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Bass Malfunctions that Impacted Gigs - With Poll!!!

Has one of your basses ever died/broke on a gig?

  • Yup.

    Votes: 50 33.8%

  • Nope.

    Votes: 98 66.2%
  • Total voters
    148
  • Poll closed .
Baird6869

Baird6869

Feb 16, 2007
16,717
5,037
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
#1
Folks,

It seems that many TBers that play paid gigs do not bring a backup bass. To me this is crazy, but to each their own.

Have you ever had a bass malfunction/issue on a gig that prevented you (even briefly) from playing?

If so, what happened and what was the impact on your gig?

Personally, I ALWAYS bring a backup bass but years ago I did not. I started bringing a backup when I was 21-ish after a wire to my input jack came loose halfway thru a set. In this instance, we stopped the gig, luckily I had a solder gun (my amp was flaky, so I carried it in my cable bag) and I did bass surgery on a beer soaked table. 15 minutes later we were back onstage. We lost a few crowd members and the bar owner was a little p!$$ed, but we pulled thru.

Also, in almost 30 years of playing bass I have broken 3 strings on gigs. Had backups, so I switched in under a minute. I still got some icy stares from the dance floor!

What about you?
 
#3
I had a bass (active) go funny on me between sound check and the gig. It was an out of town wedding. We worked around it but it didn't sound the best. I still only bring one bass to gigs. Just asking for it I guess. Of course, my only gig these days is church and I'm a block away from home so...
 
#5
Only twice in all my years of playing. Once I had a bass acclimate on me and the first 6 frets were useless to me. Strings literally laying on the fretboard. Second time just a had a battery die. Good thing I had a battery box. Popped a new battery in there in about 15 seconds. I take pretty good care of my basses and check them out thoroughly before gigs. In fact, I'm about due for a semi annual battery changeout.
 
#7
A few years ago, while on tour in NYC, i cracked the neck at the heel on my upright, trying to squeeze it through the turnstile to get on the subway. (I have since learned to use the wheelchair access door)

Anyway, i borrowed another upright while it was being repaired, and put some Innovation Rockabilly strings on them, for a little lower tension than what came on it. A little too low tension it turned out.

We were opening for Whitey Morgan, and about 3 songs into the set, I was slapping away, and suddenly heard a weird CLUNK and then everything sort of disappeared...the bridge just fell off the bass!

I dragged the whole mess backstage and jammed the bridge back in place, confirmed that the soundpost was still in position, then re-strung the whole thing. Our singer did a few solo tunes to buy some time, and about 10 minutes later i got back on stage and dove right in.

1 minute later, the bridge fell off AGAIN. I scooped up the parts and repeated the open-bass surgery. This time, Whitey's bass player came back and offered me the use of his Gibson Thunderbird & I finished the set with that. Which was weird, because I bow and slap a lot on upright on these songs and had never played them on electric before.

The whole experience was kind of a drag, but it turned out ok. Kinda tough to bring an extra upright along to every gig though.
 
#10
In the 80s I had an active bass's batteries go dead and no extras (dumb mistake). Nobody in the band had any batteries, either. I played the last two sets on the keyboard player's minimoog set to a synth bass sound. Good thing I knew my way around a keyboard......

I also used to break strings on occasion in a dance band. The guitar player would play "The Clap" by Steve Howe while I changed the broken string. I could be done, and tuned, in the 2 minutes it took.
 
#11
I change strings before every gig, so I've had numerous string breaks. Most often they've been D, G, or C-strings, and I can normally work around those quite easily. One time it was the D and I had a temp show with a Tool cover band, so that was interesting to try to pull off.

I've had a few batteries go out (someone was putting old, used 9V batteries back in the container), but that's not been a huge issue - just grab the other bass and take care of the battery between songs.

I had a nut break on me once (happened to my guitarist two shows prior), rendering the B-string useless. The nut also was not glued in well, because it slowly slid from the uneven sideways tension. I had to retune my strings a few times during the song to compensate for the sliding nut, but switched to the backup as soon as that song was over.

My worst experience was when I jumped off stage to go run out into the crowd. My wireless pack slipped off of my strap and fell down to the ground, falling out and breaking off the ring terminal of the jack (I still can't figure out how it happened). I couldn't preform my solo, but I was able to run back to the stage, grab the backup, and make it back into the song in about 12 seconds.

I ALWAYS bring a backup bass.
 
#12
Way back in the day I had an Alembic Elan/Europa go dead on me right before a live recording. I popped the back cover off(first time) and instantly knew I was dead in the water....there were things in there I had never seen before...let alone seen on a bass guitar. I had to play another guys 6-string bass that he "purchased" from GC that day. I had never played a 6 string before, let alone a bass with all the stickers, hang-tags and plastic dangling all over the place...he was planning to return the bass right after the concert.
 
