Do you bring a back up bass to gigs?

[ggunn]

I did do a quick search, but I was wondering whether I should take a back up for a local, 30 minute gig. The threads I found were very vague, simply saying something like "do I need a backup?"

Sorry for coming of as a dick. I do appreciate all the help I get on here.

Your own common sense, critical thinking, and situational assessment of risk/benefit will give you more of an answer than you'll ever find in here because everyone's situation is different. I never bring a backup, but in my band there are two basses and two guitars (my brother and I switch off during gigs), and he uses different instruments. If either of mine fail I'll get through the rest of the gig with his, although playing with 4 strings instead of 5 would cause me to have to rewrite some of my bass parts on the fly.

 

[mcnach]

I never bring a backup and here's why: I'm willing to let someone borrow mine if they need to. If a band on your bill has a major equipment malfunction and none of the other bands are willing to help them out, then those guys are a-holes. You are part of a community of musicians and you should act like it. No its not ideal to have to borrow someone else's gear and you should never ever mooch, but an emergency's an emergency. If they won't do the same for you, don't ever play a show with them again.

That talk of "community of musicians" is lovely.
You do get a bit of that, no doubt, but you also seem to have a significant number of "a-holes" in the "musician community" who are not respectful of other people's property.
As a result of that, I no longer lend anybody anything, unless it is somebody I know personally and I know is trustworthy. I don't care about accidents... but if something happens because someone could not be bothered to have a minimum of care it pisses me off.
Even then, friends sometimes let you down: a guitarist friend of mine, really good guy but a bit... erm, forgetful... with a very unreliable guitar, was getting flak in his band for the state of his guitar on two successive gigs. The third gig arrives and... has he done anything about his guitar? has he f**k. So he asks if he could borrow one of mine. I said yes. I even took the guitar to the gig myself, but I told him I was going to go off later and that he should just take care of it and return it next weekend.
He forgot the guitar at the venue!!!

Fortunately, another friend of mine knew it was my guitar, saw it, and she took it with her then called me.

I can take **** like that from a friend (oh, and he took a mouthful afterwards, rest assured! ) butnot from a random member of the "community of musicians".

I only let my amp be used by other bands if it has been arranged like that beforehand, not because someone could not be bothered to figure out the basic logistics of a gig. Paraphrasing somebody else here earlier... "I am not their mum"

I could step in to help out someone should a genuine accident happen, of course, I do have a heart... but it will not be an automatic "yes" from me. If I have the feeling the guy's trouble is his own fault/mindlessness... then I'm not going to let him experiment with mine. Especially not before I play.

 

[bzmnt]

On my recent gigs I've not had a backup, since the gigs have been so close to my house and we have had very limited space with transport vehicles. In case something would have happened, we would've taken a 15min pause and I would have a new one.

But sure it is wise. If it was a gig with good payment or very important to the customer (wedding etc) sure i wouldn't risk anything.

But do you see keyboard players bringing backups? I haven't unless they've had two keyboards anyways. If our keyboardists Motif crashed during show it would be quite a crappy situation.

 

[Jerry Ziarko]

If our keyboardists Motif crashed during show it would be quite a crappy situation.

That actually did happen to us this summer at a gig 90 miles from home. When the keyboard player opened his case, some sort of mechanism had broken inside, causing most of the keys to stand up at all different angles. (think Billy Bob teeth) It was one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen. It was totally unplayable. Luckily there was keyboard player there that got his board for us in time to do the show. It was nowhere close to what we actually needed, but it got us through the night. Believe it or not, we now carry a spare Motif as well.

 

[funkinbottom]

Never. Extra set of strings, speaker and instrument cable only. Thirty years or so of gigin' and never a problem.

 

[klejst]

Currently no because I only have one bass, however it is not a terrible idea at all to bring two to a gig, even if it is a cheap bass...at least it is something just in case. I thought about picking up one of those VM Squier P's as a backup.

 

[nostatic]

That talk of "community of musicians" is lovely.
You do get a bit of that, no doubt, but you also seem to have a significant number of "a-holes" in the "musician community" who are not respectful of other people's property.

There is a spectrum of players and gigs on TB - and sometimes people who post on threads like this actually play gigs

Most of the shows I do have no other band on the bill. So the "community of musicians" won't really do me any good. Not everyone plays 30min sets on showcase nights.

In 30+ years of gigging I'm come down to a few rules though I will make exceptions.

1. most of the time I take 2 basses to a gig. It is less for backup and more because I'll have a fretless and fretted for different material. There are some gigs where I will only take one bass. I am rolling the dice on those but I stack the deck in my favor (to mix metaphors). My gear is gigged regularly and played every single day. I keep it in great shape so odds of a failure are low. And those gigs where I don't have a backup I'm almost always playing with a keyboard player who can cover the bass parts. I do bring tools and have extra strings.

2. If I am sharing the bill I'm generally fine with someone using my amp. They will not however touch my bass. I don't give a crap if theirs broke. The only exception is if I know the other bass player. If an amp blows up I can buy another one that'll be the same. If the back of the neck gets dinged on my bass it cannot be fixed or replaced. I don't want some poor guy to feel like he has to give me $4K to buy a new bass. So I don't go there.

If that makes me a d*ck, then so be it. I worked hard to afford the instruments I love, and there is no guarantee that another player is going to give a crap about a little nick or ding here or there. I've seen other guy's instruments. People have different sets of values. I actually don't care about dings on the body - but the neck is sacred.

