[Darth-Apple]

I grew up listening to bands like Rush, Triump, and so forth. Progressive rock was always a huge influence for me. In most of these bands, the bass plays a very predominent role and is extremely forthcoming in the mix. This contrasts heavily with more pop-oriented music where the bass guitar is taking a back seat, staying out of the way of the more predominent instruments. 

My personal feeling is that it's a waste if the bass guitar isn't being used to its full potential. It's an awesome instrument (and also is my favorite instrument to play). Guitarists tend to play it like a guitar, which isn't quite the way to go about it. Yes, chords are neat, but use them well. Use them like a bass player, play on the on-beat instead of the offbeat, and use it to fill some sonic space that would otherwise have to be filled by other instruments. 

And of course, if you have a JBL speaker (those of you who do, you know what I mean), the low end frequencies sound fantastic. Music takes a whole new meaning with a good sound system.

[Guardian]

I'll keep the bass thanks.

HIT ME WITH THAT BASS!

[Darth-Apple]

As long as it's not like Metallica's producers who went and downmixed the bass until you couldn't hear it...

[SpookyZalost]

as someone who plays bass, and guitar, I completely agree darth.

then again, I've been known to adlib bass when playing with other people using a mixture of both.

sometimes though chords sound great on bass.

[Darth-Apple]

I love chords on bass (as long as they are played on the on-beat instead of the off-beat). That's the biggest mistake I hear guitar players make on a bass. They play everything on the off-beat, while the drums are doing everything on the on-beat.

The bass is such a beautiful instrument. Power cords sound great on a bass, and I wish more players used them.