Music with No Bass!

[jalapejoe]

Hi All,

Want your 2 cents on bands without a bassist, I just cant get into it at all. This is my wife's cousins husbands band and her family just thinks the singer guitarist is GOD! When we have family events he is the super musician but I just cant feel this way about this band, kind of not respecting them because there's no "balls" to this music and is just noise and no talent for me? Am I being a dick? Don't mean to be but I appreciate skilled musicians with BASS!!! You're thoughts of this genre and style with no bass guitar?

 

[jalapejoe]

And the thrashing of what 3 chords and that vocal is just umm yeah aint into this at all.

 

[JimK]

One of my favourite groups, Chris Potter Underground...& no bassist-

 

[JimK]

...and then there's The Doors live albums. There is a certain vibe there not evident of their studio albums with a bassist.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I like the White Stripes...

 

[jalapejoe]

Actually I forgot about the White Stripes Jack White has so much soul man, hes got groove and Chris Potter Underground is excellent, seen them on Guitar Center show on Paladia recently good stuff.

 

[jalapejoe]

Oops wrong Potter Grace Potter I was thinking! My Bad. they have a bassist tho. Good none the less. I like this Chris Potter Underground tho thanks for introduction!!!!

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Come to think of it, my favorite White Stripes songs all have bass. 7 Nation Army, Rag n Bone, and Hardest Button to Button I think all have bass.

 

[Will_White]

Come to think of it, my favorite White Stripes songs all have bass. 7 Nation Army, Rag n Bone, and Hardest Button to Button I think all have bass.

I think those use a guitar with an octave down pedal, 7 nation army does atleast.

 

[winterburn69]

Aside from The White Stripes, (which I don't listen to often) I avoid music without bass. It sounds too thin and no groove.

IMO '80s synth bass is an exception, since it's technically 'bass' and I'm sure many of us have tried re-creating some of those tones with our bass guitars.

As soulless and vapid as most pop music is, I really like the new Carly Rae Jepson album, and the bass really helps. The bass is quite present in the mix.

 

[HotelX]

My favorite song with no bass is Sister Ray by The Velvet Underground. Also their song What Goes On I think has no bass player.

 

[Bob_Ross]

The band Miniature (Tim Berne on sax, Hank Roberts on 'cello, and Joey Baron on drums) released a couple of albums in the late 80s or early 90s that were just stellar, incredibly compelling modern jazz instrumentals that were inventive, kinetic, provocative, and never lacked groove nor bottom. Highly recommended.

Berne & Roberts also appear (along with Bill Frisell on guitar and Alex Cline on drums) on one of my favorite albums of all time, Berne's Fulton Street Maul. Again, no bass...and not missed at all.

Henry Threadgill's Too Much Sugar For A Dime is also a killer album with no bass...although it does have three tubas, does that count?

 

[MRDOOM]

Blood Red Shoes is a good example of a decent band without a bassist. A bass player isn't necessarily a prerequisite for awesome, but (speaking with a bass player's bias) it definitely helps.

 

[jd56hawk]

Songs without a bass, no probelm, bands without a bass, or a reasonable facsimile, sorry, no way.

 

[spanndrew]

I don't care if a band has a bassist. I like music, not just one instrument.

 

[Oldschool94]

Songs without a bass, no problem, bands without a bass, or a reasonable facsimile, sorry, no way.

I feel the same way.

I hate it when I see an awesome band without a bass. Mind you, it doesn't have to be a bass guitar. A tuba is definitely a bass, as are synthesizers. Sometimes a guitar properly eq'd can provide good bass too. I get why people skimp (chemistry of the band, etc.), but it strikes me as very distasteful. Especially if the band does have a full drum set. The sound is lacking usually, and the music is only using half the spectrum it could. It is really hard to feel music without some sort of bass function. Some groups go for a different sound environment where it isn't needed (experimental jazz is what I'm thinking), but the average singer-songwriter band? The sound isn't innovative, it's just the same old singer-songwriter sound minus bass frequencies.

I actually feel similarly about a lot of older rock. The bass guitar is often mixed with very little bass and only mids.

 

[jd56hawk]

All I know is we play at a local coffee house, my singer-songwriter friend on 12-string Guild and me with my Dean Exotica acoustic bass, and we sure sound better than all those solo acoustic acts...quite a few people tell us so, anyway.