What's more in demand?

[snipelfritz]

I think the reason drummers are so rare is because the starting price point is higher most times, as you can get a beginner guitar/amp set up for $100 where as a full drum set is $500 and to kids thats a big deal, a lot of drummers start in their mid-late teens but even so it's harder to practice unless you have very nice parents who are excited to hear the ruckus.

And IMO the learning curve is much higher for starting to play drums. You can be a usable bassist pretty easily (being a good one is much tougher of course) but getting a really solid grip on drumming basics is much more difficult.

[Fuzzy Fred]

i'm probably biased, but i'm still on my first drummer, gone through 5 bassists or some shit.

so, for me, finding good bassers are way harder

[Gozu]

i play bass in a two piece with the best drummer in the city... its an ongoing war to keep poachers away

[D.o.S.]

let me put it this way. bands without bassists, such as Neu! or the White Stripes, aren't thick on the ground but do occur. you seldom if ever see a band without a drummer unless they're working the far reaches of experimental music. ergo, a drummer is more fundamental. people want a beat, full stop. on the other hand, a really good, creative bassist who listens is like finding gold lying on the ground. a good bass player can make or break a band, and they're HARD to find. but a bad drummer is the hardest thing to hide...you've got to have a drummer who's at least competent or you're fucked.

This. So much this.

You can get away with a lot of mediocrity on the bass as long as you lock in with your drummer. I do it all the time.

[madmax1012]

here's my main problem with bassists. there aren't enough "bassists", as there are "guitarists who didn't make the band", as Matt Freeman put it. I can't stand when I'm playing a riff i came up with and the bassist just kinda does exactly the same thing that i did, or plays a fucking nirvana riff because they haven't realized that other bass lines fucking exist. now i'm not saying i would be any better, but i've picked up basses and felt relatively comfortable and not completely confused. put me behind a drumset tho and it's like watching an old person on a slip and slide.

[DuoSonicII]

You can get away with a lot of mediocrity on the bass as long as you lock in with your drummer. I do it all the time.

You and me both bro.

here's my main problem with bassists. there aren't enough "bassists", as there are "guitarists who didn't make the band", as Matt Freeman put it. I can't stand when I'm playing a riff i came up with and the bassist just kinda does exactly the same thing that i did....

I definitely understand that point. On the other hand, in my last band, at least half the time when I'd come up with a good non-obvious bassline, one of the guitarists would just start playing the exact same thing an octave up. I'd be all "WTF? No!"

[fiddelerselbow]

here's my main problem with bassists. there aren't enough "bassists", as there are "guitarists who didn't make the band", as Matt Freeman put it. I can't stand when I'm playing a riff i came up with and the bassist just kinda does exactly the same thing that i did, or plays a fucking nirvana riff because they haven't realized that other bass lines fucking exist. now i'm not saying i would be any better, but i've picked up basses and felt relatively comfortable and not completely confused. put me behind a drumset tho and it's like watching an old person on a slip and slide.

I agree, I think you can see those guys coming though. Those failed guitar player guys have a certain look about them.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

here's my main problem with bassists. there aren't enough "bassists", as there are "guitarists who didn't make the band", as Matt Freeman put it. I can't stand when I'm playing a riff i came up with and the bassist just kinda does exactly the same thing that i did....

I definitely understand that point. On the other hand, in my last band, at least half the time when I'd come up with a good non-obvious bassline, one of the guitarists would just start playing the exact same thing an octave up. I'd be all "WTF? No!"

I was lucky to have been taught to play the bass in a band that deliberately leaned more to the 70's heavy metal and 60's psychedelic rock, with more weathered musicians. I only later on met guitarists that always would have wanted me to simply double the rhythm guitarist.

1. Root notes are like an anchor - stick around, but don't just stand there like a moron. Unless it's the point.
2. If You get lost with Your bass lines and don't know a way out, THEN and ONLY THEN see what the guitarist is doing. But first see what the drummer is doing.
3. ...or You can at any time take the liberty to fuck the shit up up and down the scales, do bends and dives, go for FX madness, throw the bass in the air, tear the strings off and be a cool dude.

[Gozu]

i play bass but i'm rubbish i just love doing it

[Fuzz_Pi]

2. If You get lost with Your bass lines and don't know a way out, THEN and ONLY THEN see what the guitarist is doing. But first see what the drummer is doing.

That right there is like the main rule of being a non-boring bassist, yet not failed guitarist

[The4455]

A good creative drummer, alot of drummers just play simple beats, so even if their good, it's still meh. Pretty much the same with bass players, same deal. Except more people play bass, because they think it's cool if they can say that they "play" bass. Also since I play both I feel justified in saying what I just said, and this: