• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Do you bring a backup bass to gigs?

Do you use and bring backup basses?

  • Yes - I have a matching pair

  • Yes - I have a complementary pair (fretted/fretless, rounds/flats, 4/5, J/P)

  • Yes - I bring three or more basses

  • I do on certain gigs, and don't on others

  • No - I risk it

  • No - and I don't see it as a risk at all

Results are only viewable after voting.
#121
No I do not.
In 50 years of playing (45 of them playing gigs) I have never had a bass fail in any way at either a gig, a recording, or a rehearsal.
I do my own setups and instrument maintenance. No surprises.
I guess if my bass were stolen or run over by a truck... but that is also highly unlikely.
 
#122
Dogbertday said:
I just dont get the 3 of the same thing, unless one was a 5 or had flats or was fretless. No judgment at all but imo 2 is a backup and 3 is never needed..
Click to expand...

No worries. We divide our sets into tuning groups. Since we play each song in the key and tuning it was written in, including our original stuff, sometimes we'll switch tunings twice a set(especially if our singer decides to start calling audibles). I keep one bass tuned standard, one tuned down 1/2 step, and one tuned to, say, dropped C. We switch tunings, I switch basses. It's faster and more professional than standing around tuning, even if you can tune silently. Why make your crowd wait for that? Also, no matter what tuning I'm in, my sound doesn't change because I changed basses.

FWIW, I really didn't plan on having three, nearly identical, basses. It was just a happy accident...:thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dogbertday
#125
MNAirHead said:
do you guys also bring a spare PA ... mic etc.
Click to expand...

I assume you were joking, but our PA is a Mackie DL1608. We have an ipad in it, 2 backup ipad minis in case something happens to the main ipad. We have a small 8 channel mixer as a backup just in case the DL dies. Our PA has 2 powered tops and 2 powered subs and we have a powered wedge with a 15 we use for special guests.. we could lose any one or two of them and keep playing. We have extra microphones, cables, DI boxes, sometimes even a backup amp head, but I'd just go direct if my amp died. Anything we can afford to have redundant, we do.. just in case.

To turn it around? Do you have homeowners insurance? Have you ever used it? You have insurance just in case.. to be ready if something bad happens. To plan on it happening and be ready. Just because you haven't had something break doesn't mean nothing ever will. Things fail. Period. Regardless of how carefully you take care of things. Equipment is generally really reliable... but not 100% Those of you scoffing at backup basses or equipment are playing russian roulette. Some day you may get bit and it might be a big deal.

Just because something of yours hasn't died doesnt mean it will never die. I'd recommend being prepared for your amp dying, your cables breaking, your bass breaking a string, preamp battery die, electronics die, mics break.. Look at each piece of equipment and say.. "If this died/broke, what would we do" For everything you gig with. I'm looking into a backup DL1608 or if I can find the 8 channel cheap, probably that. We can get by with 8 channels.
 
  • Like
Reactions: electracoyote
#128
I always bring a backup, but I don't think it fits into either of the two categories given. It's not necessarily "matching", and it's not "complimentary".

I bring a bass that will work for me to play the music in case my primary craps out. But it's not matching in the sense that it's not an identical bass. Usually (lately) I am playing a 6 string fretted. I usually bring another 6 string fretted, but usually one is a J and one is a P. Sometimes, the backup is a 5 string Sterling H. The point is, it's not "matching".

And bringing a "complimentary" bass, as your examples indicate, would suggest that I'm bringing 2 basses, so I can switch depending on the song. That's not the case. If my gig calls for fretted, then I would not bring a fretless as a backup. If I did bring a fretless, it would be to use it on specific songs. I don't bring a second bass for the purpose of switching back and forth based on the song (usually, anyway).

So, I voted for Yes, matching. But, my real answer would be "Yes, the backup is any old bass that will work for the music in case the primary dies." So, it might be matching or it might not.

It is too easy to step on a cord and break an output jack. Or have an accident and break off a headstock. Or whatever. There's a million ways even a passive bass *could* croak in a way that is not easily fixable at a gig. So, if I'm getting paid to play, I come prepared for at least one bass-killing accident/failure.

When I'm gigging a tube amp (which is 99% of the time), I bring a backup amp, too. A small, light, Class D with more power than any of my tube amps have. Same reason.

I'm not a pro. I don't make my living playing music. I am a semi-pro. I do get paid (roughly, beer money) to play. Even though it's "semi" pro, I choose to do the job as I would expect any professional to. I.e. be prepared for foreseeable problems.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jsr914, Scottkarch and pbass6811
#130
Chad Bennett said:
Always 2 basses, backup head (GK mb200), 2 cables. Redundancy in everything, you never know when something is going to fail.
Click to expand...

I agree that cables, amps, and the like can simply die at any moment but I have not found that to be the case with instruments.
A well made and well maintained instrument is a really reliable thing.
If you have a marginal instrument you may need a back-up. But I think that a person would be better off selling the marginal instrument and the back-up and buying just one good quality well maintained instrument.
 
#131
Last time I didn't bring a spare, I broke a string. First time in years I'd done that.
I gigged for years with just one bass - mostly due to poverty, or my basses being so different (one Jazz, one P/J Fretless).... Now I have the luxury of having a spare I take advantage of it.
 
