Bass Player-less band?

Masheanhed

Senior Member
Does anyone here play or have you played in a band where you had no bass player? How did it work out? What did you do to compensate for no bass?

Two guitar players and I are working up songs to play some small clubs but we have had no luck in finding a bass player that clicks with us. A few years back I watched a regional band called Stealin' Horses made up of three females that kicked booty: a drummer, an acoustic guitar player, and an electric guitar player. I swear you never missed the bass (or at least I didn't).

Anyone ever try this set up and did it work out? We'll be doing what I would call middle of the road type rock/covers such as Tom Petty, REM, etc.
 
To me, most basslines get drowned out in modern music anyway. Unless you focus on it as a band, like RHCP did, or give the bass player a prominent role, which is more common in trios like Sick Puppies or electronica bands like Birthday Massacre.

Personally, I think you'll work out just fine.
 
Well, theres two pieces like The Black Keys, who are awesome. Sometimes you miss the bass, other times you dont, it depends how much of a bass-lover you are.
I know I missed it when my band have played as a two piece, although people commented on the sound not necessarily missing the bass; I missed it as a drummer and music fan.

The Doors are probably the most famous example, but as Manzarek played a lot of bass parts with his left hand it doesnt fit what you are saying about missing it.

What Kyuss used to do (even though they had a bass player) was to plug the guitar head into a bass cab, so emphasise the bassiness. If a band was sans bass, then you could get the guitarist to plug into a bass cab and see how it sounds; having tried it, I felt it helped the overall sound and my playing.
 
Does anyone here play or have you played in a band where you had no bass player? How did it work out? What did you do to compensate for no bass?

Two guitar players and I are working up songs to play some small clubs but we have had no luck in finding a bass player that clicks with us. A few years back I watched a regional band called Stealin' Horses made up of three females that kicked booty: a drummer, an acoustic guitar player, and an electric guitar player. I swear you never missed the bass (or at least I didn't).

Anyone ever try this set up and did it work out? We'll be doing what I would call middle of the road type rock/covers such as Tom Petty, REM, etc.

I know that I notice it as a player and as a listener, but I've seen some great bands who got away with two guitars. With clever use of effects, tuning, and voicings, you can do a lot to simulate the presence of a bass player.

Personally, I've never enjoyed playing without a bass player, because I feel like there's simply no bottom to help support the bass drum and anchor the music. Heck, I don't even love playing with bass players who spend too much time in the upper regions of their instrument outside of soloing for the same reason.

But if you don't mind, and you like the sound of it, go for it. Perhaps you should try recording your rehearsals and see if there is anything you need to do as a band to fill out the space left by the absence of a bassist. Or just let it be.
 
To me, most basslines get drowned out in modern music anyway. Unless you focus on it as a band, like RHCP did, or give the bass player a prominent role, which is more common in trios like Sick Puppies or electronica bands like Birthday Massacre.

Personally, I think you'll work out just fine.

Even when the bassline completely mirrors the guitar, you would miss it if it wasn't there. That bottom end simply can't be reproduced with a guitar, no matter how downtuned it may be.

I'm not saying it couldn't work, but it would definitely be a different sound than what you'd have if you added a bass player. I've heard a few bands that didn't have bass players, though, and it can definitely work if you work within your limitations. Maybe the guitar player(s) will need to downtune (or play a seven-string), or the drummer needs to think very carefully about where to place bass drum hits, but it should all work.
 
There have been plenty of bands who got away without a formal bass player, but they generally supplement the low end through either keyboards playing bass parts, or bass pedals, or a minimum splitting the guitar line and running part of it through an octave pedal and a bass amp.
 
There have been plenty of bands who got away without a formal bass player, but they generally supplement the low end through either keyboards playing bass parts, or bass pedals, or a minimum splitting the guitar line and running part of it through an octave pedal and a bass amp.

i think the white stripes do something like that.
 
Pig Destroyer has no bass player. Never really caused an issue.
 
