• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Are two basses REALLY needed to bring to gigs?

#261
In 25 years I have never brought 2 basses to a gig. I "would" for vanity purposes but not for "backup". I broke a string once about 15 years ago but that was at a rehearsal (not the actual gig). The bottom line is I trust my gear. Outside breaking a string I don't expect anything to go wrong with my basses.
 
#262
Well I've been playing for 45 years and have never broken a string or an instrument. I have knocked out a few teeth of rowdy patrons that wouldn't stay away from the stage using the old mic stand trick. This is a true story. I was playing a house gig at a local VFW.The band table was along side the stage. The table top was level with the stage. To make the story short a guy wouldn't leave my wife alone so I took the beer bottle from my mic stand cup holder and took off after him with it over the table top with my '65 P still strapped on.Good thing it came unplugged before it pulled my SVT to the ground. never got to him. The bouncer got to me first. They barred him and I just went back playing. All in a nights work. didn't break a thing. You kids are just to scared.
 
#269
thedude77md said:
I've had a nut break at a gig, a jack go bad, and some wiring on a pickup shorted out at a gig.
Click to expand...

I've been playing for 30+ years. In all that time I haven't had many problems, but each time they've occurred, my bandmates and I were grateful that I brought a backup.

FYI, here are the problems I've had in three decades: a half-dozen broken strings, broken nut, broken jack, a couple of preamp/electronics problems.

Merely breaking a string can be annoying without a backup even if you have spare strings. It's much easier to switch to the backup than to A) finish the set with a missing string, or B) force the band to take an unscheduled break while you change the string. The other problems are more severe, and not necessarily field repairable.

I won't say that it's unprofessional not to bring a backup. But it certainly is unprofessional to force your band to take an unscheduled break, especially a lengthy one, if something goes wrong with your gear.
 
#271
I've been in bands where we had a malfunction onstage and didn't stop the show, instead worked around it. Meaning do something that might not require that piece while it's being attended to. That's the kind of musicians I usually play with.

In my years of gigging after I became really competent with my gear and stayed on top of it I had the one failure with the Washburn bass and since it hadn't been gig tested I didn't trust it at that point anyway. Other than that and I know this will tempt the bass gods, no broken nuts, strings, tuners, amps, I did have one cab on a two cab setup go out because we decided to play way too loud... that's it. A total string change takes me about five minutes so one string wouldn't require a full break anyway.

But after reading this thread, I'm not only taking two basses on my next, I'm also going to wear a condom.
 
#272
You never know what will happen I been playing bass almost 30 years and only one time broke a string,I was in the recording studio it was almost 20 years ago been hauling 2 eversince.You dont need it till you need it and you never know when carry 2(I also carry a extra amp)gettin paranoid in my old age.
 
#273
savit260 said:
I don't think using Dunlops would have cured the problem unless their screws are somehow unbreakable. ;)

Here's what happened... Did a song and a half soundcheck... Everything is cool. Opening bands play... Grab bass... tune up... on stage and get the go ahead from the sound guy... Guitar player starts talking on the mic... I'm getting myself ready to start the first song, and the bass starts traveling towards the floor. The screw sheered clean off while just standing there.

Now as for Dunlops... Guitar player uses them as he prefers them to Schallers, BUT during a show one time the C shaped "snap ring clip" on the his Dunlops had apparently worn just enough where it slipped off and sent his Gibson to the floor, mid song snapping off the high E string tuner.
Glad he had a backup too. ;)
Click to expand...

Psh, it's not as if the high E string is important. Isn't it just there for looks?
 
#274
logicman69 said:
I've had my MIM Jazz bass bridge saddles collapse on me in the middle of a show (the small height screws stripped out). I had to play most of the show on the high D & G strings. Ever since that I have brought a backup to all my shows.
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen to me, sort of. In my case two of the saddles simply decided to adjust themselves down to the bottom of the bridge. Luckily they weren't stripped and something that was NOT luck was the fact (that I mentioned previously) the each of my basses has a little bag with EVERY tool needed to adjust or take apart all things on the bass so out came the tiny allen wrench. Spent the last half of the gig cranking up the saddles until I got home and applied locktite. This was NOT some cheapo bass! (I do forget which one it was though. Probably my Ken Smith.)

I know what you paranoid youngsters with no gonadz are thinking: I should have had a bottle of locktite in the old gig bag, but hey, you have to have SOME excitement in your life! :)
 
#275
Brad Johnson said:
But after reading this thread, I'm not only taking two basses on my next, I'm also going to wear a condom.
Click to expand...

Condom? Whoa! Wait a minute. I don't remember telling any stories about the middle aged groupie woman who owns the biker bar we used to play a lot... Her stories of the "old days" were great, though... :eyebrow:

Just remember, a broken headstock or neck is just an order to Warmouth. Some STDs are forever. Say no more.
 
#280
I brought along my MIM '60's Jazz w/CS pups and other mods to my gig last night, just in case...
I've been playing my P(arts)-bass for over a year now, maybe 60 or 70 gigs - indoors, outdoors, beach, sleezy dives, beautiful country clubs - everywhere (man).
Remember that I haven't used a back-up bass before, ever, except for maybe once or twice when I wanted to compare two basses to each other under gig conditions. And I've been playing bass seriously (okay, maybe not so seriously, but as my primary instrument) for about ten years.
So what happens? The set-screw on my volume knob decides to loosen and I have to play the entire second and third sets with no knob. Now you might think that's not a big deal - but I use the position of the set-screws on the barrel knobs to tell me what position the pot is at. And to top it off, I had left the Jazz bass in the car, out in the parking lot.
Anyway, I'm on the road next week (all the way to Connecticut-LOL). I really don't know what to do. If I bring the back-up, will Murphy's law take over, and something else will go wrong? If I don't bring the #2, will everything be fine, like it has been since June of last year? I'm in a quandary :help:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back