The MASTERS of Heavy Metal Bass

This week, all my Patreon supporters, even at the $1 level, get access to the sick backing track I made for 2 weeks ago’s video! It’s over 6 minutes long with mixing and mastering by Eric Hill (Erockomania on Instagram), you’re gonna love it!

Hey kids! Its your good buddy Uncle Ben here with the low end lesson you NEED! Tired of playing boring metal bass riffs, chasing riffs around all over the Big Guitar? Me too. That kind of bass playing can get so boring SO FAST. Thankfully, we have the greatest bassists in metal history to learn (see also: steal) from: Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Cliff Burton of Metallica, Dave Ellefson of Megadeth, and Martin Mendez of Opeth! These players have all shown us great ways to break away from the guitars, lock in with the drums, and do something cool and interesting in our heavy tunes. No matter what genre of music you're into, these are all ideas you can start using and implementing into you're playing TODAY!
Playing my brand new Spector Euro LX 5 string bass into the Axe FX 3. All guitar tracks were recorded with my Friedman BE100.
Who is your favorite bass player? Let me know in the comments!!!

[BenEller]

Thanks for learning the secrets of the bass metal MASTERS! What other legendary bassist should we study next?

[jamescarroll]

I love Steve DiGiorgio’s playing on Death ‘Individual Thought Patterns’. He’s a master of fretless bass.

[pman]

Rex Brown has to be my favorite metal bass player. He really had a great command of space with Dime's guitar work, especially during solos. Not necessarily the flashiest player ever, but, in my opinion, quintessentially bass.

[TheArtofGuitar]

Uncle Ben I want you to know that I've tossed away my triangle necklace in honor of you. You were first. I will not steal your look and I hang my head in shame. ;) Great vid.

[AshenRJ]

Geezer Butler is my favourite. While not underrated, he is often overlooked. I really love how he can accompany the guitar in one part and then branch off on his own the next. His basslines in Lonely Is The Word carried the song.

My favourite basslines of his are on Buried Alive in the album Dehumanizer.

[klanker]

David Ellefson is the masterbassiest of them all for sure!

[callumhall]

literally, Martin Mendez is not talked about enough. He really pushes Opeth to the next level with his playing.

[Crowbar]

Peter Steele. His tone literally sounded like fire, his groove was so tasty and powerful and he could play fingerstyle with his non-dominant hand in a thrash band. Dude was an absolute BEAST. The clips of him playing without a pick in Carnivore are so insane. That guy had so much talent!

[aragusea]

Great stuff as always, Uncle Ben. I always love a bassist who knows that probably the most powerful thing the instrument can do in a band is just hold a pedal point. Cliff Williams, Michael Anthony — even a guy like Billy Gould, who has huge technical chops but knows when it's time to just thump the same note over and over as the chords change on top in the guitars and keys.

[JMal]

I’ve never understood the whole fingers versus pick arguments for bass. Always felt it’s what suits the song. So glad to hear you say the same. People get so annoyed over this, it’s plain stupid. Thanks Uncle Ben for talking some sense.

[Velocisaurusman]

I love Geezer Butler when he fills the space with bass lead lines. Especially over Tony Iommis Solos

[mattiasjp]

Jo Bench of Bolt Thrower is never talked about in these kinds of videos, but really deserves all our respect for her contribution to extreme metal bass playing. She uses movement and melodic ideas under the brutal guitars while still managing to keep it as heavy and brutal as tank plowing through a brick shithouse.

[allboutthemojo]

Justin Chancellor is my absolute favorite!
I can vouch for Sweetwater customer service being TOP NOTCH! Almost unreal .
What you mentioned about Cliff's playing, I feel is similar to Justin. I love the way he starts playing a riff, then Adam comes in a bit later and then Danny and Justin will totally go and play something else together. It creates such a push pull tension and interest because of being offbeat and unpredictable. I just can't get enough of it.

[MSTR_dnb]

Alex Webster takes the cake for me. Such a chill dude who’s passionate about his work and so humble at the same time. His technique is one of a kind and seeing it live was life changing.

[saintlotus]

Bass content is always appreciated, also that Spector is pretty damn sick.

[Pixel_Track]

Rayan Martinie. He inspired me to start playing a bass. I think the whole Mudvayne sound is defined mostly by Rayan’s bass.

[csldrsharkey]

Favorite bassist is justin chancellor, to say his tone is unique is an understatement as well as his playing style, how he plays along with yet against adam without changing the overall feel or sound of the song

[mister_syre]

I play bass with a pick AND a distortion. David Ellefson had really interesting bass lines in Megadeth. Lemmy truly added to the sound of Motorhead. Peter Steele also had an amazing tone and presence in Type O Negative and Carnivore.

[rustyshackleford]

I don’t know is this is metal, but Bob Daisley is criminally underrated and an incredible player.

[limy]

Steve Harris 2:51 4:16
Cliff Burton 8:57 10:07
Martin Mendez 13:23 14:26
Joe Roland 16:48
David Ellefson 19:13