#13
I haven't had an issue yet. *Knock on wood*

I normally bring a backup bass anyways, but there are the occasional gigs where I don't. It's usually places where space is at a premium.

I'll normally play both basses at the gig just because I can. Otherwise it's a waste to lug the 2nd one with me.
 
#14
Twice...both "stupid bassist tricks"

  • Last year I went to a gig with one of my Alembics that has offboard power, so I intentionally left without putting batteries in the gigbag. Got to the gig and realized I left the 5-pin cord home, so I had to play it through the 1/4" jack. And the batteries (2-9V) were going. Had to make a FAST trip to CVS.
  • Last week I took a bass that I had just re-strung to an open mic. Probably cut the A string too short because it kept going a half step flat. Had to keep tuning mid song. Including during the solo part of "Boogie Oogie Oogie"
 
#15
Incidents where my gig was impacted and/or interrupted;

Broken string - happened three times (two times on stage) on three different basses, and was the reason I stopped playing Rotosounds & switched to D'Addario about 20 years ago. About 5 minutes downtime, & I always carry spares.

Dead preamp battery - happened only once - I change all preamp batteries every 6 months now, & keep a calandar to keep track of battery & string changes, as well as other maintenance. About 5 minutes downtime, & I always carry spares.

Dead wireless battery - 2 minute change out, & I always carry spares.

Shorted cable - 1 minute change out, & I always carry spares.

Faulty house power ground - got the crap shocked out of me throughout the entire gig every time I sang into the mic. Went wireless for over a decade after that gig, and only recently have I gone back to using a cable.
 
#16
Yessir...

A few years ago, I was in the process of rebuilding my bass collection, so I was down to only the custom Moye 5. That bass has always had issues with batteries and the battery box(i.e. batteries wouldn't fit right, needed to shim them so they'd make good contact). Was playing a show and the bass started losing volume and distorting in the first set. Made it thru the 1st set and thought "no prob. change the batteries, good to go", so that's what I did. Checked it right after I put new batteries in it-NOTHING! :eek:! Open the box, try to re-shim the batteries-NOTHING! Think maybe I put the wrong batteries in(not likely, I had just opened the package), so I put 2 more fresh batteries in-NOTHING! Now I'm starting to panic. Put the old batteries back in-NOTHING! I'm no electrician, so I couldn't see anything wrong in the control cavity. 2nd set is supposed to start and there's no bass and I'm out of ideas. Then a kid comes to the stage(we were playing an all-ages show)and says that he plays bass and he thinks I'm cool, little does he know I feel like an imbecile at this moment. I ask him if he happens to have his bass with him? He says no, but he doesn't live far from where we were. He tells his dad what's up, they run home and get his bass, and I finish the show with this kids bass! I have no idea what kind it was, but it sounded good to me at the time. I gave the kid and his dad a couple of free t-shirts and let the kid sit on the stage.

I bought a cheapo backup bass the next day.

Took the Moye back to the Stuart Moye, who lives in the same city as I do, a couple of days later to have him figure out what went wrong. He calls me later and tells me the battery box came apart and he put a new one in. It's worked fine ever since, but I will NEVER go to a gig with only one bass!
 
#18
The closest I came was my last gig. I took my MIK Squier I had just modded out to play. I was in a hurry to get it done for the gig so I bought an alpha parts input jack at a local shop. I always use switchcraft jacks but the shop did not have them and I thought..ahh ..it's ok :rolleyes:

It was not. I use a custom made cable one with an angle plug that cuts out the signal to the amp when unplugged. While setting up at the gig (no backup bass)This cable would not work with that jack.... no siganl from bass to amp..period!
The distance of the jack when installed was shallow and a good connection could not be made with this cable. Luckly for me I carry a back up cable with reg angled end and it worked.

I changed that jack out to a switchcraft the next day. I will never use anything other than a switchcraft jack..lesson learned.
 
#19
I have yet to have anything happen to a bass during a gig. However, after 20 plus years as a pro photographer one thing I know is to always bring back up gear! The time you will need a spare is the time you didn't bring one! If I'm getting paid to do a job I want to be sure I have all the tools to do it properly.
 
#20
I've had a couple of close calls. I once broke a low E string, somehow, but luckily it happened on the last note of the last song of the night. At a recent gig my sound starting cutting in and out intermittently during a couple of songs, but I couldn't tell for sure if it was a bass, pedalboard, or amp issue -- and in a 20-minute set there wasn't much chance to figure it out. Hasn't happened since then.

I always bring a backup.
 

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