Call me a traditionalist but I dont want to go see a band with two people onstage with no Bass guitar. I'm a drummer myself and couldn't dream of wanting to create a rythym section with no throbbing pounding bass guitar there beside me.

I just dont understand it?

Your thoughts please.

I am all about raw Duo projects and one man bands.  Flat Duo Jets are the best!  I just saw Dexter play another show by himself and with his full band The New Romans this past month and it never gets old. He is just flat out great at what he does wether he is in a duo, by himself, or in a 8 piece band.    

kopper said:

Two of my favorite bands of all time had no bass: 

Flat Duo Jets & Bantam Rooster

Oblivians, too (they were a 3-piece, two guitars & drums, though).

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others, too (I always do).

You can do without it just fine. 'Nuff said.

No idea where to find the lyrics for it and my Spanish ain't nearly good enough to translate at such speed! You can get their mini-album for free at http://lamotodefernan1.bandcamp.com/

thank you pulsebeats!!! i thought Die antwoord " i fink you freaky" was gonna be the best video i saw this year. oh this  is awesome. do you know where to find lyrics for it?

whatwave dave said:

That video is hilarious!!!!  Love the animated parts!!!!

The Pulsebeats said:

I've recently come across an ace band from Valencia by the name of La Moto De Fernan by way of this, perhaps one of the best videos I've seen in a long while. Takes me back to the days of Ren & Stimpy!

There's a band coming out of Salford, England right now as well called The Calimocho Club. They're playing stipped back blues like early Black Keys, but before that they Were The Black Knights. Glorious trash blues...and not a bass note in sight.

That video is hilarious!!!!  Love the animated parts!!!!

The Pulsebeats said:

I've recently come across an ace band from Valencia by the name of La Moto De Fernan by way of this, perhaps one of the best videos I've seen in a long while. Takes me back to the days of Ren & Stimpy!

There's a band coming out of Salford, England right now as well called The Calimocho Club. They're playing stipped back blues like early Black Keys, but before that they Were The Black Knights. Glorious trash blues...and not a bass note in sight.

I've recently come across an ace band from Valencia by the name of La Moto De Fernan by way of this, perhaps one of the best videos I've seen in a long while. Takes me back to the days of Ren & Stimpy!

There's a band coming out of Salford, England right now as well called The Calimocho Club. They're playing stipped back blues like early Black Keys, but before that they Were The Black Knights. Glorious trash blues...and not a bass note in sight.

One of my bands, Tombstone Hearts, has no bass player; my other band, Nero Burns, does - the best of both worlds! It's apples and oranges, really. Gotta admit, I love the sound of early Cramps, but when they added the bass....it just wasn't the same. But then again, where would the Ramones have been without Dee Dee? It's apples and oranges, really.

Glen Matlock was/is a good bassist. Now Sid on the other hand...

don't forget the sex pistols.... haha.

yeah, we had a guy approach us and said almost the exact  same thing.... we never got to try him out for geographical reasons, but i would bet dollars to donuts that he would have chopped the tops off the sound we are going for. and, in turn put everybody in the audience in a comfortable upright, head bobbing toe tapping position. people like bands like THAT because they don't have to worry about missing a show.... there will be another one just like it.

i sincerely mean no disrespect... but we get the "where's the bass player" thing a lot. usually before they have heard us. and i am way more concerned about where the energy is, and where the emotion is than where the bass player is.

John Carlucci said:

Well I have to admit, I'm biased about this topic.  Yes there are bands that sound okay without a bass player, but IMO, they would sound better with one. Just about any band I've ever seen live that had no bass player, whether it was Suicide, The Cramps, Black Keys, or even my good friends the Vooduo, when I'm there watching them play, I'm playing along with them, on bass, (in my head) & I hear things that would help tie everything together.  @ John B above...Lee Michaels played bass pedals on the Hammond live. Suicide used a bassy tone on their keyboards & played repeating bass patterns much like a bassist would do. No-one mentioned The Doors, they had no permanent bassist, In the studio they used session bassist Harvey Brooks & live Manzarek played Fender Keyboard bass. The Dead Boys used local NY musicians to play bass with them until Jeff made the move from Ohio. One of which was Rudi from The Fuzztones who played live with them at least once at CBGB's.

Also, IMO most of the bands doing the no-bass thing are doing so out of convenience.  Take my own former band, The Speedies. They played out for 6 months without a bassist before I came along. I saw them play at Max's and I could feel what they were missing. I walked up to Allen, the drummer & flat out told him, you need a bass player & I'm him. We tried it out the following week, and they never went back to playing without one.

 

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion!

I could not agree more. Where's the interplay and harmony? A troubling trend in rock music today. You need at least three people in a band! Of course there are exceptions but most people are not as talented as The Cramps or White Stripes or whoever...

I like bass too, but THE HONEY HARLOWS use a 70's Fender Super Six 6X10 combo, everything turned up to "11", and it's actually better than the 5-piece Ampeg/Marshall assualt--don't get me wrong, I like that!--but the heavy low end and treble with reverb, you can't go wrong and our recording has a lot of punch and lo-end for a 2pc.! Possibly the equipment has a lot to do with what the ear hears, for me anyway.

Im more for the drummer/bass lineup.. but like many have said it's different between bands...

Also at John... I was the first Bass player in Head Cat with Lemmy. I played electric, he played acoustic guitar. Also.... someone mentioned baritone guitar. I also play baritone & I've been hired to do an occasional Rockabilly gig to play along with a standup. Basically I play bass lines exactly like I would on an electric bass, but since it's tuned to B you get a cool effect. And I add echo. BTW, don't confuse a baritone with a bass VI. They are different. Bass VI is 30 inch scale tuned to E, baritone is 27 inch, with lighter strings, tuned to B. I play both.

