Is a bass player really necessary?

[Alik]

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Yes, but thought provoking, if you take a step back.

Why are we here? Why do I play bass? How does the bass fit into the musical universe.

Now I gotta head off to music school. And when I look at the trombone, oboe and bassoon players ( all are really tough to play and not exactly at the top of everbodies list) I know they have a special calling to their instrument as well.

Sorry, you don’t log onto a bass forum and ask if bass if even necessary. If you don’t want to play bass or don’t want play music that requires bass that’s totally fine but this fool is simply trolling. There is absolutely nothing to discuss regarding his goofy comments.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Also, has anyone seen or heard from the OP? Hmmm??

 

[diegom]

Is a bass player really necessary?
Is a bass really necessary?
Is a player really necessary?
Is necessity really necessary?
Is reality necessary?
Is necessary, sanitary?

When we need nothing, nothing becomes everything.
Once we have it all, we realize we really have nothing.

Goodbye, cruel world!

BANG!!!

 

[diegom]

Don't really need anything...

 

[operagost]

I feel like you don't really need one. A guitar is only an octave higher and it can still cover a lot of the notes that a bass guitar does. Also, you could just use an eight-string guitar and tune the lowest string down to a low E. I know that some bands have eight string guitarists as well as bassists

Not a lot of eight string guitar players out there. They're nearly all in the metal genre. You might as well suggest the cello could replace the bass guitar.

 

[japhy4529]

Can we get a mod to move this to TalkGuitar?

Is that still a thing?

 

[xaxxat]

Bass players aren't necessary. Keyboardists in the 80s proved that.

 

[greenduke]

I don't which is likely to produce the most negative results.
Yelling, "Fire" in a packed movie theater premier showing, or this subject.
I think you may have just brought a knife to a gunfight! We can pretty much assume the outcome.

 

[maturanesa]

Yeah, if you convert a guitar in a bass and play bass lines with it, you would not need a bass.

 

[greenduke]

Bass players aren't necessary. Keyboardists in the 80s proved that.

But that's just one of the reasons 80's music sounds so 80's...Along with some of the horn patches. Don't get me wrong here, one of my favorite bands is "Level 42". Just imagine them without Mark King!

 

[J-Mags]

No more or less necessary than any other instrument.

 

[Steadfast]

Funny you say bass. I say guitar. I play bass and play guitar chords on my bass using various peddles. I loop bass parts or guitar chords as needed.

 

[bearfoot]

I feel like you don't really need one.

For what?

You don't need a BG for most music, and I think everyone knows that. You don't even hear one in a lot of Hip-Hop.

But in terms of replacing a bass guitar in a genre that needs electric bass, there are no serious alternatives. 8-string guitar has inherent problems, and even if the nut is cut properly and the thing plays in tune on the first 4 frets, it will never sound enough like a bass guitar, as evidenced by the doubling you mention. Bass VI never really caught on for similar reasons. Bass uke is cool, but will never be much more than a novelty.

If you don't need one, for your music, no one has a problem with that. Rock your tunes.

But for most classic rock, funk, disco, etc. You're not getting a Marcus Miller sound out of a 9-string guitar. There is no Jamerson sound to be had with a Stratocaster with octave-down engaged.

 

[Morse_77]

Troll: 215
Bass players: 0

 

[Jack Butler]

How many people at the bar with their back turned to the stage while texting with their friends would even notice if the bass was taken out of the mix?

If the mix was right and the bassist is doing what he/she should- everyone would notice.

 

[lfmn16]

The real question is do we need this kind of thread d'baggery on TB? This is a BASS forum. Sometimes the moderators are way more moderate than I would be.

 

[saltydude]

The real question is do we need this kind of thread d'baggery on TB? This is a BASS forum. Sometimes the moderators are way more moderate than I would be.

Should be moved to Humor/band management forum. That’s the only reason it’s still open.

 

[Jack Butler]

Go ahead and play some Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Larry Graham, or Justin Chancellor lines on your 8 string LTD and post the results on this thread.

 

[IamGroot]

Bass player or keyboardists left hand, same thing right?

Can be, in some cases.