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a two bass band???

#81
I've seen it done successfully twice. One band did the Stereo effect, where they used the same kind of bass, in this case, they were using jazz basses. One player solo'd the neck pickup, the other solo'd the bridge pickup. They both played the same bassline. Sounded pretty good to me.
 
#82
Hmmmm...I don't think it would work for me. I like to do whatever I want with my bass lines and not worry about stepping on another bassist. Its enough already to make my lines fit with guitarists who don't play consistently.

The one time I enjoyed having another bass-clef instrument on stage, where I didn't feel like we were stepping on each other, was when a buddy got up on his washtub. He's very good...plays that thing so well, it sounds like a 4-string! Because he was pitched so much lower, we complimented one another and could make harmony.

But I don't think I would like having another bass guitar in the band. I'm already entirely too territorial for that.

Cherie
 
#83
elavate7 said:
because they have two different roles! guitar is a melody instrament, so as long as they are playing something different (or the same), with a different tone or sound, they will blend. bass is a rhythm instrament, so theres only room for one.
Click to expand...

ive played with multipule drumsets before it took alot of work but came out sounding good
and then there was the ensemble of 20 drumsets.............
 
#86
To add another successful example, for a while Talking Heads' bassist Tina Weymouth shared the basement with Busta Jones.

In practice, whatever gain a 2nd bassist offers isn't worth the constraints (musical and otherwise) placed on both bassists to make it work. I'd just as soon have the whole sandbox to play in, and not have to split the take any thinner.
 
#88
Joeykun said:
Works for this band!!! Then again, there is alot working for this band!

Maria.jpg
Click to expand...

I listened to a few of their tracks since they showed up under related videos for some Goatbomb stuff on Youtube. I gotta say Maria do a great job of fitting two basses, two guitars and keys/violin (plus it seems all six of them sing? or at least five?) in without it ever sounding too busy. No casual listener would ever notice they sound weird in the slightest.

Too rock for my style, but nice. Here's a good track:
 
#89
My singer also plays bass, and on a few songs we double up. It's mostly when I'm playing the electric upright and that sounds really cool since we're getting very different kinds of tones. I'll be sliding into growling sustained notes or playing really long bowed notes while she brings the thump. There's one tune where we both play very similar lines and it just makes the sound super thick. We also play through very different rigs which helps keep our sounds from getting lost. We're planning on trying some call and response lines from opposite ends of the stage at some point soon.
 
#90
I did it in a band once and it works just fine but it was essentially a bass playing like a "bass" and a bass playing like a "guitar"-- distorted, higher pitched. It sounds like a powerchorded rhythm guitar.

Like all music, its how you arrange it. Sonically, two basses sound different than the same songs played guitar/bass. There are limits and affordances to each. Sleater Kinney had just two guitars doing something similar.
 
#91
Never done it myself, but I might give it a try if the opportunity comes up. I imagine it might be an interesting challenge, to keep from overplaying. Probably want to set some boundaries up front to keep from stepping all over each other. If done well, there might be some opportunities to really emphasize certain parts, complement others, do some back-&-forth, different tones, etc. Kind of like 2 lead guitars, but need to be careful so the overall sound doesn't get muddy.
 
#95
Dude...look up Girls vs. Boys or GVSB. They make it work man. One guy lays down the bottom, the other dude spews nasty crunchy distortion in the mid and high ranges. Pretty cool if you can develop this trade off chemistry with the other bass player.
 
#96
Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten both use another bass player in their bands at times.
If you have well defined roles, ie. one doing rhythm and harmony the other playing the melody, as well as you both using different tones it could work well.
 
#100
but seriously Ive seen it work wonderfully in 2 very different bands.
One was a band from Chicago years ago called Dogfight. They had one bass player playing cleanish bass lines, and one playing distorted, like a heavy low guitar... it rocked!

the second is a local band called Noetic Pull. They have one bassist laying down the groove, and one that does all kinds of spacy effects ( octaves, phasers, delays, etc...) and DAYUM!! DEY IS GOOD!
 

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