Bass Malfunctions that Impacted Gigs - With Poll!!!

[jmclearnon]

Battery running out on several occasions, first time however was on my bass with you had to take the back panel off to change it 2nd time i dropped out for a verse and changed the battery, i always have 1 or 2 spares with me and a spare lead.

 

[Ryan L.]

I have had a couple issues over the years. These days, I always, always bring at least two basses to a gig.

I had a wire short out on the jack of a Roscoe 6 string once, rendering it dead. Luckily, I had an MTD Z5 along that I finished the gig with---my downtime was probably about 30 seconds, max.

Same thing happened to me, many years ago, on my Charvel bass. I didn't have a backup that time, so we had to do surgery on the bass mid-gig. Not impressive, to the crowd, or the club owner.

Other than those two issues, and a broken string or two many years ago, I've been pretty lucky. But I still don't leave home without a double gigbag with two basses in it, when going to either a gig or an out of town rehearsal.

 

[Gaolee]

No equipment failures. Only bass player failures.

 

[georgestrings]

Twice - I had a backup both times, so it wasn't a big deal... The 1st time, a jack started acting up on an active bass, and it wasn't doing my amp any favors AT ALL - the 2nd time, a sealed Gotoh-type tuner stripped out on a Spector - it wouldn't hold tune at all... Both times, my bass was in good working condition, and there was no indication beforehand that I might have trouble... I take good care of my gear, and generally don't abuse it...

I've never broken a bass string ever, so I really don't worry about that - and truthfully, a passive Fender that I've wired with Schaller style open gear tuners is about as bullet-proof as it gets, IME - but hey, anything could happen... I'd say two incidents over the span of several thousand gigs isn't bad - but it still happened...


- georgestrings

 

[TBird1958]

E and A strings more times than I can recall (yes I regularly change them!) as well as two occasions that fans knocked basses off of stands...........

 

[khutch]

Nope, but most of you should bring a backup. I play a few times a year in a church band rotation. The service won't stop if my bass does and my home is less than a quarter mile from the church so I could grab a replacement between services if I had to. None of the other bassists in the rotation brings a backup either. I tune in fifths which would drive them mad, but maybe I should keep a fourths-tuned bass around the house in case one of them should need a backup someday....

Ken

 

[fcoda]

I always have a backup ready , only needed it once when I broke a string at the top a a set at a festival gig. Used the backup for 1 song while the string was replaced on my main.I always have extra strings and have started bringing an backup amp.

 

[toddoutloud]

1. Broke a G string on the last song of a show. I slapped right through it puncturing my thumb and I spurted blood all over myself.

2. Battery died on an active bass mid-show. That was the last time I used an active bass on a gig.

3. Band's trailer was backed into and destroyed by a large SUV a few hours before a showcase gig. My bass was in a gig bag and the neck was broken. Luckily, the bassist from the opening act was a big fan of my band and let me use his bass for the show.

4. A former bandleader thought it would be a good idea to have some members of a local band who kind-of made it big, sit in with us for a few songs. The bassist, who I did not know at the time was tripping, started tuning up my low B until it broke. That totally screwed up the rest of my night.

5. My sound kept intermittently cutting out. It was a passive bass, so no battery issues. I swapped out several instrument cables, took my amp head apart during set break to check the input jack. I still had issues the following set. Next set break, I opened up my bass to check the wiring and jack, everything looked fine. It kept happening again for the rest of the show. After the gig, I took my bass apart and was about to re-solder all the contact points when I noticed the edge of the copper shielding was touching the input jack.

These are the only incidents I can remember that ruined a gig for me. The lessons learned from my experience is this:
1. Pack a spare bass- preferably a passive one.
2. If your band hauls all the gear in a trailer, be sure your bass(es) are in hard cases.
3. Routinely inspect the wiring and control cavity of your bass for anomalies.
4. Don't let f****d up people play your bass, ever.
5. If you gig for a living, get insurance on your gear.

 

[Lowbrow]

Yup - P-bass G string saddle-length scew worked its way out of the saddle; saddle = unsaddled. Took a few bars to figure it out. Least-used string, so not a major issue for the rest of a song but I did pick up the spare later.

 

[AngelCrusher]

You are more likely to have an amp fail than a bass fail in my experience. I only break strings if I slap a lot, but I also had my strings changed every other show.

