rock band without bass

[EATyourGuitar]

if we are discussing guitar / bass hybrids then I think you should definitely check out charlie hunter and his 7 or 8 string novak guitars. the 8 string has 3 bass strings.

[thelonious]

Holy coordination, batman. That guy OWNS.

[deadastronaut]

^ superb...maddest fretboard ever...

[carrejans]

Thank you guys, for all the interesting replies.

I want to try the Local H thing first. But I was wondering how he has wired his bass-pickup. I think most pickups just have one out signal, right?
But shouldn't only the lower two pickup magnetics be connected? You don't want your other strings to be amplified by the bass amp.

Actually, I have a polyphonic guitar pickup laying around here. I just put it in my guitar, and only connected the lower two strings. But this pickup really has a crappy sound. So, I want to try with a bass pickup, but I'm wondering how to connect only the two lower magnetics?

[Jdansti]

You'd probably just remove the unwanted magnets. Try a web search on how to do this for your pickup style.

[slacker]

He angles the pickup so it's under just the bottom two strings, someone posted a picture of something similar a while ago, maybe in the "pictures of your guitars" thread.

[Jdansti]

Aha. Just watched the video and got a look at the guitar. Pretty awesome playing! 

[Mark Hammer]

A local jazz player had this particular guitar made for him: http://www.sankeyguitars.com/rippling-brook/

This thing is to Charlie Hunter's Novak guitar what Adrian Belew's parker is to regular Parkers: several steps beyond.  Ted, the owner/player let me try it out, and I have to say it is REALLY comfortable, and light as a feather from the headless neck and chambered body.  First time I saw it, I asked him if it was a Klein, and he grinned, surprised that anyone would even know what a Klein is.  The fanned frets were much less disorienting than I had expected.  Indeed, the most disruptive thing about it was the presence of the extra string, but that's it.  Sounds really nice in the hands of a master (his, NOT mine).

[gcme93]

You're right Mark, it sounds beautiful in the hands of a master...

*EDIT*

Apologies, I've just realised this isn't your friend that you were talking about, I'm sure he's a master too 

[Mark Hammer]

Oh no, this IS the guy.  Great player, terrific guy, and a teacher at one of the local universities.  I saw him do that last summer, from about 10ft away.  Great arrangement/adaptation of a terrific composition.  Close your eyes and you'd never imagine, in a million years, that it was coming from a guitar like THAT.  Great touch on the guy. 

The little "hand closure" thing you see him do at the very end, is something that the fanned fretboard makes possible.  Because the bridge is at such an angle, and the instrument is short scale, his picking hand lines up perfectly with the bridge (which is made in Germany IIRC), so he can mute all the strings gradually and simultaneously with that hand movement.  The net effect is like a short fade-out on a volume pedal.

Okay, back to folks playing loud rock and roll without a bass player. 

[markeebee]

Not wishing to be a pooper, but maybe the only replacement for a bass player is another bass player? Anything else could be a compromise.

It can't be too hard to find one.  It's not like they're proper musicians.....

[Jdansti]

.

It can't be too hard to find one.  It's not like they're proper musicians.....

So you're volunteering???   

[wavley]

It's not like they're proper musicians.....

We can tell this because they don't usually have big pedalboards

[bluebunny]

It can't be too hard to find one.  It's not like they're proper musicians.....

Oooh, that smarts!  (The "B" in "Marc B" stands for bassist. )

We can tell this because they don't usually have big pedalboards

This is an optical illusion.  The pedalboards don't appear big because bass players have bigger feet than guitarists.  And you know what they say about a fella with big feet...

(Someone help me out with the punchline here...)

[Jdansti]

It's not like they're proper musicians.....

We can tell this because they don't usually have big pedalboards

Size matters. 

[gcme93]

This is an optical illusion.  The pedalboards don't appear big because bass players have bigger feet than guitarists.  And you know what they say about a fella with big feet...

... He often has difficulty finding the shoes in the size he wants the first time around, but the great advantage comes during sale periods when the latest fashionable shoes become a much more affordable prospect - all of the 5th to 95th percentile shoes are in much higher demand, leaving plenty of larger shoes.

[bluebunny]

Size matters. 

Yeah, five strings.  Count 'em, baby!   

[bluebunny]

And you know what they say about a fella with big feet...

... He often has difficulty finding the shoes in the size he wants the first time around, but the great advantage comes during sale periods when the latest fashionable shoes become a much more affordable prospect - all of the 5th to 95th percentile shoes are in much higher demand, leaving plenty of larger shoes.

Smart answer, George.  Very smart answer.   

[Mike Burgundy]

C'mon Marc, let's go 6, b ut make 'em thick as tow-cables, none of that puny stitching wire ;P

[slacker]

Get a girl called Kim to play bass.