what is the different between bassist and guitarist in a band?

Guitarist: a person in a band who plays a guitar with 6 or 12 strings, the higher-pitched sounding guitar of the 2. The strings are rather thin and can break much more easily than a bass guitar's. Tuned (from low strings up) E A D G B E. Ex of players: Carlos Santana or Jimi Hendrix.

Bassist: the lower sounding guitar, usually 4 strings. Used for rhythm with drums. A great example of a famous bass riff is the intro to Pink Floyd's "Money". Some basses may have 5 strings or as I saw last night at the Carlos Santana concert 6 as used by the Los Lonely Boys. The tuning is the same as a guitar for 6 strings, for 5 take away the low E string, and for 4 strings take away E A with D being the lowest open note. Ex of players: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Flea of RHCP.

Below are links to Wikipedia of bass guitars and regular guitars with pictures of each, history of the 2 and what makes them different from each other.

O.K., They're both guitars, but the bass guy is more laying down the foundational chord-structures for the lead-guitar guy to work his melody on. Also, the bass guitar is kind-of working with the drummer to establish a beat or rhythm for the rest of the band. Thus the phrase, rhythm and bass.

Ray or Mikey the guitarist or "lead" is playing the melody and that's what you usually sing along to or remember a tune by. You sing the lyrics to a tune based on the melody. But without the rhythm and bass, it's just melody without any harmony or beat.

The lead guitarist usually gets more acclaim and accolades than the rhythm and bass guys. But without your drummer and bassist, you don't have the pulse or "heart-beat" to drive the melody.

Guitars use finer strings than a bass guitar. The strings vibrate faster when plucked/strummed, thus producing higher notes. A bass guitar uses thicker strings. The thicker strings don't vibrate as fast, which produces lower notes.

Another big difference is the chords on a Bass are played one note at a time. On a standard guitar, they are played strumming.

all of them are significant to make an entire band. yet in Hawaii there are a number of bands who use as low as an ukulele or a guitar (no longer electric powered tho) to create their music. that is kinda difficult to make a music with purely the bass, till you're fairly proficient, yet i admire the bass line in all songs. In alot of reggae songs, the bass line is the main serious in making the music sound sturdy. i admire songs with a sturdy bass line!

well if it's a bass guitar you're talking about. the bass is just lower then the reg. guitar. there is also an insterment called a bass wich is sort of like a violin but mutch bigger and deaper.

They are 2 different instruments.

you don't know the difference between bass and guitar? really?