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Always bring a backup bass!

#82
malthumb said:
I will take issue with this one, since I think I was the first to describe a jack failure. Here are the additional details......

  • This was my 2nd encounter with a jack failure in 18 months.
  • Both were with SX basses I bought NEW and donated (one to my kids' school, one to a church I play at twice a month)
  • Although the 1st failure could possibly be attributed to having multiple kids plugging and unplugging, it was there amongst other Squire guitars and basses that had been played under the same conditions for MUCH longer.
  • The bass at the church had been played once by me and twice by an orchestral musician who was available to sit in for two of the weeks that I'm playing at my own church. This guy knows how to treat instruments and did not abuse the bass.
  • The same tech diagnosed and fixed both basses and said they had the exact same failure mode. Based on the design SX uses to secure their jacks from rotating internally. They are allowed to rotate just enough to compromise the solder.
  • Both basses failed with no warning. One day they worked fine, the next day they were silent.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I've never personally had an experience like that but I could never rule it out. I knew that statement would get criticism so I'm fine with it.

I think I would categorize that under my "reasons not to buy cheap basses" section.
 
#83
I generally bring 2 basses, but because one is fretless and one is fretted. If there were a catastrophic failure I'd just finish the gig with whichever. But frankly if your gear is taken care of and you play regularly you'll almost always know when something is going south. With a bass the only thing you have to worry about are strings (which can be changed) and electronics. Pretty rare for a switch to break or pot go bad without some advance warning. Basses are not exactly high tech.

For those that are in the "have to have a backup" camp, then to be internally consistent you better be bringing 2 heads, 2 cabinets, and duplicates of everything else that is mission critical. Your chiropractor can thank me for the extra work...

Funny but upright guys seem to get by with one instrument. As do horn players, string players, and keyboard players. I played hundreds of gigs as a guitarist with exactly one guitar and one amp. The closest I came to not making a gig was a Rivera tube combo taking a dump during soundcheck. I borrowed another guy's amp and played the set. But maybe basses are just delicate creatures that will fail if you look at them the wrong way. In the grand scheme of things, I'm more worried about an amp failure than a bass failure...
 
#84
Gubna said:
I always had a back up when gigging.

my old guitar player wasn't as smart. there were several gigs we played, when he popped a string, that was it for the set. (either that or we became a drum N bass thing, HA!)
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I'm sorry, but what kind of moron guitarist doesn't bring a set of strings? I always had a couple sets, and could change a string in the middle of a drum solo, or finish a tune playing with only 5 (easy when high E pops, a little tougher when B or G goes).
 
#85
I guess i'm very lucky not to have to worry about bringing a spare bass seeing as though the singer/keys player I play with lives upstairs from the club which we frequent, he also happens to play bass on his own recordings meaning he has an abundance of basses sitting upstairs which I could use whenever. I only bring my own bass purely for comfort reasons.
 
#86
I've been blessed to own several good basses in my life. The only two basses I ever had any failures with were an early Gibson Tobias Killer B that went thru G strings, and a Warwick thumb NT6 that I use to occasionally brake C strings with. Other than that, I've always owned good instruments which are well maintained that will play both passive and active and I keep batteries and tools in the gig bag.
 
#87
I bring backup everything(amp,bass,cab,cables,batteries even guitar amp for guiatrist).It would really suck to have malfunction and not have backup.With all of the lightweight gear available this is not a problem,I get nervous not having back-up gear. sorry for dark pic.
 

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#89
> 2 heads

The PA is my backup.

> 2 cabinets

The PA is my backup.

> and duplicates of everything else that is mission critical

Yup - I have dupe cables, strings, batteries, tools, duct tape.

BTW - I have never used any of it. But - I still need it.

For the no-backupers -
- Do any of you ride a motorcycle? Do you maintain your bike? When you take a long ride, do you not carry Tools?
- When you travel, do you leave exactly the amount of time to arrive, or do you leave time for traffic jams, accidents, etc?
- When you tell your boss something is going to be done by a certain date, do you give a date that is only attainable if absolutely everything goes well, or do you add a little time for the unexpected?

:)
 
#92
I agree that if is at all possible, to have at least 1 back up bass. I am now looking into this too. I have 2 - 4 string basses but only have 1 - 5 string bass that I just purchased about a month ago. After I upgrade all of my gear, a second 5 string is what I will buy next.
 
#93
SteveD said:
It's all about probabilities. Bringing two basses is fine, especially if the stage is big enough so you can store the backup on stage where it's safer. Bringing two basses increases the chance of losing one to a thief. Which brings up this question:
How many of you insure your basses? My 65 Jazz is insured for $15k on a specific rider policy. Your homeowner/renter insurance will not cover a bass stolen from at a paying gig. A bass stolen from your home or vehicle is usually only covered up to $2k unless you add a rider policy. I bet more good quality basses are stolen than break at gigs.
Click to expand...

+1
I have all my gear insured with Clarion, best money I ever spent as I play at some very questionable clubs in some really bad neighborhoods.
 
#95
SBassman said:
For the no-backupers -
- Do any of you ride a motorcycle? Do you maintain your bike? When you take a long ride, do you not carry Tools?
- When you travel, do you leave exactly the amount of time to arrive, or do you leave time for traffic jams, accidents, etc?
- When you tell your boss something is going to be done by a certain date, do you give a date that is only attainable if absolutely everything goes well, or do you add a little time for the unexpected?
Click to expand...

-No.
-Exact time. I live in a small city.
-I work in a place where orders are given daily and not with deadlines.


Luckily, none of these have anything to do with a piece of wood with some wires in it.
 
#96
Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

About 6 years ago I was doing a Sunday blues jam.Got a little crazy on a funky tune and snapped the G string.One of the local Guitar Centers was less than 10 minutes away,no problem.

Well,my buddy that works at that GC doesn't work on Sundays, so guess who had to pay ten dollars for one replacement string? :scowl:

I've not broke a string since,but I always bring a back-up bass.Besides,I LIKE playing all my basses. :bassist:
 
#97
Jay Ralston said:
I agree that if is at all possible, to have at least 1 back up bass. I have 2 - 4 string basses but only have 1 - 5 string bass that I just purchased about a month ago. After I upgrade all of my gear, a second 5 string is what I will buy next.
Click to expand...

Any gig I have ever played, I have always had a back up bass. Or two. I also like playing all my basses.
Recently I picked up a 5 string Yammy fretless. It fits in well with some songs that my current band does. But I think Mr Ralston makes a good point here. I did try a Squier Active Jazz fiver in L&M last week. At $340, I'm thinking that this item just might be coming to my house for a while.
Oh yes, I did look at the "Too Good for a Squier" thread too.
 
#100
Once or twice I've carried a spare bass but I didn't need it and have never needed one...I know a few times I've seen guitarists have strings go and dodgy input jacks - so they just picked up the backup and we played on...no problem, but the most recent experience (guitarist having to borrow our OTHER guitarists PRS) DID kinda make me think "hey, I can't do that if something goes wrong..." so now I'm thinking about taking a Squier "something" as backup...I've got a nice squier p already, but I'm GASsing for the squier tele-basses...HMM...
 

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