Bass Failure On a Gig (Poll)

[cazclocker]

My old Precision died at a backyard birthday party gig. It had a brand new Seymour Duncan Antiquty pup soldered in, and this gig was the first time out. Had to drive considerable distance to get there. Damn pickup died straightaway. I was using my lead guitarist's Les Paul with bass all the way up, treble all the way down, when all of a sudden the birthday girl came out holding a funky Harmony bass! She said she got it for Christmas when she was a teenager and never learned. Finished the gig, got my money back for the POS pickup.

 

[Wisebass]

Hi Smallmouth_Bass

Great poll! Should be "sticky"

To say it with Shakespeare: "Backup or no backup" that' s the question"

Okay, I have added a "no failure" choice to the poll!

Should have been there right from the start! (that' s why I voted "carrots")

greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I found the results interesting. One that stood out was a battery failure. Sorry, folks that's not an equipment failure, that's a bass player failure.

 

[Jack]

I played a tiny pub with a 'band area' rather than a true, raised, stage and I walked to the front line to dance or interact or whatever and then I walked back towards the rear of the stage. Turns out an audience member was stood on the cable, ripped the whole scratchplate off. I'll have to dig out a photo...

I know not everyone agrees, and we're all adults here capable of making our choices but it'd make me VERY nervous to gig without a backup bass. I've only needed one that one time above but I was so glad I had it.

 

[Miker27607]

I've only had one failure at a gig: My ric 4001 came detached from the strap and fell onto the stage. Surprisingly, it was fine. I always take two basses to a gig, just for peace of mind.

 

[Brother Goose]

I've had strings break, amps fry, various component unwire themselves, and drunk girls break a tuner by knocking a bass over .

I carry spares!

 

[two fingers]

In thirty years and several thousand shows, I have had half a dozen Jack's go bad, half a dozen cables start shorting out on me, tuners and bridge saddles break, and quite a few strings break.

When I was 16, I broke a double ball string duri g a show and had no backup. I got an earful from my band (all in their thirties) while the bartender ran to his house and got his crappy bass for me to finish the show with. From that day on, I had spare everything. I went out the next day and bought a hit pink Kramer Forum bass (gotta love the 80s), several sets of strings, spare cables, and a box to start gathering all my spare junk in.

On the amp side, I have had an SVT shoot a blue cloud out the back (burning the stage back wall actually) and several other thi gs go wrong. I always had a plan B. Usually that was another head. Sometimes it was just a DI box.

I have gotten my contingency plans down to a small tube head and a "Box of Doom" full of spare cables and batteries and strings and whatnot. They both stay in the vehicle at shows unless I need them. I am CONSTANTLY running out to the truck to get an adapter or a cable or strings for a guitar player. Well worth the peaceful feeling it brings me to lug the extra crap to my truck.

Spare bass? No brainer. Every show. Even if I'm playing three songs in church. Double hanging bass stand. Two basses.

At a lot of shows, I run into a Rolls Red Square DI box. Sound guy hats two channels... one from my amp and one from the Rolls. My amp could explode on stage and the audience will never know it because there's a second signal already going to the board. Take up no space at all and an extra 15 seconds to set up.



........and my phone rings off the hook. I turn down more gigs than I take. Maybe there's a correlation?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Laptop power supply failure, it also took out the Mobo as well.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I had a battery die mid-gig once but fixed it in seconds. I chose “never had a bass failure” though because I failed my bass in that instance.

 

[ClassicJazz]

This is one I still have nightmares about! Three ago years in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge. My band made it to the Semi-finals. So there we were in Rum Boogie doing our set using my '72 Jazz bass.

Around two songs in I realized something wasn't right. At first thought is was the amp which it wasn't. Then I heard my E string was out of tune and then just stop working???

I look down to see that the long screw that holds the bridge saddle (and you use to set the intonation) somehow worked its way out, thus causing the E string bridge saddle to flop over! So the string was basically sitting on the pickups and not usable. So I was pretty much pooping in my pants at that point. I couldn't stop the set and had no backup bass. And doing power blues, really needed that E string. So while still smiling, I had to re-think all the fingerings for the songs while playing so I could get through the set. The good thing, most people said they didn't realize I was having problems. I never did find that screw.

If zoom in on the bridge in the photo, you'll see there is no adjustment screw for the E string and the saddle is flopped over.

 

[Siggy]

Keep in mind. Some of us have been playing 60 years and some 6 months so time hours of play is a factor. Remember "Murphy's Law".."things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance,"

 

[derg]

No failures but I always gig with 2 basses - if only to have a choice of tone/feel for the night.

 

[MCS4]

Input jack for me. I've also had a tuning peg break at rehearsal for no obvious reason, which could have just easily happened at a gig instead.

 

[wmhill]

Quite honestly... what’s the point?

Two threads over the last week with plenty of folks demonstrating that it can happen. Whether you are prepared with a backup is up to you. If you are not prepared you get to be that guy that ruins a gig. Not worth the risk given how easy it is to have a backup. IMHO of course.

 

[JRA]

while i generally take two instruments to a gig my sensibilities aren't 'assaulted' by those who wouldn't/don't. things can happen on any gig which could result in anyone not being prepared for that specific event/failure.

if you've never had a failure = you have been lucky...up to this moment.

 

[interp]

Had my rig fail the other night, not on a gig but at an open mic. The back story is that two hours before taking the stage I had been in a car accident with my gear in the back of my Volvo wagon. The car was totaled, but the equipment seemed fine. I had my wife take the gear to the session in a taxi (the venue was only four blocks away) while I finished up with police reports, having the vehicle towed, etc. I got there, set up my stuff and lo and behold I could not make the system (Jule Monique into an ICE 1000P power amp into an EA VL-208 cab) make a single sound. All the lights were on but nobody home. I figured the tubes in the Monique had maybe been jolted during the collision and didn’t want to work. Rather than mess with it I just grabbed the house bass amp and used it.

Got it home today, checked it out and everything worked perfectly. Go figure.

 

[MD Stingray]

I look down to see that the long screw that holds the bridge saddle (and you use to set the intonation) somehow worked its way out, thus causing the E string bridge saddle to flop over!View attachment 3322008

Scary experience I'm sure, but it made a great story!

 

[Maynjo]

Why is there no broken string on that list?

 

[bassliner50]

The vulnerable link in my gigging gear is my aging body, BPH, hypertension, on medications failing brain cells, painful knees etc. Gigging 50 years+, so far so good. Can't last forever.

 

[BACKLASHBASS]

Never had a bass fail, but back in the day, when I was gigging occasionally as a rhythm guitar player, I came to a gig without a backup and my Les Paul was knocked off of the stand onto a concrete floor by an inattentive "roadie". Being a Les Paul, the headstock sheared off and my night was done. Ever since then I have taken a backup, because sometimes the unthinkable happens. My current "backup" is a Hofner club bass. It's small, weighs nothing, and it's not much of an inconvenience to bring along "Just in case".