I've went backwards here. I really should have put the arrangement section first because arrangement makes a WAY bigger effect on the bass being heard than any engineering ever did.

Are the guitars doing the same thing the bass is doing? If so, you will probably have a big sound, but you are not going to distinctly hear the two different sources. Personally, I feel that if a bass and guitar are playing the same thing, it doesn't make much difference whether you can hear each individual instrument. Since neither part is doing anything special to increase the intensity of the music, neither part should be made any clearer. By definition the “wall of sound” style of production is just “wall”. It's not “walls of sound”. This means that all the instruments combine in a way to create one huge force.

If you are not going for the wall of sound, you need to approach this whole bass vs guitar situation differently. If the bass is doing something to add to the music, the other instruments have to make accommodations for this. There a million things a guitar player can do if the bass is doing something that needs to be accented. Here are just a few options.

• The guitars can quit playing all together

• The guitars can palm mute

• The guitars can go up an octave or 3.

• The guitars can use a syncopated rhythm with lots of stops to add space where the bass will be heard

• The guitars can go to a clean sound or use a weird effect that leaves room for the bass part.

• The guitars can play open chords instead of power chords.

• The guitars could even play a simple little lead.

• The guitars could only play on the upbeat.

• The guitars could on play on the downbeat.

• The guitars could just feedback or make some other noise.

Guitar and Bass Players Must Work Together

In young bands, it's very common for the guitar players to just tell the bass player to come up with something “different” and “cool”. However, if the guitar players aren't willing to make room for this, there is no point.

It's a guitar players responsibility to not be a guitar player, but to be a band member / songwriter / song arranger. If a guitar player is just a guitar player, than you need a producer / baby sitter who knows what is going on. All members should be working for the common good of the song...not to show off how cool their Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier sounds (not that good in my opinion).

A band that only uses power chords and always lets them ring out is not going to allow much room for the bass player to do stuff. I'm not saying that a bass player necessarily has to do stuff. However, if a bass player wants to add interesting thingies in the music, the band has to be willing to work with the bass player.

Of course, this bass player / guitar player relationship works both ways. One of the instruments must get out of the way to let the other one stand out. So if the guitars are sort of stuck doing something (which is rarely the case), the bass player should be playing a part that cuts through this. If you choose a bass line that is running right through the line of fire, don't be surprised to find its intestine's hanging out by the guitar onslaught. That's just how it works.

Don't Get Too Excited About A Single Part

In almost every case with music, there are 8 possible solutions. Seldom is there only one option. If the guitars refuse to give you space for your bass thingy, come up with an new bass thingy that doesn't fight the guitars. If everyone in the band is stubborn, you'll all end up sounding like idiots.

If you really think you have created the bass line of the century, you are probably full of crap. You made that bass line up in 8 seconds and you could make up another bass line in 8 seconds if you felt like. Getting too excited about a single bass line is stupid when you can always make more. Of course, if you really have something record it or remember it (yeah right). If the band isn't going to work with you in a way that does your mega bass line justice, don't use it. Save it for another song, time, or band when you can do your musical masterpiece justice.

Conclusion

This whole bass guitar thing is very complicated and very simple at the same time. If you can't hear the bass, make sure your own bass sound isn't to blame. After that, make sure that what you are playing isn't fighting the rest of the band and vice versa. If the other instruments in the band are fighting what the bass player is going to do, you'll have a mess. Someone has to do something different. If the bass thing must be focused in the lower octaves, the guitars have got to get out of the way. If the guitars won't get out of the way, the bass needs to go higher.