Harris for the reasons @joergkutter captured so well. Precision, accuracy, and percussive play style. I have been a Maiden fan since I was 12 yrs old so that is only natural who I admire!
In the end, and I think this just comes as you learn, you will develop your own unique style. Influenced by many musicians/bass players. But in the end your style will be yours and yours alone.
For example…when I started playing I noticed I DUG into my strings. But as I have progressed I have noticed me getting a lighter touch and turning my amp up to get the same volume. The sound has gone from a “TWANGY” sound to a more mellow sound… and I kinda like it. This is an example of how my own playstyle is developing. Im sure it will change even more as I gain more experience.
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Wow, that is a surprise, @peterhuppertz! I didn’t expect anyone in here to even know them, much less be friends with them 
Please give my regards to the guys! As a former drummer, I am also a big fan of Sebastiaan’s drumming!
I actually plan to drive down to Germany next week Saturday to catch their gig in Oldenburg - never had chance before to see them live! Really looking forward to that!
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@joergkutter, Oldenburg will be a Tristan gig I assume?
Are you familiar with Sebastiaan’s solo output, and with his other collaborations with Frans?
Sebastiaan told me that he’s gonna do at least one gig with Lalle Larsson in Muhlheim. Not sure when yet. I suspect that this’ll be with Frans too, as the three of them are currently recording.
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