The main thing to do is of course have 2 basses. The second should be inexpensive unless you like blowing all your money on gear and being the typical starving artist (or are a trust funder, or rich dude).

Ok that's easy. The next step is better - ask for 2 inputs pre show. Hopefully your band has an input list, as even the most unsigned and local of local bands should have this in a PDF.

One will be for whatever you want - many times a nice mic on your cab. The second will be for a DI box running in parallel coming from your bass. This will be your oh ^&%* protector if your amp fails.

Had a pretty slamming show in the past as the headliner and the place was jammed. We came out with the opener and my amp was toasted. Not making a sound. I played on while our singer (duuuh) panicked and thought we had no bass. He is yelling at the tecs - No bass!!!. The reality is that out in front we DID have bass and it sounded just fine. The sound guy sent me the line into my monitor and I played like nothing was happening while the Tecs fixed my amp.

rule 1 - Always be prepared.

rule 2 - Never panic. The audience is clueless

 

[Baird6869]

Yup - P-bass G string saddle-length scew worked its way out of the saddle; saddle = unsaddled. Took a few bars to figure it out. Least-used string, so not a major issue for the rest of a song but I did pick up the spare later.

Funny, same happened to me with my 1973 Jazz at a rehearsal. In my case, the spring on the screw (A string saddle) shot the screw like a rocket. I found the screw months later stuck to a speaker magnet in my cabinet. If this happened on a gig, I would have been completely buggered.

 

[NWB]

uckly for me I carry a back up cable with reg angled end and it worked.

Having a spare cable isn't luck. It's a requisite for any and every gigging bassist.

Not having a spare cable is an invitation to disaster.

I've had far more cable failures than anything else.

 

[SteveC]

2. Battery died on an active bass mid-show. That was the last time I used an active bass on a gig.

Doesn't seem like a reason to not use an active bass if that's the sound you want/like.

 

[Baird6869]

Doesn't seem like a reason to not use an active bass if that's the sound you want/like.

+1. I just bring spare batteries!

 

[StuartV]

I was playing a gig on drums once where the bass player broke a string (the G on a 4-string bass - I couldn't make myself type that he broke his G string ). He finished not just the song, but the whole set (about 3 more songs) playing with just 3 strings. And if you didn't look at him, you'd never know he was missing a string.

 

[electracoyote]

I was playing a gig on drums once where the bass player broke a string (the G on a 4-string bass - I couldn't make myself type that he broke his G string ). He finished not just the song, but the whole set (about 3 more songs) playing with just 3 strings. And if you didn't look at him, you'd never know he was missing a string.

Yeah, I change all baterries before every gig. Again, small price to pay for peace of mind.

But hey, we're all flawed and if everyone had perfect powers of foresight, bad things would never happen to any of us.

As it stands, that is far from the case.

 

[electracoyote]

And if you didn't look at him, you'd never know he was missing a string.

Talented player. I could do it, but it would frustrate the hell out of me having to re-write carefully learned or composed lines, some of which involve open strings, on the fly.

I'd much rather do the five-second switcheroo.

 

[SteveC]

Yeah, I change all baterries before every gig. Again, small price to pay for peace of mind.

I don't know if I'd go that far...

 

[electracoyote]

I don't know if I'd go that far...

You don't have to go that far...that's your choice.

My wireless eats batteries like candy, and, as we have heard countless times, active electronics batteries die in a most unpredictable and ugly way.

With 10-20 hours of practice and rehearsal time during the week draining the batteries, come gig time, I'd rather be safe than sorry. (Okay, maybe I do it every-other gig once in awhile.)

At the very least, it warrants putting your nine volts on a voltage meter to be sure you have enough juice to get through a set.

 

[woodyng]

I recently had my '74 Ric 4000 slip out of its bridge-side strap and fall straight down.luckily it hit the cable end(and broke it) without any damage to the input jack or bass,but i now have straplocks on it. This was right at the beginning of a set,we hadn't started playing yet. I seldom take a backup,because that is the only mishap i've had in 30 some years....but check this out. Last week in the Bay area,Stanley Clarke did a couple of shows,and there was some problem with his Alembic,so he had to do an entire set on URB,because he only brought one EB! (This was a first hand report from a good buddy of mine,i found that to be really strange for a pro like SC!)