Recording a band without bass

[steppingonmars]

Hi There

I'm recording a duo band that does not have a bass player, just guitar and drums. Has anyone ever done this? Any advice?

 

[JimmyS1969]

Have one of them play a bass line.

 

[brother rat]

one time I recorded a duo band that did not have a harp player.
it should be about the same.

 

[Greg_L]

Hi There

I'm recording a duo band that does not have a bass player, just guitar and drums. Has anyone ever done this? Any advice?

Don't the White Stripes do this? I'm not a fan so I don't know for sure, but if so, it works for them. Make sure you get a full and meaty guitar tone.

 

[Absolutepower]

Guitar can get some really low tones although some more than others. Use the bass pickup and turn the tone knob down, that will add a lot of sound to the lower register. I guess in the end it comes down to what they want.

 

[mjbphotos]

I'll play bass for cheap!

 

[RAMI]

Do THEY want bass on their songs? Maybe that's their "sound". White Stripes don't have bass. "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss" by Prince both don't have any bass on them.

 

[JimmyS1969]

The OP's post in another forum specified they are not looking to have a bass player at all.

Does the guitar player already do something with his tone/setup to get a full sound for this project live? I knew a guy once who bi-amped his guitar rig with a 4-10 and 15" cabinets.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

With out bass, just fill in the space with a big guitar sound, and you could probably even push the kick a little bit. You just have guitar and drums, so there won't be a lot of problems with things stepping on each other. Depends on how they want the guitar to sound, but you should be able to get a full sound with some extra kick regardless of the guitar tone they want. Sounds cool.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Not that I am a fan, but 'And Justice For All' has almost no bass guitar in the mix. Just thick guitars and an over-processed kick.

 

[witzendoz]

There are severial bands around the world that have this line up, Guitar and Drums, playing everything from Blues to hard rock. If the players are good it can really be interesting. I used to mix a Guitar (vocal) / drum band live years ago and if was refreshing after the wall of guitars (2 or 3), bass, drums, vocals that I usually had to mix. You don't always need bass (and that's coming from a bass player )

Alan.

 

[palmanus]

Tommy Emmanuel doesn't have bass, but it always sounds as if he does

 

[Captain Ego]

The OP's post in another forum specified they are not looking to have a bass player at all.

Does the guitar player already do something with his tone/setup to get a full sound for this project live? I knew a guy once who bi-amped his guitar rig with a 4-10 and 15" cabinets.

That is almost exactly the same setup a 2-piece metal-ish kind of band I know uses. He splits the signal out of the stereo out of his effect processor, and into a 15" bass amp and a typical mid-size guitar combo. The bass cab really fills it out and it sounds very thick live.

 

[Ninja_Drummer]

People forgot wolfmother, even though they kinda fill the hole with synth.

 

[MG Eddie]

My band for a while didn't have a bass player. I ended up teaching my girlfriend how to play bass and it couldn't have turned out better, also she has turned out better than the last 2 bassists we had.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

If the band is any good, they are either already doing something to "eat up" the space left by the bass, or they are doing something interesting using the lack of anything in that space.

Listen to them live. Have them play repeatedly until you get what they are going for. Then make it that way. And don't just ask them about it. You have to "get it" yourself. They might not even be able to put what they are doing into words.

 

[steppingonmars]

Thanks guys

I like the bass cabinet idea. I'll make sure I get a direct signal and re- amp what I need

 

[MG Eddie]

Hell most of the time the Beatles never had any bass. Paul played guitar more often.

 

[RAMI]

Hell most of the time the Beatles never had any bass. Paul played guitar more often.

What? 99.99% of Beatles tunes have bass....and usually mixed pretty loud. In fact, I can't think of one that doesn't, though I'm sure there is 2 or 3 at most.

 

[cavedog101]

What? 99.99% of Beatles tunes have bass....and usually mixed pretty loud. In fact, I can't think of one that doesn't, though I'm sure there is 2 or 3 at most.

The ones that sound like they dont are most likely John playing the Fender VI that they acquired around 1967.