#132
I am a brand new player (less than 6 months). I had a Squier Jaguar and a Squier P-Bass but was playing the P-Bass. During sound check on my first gig ever I had a short in the P-bass and I had no idea how to fix it. I had brought the Jaguar just in case so I hauled it out and played the show. So I had a failure on my very first gig ever. I'm sure that's rarely if never happened to anyone else. Turns out the jack was bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bart Lee and Scottkarch
#133
Liam Wald said:
No I do not.
In 50 years of playing (45 of them playing gigs) I have never had a bass fail in any way at either a gig, a recording, or a rehearsal.
I do my own setups and instrument maintenance. No surprises.
I guess if my bass were stolen or run over by a truck... but that is also highly unlikely.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to pick on you, and I've only been gigging about 38 years myself, but I have witnessed dozens--I say dozens--of gear mishaps caused by acts of God or Mother Nature, man-made, and metal fatigue or other mechanical failures, way beyond the two scenarios you outlined. And this includes some of the most well-maintained gear on the planet.

I think it's great you haven't experienced any problems in 50 years. I also think you're very lucky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StuartV
#134
My gig list is very short (done about 21, till now) and I never had a backup.
I always played my main bass, which, despite having been to the tech many times, it has never actually let me 100% down. This is while playing mostly in town or close to friends who could lend me one in case of tragedy, and all for low profile free gigs at bars and things like that.
If I had a bigger gig I would probably bring a backup, just in case. I trus my bass, I don't trust others.
I bring a spare cable and nothing else. Never broken a string, never felt the need to adjust things on the fly because I make sure it's all ready before the gig.
 
#135
electracoyote said:
I'm not trying to pick on you, but I've only been gigging about 38 years myself, and I have witnessed dozens--I say dozens--of gear mishaps caused by acts of God or Mother Nature, man-made, and metal fatigue or other mechanical failures, way beyond the two scenarios you outlined. And this includes some of the most well-maintained gear on the planet.

I think it's great you haven't experienced any problems in 50 years. I also think you're very lucky.
Click to expand...

No, you are not picking on me. No worries.
Yes, I am probably lucky. I have never broken a string or had a pick-up die, or a jack go bad, or a saddle come undone, or a neck fall off or anything that would cause me to stop playing. (although I would not consider a broken string to justify a back-up bass).
I also gig with very high quality passive Jazz-Type basses. I am sure that playing style is also a factor.
Amps... That is another story. Have had a few break-downs with amps but never with instruments.
PS; I am also pretty obsessive about instrument maintenance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JIO and Scottkarch
#136
Liam Wald said:
I agree that cables, amps, and the like can simply die at any moment but I have not found that to be the case with instruments.
A well made and well maintained instrument is a really reliable thing.
If you have a marginal instrument you may need a back-up. But I think that a person would be better off selling the marginal instrument and the back-up and buying just one good quality well maintained instrument.
Click to expand...
I couln't disagree more. But that's what makes the forum fun. ( usually ). A well maintained bass could still have a solder joint fail in the bass, preamp electronics could die, potentiometer could break, neck could break in a freak accident. We're not talking about things that happen all the time. It's my opinion that you should be ready for something bad happening. It's not likely to happen.. but I like to think of it as insurance I hope I don't need to use. It's likely you'll never have your bass die/break. Its also unlikely your house will burn down, but I bet you have insurance for your house.

You'll likely be fine.. rock on.... and good luck. :)

All in good fun.. not trying to pile on or be negative to you. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: StuartV, 35hundy and electracoyote
#138
Scottkarch said:
I couln't disagree more. But that's what makes the forum fun. ( usually ). A well maintained bass could still have a solder joint fail in the bass, preamp electronics could die, potentiometer could break, neck could break in a freak accident. We're not talking about things that happen all the time. It's my opinion that you should be ready for something bad happening. It's not likely to happen.. but I like to think of it as insurance I hope I don't need to use. It's likely you'll never have your bass die/break. Its also unlikely your house will burn down, but I bet you have insurance for your house.

You'll likely be fine.. rock on.... and good luck. :)

All in good fun.. not trying to pile on or be negative to you. :)
Click to expand...

I took a customized Gibson T-Bird to a gig. This thing had just been gone over with a fine-tooth comb by me and two of the best techs in town. Every possible aspect of that bass was triple-checked.

Suddenly, completely out of the blue, during the gig the output jack is scratchy, which attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Then it died, mid-song.

I took it to my electronics tech, and he told me the actual jack assembly (not the contact prongs) just fried and died. He said that kind of failure, on that part, on a passive bass, is extremely rare and completely unpredictable.

Just my luck, I won the lottery that night. Thankfully, I had a spare ten seconds away, for it was a high-profile gig. Anything is possible, and the scenarios that can render you bass-less are endless and often unpredictable, regardless of what kind of maintenance wizard you are.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Scottkarch
#139
Liam Wald said:
No I do not.
In 50 years of playing (45 of them playing gigs) I have never had a bass fail in any way at either a gig, a recording, or a rehearsal.
I do my own setups and instrument maintenance. No surprises.
I guess if my bass were stolen or run over by a truck... but that is also highly unlikely.
Click to expand...


you, sir, have been extremely lucky..........
 
  • Like
Reactions: 35hundy

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back