supplied bass in China

[simandlhandle]

I hope this is the corect Forum for posting this; I would like to share my experiences of supplied basses on a tour of China.
I have just got back from a 10 day tour of China, where the promoter didn't want us to take any gear with us, including bass, as they didn't want to pay the excess baggage, and said they would supply all we need. Price wise, the tour was in the balance unless we agreed to this. Horn players took their instruments on as hand luggage, I would have taken bass guitar at a pinch, but the band leader wanted me to use double bass as it is a 1940's type swing band. we play very up tempo( I got rhythm ,It don't mean a thing etc at 300bpm, as we have lindyhop dancers with us , and these are the speeds they want).
In the rider on the contract I asked for 1/ a 3/4 size carved, or
carved front bass
2/ with a low jazz action
3/ jazz or pizz metal strings
4/ risers on the bridge
5/ a pickup fitted to the bass
6/ a bass amp
I actually wasn't so unrealistic as to think that I would get all of these.
For the first gig, 2 hours before we were due to play, I got given a Half size plywood bass with 3mm string height at the nut, 5 mm on the A string(I measured it) and 12 mm on the G string double octave,orchestral strings covered in rosin, no risers on the bridge and no pickup.
I had brought 3 pickups with me 1/ an Underwood (fits under the arms of the bass )
2/ a full circle( fits as replacement for the risers
3/ a David Gage Realist(fits under the bridge foot)
The realist was the only one that I was able to use on any of the basses I was given, and it was a real lifesaver, getting a consistently good sound coupled with my Avalon U5, under exeptionally difficult circumstances and considering the quality of the instruments.
Sometimes there wasn't an amp supplied, and not enough monitors for me to have one, so that I could only hear what was going through front of house.
One bass had the bridge so bowed over I thought it might snap, and a crack where the neck joins the body. Not one of the basses had a low action or risers or a pckup or pizz strings, and every last one covered in rosin. Every venue I had to deal with a different bass. Some basses had rattling strings and incorrectly planed fingerboards. one bass I had to put wooden wedges under the bridge which further increased the string hieght but at least meant I could do the gig on it( I did ask permission of the promoter and her contact berfore I changed anything- most I just had to leave as was)
I quickly learned after the first venue, that at the end of the gig not to leave the stage but pack up all my music and leads and to take the pickup off the bass. There was an army of stage hands dismantlinng things as soon as the curtain was down. At the first gig, I looked around and someone had taken the bass, which still had my pickup on it. I had to rush down 3 flights of stairs to the van they were just about to drive away in and get them to unpack it( as the audience was walking past) and uninstall the pickup on the pavement.
All in all, surprisingly, it was a good tour and we went down a storm. It was really hard work for me just playing those instruments, though. I was wasted after every gig. The basses are owned by the local authority although they are obviously played regularly by someone, and I don't like to disrespect anyones instrument . They just weren't what I was promised, and with one exception (Schenzen- and even that had a high action and no risers or pickup) not up to the job.I could have refused to play them , but I am not that much of a Diva to ruin the tour for everyone. Financially it was just not an option.
I am not putting down Chinese basses in general, as I am sure some are of good quality and well setup and maintained.
I am sure some of you are going to be faced with a similair dilema as the problems with transport are becoming more acute, if not in China then somewhere else, so I just thought I would share my experience with my fellow talkbassers.

[Marcus Johnson]

I used to run into that a lot on the road. Usually it would be a school bass or worse, with the bridge warped, and the dead orch strings covered in rosin, just as you described. Often there would be cracks, broken neck heels, and so on. Hardly ever would there be a pickup, so often it was the Shure mic in a rag trick. I used to often remember that phrase, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

Now, I send out a specific list of needs in the contract, and things are a lot better. Basically, I ask for a bass of good quality, with a "jazz setup" and proper amplification, including the amp if needed. Usually I wind up with something playable, and often very nice. If you're specific about what you would like to see in a rental bass, then the folks on the other end have some type of guidelines; otherwise, they aren't generally too informed regarding what constitutes a good instrument.

Yeah, I know you tried the same thing.... but it does seem that it's gotten better for me in recent years. Haven't tried it in China yet, though.....

[basstef]

I had the same experience in Cuba, where I played 5 gigs at the 2005 Jazz festival in L'Havana...
The set up for each bass was terrible...

[simandlhandle]

Thanks for replying marcus and basstef, nice to know it isn't personal. The interpreter on the tour confided to me that they had never organised a jazz tour before, and that after insisting I didn't bring my own bass, they had found found out from the Theatres we played that in the bands that had played there before, the bass players always brought their own instruments, and you get to thinking" why me", to which the answer seems to be "economics".