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Do you bring a back up bass to gigs?

#181
foderaman said:
So lets say you just start a gig and you have only one bass and you are 50 miles from your home you are 15 minutes into the gig and your bass messes up.
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Exactly why would the bass mess up? As for most peoples experience, mine have never. Batteries, yes and I'll go to passive or switch at break. String break? Two in 2011 at a practice and I sold that bass as something was wrong. Other than that, never had issues with a bass I trusted?

I do have faith in my technique in terms of preserving strings and the bass itself. that is a big difference between me and many on this board so far. things I keep with me are strings, batteries, and a tool kit.

Now on the road, a backup head comes with me. That I will say.
 
#182
FWIW - I usually leave the backup bass locked in my car, or in it's case at the side of the stage. It's not for making a quick change if a string breaks. It's more for saving the gig if an unlikely problem occurs. And yes, I have a backup head. I also have two cabs, although I often use them together, in a pinch I could use just one of them. Finally, I have backup cables, Power, Speaker, Instrument.
 
#184
I have been playing bass since 69 and have never broken a string!The extra bass and head are there just in case?At time the extra amp I have brought has been uses as a make shift replacement in a pinch for a guitar player and has also been used to power monitors once or twice over many years.I take exceptional care of my equiptment and for me it is piece of mind I wont be at a gig and something go down and Im setting there scratching my B,,,s worrying about finishing a gig I am being paid to perform for.But this is only my opinoin so anyone that wants to take a chance that is there choice!
lamarjones said:
Exactly why would the bass mess up? As for most peoples experience, mine have never. Batteries, yes and I'll go to passive or switch at break. String break? Two in 2011 at a practice and I sold that bass as something was wrong. Other than that, never had issues with a bass I trusted?

I do have faith in my technique in terms of preserving strings and the bass itself. that is a big difference between me and many on this board so far. things I keep with me are strings, batteries, and a tool kit.

Now on the road, a backup head comes with me. That I will say.
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#185
Too right, always have a second bass on a stand behind me just in case. Takes up little room in the car and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Also have an additional bag full of leads, gaffa and various odds and ends that sits in the car, again just in case.

Even if I'm playing an acoustic gig I'll take a solid with me as a backup.
 
#186
I've never brought a back-up. However i play a passive Fender Jazz (less electronics to worry about), and always have a small took kit/soldering iron with me. i arrive at the gig at least an hour before playing, set up, and check everything is ok. If not, I have time to fix it. I've never had a problem as I look after my gear, but I have had to fix a couple of problems with jack sockets etc on our guitarist's instrument.
 
#188
Last Thursday, I had a gig in New York City where I had to bring my own amp (this is quite rare)... so I rode the subway with a small amp in one hand and one bass in a gig bag.
It was the *only* time since around 1985 that I've played a gig without a backup bass.
At Saturday's gig, I was back to two again.
 
#190
I try to take doubles of most things, basses, strings, power cords, cables etc. Being professional means that you plan if things go wrong. Easier to change basses, cables etc then stand there when something goes wrong.
 
#192
Puarija said:
LoL @ the people who preach all the "if you maintain your gear you won't need a backup" nonsense. That's like saying a well-maintained car will never get a flat tire.

It's true, if you take care of your gear you are much less likely to need a backup, but no amount of maintenance will ever take the potential for failure to 0.
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And that's pretty much what's been said... so LOL backatcha :spit::hiding:

;)
 
#194
Quite frankly I find the implication that those of us who take backups don't maintain our gear to be insulting. Not everything's under our control.

I take good care of my instruments and my other gear. I wipe down the strings after performances, I change strings fairly regularly, and in general make sure things are working (easy to give basses a looking over when practicing), so things don't tend to go wrong very often.

I've never broken a string on any of my basses. That's not what I'm worried about. As someone earlier mentioned, the pickup height adjustment screws can slip over time, even strip, leaving the pickup ready to flop out. This sort of wear can't be seen easily until it's too late most of the time.

Internal wiring can also be a problem. Just takes one wire getting fouled up to silence your bass. This happened on my first bass after 12 years of playing, luckily while I was practicing.

