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 ?

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!

 

if they have a biiiiiiiig subby bassdrum ... well, then i don`t care ;-)

but honestly: with a bass player in your band you look more sexy, hehe.

CHEERS

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.

 

Sometimes , the fewer people you have , the less likely someone is to get killed. Also , two people might have the chemistry that 4 or 5 don't. It all depends. If it's still good music , I don't mind the absence of a bass so much. But , about 10 years ago , the bassless bands started getting so bad , Donald "Duck" Dunn , God rest his soul , probably could'nt have helped them.

Sometimes it's just doin' with what you got. I'm a bass player (living in Olympia, WA at the time) and when a drummer friend of mine, Matt, said we should start a band, the Bodides, we were switching off between drums and guitar because it was just the two of us. I thought, fuck yeah. We played our first gig a week later with the Rock and Roll Adventure Kids from Oakland (two guys).
Matt's touring thru L.A. now with his current two person band, The Maxines.
I'll agree that sometimes a bass would have filled out the sound a bit, but that's not what we were after. Nobody ever left a show feeling they didn't get their moneys worth for the performance.
And as far as band dynamics go, there's less people to disagree when I make a suggestion. Oh yeah!

It works for some people. The Cramps made it for 10 years without a Bassist , but , when they opted to bring one in , that was their choice. The music did'nt suffer. Royal Pendletons , a famous producer....HMMMM....tried to straddle them with a studio Bassist. Big money was offered , but , they knew that'd never happen. Guess who?  The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool. The Dead Boys started out without a Bass player because Jeff Magnum did'nt want rejoin them after their first incarnation as Frankenstein . Gibson Bros. , Demolition Dollrods , others , I dunno. Someone said the first - ever Rockabilly - influenced band without a Bassist was The Cramps. But , that honor would actually have to go to Suicide. They got along , but , that's a horse of  a different color. Silver Apples , too. They made it work. Lee Michaels only had himself on keyboards (And other instruments , in the studio.) and a drummer. What's that relatively new two - piece Black snake orchid overdrive , or something. Keyboard player , drummer , non - suck 70's Rock. I forget their name , sorry. Black opel cobra or something.

You can OD on bass , crank it up way too loud when it does'nt work that way , or , of course , crank out the terrible 80's Funk (Seinfeld incidental music , anyone? I had to FOLLOW AN HOUR OF THAT , RECENTLY. ) influence. Sometimes , it's the Soundman's fault , if he's used to DJing "Dance" music , the bass and drums will be painful. Untamed Youth even got the Disco treatment the first time they played in Chicago , more than 10 years after their first attempts to get booked here...... 

Bob Log III is another great example of what one guy can do on his own.

Audio Gasoline said:

The Flat Duo Jets are one of my top favorites too - they fucking kill it as a two-peice, but their first album with Tone on upright bass was a real gem also.  The Cramps went for years with out a bassist too, no?  I don't think anyone could say their music suffered for it.

I see where the OP is coming from, but some bands can certainly pull it off to great effect.  One man bands? Rhythm is usually as simple as a stomping foot or thumb taps on the body of their geetar, and it often suits their music well. I highly recommend Scott H. Biram for a great showcase of what one person can accomplish on their own.

Bass Drum of Death and DZ Deathrays are touring together right now. Both 2 pieces and both rock VERY hard.

Really depends on the style and the VIBE.

Cramps, Oblivians, Bantam Rooster, Soledad Brothers, Gories, RL Burnside and tons of bluesmen...The trebly madness provokes a different mayhem.

The Flat Duo Jets are one of my top favorites too - they fucking kill it as a two-peice, but their first album with Tone on upright bass was a real gem also.  The Cramps went for years with out a bassist too, no?  I don't think anyone could say their music suffered for it.

I see where the OP is coming from, but some bands can certainly pull it off to great effect.  One man bands? Rhythm is usually as simple as a stomping foot or thumb taps on the body of their geetar, and it often suits their music well. I highly recommend Scott H. Biram for a great showcase of what one person can accomplish on their own.

Early Cramps, Cheater Slicks... depends how it's done really. What I hate is when a band uses bass but you can't hear the fucking thing.

Ya see! I always forget some. How could I forget the Gories?

And, when you think about it, no one-man band has a bass, either.

I think it really depends on the style. The bands (or duos) that go for the more primitive sound don't need it.

dave said:

Yeah, some bands can do it, like The Gories or Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers.

Normally I'm with ya, but there are exceptions.

Two of my favorite bands that I've found in the last year or so are two-piece bands: Left Lane Cruiser and Restavrant. I love the raw feeling they bring to their music.

Listen to The Magnetix.
no bass but the guitar use two amps, a bass amp with an octaver so with the same signal he have one guitar fuzzed sound and also a bass drived sound !

What about a bariton guitar ?

What makes the Gories and Hound Dog Taylor's Houserockers so good is that when they played, you never missed the bass. At least one of the guitarists held down the bottom. It still sounded thin, but at least it was something.

With these other bassless bands, there's too much empty space. You're waiting for some low notes to fill in the gap, but it never arrives...

Yeah, some bands can do it, like The Gories or Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers.

Normally I'm with ya, but there are exceptions.

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.