How many of you have backup pedals?

BassMonstrum · #1 02-13-2011, 03:44 PM

Some, or most, of us carry a backup bass in case a string snaps and some even have a backup amp, but who here has backup pedals? Not necessarily two of the exact pedal, but another pedal that does the same thing?

The reason I ask is because I'm not sure if I need them all. G.A.S. is constant and I need to finance new toys with the ones I barely/never use. Though, it is nice to have a backup in case the main pedal happens to die.

Left are the ones I use, while right are the ones just collecting dust at the moment:
Boss TU-3 / Korg Pitch Black
MXR Bass envelope filter / Digitech Bass Synth Wah
MXR Bass Octave Deluxe / EBS Octabass
EHX Russian Big Muff / EHX Bass Big Muff
Zvex Woolly Mammoth / Colorsound Bass Fuzz
Sansamp VT Bass / Sansamp Bass Driver DI
Budda Phatbass / EBS Multidrive

Yes, I am aware that the pedals sound different and eventhough I prefer the sound of my go-to-pedals, the others can substitute them if necessary.

So, backup pedals anyone? And if so, what are they?

onionpuzzle · #2 02-13-2011, 03:51 PM

The final goal of a pedal should be "does it serve the song ?" If a pedal sound is vital to the song, then, you should be prepared if the pedal "craps out". However, one cannot switch out a pedal so quickly in a live setting, as if it fails, you won't have time to grab another and switch it out...........unless you have it mounted on your pedal board already, but that can be ridiculous with a back up for everyone.

I've found that it is better to anticipate a pedal failure by knowing what to do with the the remaining pedals that are working. A similar, or new sound might be a good enough "back up"

Back up bass !!! yep. a DI as a back up amp !!! yep.
(though I have brought just one bass to a gig a few times, but had PRE-CUT strings ready just in case of a snap)

bassbrad · #3 02-13-2011, 07:59 PM

There are a few pedals I have multiple copies of, Bass Balls and a Zoom B2.1u/B2 for instance, but most others are one offs.

TOOL460002 · #4 02-13-2011, 09:56 PM

i tend to have more than one pedal thatll do (roughly) the same job.

i wouldnt take a second board to a gig, though. if it dies at home, im fine. if its doa at practice/gigs/whatever, i can make it work.

only some riffs are almost completely dependent on a mix of effects.

iamdenialNJ · #5 02-13-2011, 11:15 PM

no, that's just silly.

Crystalman85 · #6 02-14-2011, 12:18 AM

I've actually have some pedals that I bought as my emergency effects. right now I have a hartke bass attack pedal and a danelecto fab chorus pedal. my next pedal to be part of my emergency effects would be a digitech bass driver. not only these pedal will be my emergency effects, they'll also be my most treasured effects.

Eric! · #7 02-14-2011, 12:21 AM

Nope. I'm too cheap.

four2oh · #8 02-14-2011, 01:10 AM

I carry two SansAmp BDDIs as backups (I have bad luck with amps breaking on me), and also use two Boomerangs on my board.

iamdenialNJ · #9 02-14-2011, 01:24 AM

Get the hell out of here.

hahaha

Quote:

Originally Posted by four2oh

I carry two SansAmp BDDIs as backups (I have bad luck with amps breaking on me), and also use two Boomerangs on my board.

**rhino333** · #10 02-14-2011, 07:47 AM

Primary / Back Up
T-Rex Bass Juice/Marshall Guv'nor 2
MXR Bass Octave/EBS Octabass
3 Leaf Groove Regulator 1/Boss AW-3
Digitech CF-7/Boss CEB-3
Boss BF-3/Boss BF-2
MXR Carbon Copy/EH #1 Echo
EBS Dynaverb/Digitech DigiVerb

AciDBatH666 · #11 02-14-2011, 07:53 AM

I've got a Sansamp RBI in my rack, but I had the Sansamp BDDI pedal first. I was keeping it till I let a friend borrow it to try to punch his sound thru with his current band. I was just going to let him borrow it to see if adding some distortion helped. But I might end up selling it to him. It would be an awesome backup to just plug into that and run the DI to the PA. I could show up with just a bass and throw the Sansamp in the case...

But I'll prolly sell it. I'd love to keep a backup, but sometimes I just gotta realize when I don't need something.

kevteop · #12 02-14-2011, 08:23 AM

I've got two OC-2s, I got the second one to mod it but I decided to keep it as a backup - I can live without pretty much all of my effects except that one, so it's worth having a spare.

I do still intend to get a third and mod that though.

Unrepresented · #13 02-14-2011, 09:54 AM

My board has a few redundancies in it, so that if I'm in a live setting I can probably limp through a set if something were to break.

At a gig playing originals, no one's really going to notice that I'm using a fuzz set to a low gain setting instead of an overdrive, or that I'm using my Bass Microsynth to octave instead of my POG, etc....

8strings0hair · #14 02-14-2011, 12:08 PM

Just like you BassMonstrum, I've accumulated quite a few pedals that haven't made it onto the "main" board.
I went the other route though, and created a very redundant "home" board.

I can fairly easily swap one for the other, but unless I'd be hittin' the road for a few weeks, I wouldn't bother to take it at single gigs.