Lol, I just played a show.........

[punkbassistfc]

And everything went wrong. Ok, where do i start. Played to about 120 or so. Well I decided to change my strings right before the show. Everything was sweet until they would not tune on stage during our sound check. So i took my bass off stage and tuned by ear in the back room.

The first song of the set I jumped, but unfortunately our fat singer was on his way down lol and knocked my neck of the cij fender p-bass out of line, this created a big thud mid song. lol. I proceeded to play to the end of the song, where i did a quick check of my intonation and it was completely out.

So i decided to swap it around for my second bass, my trusty mim Jazz(i refuse to take any good basses for this exact reason). I plug it in................................................ ............................nothing, the battery is dead or the input jack is stuffed, nothing but buzz. At this point in time my band is just playing random stuff while im getting ready. So what choice do i have, i plug the p-bass back in and tune it up. I play up the neck on each string to hear where it starts going out. It started heading downwards at around the 5th fret so i decided to play only up to the fifth fret on the e a and d strings. For the rest of the set i sat rooted to the one spot on the stage thinking about the next notes i had to play because i was unable to play the way i normally do. I octave a lot and it stuffed me right up. Im not that good of a bassist to not think about it all haha.

Well thats my story.

Just thought i should share. its all good though.

Much love

Pbfc

[hartke20g]

1. carry extra batteries all the time
2. make sure you have a big enough stage/are far enough apart to not break other peoples' things

it's murphy's law; "she's a bad mama jama"- carl carlton

[SundanceChile]

Originally Posted by hartke20g

1. carry extra batteries all the time
2. make sure you have a big enough stage/are far enough apart to not break other peoples' things

it's murphy's law; "she's a bad mama jama"- carl carlton

+1. Bass Guitar magazine had a list of "must haves" for the gigging expierience. Might be worth looking up. Off the top of my head, the list includes(but not limited to)

-Spare cables
-Spare strings
-Spare bass
-D/I pedal
-Tubes/power cables/amp related easy fixes
-Duct tape
-Superglue(for those damn blisters)

I'll look for the magazine around my room later.

[eedre]

Isn't that MIM J passive? There's no battery in my MIA J.

Also, when you change strings - give them a couple days to stretch out before playing a show with them.

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by hartke20g

1. carry extra batteries all the time
2. make sure you have a big enough stage/are far enough apart to not break other peoples' things

+1 extra batteries
#2: You get what you get! Stage size is what it is. Usually you can't change it. So watch out for the next guy when you're doing this:

[punkbassistfc]

Originally Posted by eedre

Isn't that MIM J passive? There's no battery in my MIA J.

Also, when you change strings - give them a couple days to stretch out before playing a show with them.

Hey mate, its an mim deluxe active.

[SuperSnake2012]

Your backup bass shouldn't be active... doesn't sound like a great idea.

[ROGI]

and have a tech a frend that plays bass to check out your backup when you are playing

[AdlerAugen]

note to self: bring backups.

In my case I should probably have a backup amp since the one I've got is a korean thing and the transformer that makes the plug-in americanized is so battered, one more fall from carrying it and it'll be kaput.

and I can't AFFORD either a new amp to backup or a bass.

[punkbassistfc]

Thanks for the wise words guys. My main bass is passive, and i hate taking my good basses to gigs. they just get smashed. As for back up amp, i am currently looking for a cheap 2 rack space amp to have sitting in my rack just in case my mark bass decides to crap itself mid gig like it has done before.

[The_D]

At least you finished the show. I have seen people go in the huff and storm off for less

Keep rocking.

[Phantopeth]

Yea, you live and learn about backups and whatnot. I'm happy for you that you're taking it in stride.

Originally Posted by The_D

At least you finished the show. I have seen people go in the huff and storm off for less

Keep rocking.

Indeed, leaving would have been worse.

During a gig in my former group, my guitarist ended up having one of his tuning pegs broken off, so not only could he not tune that string, but it lost a lot of tension in the process. He retuned the rest of his guitar relative to the bum string, and I tuned to him. The show went on (probably half an octave lower than it should have, though )

[lefty]

i always stretch new strings right after i put them on my bass.
after that, i don't have problems with them going out of tune.