The 100 Greatest Rock Bassists

While there are tons of books that have been written about the best guitarists and singers, the literature is almost totally silent when it comes to bassists. The 100 Greatest Rock Bassists is a fun and informative book that chronicles stand-out bass players from throughout the past half century. Readers are presented with a synopsis of the bassists’ careers, the gear they use, and the recordings that demonstrate the technique, style, and skills used to set them apart from the crowd.

Greg Prato published this book in 2018. He is also the author of King’s X: The Oral History.

In addition to the stories about the Top 100, there are extended original interviews with ten of them, including Doug Pinnick. Plus there are there is a list of nearly 300 ‘honorable mention’ bassists, all excellent players in their own rights.

Photos of Tom Petersson and Doug Pinnick with their 10-string and 12-string basses respectively are also included.

A quote from Doug Pinnick in his interview when asked if the 12-string bass was his trademark in the 1980’s and 1990’s: “That was not a trademark. I just used it a couple of times, and it was in almost every video that King’s X did. So, all of a sudden, I’m ‘the guy who plays the 12-string’. I’m the one that seems like everybody knows, because I guess I’m the front man of King’s X. But literally, by the third record (1990’s Faith Hope Love), I played it on four songs. And the fourth record (1992 self-titled), I played it on five songs. After that, I kind of put it away. I never really used it a lot. But I do love it, and I’m one of the few players that utilized it. Jeff Ament did also, with ‘Jeremy’. I used it more, but I wouldn’t say that I brought it to the forefront… you can say that if you want to, but I didn’t. (Laughs)”