Bob Bates (September 1, 1923 – September 13, 1981) was an American jazz bassist.
Bates was born in Pocatello, Idaho. His mother was an organist, while his brothers Norman and Jim were also bassists. As a youth he played tuba, trumpet, and trombone. He then studied classical bass from 1944 to 1948 and played with Sonny Dunham around 1946–47 and with Jack Fina from the late 1940s. Early in the 1950s he played in the Two Beaux & a Peep Trio. He was the bassist in the popular Dave Brubeck Quartet between 1953 and 1955. In addition to Brubeck, Bates also recorded with Paul Desmond in 1954, and Dave Pell in 1956. He stopped playing at around this time. He died in 1981 in San Francisco, at the age of 58.