I played with a guitar player that used a Les Paul through a Marshall stack that was completely overdriven. He was a very rhythmic guitar player (& singer/songwriter) that generated a massive wall of noise constantly.

We went through 3 bass players, but none of them lasted since we liked the guitar/drums combo better than the guitar/bass/drums combo. Sonically, things just got too crowded with bass in there. I, as the drummer, had so much more room to maneuver. It was a really fun and unique situation to be in.

I'll throw out another one: Jeff Beck's "Guitar Shop" was just guitar, drums (Bozzio), and keys. That was a great combo - they just killed it live!
 
I'll throw out another one: Jeff Beck's "Guitar Shop" was just guitar, drums (Bozzio), and keys. That was a great combo - they just killed it live!

True, but Tony Hymas was playing a lot of bass parts on the keys. They didn't abandon the low end.

That was a great album. I recently picked it up again on CD (my old tape had long since melted). Killer album.
 
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I played for almost two years with a singer/songwriter who ran his guitar through a keys amp that had a ton of low-end. We too tried several bassists and it just didn't work. No one ever commented that we needed more low-end or a bassist, when checking out the recordings. He played down-tuned and knew how to fill in the stuff missing from the lower register. It was a lot of fun since there was no creative tension...we both loved the same music and I really dug what he wrote...so we went with it as a duo and it worked well.

I'd like to do something like this again!
 
depends what kind of music.

i often play without a bass player for dance music, we use low octave synths instead.
to be honest though i would want a bass player in nearly everything i do. playing with a good bass player makes your drum lines sound so much better.
infact i would even go as far to say that the bassists are the most important musician to me (putting the actual 'song' and singer to one side). a bad bassist will make your songs sound horrific, a good one will take you to another dimension.
 
Thanks for all the replies. We'd prefer to have a bass player but unfortunately it just hasn't worked out that way. And being in a fairly rural area there is not a large pool of musicians to pick from. We realize to make this happen we are going to have to make some adjustments in how we sound/play, as well as it will limit us on what songs we may be able to pull off.
 
Most of the casino bands in Vegas I have played in just had a keyboard player that kicked left hand bass or we sequenced the bass and horns and such. I thought it was awesome, especially the sequenced version because it was always the same and it didn't want to borrow money!
 
It's not the perfect qualities that make us unique, but rather how we cope with our imperfections. Who knows, lacking a bass may force you to do something that becomes a huge part of your signature sound, eventually. Had you not had this particular predicament, you would not have had to find this solution... etc etc. Just saying, lemons to lemonade.

Be sure to post up some vids or recordings when you get some demos done! I'm terribly curious how it would sound.
 
yep that is very true too moldy. you don't nescesarily have to have a bassist, it's just i've never had the predicament myself.
that said, if you can play tight to a click track/backing track then you could just as easily sequence the bass with some software and simply play it back via ipod/laptop.
ofcourse that then adds in the extra problem of everyone having to stay locked in, but yeah. just another possible solution if you feel you really want bass in your show.
then again it might sound awesome without bass anyway! :)
 
I played in a band with no bass player for a while. We looked for one, but never were able to gel with anyone. I like working with bass players, but it can sound OK if there isn't one, too. Here is a short vid of us playing out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNRf-i9SfvE
 
if u find a good bass player than you should definitely add them to your band but if u find a bass player that is.
not dedicated
does not get into the music
never shows up for practice

or one that stands in a dark cold corner not making any body movements at all besides strumming the same note 3000 times with no change at all and after months you realize that what you thought was a bass player is now a lifeless corpse which you have not noticed because the notes were the same as the guitar. and you finally realize that you dont have to have a bass guitar to have a successful band.
 
It seems that few bands can really deliver the goods without a bass player. Some successful bands sans bass have already been suggested but they are rare. (I would like to add one of my favorites: the Cramps! RIP Erik "Lux Interior").

There are other genres of music that do not always have bass players (e.g. Sufi, some surf, some latin, etc). So whether or not you can be successful also depends upon the style of music you are playing.

GJS
 
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