only one bass player

[Rip Van Dan]

As a sound guy too, I can tell you it's a simple matter of physics. Mid frequency and high frequency tones "blend" better. Chords in sub frequencies (with rare exception) sound horrible.

So, if you had two bass players, they would have to occupy two different sonic footprints. Either...

One would have to play low bass and one higher (which really negates the need for that higher instrument being a bass).

Or one could play sustained notes while the other does plickity plackity stuff...which can usually be handled by a drummer/percussionist.

If you'll notice, the same has happened throughout history of music. Babershop quartets don't have two bass singers, while all of them have a couple or three guys in the middle/high range. Symphonies usually have a slue of mid/high instruments with maybe a couple tubas or double basses. Those bass tones simply clash when layered in most cases. (There are exceptions, of course, but they are rare.)

Short version: They couldn't realistically occupy the same space like keys or guitars can. If they have to occupy two different sonic spaces, why have them both be basses when so many other instruments do the mid/high things so much better than basses do?

Just an FYI, barbershop quartet consists of Bass, Baritone, 2nd Tenor (melody), 1st Tenor (high harmony). Just one of each is the norm.

 

[TimB 619]

Andy Pratt - Avenging Annie
Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side

Actually, Walk on the Wild Side was Herbie Flowers double tracking, playing upright on one, electric on the second. It was outstanding nonetheless.

 

[40Hz]

Actually, Walk on the Wild Side was Herbie Flowers double tracking, playing upright on one, electric on the second. It was outstanding nonetheless.

Either way, if done live they'd either need a loop or a second bassist, right?

And yeah, Herbie Flowers upright tone on that song was absolutely perfect. Got the whole dark vibe down cold.

 

[geoff_in_nc]

Mike Watt's band Dos with (gonna butcher the spelling... Sorry) Kira Roessler

 

[IM BLACK]

Mike watt (minutemen) has a cool bass band with Kira roessler (black flag). My favorite song is this one!

 

[Matthew Fisher]

I don't think it's pointless or a guaranteed mess to have multiple basses. Either you like it or you don't.

There was Strontium 90 (precursor to The Police) with Mike Howlett on lead bass and Sting on bass.

Lionel Hampton liked to use two basses in his big band. Oscar Pettiford and Chubby Jackson played bass together in Charlie Barnet's band. Red Callender and Charles Mingus played bass together in the Pastel Sextet.

On "Free Jazz", Coleman had two full quartets playing together, with Charlie Haden and Scott Laro on bass. There are also videos of Coleman playing with Al MacDowell and Jaamaladeen Tacuma on bass in the Prime Time Band.

Here's Superbass, a band consisting of three basses and nothing else:

 

[Kmonk]

Marcus Miller sometimes performs with one or two additional bass players. He will usually trade solos with them.

 

[BassManKK]

Not sure if it was '78 or '79, but Frank Zappa had Arthur Barrow and Patrick O'hearn on tour with him.

This was at The Palldium in NYC.

Great show, and Frank knew what he was doing in having the both of them up there.

I was there too! Epic shows! The Halloween Palladium gigs were amazing!

 

[Bassist4Eris]

I've been in several two-bass bands. As some have noted, you can't really have both instruments in the "bass role". So if you're one of those people who believe that basses are for basslines and only for basslines, the two-bass thing is redundant and probably unworkable. But if you're willing to approach the bass guitar as an instrument with multiple possibilities, basslines being merely the most common, then you can do some interesting stuff. It is both liberating and a bit intimidating to find yourself in a situation where you're holding a bass, but the "bass role" is already being covered by someone else.

 

[JJR58]

I was there too! Epic shows! The Halloween Palladium gigs were amazing!

Started going to any and all NYC shows starting from'75 till '81, would always see every show at The Palladium, what a gas it was, I miss Frank, but at least Dweezil is doing his dad proud!

 

[edencab]

the other does plickity plackity stuff.....

 

[Rich Fiscus]

The Dirtbombs have 2 bassists and 2 drummers (along with a single guitarist who occasionally plays keyboards instead), but one is used more like a guitar.

 

[lbbc]

I saw Victor Wooten's band a few years ago....Vic, Anthony Wellington and Steve Bailey w/2 drummers a trumpet player and female singer. No guitars or keys. Pretty darn cool!

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

From the title, I thought you meant "a bass player who only plays one bass" which I think the majority here would disapprove.

 

[nickrs540]

I would be down for playing with another bassist if it was the right style of music. Never seen something like that in person though.

 

[micguy]

At our company Christmas party (we have lots of musicians), we form ad hoc bands for the event. A few years ago, we had a group with 8 bassists and a drummer. It wasn't all mud - it sounded great. Bassists are support folks - usually without egos. It was really nice to work with a group where everyone just wanted the band to sound good, and was willing to play their part, no matter if they were featured or not.

 

[bbh]

The death of Butch Trucks, RIP, prompts this thought: many, if not most, bands will have two or more guitar players. Many bands will have occasionally have two keyboard players. And, rarely, a band will have two drummers (like the Allman Bros or the Grateful Dead).

But I have never seen or heard of a band with two bass players.

Discuss.

I was in a band w/ 2 bass players but we switched off so it was 1 at a time. Ising backup while doing hand percussion but not while playing bass. I know that's probably not quite what you meant though.
Didn't The Meters or one of those bands use 2 bass players at once? Yeah, dumpstafunk.

 

[Bassman822]

I saw Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke and Tiran Porter jamming together!

 

[Matthew_84]

There's a Jaco song (I think "The Days of Wine and Roses"), where there's a bassist walking in the background, while Jaco soloed up high like a horn section...

To be honest, once I realized this, I changed the tune. I'd rather just hear a single bassist.

 

[Herrick]