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Are two basses REALLY needed to bring to gigs?
- Thread starter Alex Huddleston
- Start date
Brad Johnson said:
TB answer. Of course I do. Doesn't everybody?
Real world answer.........what Sartori said
I normally go over my gear post gig, so it's ready to go for the next one.
If we happen to be practicing between shows (not all that common) , I'll use one of my other P basses a lot of the time, or go over the bass post practice.
Sure one bass is plenty. What could possibly go wrong? I'm sure it makes no difference if you have to walk out in the middle of the gig and leave the rest of the band on their own. No problem!
Hey, what are we here? Guitar players? Sure I've actually seen a guitar player doing a gig with the jack hanging out of his guitar shorting and making static. "Hey man, it's not so bad. Look, If I stand real still like this it hardly makes any static at all!"
Murphy's Law: If things CAN go bad they WILL go bad.
Read it. Believe it. Act on it!
Your goal is to make sure things CAN'T go bad.
Hence. Two basses to any gig. Usually they are designed to contribute to the music like say old school and modern or fretted and fretless. BUT you COULD use just one all night if the other one bit the dust. Of course sometimes there are spare basses at the gig in which case you don't have to bother, though for musical reasons I still prefer to have two.
Plus. In EACH bass case I have a strap that fits THAT bass, A set of strings that is for THAT bass, plus a COMPLETE set of allen wrenches and tools that are needed for ALL adjustments on THAT bass. No I can't change a nut onstage during a break, but I CAN change strings or crank a saddle back up!
In addition each case has a cord and a tiny fold-up bass stand (the kind like a V on the floor). Hence if a cord dies or my stand comes apart (have had BOTH occur on stage!) there's always a back up (at least to the point of working to get you through) in each bass case. And of course each bass case has a set of fresh batteries for THAT bass if it uses them. I change all batteries once a year regardless.
So have I ever broken a string? I can't remember the last time that happened. Do I usually have bass problems at a gig? Well, no... at most maybe a dead battery. (usually my fault from leaving the cord in the bass)
So I guess it's one bass and "don't worry" "Be Happy". Right? Wrong. Go read Murphy's Law again! It's not BS. I've had the welds break on my stand. I've had saddles that just decided to lower themselves all night. I've had cords die (common). I've had shorts in the cavity...(not serious but takes tiny screwdriver etc. to get in there and poke wires apart). You name it, it can happen.
So am I a belt and suspenders kind of guy? Maybe. But I've never got the reputation of being a guy who had to quit the gig in the middle and drive home either. The stuff in the case is completely unnoticeable. And I have this theory about Murphy's Law which says that if you are prepared for trouble it rarely bothers with you. If you are unprepared, that acts as a trouble magnet! And as I look at it the spare bass "serves the music" by providing a better ability to tailor your tone to the song. It's hard to argue with success.
Sorry, but is that paranoia I read here?
TB answer. Of course I do. Doesn't everybody?
Real world answer.........what Sartori said
I wasn't really looking for a posted answer, it was more something to ask ones self, especially if you have nuts breaking, solder joints disconnecting, batteries dying, screws falling out and any of the other "accidental" stuff that seems to plague some bassists here.
There's this thing called preventive maintainence, I wonder how many actually follow the principle? I do and I think the shortage of failures in my gear for decades is more than coincidental.
Like I said, I used to take two basses on just about everything, mainly for variety, not as spares. It got to the point where I knew, not hoped my gear was solid so I don't do it on a regular basis anymore. If you really think about all of the what-if's that line up for a gig, the what-if's for your bass don't seem that much of a big deal anymore.
What if you have a wardrobe malfunction of any kind - always take a spare set of clothes?
Car trouble - do you use a trailer hitch and take a spare vehicle for every gig? What if the hitch breaks?
Speaker cab when you have no PA- always take a spare? Spare amp?
What if the spare bass that you don't use very often comes out of the case with a problem?
And so on... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with taking spares, I do think the idea that someone's doing something unprofessional by not doing so is kind of silly. Unless you take all of the other stuff I listed above... I guess that makes you unprofessional too.
BTW breaking strings is not unprofessional IMO. Knowing you break strings and not taking spares and learning how to change one quickly is (it's easy). I would imagine most here aren't always doing gigs with to the second time schedules like a live televised event so there may be more time available than some let on.
I bring 4 basses to any given gig, but that's because we play in 2 different tunings (or at least I do), and I have a bass and a backup for each. It gets to be just another part of hauling gear, and you get used to it. Same principle as to why i carry a condom and a .45. Better to have it and not need it (well not so much in the first case) than need it and not have it.
Sorry, but is that paranoia I read here?
Paranoia? Or just being prepared?
I prefer to think the latter. I'd rather be over-prepared, than show up with just enough, have something happen, & hang myself & my band out to dry by having no way to deal with the problem.
Sorry, but is that paranoia I read here?
Maybe... the idea that things WILL, not MIGHT go bad is pretty paranoid. If it's true I guess I'm way overdue.
I've never got the reputation of being a guy who had to quit the gig in the middle and drive home either. If my bass is in any way questionable I don't take it. I take one I trust implicitily. If I know a knob was a little loose or a jack made a slight noise or the bass sounds different than normal, I either check it out or leave it home and check it out later.