 

[herrdruhl]

Yes, because you never know. I recall dealing with a MMEB Stingray that suddenly lost power from battery to pickup, had no backup that gig, so had to crank my amp to hear myself. And another time, we were filming a DVD, and my old Stingray (different bass) pickup came loose from the adjustment screws and was rubbing against the strings! No backup then either, a baaad night, and I haven't played an MM bass since...

 

[iriegnome]

Actaully the older I get, the less I bring a back up. I am confident in my bass and I know it will work and keep working gig to gig. When I was young, I would always bring a back up. The confidence in my bass just wasn't there. Now if I am traveling and on tour, I always bring a back up just because we have the room and I have an extra. I guess it makes sense to me

 

[CDRhom]

Most of the time. Partially mitigated by sometimes having to switch between regular and drop C tuning mid set.
Even if I don't bring an extra bass, I always have an extra tuner, batteries (9 volt & AA) and cables.

 

[herrdruhl]

Agree with you about lending - won't do it. Several years ago, I loaned my Pedulla to a guy I knew well, and trusted, but he played with a pick, and the day after the gig, he returned the bass with a large chip out of the finish...well, that sucked.

 

[Calebmundy]

Always, it's why I bought a double gig bag.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Short answer: Gigs, always. "Jams," no.

I've recently gotten into doing some freelance bass work and with the first check I got, I purchased an Link Removed. One of the best gear purchases I've made. Ever. I have always been good about bringing backup gear, but now it's a no-brainer. This thing fits two basses, straps and any kind of gear I'd need. The large front pocket will even fit my Shuttle 6.

While I may not make an actual living playing music, I still strive to be as professional as I can. Show up on time (usually early), be prepared, and always bring a backup.

5sg.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Agree with you about lending - won't do it.

And +1 on no lending, for the reasons others mentioned and because no one ever helps you load out your gear even though they borrowed it.

5sg.

 

[electracoyote]

I never bring a backup and here's why: I'm willing to let someone borrow mine if they need to. If a band on your bill...

Well, this is awesome if all you ever play is multi-band shows with at least one other generous, cheerful bassist who will let you borrow his bass if yours fails.

If that's the only kind of gig you ever play, I envy you.

As for me, and I suspect the majority, we frequently find ourselves in less-than-ideal situations either as the only band on the ticket or sharing the bill with bassists who are not all that cool about loaning gear. I'm one of those. I do not like others using my basses and guitars, not even friends. And when I'm on a multi-band bill, I arrive late and leave early, which narrows the window of even being asked if someone can borrow one of my basses.

So, unless you're in that enviable position outlined above, a back-up is the only fool-proof way to CYA and ensure the show will go on smoothly as intended.

 

[Lee H]

some of my equipment is loan able. Even then, only if I know the person well, or we are friends.

Other stuff is not to be touched by hands other then my own

 

[Ric5]

I bring 2 or 3 basses to gigs. I also bring extra cables, strings, picks, batteries, etc.

Be prepared.

 

[HamOnTheCob]

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.

What happens when some drunk in the front of the audience spills beer all over your bass mid-song and shorts something out? I've seen it happen more than once.

What happens when you trip over a cord or cymbal stand on a tight stage and stumble, breaking off a tuner, or worse? I saw that happen once too.

What happens when the screws holding your neck pickup in place have secretly stripped out over time as you've always rested your thumb on it to play, and eventually it gives and now you're trying to play and the pickup is resting on your strings, preventing any sound from your notes? This happened to me personally, on a very well-maintained bass.

The answer to all these questions should be really really simple... you grab your backup and get back to it. Unfortunately, when my pickup came out of my bass, I was filling in for a guy at the last minute, so I didn't have all my gear. I was using his amp and just had one of my basses with me. That was mortifying. I didn't skip a beat though... It was toward the end of the show, so I just turned my amp off and played the rest of the show without my bass making a sound. Most of the crowd didn't notice anything was wrong, so I just pretended I was still playing. Sound guy asked me afterward why I turned my amp off. I told him and he just kind of shrugged and said he turned the low end up on the guitars to cover it a bit. Everything turned out ok, but I would never ever ever put myself in that position again.

Jacob

 

[Rockin Mike]

Hey guys

I'm having my first gig next saturday hyper and both guitarists will be bringing a back up guitar. It's gonna be a very small gig (we're the opening act so we're only going to play a 30 minute set, in front of 150 - 200ish people). Is it necessary to bring a back up bass, or should I just bring my main? I have no problem with my back up bass, I just don't really fancy bringing 2 basses if I don't need both of them.

Yes, bring a backup or at the very least a spare set of strings.

Once every few years you'll have an equipment failure and it's never the right answer to blow the whole gig for everybody because of your equipment.

With the decent-sounding lightweight amps nowadays you can bring a spare head, too.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I've brought backups and played without one, so it depends on the gig for me. I recently bought a Steinberger Spirit as a small, low hassle backup. It actually sounds pretty good and plays decent. I also have a GK MB200 as a small backup head. Both would probably be fine for most of my gigging situations.

I have never had a bass fail on me, but I always bring extra strings, batteries and a spare strap (plus toothpicks and a screwdriver for potentially stripped out strap button screw holes).

The worst that has happened to me was a strap broke mid song at one gig and at another, where there was supposed to be backline equipment, they didn't have a bass amp head; they were using a guitar amp. They also didn't have a speaker cable and were asking the bands to provide the "extra" patch cord for it. Who provides a backline amp and head and doesn't also provide a speaker cable??