And that's just wear and tear stuff that can happen. There are other things that happen at shows that can't be predicted. Some drunk staggering into you and hitting your bass, or some jerk deliberately reaching out and de-tuning it in the middle of a song? Some careless idiot spilling booze all over it, fouling the electronics? Maintenance can't prevent this.

So I bring a backup. Most times, I've not had to use it. But it's nice having it there and being able to switch in about three seconds.
 
#195
Sartori said:
Quite frankly I find the implication that those of us who take backups don't maintain our gear to be insulting. Not everything's under our control.

I take good care of my instruments and my other gear. I wipe down the strings after performances, I change strings fairly regularly, and in general make sure things are working (easy to give basses a looking over when practicing), so things don't tend to go wrong very often.

I've never broken a string on any of my basses. That's not what I'm worried about. As someone earlier mentioned, the pickup height adjustment screws can slip over time, even strip, leaving the pickup ready to flop out. This sort of wear can't be seen easily until it's too late most of the time.

Internal wiring can also be a problem. Just takes one wire getting fouled up to silence your bass. This happened on my first bass after 12 years of playing, luckily while I was practicing.

And that's just wear and tear stuff that can happen. There are other things that happen at shows that can't be predicted. Some drunk staggering into you and hitting your bass, or some jerk deliberately reaching out and de-tuning it in the middle of a song? Some careless idiot spilling booze all over it, fouling the electronics? Maintenance can't prevent this.

So I bring a backup. Most times, I've not had to use it. But it's nice having it there and being able to switch in about three seconds.
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+1, great post.

You do this long enough, you see some strange stuff, completely unpredictable and unpreventable. Not the least of which is drunks. Especially the drunk who thinks the stage is his or her new domain.

When you least expect it. Just like most disasters.

Like most posters to this thread, I've gone literally decades without having a problem requiring my backup. But on those few rare occassions when I did, thank goodness it was there.
 
#196
dcr said:
Absolutely. Hey, I even bring a back-up to rehearsal.
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Same here. I don't even want to feel the wrath of my bandmates about how I cost them a rehearsal. I play with some very busy professionals who hate wasting time. I'm only about 45 minutes away, but that's 90 minutes home and back, and they would probably call it a day, and then I'd have to endure the stink-eye over it. No thanks. Much easier to just throw another case in the car before I leave the house.

Not only that, but it's a good idea to bust out those backup instruments once in awhile and play them through a rehearsal.
 
#197
Why not? That is the real question. Yes you could go years with nothing happening, but there is always a first for everything. Plus there are things out of your control. I had a friend of mine that got his knocked off the stage while he was on break by a drunk girl tried to talk to the DJ, neck got split from the fall. There are a million different things that could happen, so why not take one.
 
#198
Stuff on basses can break.

I havent broken a string in 5+ years but in the last 2 years I have had an input jack die (quick solder job the next day) and I had a bridge saddle screw loosen and sent flying by the spring. Never found the $0.10 screw and would have been buggered if i didnt have a backup bass.

i take great care of my gear, but sometimes weird stuff can happen.

99.9% of my gigs require one bass, but I always bring 2.
 
#199
EB gigs...always bring a backup axe. You never know when a quick change will be necessary.

Upright gigs....one upright is enough. I never take 2 uprights ;)

And just off topic slightly...

Studio gigs....I cover as much sonic territory as I can. I bring an Upright, an EUB, an acoustic, a 6 string, a fretless and a couple of fretted 4's. And sometimes a synth. That's 8.
 
#200
Good point! You don't see many upright players bringing a backup upright! That would be fun to watch on the subway going to a gig!:hyper::p

Spaldo said:
EB gigs...always bring a backup axe. You never know when a quick change will be necessary.

Upright gigs....one upright is enough. I never take 2 uprights ;)

And just off topic slightly...

Studio gigs....I cover as much sonic territory as I can. I bring an Upright, an EUB, an acoustic, a 6 string, a fretless and a couple of fretted 4's. And sometimes a synth. That's 8.
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