Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonSimply not true. As with guitar, an accomplished bass player's riff will sound better than the same riff played by a novice.

Its been my experience anyway.And again,it depends.

False.

Thanks for that absolute fact.Why exactly?

Well, I guess you can't play a 13th chord on it without sounding like ass...but that's about it.

There is quite a bit you can't do without a bassist ripping his instrument from your arms so he can keep what dignity he has left in the instrument.

AC/DC, Pop-punk, and The White Stripes don't exactly have good bassists.

I don't recall mentioning any of them...pop-punk...hmmm...ever hear matt freeman from rancid?He breaks out of the box and carrys many of the songs melodies with the bass(like the song "radio" for instance)and he busts out a solo on a few songs too.

And holding down the groove of a song as a bass does isn't expressive?

Not really...unless the groove was created by the bassist.Your limited when your instrument is the backbone(a nice way of saying backround).Even when its brought to the front,it dosn't carry the same weight or emotional impact that guitar does...for me at least.