Well I have to admit, I'm biased about this topic.  Yes there are bands that sound okay without a bass player, but IMO, they would sound better with one. Just about any band I've ever seen live that had no bass player, whether it was Suicide, The Cramps, Black Keys, or even my good friends the Vooduo, when I'm there watching them play, I'm playing along with them, on bass, (in my head) & I hear things that would help tie everything together.  @ John B above...Lee Michaels played bass pedals on the Hammond live. Suicide used a bassy tone on their keyboards & played repeating bass patterns much like a bassist would do. No-one mentioned The Doors, they had no permanent bassist, In the studio they used session bassist Harvey Brooks & live Manzarek played Fender Keyboard bass. The Dead Boys used local NY musicians to play bass with them until Jeff made the move from Ohio. One of which was Rudi from The Fuzztones who played live with them at least once at CBGB's.

Also, IMO most of the bands doing the no-bass thing are doing so out of convenience.  Take my own former band, The Speedies. They played out for 6 months without a bassist before I came along. I saw them play at Max's and I could feel what they were missing. I walked up to Allen, the drummer & flat out told him, you need a bass player & I'm him. We tried it out the following week, and they never went back to playing without one.

ALL God's children gots to TALK.
 
James Porter said:

YIKES! We gots ta talk...
 
John Battles said:

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

YIKES! We gots ta talk...
 
John Battles said:

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

I think it depends , since the Bass CAN be so loud it's painful , or , just provide the bottom.

With The Dirtbombs , the two Bass , two Drums combination does'nt sound radically different , because it's all balanced out , to where it musically makes sense , even to my tin ear. But , I'm sorry , I never got it with Deadbolt , especially when I saw them live , two Basses just bleeding all over the place , cranked to "11". But , you're right , I don't see where two bassists is an improvement.

But , we both saw Lemmy's Rockabilly side project , The Head Cat. So , he had a Rockabilly standup Bass and his own Motorhead Bass , but , it musically made sense , even if it's too gratuitous for the average Rockabilly fan , and not gratuitous enough for the average Motorhead fan , I'll wager. NOW , if he had a proper Drummer , he'd REALLY be saying something.
 
James Porter said:

While we're on the subject of more than one bass...

When a band has more than one bassist, or drummer, I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. Either live or on record. It still sounds the same to me.

There is one Melvins CD I have where the sound is noticeably fatter with the additional bass/drums in the mix, but with everybody else, it doesn't really change the sound much. So you have two bass players? May as well have stuck to just one for all the good it did...

 

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

While we're on the subject of more than one bass...

When a band has more than one bassist, or drummer, I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. Either live or on record. It still sounds the same to me.

There is one Melvins CD I have where the sound is noticeably fatter with the additional bass/drums in the mix, but with everybody else, it doesn't really change the sound much. So you have two bass players? May as well have stuck to just one for all the good it did...

YOW ! I saw Deke Dickerson lead seven or eight stand up bass players , together , once. It was painful. that was the idea. Actually , your concept reminds me of a friend's band in Denton , Texas called Charred. They usually played customized guitars (Using TV parts instead of strings , for example.) , but , they'd also stage public performances , encouraging anyone that was handy to beat out a rhythm on pieces of metal. One time , they got about 50 people beating out a rhythm on the sides of a house !
 
jason cook said:

I was in a band back in the 90's called Headbutt. We had four bassists and four drummers playing lumps of metal broken cymbals and floor toms. We put out several singles and a few lps. Now that was insane!

 

Do you mean like the instrument used on Hugo Montenegro's soundtrack work ? That CAN more than compensate for the lack of a bass. I've heardit done.
 
Wipeout! said:

Hate to sound like I'm swingin' fer both teams but my current garage-slop band, the Get Wets, started out as just bass, organ & drums (NO guitars allowed)...we wailed & the bassist often usta fuzz out this sound (as did the organ-pounder)

...fast-forward to now, same band but different instrumentation: baritone sax, baritone guitar & drums (NO bass no mo')...it sounds mighty trashy in a how-low-can-ya-go sorta low-end-bop but not a bassist to be found...even tho in a perfect party world I'd love to have a bass (& combo-organ fer that matter) back in the mix we really don't miss 'em...

Last Night said:

What about a bariton guitar ?

You're probably right , but , they seemed to have their guitars tuned funny to compensate (Not all 3 of them) , but , if you listen to them , live , on Beat! Beat ! Beat ! , they more than make up for the lack of bass.....They had their personalities , the underrated guitar mastery of one Eddy Grant , and the fact that they were probably the only English /Guayanese / Jamaican  outfit to hit the international charts, in their favor ....not to mention ,they were often anachronisms , and proud of it ("I Can See But You Don't Know " , the only Freakbeat single released in 1970 , barring The Troggs' "Feels Like A Woman".
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

i actually sort of dislike bass...... i'm in a two piece guitar /drums band on purpose. i like to point out certain things (to whoever will listen) at our shows on the subject.  the bands we play with often are perfect example of what i dislike.  i see it all the time , awesome gritty, sincerely angry guitar intro for two measures. then the bass comes in and shmeers the  edges of the thing. in our band (because we have tried out many bass player that though they could "add" to it) we call it chopping the tops off. all the edgy- ness goes in the "wall of sound". sure, you went out and "saw" a band.... there were decibles thrown at you, but its all too comfortable to me. i like thin. maybe if i we making music to make people nod, and say what i nice young man i've become. but not while i'm in a garage rock band, and trying to stay good and angry.