Do you bring a backup bass to gigs?

[bigtone23]

Depends on the gig. A mellow, honky tonk set will see one bass. All nighters will have another bass around, just in case. Most of my gigs lately have me bringing a 4 string and the Bass VI. They are kind of back ups to each other. If one goes down, I could pull off the rest of the night with the other, for the most part.

 

[lfmn16]

I only needed a motorcycle helmet once but I wear one every time I ride. I've never needed a backup bass, but the day I need one I'll be glad I have it.

 

[johnson79]

One of the first shows with my new ASAT and a string broke! Boy was I glad I had my Jazz along as well!

 

[Scottkarch]

I usually bring 4 basses to most gigs.
1-2 fretted 4 strings, a fretless, 8 or 12 string and my electric upright.

I like having different basses to play. They sound different. They make me play differently. It's my thing.

We played a tiny bar last weekend and I only brought 2 because of stage space.

 

[birminghambass]

In my 22 years of gigging I've had the following happen:
Output jack crackle/fail (probably 3x)
Knob fell off during a song, roll onto the dance floor
Bridge saddle become loose and E string sink and buzz
Pickups suddenly microphonic, terrible feedback. Certainly the room wiring.

So probably 10 or less times I needed a backup, but every time I did I had one ready. If you have multiple basses why wouldn't you bring an extra?

 

[pbass6811]

In a word, yes. At least two basses, every gig, no questions.

I'm the guy that's had my one bass fail in the middle of a gig. I had a spare, just didn't bring it. Never again.

I'm of the opinion that if you're a working bassist, and if it's in the budget, you find one bass that covers the sonic ground you need, and you buy two of 'em, or in my case, you buy three of them...

 

[Mr_Martin]

Gigs no. Tours yes.

+1

 

[eldorado2001]

I take spare EVERYTHING. Failures happen occasionally and spares make recovery from them much easier.

PBass6811 said "I'm the guy that's had my one bass fail in the middle of a gig." Happened to me once, too. Output jack came loose & disconnected at the worst time.

 

[JIO]

Extra cords, amp fuses, 9v batteries (needed or not/passive bass), mini flash-light, electrical tape, small tool kit - that's it. Anything can happen but usually doesn't. Sometimes I use one of those items for other bandmates issues. Never had a saddle height-adjustment screw vibrate out as mentioned earlier but that could happen. I'm going to check my bass saddles right now.

 

[Ewo]

I don't bring a backup bass because I stay on top of the maintenance, and always check that everything's working properly as I pack for the gig. Yep, got a battery tester, and that's part of the routine. Yep, if the output jack is at all cranky I stop and clean it with Deoxit 5 and check the wires inside don't get close enough to short. Got a spare set of strings in the gig bag, and a couple new batteries as well, just in case. And I only gig basses with a defeat switch (passive) on the pre, so I can keep playing even if the electronics failed.

I do pack a spare amp, and leave it in my car. And my run bag has spare guitar cords and speaker cords. Yeah, I've got some tools in the gig bag, too.

I figure all that minimizes the risk well enough for my bar gigs.

 

[DigitalMan]

Better to have and not need than to need and not have. IMO a backup bass is standard operating procedure. If you don't have one and your only bass fails then it's all on you. Telling people that it's never happened before is absolutely no excuse.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I used to and I kept it in the car. Then I realized that there is a much higher chance that the bass will be stolen than I actually need a backup. So, I instead bring extra strings, batteries, etc.

 

[Robroy]

I usually do, but I don't take it out of the case. just sits off to the side/back of the stage. I wear it on my back so it's not like it takes another trip from the car.

I even have a Crate Powerblock that I bring to gigs as an emergency backup amp.

 

[JR Roxx]

I tend to use identical basses but bring more than 1 in case my mood changes and I want a different color LOL

 

[The Thinker]

Often my gigs require two basses to accommodate different tunings. I don't bring a backup on those gigs since if there's a problem I can retune instead. I do bring a backup on "single-bass" gigs, and one time I did need the backup (jack suddenly went bad on my main bass and the sound cut out). I actually also bring a GK MB200 as a backup head. It's so small that it's really no trouble to pop it in my backpack. Never had an amp go bad, but I do it anyway.

 

[Robroy]

I never paid much thought to a back up bass. Until my guitar player had an issue with the output jack on his strat. A wire had lost connection. If he brought his back up, we would not have spent 15 mins soldering it back up. Not good at a gig. Then, my damn 9V died in my active bass on the next gig and I didn't have extras (I was new to active basses). Then the post on a tuning machine broke at a rehearsal. All within a few weeks. The music gods were telling me something. I always take two basses now, even to practice. Sometimes the second one never comes out of the case like if we have a super small stage. But the back up is there none-the-less. If you have the second bass, it's really not that big of a burden to take it with you.

The 18 volt Bartolini actives I had put on my Yamaha comes with a push-pull on-off switch in the volume knob. If the battery goes at a gig (it has. Twice) I just "pull" and the bass becomes passive. A couple of quick tweaks on the amp and I'm good to go.

Since you have to remove the back plate on my bass (a bunch of tiny screws), the BEST solution is to replace the batteries at a specified routine so they don't go dead during a rehearsal, but the flip to passive works just fine.

 

[jim777]

If I'm playing bass I bring 2 basses, one fretted /one fretless. If guitar, one on the stand and one in the case. For keyboards I bring a rompler (a Motif) and a VA lead type synth.

 

[Muttleybass]

Had a battery box fail in my Sterling. Bass quit. Had an output jack fall apart on a different bass once. Back in the eighties, my bass got knocked over by a drunk and broke off a tuner. Crap happens, so I always have a spare. Even if I leave it in the truck sometimes.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I'm not a hard core gigger, but back when I was playing out more, I never had a single bass failure. I've had amps quit on me, but never a bass. That said, any more, if I bring a 6, I'll also bring a 4, because in middle age, some days my fingers just aren't feeling the 6

 

[Robroy]

I'm not a hard core gigger, but back when I was playing out more, I never had a single bass failure. I've had amps quit on me, but never a bass. That said, any more, if I bring a 6, I'll also bring a 4, because in middle age, some days my fingers just aren't feeling the 6

When I gig, one of the basses is a five and the other a four. I learned on the five, so I can sometimes be challenged by the four on some songs. It happens less now because I do most of my practicing on the four, on purpose. There are very few songs that pretty much require a fiver. I suppose if I was trying to play Summer of 69 on my four I could always just use the normal D instead of the D on the B string. Most people wouldn't notice it. I don't do "drop D", for obvious reasons.