Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

My cover band lost our bassist a few weeks ago (very unfortunate; his dad has cancer and he moved back across the US to be with him).

We decided to do a rehearsal as a 3-piece to keep things going, and we decided to pair down the songs in our set list to just the stuff that we could do more acoustically. I have a piezo system on one of my Ibanez guitars, so I run that to the P.A. plus have my amp, using clean channel to double some stuff and using a much lighter "dirty" channel when I need some chunk.

We played and thought we sounded pretty good as a 3-piece, and we are hoping to add a couple more acoustic-type rock songs so we can play out somewhere.

I was just curious if anyone had tried this, and if you had any success with it? We all really want to play out... tired of losing bass players to personal tragedies.

Only time I ever saw that was when they either had a keyboard or were totally acoustic, CF.

as a bass player i cant say that i have.
but ive done the exact oppostie of a bass trio.

lead bass
slap/pop bass
percussion bass

It was a hard failed project, but it was fun for sure.

Yes much easier to pull off if you have keys or just acoustic instruments but yeah, I've done it. Not a pretty site; in fact, I've done gigs without a drummer or a bass player, just me and the singer and not acoustic. Again, not pretty but strangely empowering, we actually pulled it off. We were known as the Crack Babies then.

My singer happens to kick ass, which is the only reason I'm even considering it

Hi colors. Yes it can be done. I think you have a good direction by adding more acoustic type songs into your playlist. You can also take existing songs that your band has been practicing and arrange it to compensate the loss of the low end (more full chords, less overdrive and distortion). Just think of it as transposing to an "unplugged" version. Good luck to you.

Nope.

But I've done one with just two guitars.
Went over pretty good too.

Yeah, it's no problem; just
> spend more attention to hitting the tempo right on the beat.
> depending on the songs, you can use a bass-strum.
> if your guitar has an equalizer, crank the bass a bit (or a lot), and cut the mid-range 20%. Boost the treble just a tad.
.
Again, be extra careful with your rhythm and tempo. Those are two entirely different things . . .
.
I guess you're playing with a drummer - but regardless, be sure to practice against a drum machine or metronome; something that will not change. Leave it at home when you play.
Tighten the rhythm as much as you can.

AirViking wrote:as a bass player i cant say that i have.
but ive done the exact oppostie of a bass trio.

lead bass
slap/pop bass
percussion bass

It was a hard failed project, but it was fun for sure.

I concur, and I agree.

I've never seen a trio without a bassist, but if you work it the right way, you could be really successful with that. Good luck in either finding a bassist or working your trio!

Viking, I bet that was a blast!

Nope. Sounds like you're headed in the right direction, though, like the others were saying. Modifying your repertoire, or the style in which you play your current tunes, may work if your front person is really that good. Hey, I hate to say it, but an amazing front guy/gal can carry a lot of weight!!

We're only three pieces, but there's ALWAYS bass (LH keys, or ebass).

Side thought: if you do alter your sound, though, to accommodate the no bass thing, your audience may change, and your venues might have to too...

All the best.

Ive done a two piece rock show before. Drums and one guitar. I would bring two amps and split my signal with my whammy pedal. It meant doing a lot of one note lines but I have puled this off before with 2 guitars it should be a cinch. For some reason we have in our minds that it has to be a certain way with certain instruments, hell lots of old delta blues was done with out bass, so develop your own style if you cant find someone, who knows you could be the next big thing with that approach and its one less bitchy person to deal with.

jw123 wrote:Ive done a two piece rock show before. Drums and one guitar. I would bring two amps and split my signal with my whammy pedal. It meant doing a lot of one note lines but I have puled this off before with 2 guitars it should be a cinch. For some reason we have in our minds that it has to be a certain way with certain instruments, hell lots of old delta blues was done with out bass, so develop your own style if you cant find someone, who knows you could be the next big thing with that approach and its one less bitchy person to deal with.

Thanks JW

We're trying, that's for sure. I mean, I figure it's music, right? We just want to play

PocketGroovesGSO wrote:
I concur, and I agree.

I've never seen a trio without a bassist, but if you work it the right way, you could be really successful with that. Good luck in either finding a bassist or working your trio!

Viking, I bet that was a blast!

It was fun, but i always feel bad for whoever got stuck on percussion bass. I know i cant do that stuff. People get some interesting noices out of instruments.