Bass is the most important it keeps the grove with the drummer and can solo like a guitar where appropriate and keeps the band on tempo. a band can do with out a singer and sometime even with out a guitar(Les Claypool). a bassist also keeps the band together.

theyre are bands that flat out dont have a bass or use very little of it... why is it so damn important to you guys...

Yeah, I really do fail to see why people say that the bass is so important. It is not nessisary at all, as you can make wonderfull music without. It is only an extra instrument to add to the sound, and is not nearly as imporatant as the other instruments

QFT

And:
You can do a great song with only a guitar... (simon and garfunkle)
therefore more important.. but once again it depends on the band

bass IS important. it adds foundation to the sounds that everything else is making. immagine a pyramid. would you feel safe standing next to it if it was balanced on its tip, rather than the normal bottom? when you lose the bass you lose quite a bit, making it harder to have a fully supported sound. when you listen to simon and garfunkle, and other bands that only have guitar, they actually have a bassline played on the guitar, and because of this you can keep that pyramid of sound.

but then again...i'm an orchestra dork gone rock/blues/metal.....so i tend to have these biases.......

so yea...depends on the style

excatly my point.. the only real reason for a bass is the bassline which can also be done on the guitar..

Simon and Garfunkel use much more than a guitar...

they pull off songs with only a guitar tho (Bookends)
and even if they have other stuff the guitar is the main attraction- there are no bass or drums

There's plenty of bass and drums, and quite a few other instruments. I'd say the main attraction is the high vocal harmonies. That is their trademark.

The guitar is merely one lead instrument in a crowd of many. It could easily be substituted for mandolin, violin, harmonica, piano, keyboard, saxophone, or any instrument.

But the bassline is usually only played on electric bass or upright - there's not much choice there. Guitar can only play the bassline in rare instances where the music is more minimal. Sometimes rhythm guitar can suffice in the case of Pig Destroyer who manage to be heavy without a bassist. But for the most part, bass is extremely important.

Bass is rhythm and melody - it ties the purely lead instrument (guitar etc.) to the purely rhythmical instrument (percussion) and that's why it is so important. You don't realise this until you hear a bad bassist suddenly dropping out of the mix. When the bottom end drops out unexpectedly, hell breaks loose.

SOrry if this is incomprehensible or circular or stupid because I'm slightly drunk. I smell singed hair because a mate was fire-breathing inside and my head happened to be in the vicinity. I've had a fair bit to drink. And good night all.