After the second set, I pull out my SUB and start tuning when I notice a couple of strings bottom out against the fretboard! It's unplayable!!! I would have been SOL if that was the only bass I had there.
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Always bring a backup bass!
- Thread starter Stinsok
- Start date
i broke my strap button and had to play the rest of the gig sitting on a bar stool,things that happen once in a lifetime specially when you don't have another bass!
Doesn't the sub have the wheel of fortune truss rod adjuster like the Stingrays? I can adjust that thing practically in the middle of a song.
Maybe the lesson here -- for EBMM player at least -- is to keep a drill bit, allen wrench, small screwdriver (I've used all of these in the wheel of fortune before) close by at a gig for on the fly adjustments.
Always, always, always ... even if you never have to touch it!
I made the mistake of not bringing my back up once, since I could remember the last time I needed it. Just my luck ... in the beginning of our last set, I broke my "E" string in the middle of a song ... after the song was over, I realized that my spare 5'ver set was with my back-up bass (kept all my back-up stuff, and extra strings in that case).
Had to finish the set playing on my "B" string, to compensate for the loss of my "E" string.
I learned three things that night ... always bring a backup, double-check your gear ... and always bring a 5'ver, if you have one.
I made the mistake of not bringing my back up once, since I could remember the last time I needed it. Just my luck ... in the beginning of our last set, I broke my "E" string in the middle of a song ... after the song was over, I realized that my spare 5'ver set was with my back-up bass (kept all my back-up stuff, and extra strings in that case).
Had to finish the set playing on my "B" string, to compensate for the loss of my "E" string. I learned three things that night ... always bring a backup, double-check your gear ... and always bring a 5'ver, if you have one.
+1 that EB's 'wheel of fortune' (ha ha- "TOP Dollar Top Dollar Sheree") IS DAMN easy for neck adjusts real quick. My "ray 5 seems to stay pretty good & I USUALLY only have to adjust it 2x/yr but just SO EASY compared to hex nut types!!
I had my B on my 5 break taking it out of the case. I thought. I should be able to do fine without it. I won't be using those notes with this band anyways. Get's to the gig. Just near the end of the first song, my E then flops out. I felt so embarrassed having to ask the other band to use their bass. Put it this way though. 2 string in 2 weeks, I am never!!! buying Rotosound strings again. Got myself some Ernie Ball flats to replace them. Til I could afford to get them I just used my 4 string. From now on, I'll be taking both with me.
This has got me paranoid about my gig tonight. There's only room for one bass in the drummers Civic, tonight. Plus, I don't have another strap for any of my other basses. Wish me luck!
I bought an SX to donate to one of the churches I play at. Played it on the Sunday before Christmas. Decided that since it was there, I wouldn't have to bring any of my basses when I played there. I could travel light!
For some reason I took my fretless with me the next time I played there. I think I took it just in case one of the songs we were doing that day was something I preferred to play fretless.
Long story short (too late!), the input jack on the SX had crapped out. It was unplayable. I would not have had enough time to go home and grab a bass and get back before service started, so it was fretless all the way that Sunday.
For some reason I took my fretless with me the next time I played there. I think I took it just in case one of the songs we were doing that day was something I preferred to play fretless.
Long story short (too late!), the input jack on the SX had crapped out. It was unplayable. I would not have had enough time to go home and grab a bass and get back before service started, so it was fretless all the way that Sunday.
I play 80/90 gigs a year from about 25 years, I always bring a backup bass.
Through this years I had problems with brocken strings, pots, battery connections,jack output,nuts,tuning machine and a broken body! Show must go on, there's no time to fix a problem in the middle of a set.
Through this years I had problems with brocken strings, pots, battery connections,jack output,nuts,tuning machine and a broken body! Show must go on, there's no time to fix a problem in the middle of a set.
I always bring a backup bass to gigs. IMO, it is unprofessional not to do so.
At a jam or rehearsal... if you have an instrument problem, pack it in early or drink beer. It sucks, but nobody is paying to see you play.
Some of the bad things that have happened to me over 20+ years of gigging.....
- Multiple broken strings - Not a big pain, but it requires an immediate 10 min break if you don't have a backup.
- Broken (basically shattered) nut - I would have been SOL without a backup
- Threaded bolt holding a saddle on my Jazz flew off - Never found it... and again, SOL without a BU
Lose wire on my imput jack - I luckily carry a solder gun and operated on a beer soaked table between sets. Without solder... SOL
Bass spontaneously combusts - ok, I made that one up!
At a jam or rehearsal... if you have an instrument problem, pack it in early or drink beer. It sucks, but nobody is paying to see you play.
Some of the bad things that have happened to me over 20+ years of gigging.....
- Multiple broken strings - Not a big pain, but it requires an immediate 10 min break if you don't have a backup.
- Broken (basically shattered) nut - I would have been SOL without a backup
- Threaded bolt holding a saddle on my Jazz flew off - Never found it... and again, SOL without a BU
Lose wire on my imput jack - I luckily carry a solder gun and operated on a beer soaked table between sets. Without solder... SOL
Bass spontaneously combusts - ok, I made that one up!
Thirty five years ago my strap button broke off and I sat in a chair the rest of the night. That incident fueled my paranoid inner feelings, and I've carried a backup ever since. I can't count on both hands how many times this has paid off. I never leave the house without two basses.
Wow...what bass?! Ive never had a rotosound break on me. I always break DRs!!! haha
And yeah....always 2 for me. Usually a fretted and a fretless. Just in case. =]
I have a two bass gig bag so that I can bring a backup, but I can honestly say I have never need to use a backup. My basses are in great condition, and I'm not hard on them. I have yet to break a bass string, but I don't slap so maybe thats part of the reason. When I use to use roundwounds I would change them regularly, but now I use flats, and they seem to last forever. Maybe I'm just lucky although I have a feeling the day I don't bring a backup will be the day everything goes south.
