Bass Guitarist
 

I'm having one hell of a time finding a bassist and I'm close to giving up. How empty is our sound going to be without it? I have a drummer, a ryhthm guitarist, me (lead guitar), and a singer. Will having the rhythm guitar be enough?

No! It will not be enough. You neeeeeed bass. This is coming from a bassist.

Nah, not really, it depends what sound you are going for and personal preference. Personally, I like bass so for me it would feel as though it was missing something.

Can't you just play without a bassist until you find one?

Just find another guitarist and make him play bass.

^ This.

Just don't make the mistake my band did, of finding two guitarists, needing a bassist, and then asking a guy who was a lot better of a guitarist, than the guitarists. Guitarists tend to have ego. There's not much WRONG with that, but we totally do have ego, and if you get a guy in to play bass who rips on guitar, the other two guitarists will get weird about it and start assuming things.

Our situation worked out. I moved from bass to guitar when one of our guitarists quit the band, but before then, along with bad practice rooms, our band suffered a lot from the other two guitarists feeling intimidated when I would show them licks before moving back to the bass. The phrase "Why are you not playing the guitar, I'll play bass" got said a lot and I would always make it clear I was just happy to be playing anything.

Depends on what kind of sound you're shooting for and what sort of tones you already use with the guitars. I seem to remember the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion being the exact same lineup as what you describe and no one complained about missing bass.

I'm going to assume the reason neither of you pick up bass duties is because no one in the band owns the instrument, right? It wouldn't be a bad investment, and you might end up surprising yourself with new techniques and abilities you pick up that can apply to both instruments.

On that note, have you or the rhythm guitarist ever considered a baritone guitar? The scale length of the neck puts it between a standard electric and a bass, generally it's around 28" and the instrument is tuned from B to B. Essentially you get an extra low string with a lot more low-end tone. Great for surf rock and more percussive lines.

Maybe try looking for a tuba player instead. :D

You should just have your rhythm guitarist play bass since rhythm guitar is pretty useless

Nobody cares about bass in rock bands. Just pull some bum in off the street & teach him 2 notes.

I've come to this conclusion with my own band, although it really does depend on the sound you're going for. I knew a couple of guys who had a metal project and all they needed was the drummer and guitarist, but then I've seen a few guys play in a blues rock/jam band and they absolutely used the rhythm guitar and bass to full effect.

Depends on what you're playing. For example, if you're gonna play Rush you'll need some bass in there. If it's just a jam band, then you could get away with a beefy rythm guitar. Or you could go the way of Local H, or The White Stripes which utilize a mock bass tone from a guitar.