Halfa

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

TheCaster

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

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A soul in tension thats learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
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Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit

Seltzer

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.

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