Of course I'm staring fate in the face, just begging for a problem
. If I have one I'll be sure and let you guys know. In the meantime I'll rely on my skills at keeping my gear in top working order and not hoping for the best.That reminds me, I did have one gig back in the 80's where I had bought a new Washburn 6 string and the scarf jojnt on the neck separated when I took it out of the case. I had another bass with me because the Washburn was an unknown gig-wise. That's when I'll definitely take a spare again.
(speaking only for myself)BTW breaking strings is not unprofessional IMO. Knowing you break strings and not taking spares and learning how to change one quickly is (it's easy). I would imagine most here aren't always doing gigs with to the second time schedules like a live televised event so there may be more time available than some let on.
The vast majority of the gigs I play, the band has an alloted time slot. Depending on who we're playing with, it can be a VERY tight, and you don't want to play too long. That's not good for making friends.
(reminds me of a headlining show we did where we got a whole 12 minutes to set up AND pay our set, because the openers ran the clock out)
Understood... and like I said, I doubt that's a majority of the gigs folks here are playiing on. Here's my basic recipe for dealing with a situation like yours:
Use better gear and pay attention to it.
Understood... and like I said, I doubt that's a majority of the gigs folks here are playiing on. Here's my basic recipe for dealing with a situation like yours:
Use better gear and pay attention to it.
On a 4 set "blues gig" night, I doubt I'd lose any sleep over changing a string on stage, but I'd probably still bring a backup now... although truth be told... back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I did those kinds of gigs... I usually only brought one bass.
Understood... and like I said, I doubt that's a majority of the gigs folks here are playiing on. Here's my basic recipe for dealing with a situation like yours:
Use better gear and pay attention to it.
The gear I use is all in top notch shape, as is my guitar player and drummers stuff, but that still doesn't mean any of us were immune to odd ball problems.
Playing a $4000 bass wouldn't have cured any of the issues I've ever had myself, or seen others have. A Sadowsky isn't any less prone to being slammed into by an enthusiastic show goer than an SX or American Fender.
What do you suggest I play to cure that kind of issue?
I wasn't really looking for a posted answer, it was more something to ask ones self, especially if you have nuts breaking, solder joints disconnecting, batteries dying, screws falling out and any of the other "accidental" stuff that seems to plague some bassists here.
There's this thing called preventive maintainence, I wonder how many actually follow the principle? I do and I think the shortage of failures in my gear for decades is more than coincidental.
Like I said, I used to take two basses on just about everything, mainly for variety, not as spares. It got to the point where I knew, not hoped my gear was solid so I don't do it on a regular basis anymore. If you really think about all of the what-if's that line up for a gig, the what-if's for your bass don't seem that much of a big deal anymore.
What if you have a wardrobe malfunction of any kind - always take a spare set of clothes?
Car trouble - do you use a trailer hitch and take a spare vehicle for every gig? What if the hitch breaks?
Speaker cab when you have no PA- always take a spare? Spare amp?
What if the spare bass that you don't use very often comes out of the case with a problem?
And so on... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with taking spares, I do think the idea that someone's doing something unprofessional by not doing so is kind of silly. Unless you take all of the other stuff I listed above... I guess that makes you unprofessional too.
BTW breaking strings is not unprofessional IMO. Knowing you break strings and not taking spares and learning how to change one quickly is (it's easy). I would imagine most here aren't always doing gigs with to the second time schedules like a live televised event so there may be more time available than some let on.
I'm not saying it's unprofessional not to. I've seen great bands play entire sets with just one axe.
But an extra bass really isn't that much trouble. Places I play usually have a PA. I don't like going direct, but if my amp craps out, I can.
Stuff hasn't often happened to my bass. I've only broken a string once in the 11 years I've been playing. But stuff happens. Also, there are sometimes morons in the crowd. I play metal, and sometimes crazy stuff happens at metal shows. I don't jump around that much (I'm not a statue, by any means, but I'm aware of my own clumsiness), but who knows what a drunk audience member might do.
The unexpected happens, too. My bass seemed fine when I cleaned it before the gig. The neck pickup popping out was a bit of a surprise.
Most gigs around here are also of the several band type. Taking a ton of time for on the spot repairs is not an option.
If something that makes my bass unplayable (which would include broken strings, for some material) happens, I'd just grab my backup and then fix whatever the problem was with my main bass when I got home after the gig.
Me neither. A set of pre-cut extra strings is enough.
Being over-prepared makes you look as dweeby as being under-prepared.
You think having a backup bass is being "overprepared?" Seriously? Say some idiot slams into you and breaks your bass. I don't mean a broken string, I mean the bass itself being broken somehow (jack ripped out, electronics crushed, headstock or tuner broken off).
What do you do then?
What do you do then?
Fix it with your portable drill-pickup winder-soldering gun-and-string winder in 1 that you carry in your wheel in craftsman tool box.
Fix it with your portable drill-pickup winder-soldering gun-and-string winder in 1 that you carry in your wheel in craftsman tool box.
Apparently.
