How good is Duff as a bass player ?

[Irish gunner II]

Well the title is my question really. I mean I'm biased as I'm a GNR and VR fan but on a purely musician basis, how good is he ?

I mean when people look back on the history of music, where will duff feature ? Of the greatest of all time ? Best of his generation ? 

[SpiritDave]

He's an accomplished musician ... he has a great feel for the bass ... and is more technical than some people think!  He's far from the most amazing bassist in the world ... but Duff isn't just a root notes guy ... he'll put together a kick ass melody... well ... you can hear for yourself

[Irish gunner II]

He's an accomplished musician ... he has a great feel for the bass ... and is more technical than some people think!  He's far from the most amazing bassist in the world ... but Duff isn't just a root notes guy ... he'll put together a kick ass melody... well ... you can hear for yourself

Well yes I think it's good stuff, I was trying to get an impression from a TECHNICAL standpoint and from musicians.

[SpiritDave]

He's an accomplished musician ... he has a great feel for the bass ... and is more technical than some people think!  He's far from the most amazing bassist in the world ... but Duff isn't just a root notes guy ... he'll put together a kick ass melody... well ... you can hear for yourself

Well yes I think it's good stuff, I was trying to get an impression from a TECHNICAL standpoint and from musicians.

Ok ... well, I'm a musician ... and I'm telling you, yes he's good.

He's god an awesome sense of rhythm ... his playing is tight as hell ... and he can throw his hands around the fretboard plenty

[Smoking Guns]

Duff is awesome.  Top 100 easy. 

Perfect sense of what to do as a bass player.  Killer tone.  Killer bass lines.  Sweet Child, Double Talkin Jive Outro.  Duff is pretty intelligent musically.

[Johnny Rattlesnake]

Is he better than Nikki Sixx? Who cares. Is he better than Les Claypool? No, but he sold more albums than Les. Have you tried playing the bass solo in the beginning of SCOM? He said it himself that he was worried about getting technically any better because he didn't want to lose his "feel". There must be something about his playing to get him where he's at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u_8zOoQokw

[lynn1961]

Guess that says it all, right there. 

[Wheres Izzy]

Duff isn't the most skilled player in the world but he def. has his own style that makes up for any of that. He isn't gonna play stuff like Matt Freeman where he can take over the whole song, but he always adds something to whatever he plays on and whenever I have seen him live he is flawless.

[GypsySoul]

He's mediocre at best.

[fuckin crazy]

I like his work, but he ain't no Stanley Clarke

[cfcsfc]

As a bass player he is one of my favorites. I think generally he is under rated, even within the GnR community sometimes.
There's an interview with him where he says he plays the bass as a 'singing' instrument and a percussive instrument in the sense that the beginning of SCOM sings, while the intro for Right Next Door To Hell is percussive.
He has a great sense of rythm and groove, and adds a lot of cool touches to songs. He has an awesome style.

[Genesis]

I think he's a good musician and that he comes up with some good bass lines, but he's not a real technical player and his bass doesn't really stand out in songs... He gets the job done well.

while the intro for Right Next Door To Hell is percussive.

That's Slash on a six string bass.

[cfcsfc]

I think he's a good musician and that he comes up with some good bass lines, but he's not a real technical player and his bass doesn't really stand out in songs... He gets the job done well.

while the intro for Right Next Door To Hell is percussive.

That's Slash on a six string bass.

Huh, must have sliped my mind.
Here's the quote I was refering to:
"...but the beginning of Sweet Child sings. The more abrasive songs, like the beginning of Right Next Door To Hell, is what I mean by percussive."
Must be reffering to his parts in it after the six string.

I dissagree however with people saying his bass doesn't really stand out. They're huge parts of songs to me, I'm always picking out fills here and there, and the bass stands out well for me.

[D]

In my opinion Flea is the greatest Bass player in the world. Claypool may technically be better than Flea but Flea is better at composition, melody, riff and is the best all around bass player.

Duff is an average guitar player who took up playing bass, so he does a lot of guitar type feels on bass. He has a lot of feel and style, he is very solid.

Not sure Duff has ever slapped or done any technique like that.

[SpiritDave]

In my opinion Flea is the greatest Bass player in the world. Claypool may technically be better than Flea but Flea is better at composition, melody, riff and is the best all around bass player.

Duff is an average guitar player who took up playing bass, so he does a lot of guitar type feels on bass. He has a lot of feel and style, he is very solid.

Not sure Duff has ever slapped or done any technique like that.

Slap bass just sounds horrible in band situations in my opinion ... so I actually think players like Flea etc, are overrated.

  It's like saying Eddie Van halen can tap faster than Zakk so he's a better player.  But actually, Zakk writes cooler riffs in my opinion, and can pick faster than Eddie.

I think what people focus on will determine how skilled they feel Duff is.  Duff doesn't slap ... so what...?   

[don_vercetti]

I think duff is a great player.  Songs like Nightrain, Sweet Child, Coma and DTJ have really cool bass fills, and duff generally lays down a good bassline.  I've not listened to VR enough to notice much bass, but certainly for Gnr, he was good. Much as he may try to look like Sid Vicious, his bass playing is markedly better. 

[coolman78SLASH]

Im a musician, and I think Duff is great,he is high on the top ten list as a bass player in the rock/heavy/metal genre.. He is very groovy and have a great feeling and tone. I think its fair to judge his playing within the genre, and not comparing him to other styles, as that is like comparing apples to oranges..  And like someone said, he is very intelligent musically, just listen to all the stuff he have done and you should be able to heart it for yourselves 

[Naupis]

He reminds me alot of how Slash is to guitar players. Neither are what you would call technically gifted, but you would be hard pressed to find a bass player or a lead guitarist with a better resume the past 2 decades.

50 years from now Duff will still be the bass player on Appetite for Destruction. No one will remember where he ranked among bass players on technical ability, but like the other 4 members of the original GNR their contribution to rock music will be immortal.

I bet if you gave him a choice between rock immortality or technical ability he would choose option 1 every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Playing on possibly the greatest rock n' roll album of all time and a likely spot in the Hall of Fame is not a bad career by any stretch of the means.

[Walapino]

ITs So Easy! Duff is great!

[CheapJon]

he's awesome, he's one of them who can write something simple and it sounds fucking awesome