Do you need a backup bass.

[arbiterusa]

So my question is do you need a backup bass.

Been playing live for over 35 years and never, ever needed one. For 25 of those years I couldn't afford one, just had the one bass.

If you can attest that all of your solder joints are done well and you have good quality pots and jacks, there is no reason you should need one. If I bring a second bass to gigs, it's either a BEAD tuned bass for specific songs or my Ray4 with flats because we have a singer sitting in where that tone works well with her. Otherwise I still only bring one to the gig.

 

[beatdatthang]

“Need” is a relative term. How long are you willing to make the audience wait if you break a string or have a battery go dead or worse - your output jack fails? Bringing extra strings and batteries if you only bring one bass is smart but there are always things that can go wrong. There is no right answer. If you’re just playing small town bar gigs where the majority of the audience are your friends and family or are most likely a little intoxicated anyway, then it probably doesn’t matter and they’re more likely to indulge a little break in the action to change a string or battery.

Another consideration for me is that my band plays in different tunings, often changing tunings between songs (our vocalist/guitarist is a capo machine), and it’s just easier to switch basses between songs than to try to transcribe everything to one tuning. I have a pitch shifting pedal but more than 1/2 step one way or another and it tends to have more latency than I like.

 

[Altitude]

This is a religious topic on Talkbass but I always enjoy the debate.

The truth of it is that you should do whatever makes you comfortable.

If you want to be anal and analytical about it - I don't have a large dataset beyond my own 30 years of playing gigs. But I'm confident that any of the following are far more likely to fail on a given gig than your bass is:

• A cable
• A power cord
• A battery
  
• The amp head
• The cabinet
• Your car

So if your only argument is "it might fail, so I bring a backup" you're being inconsistent if you don't also keep a backup car in the garage to get you to your gig if yours won't start.

But, you say, it would be way too expensive to have a backup car. Which brings up the subject of grey area around probability of failure, cost of failure versus cost to de-risk, and time to remediate the failure.

Having an extra car to ensure you can drive to your gig is probably an absurd idea given the cost. So where do you personally draw the line of absurdity?

The most probable "failure" of a bass on a gig would be a broken string, followed perhaps by a dead battery and then a bad output jack. Many of us would be able to get to the end of the set down one string, then replace the broken one on the set break. If you carry an extra bass only to avoid that particular calamity, it might be too much cost and schlep. On the battery, some basses can go passive with the pull of a knob, others would require between 45 seconds and perhaps 3 minutes to swap a dead battery. Doable mid-set.

Output jacks are a little tougher. If one of those fails, the set is over and you may or may not have a soldering iron and the skill to quickly fix the jack.

But in my estimation the probability of an output jack failing during a gig lags way, way behind the probability of a broken string. And any other catastrophic failure of a bass guitar would come in way, way behind that.

Then you do have to factor in the added risk of the backup bass. Some of the places I play, there's really not room on the stage for an extra bass, so it would have to stay in its case in the corner or even in the car, where the chances of it being stolen are perhaps not trivial.

I realize this is overanalysis. But I don't usually take a backup bass. Unless I have two basses and I want to play them both on the gig.

 

[MCS4]

If you're gigging, yes. I've used mine before and I've seen multiple others have to do the same.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Backup Bass
Backup Amp Head
I use 2 cabs, but can get by on one
Backup strap
Backup wireless
Backup cable
Extra batteries

Also
a pair of drum sticks
drum key
guitar strings
picks
(those guys never bring anything)

Fails at gigs
Bass string break 3 times
Bass input jack fail 1 time
amp fail 3 times
wireless fail 1 time
cable fail I lost count

 

[QweziRider]

I realize during a show a string may break or a battery may go dead but have you ever actually had to change basses during a show and for what reason.

Yes. I have. Most recently this past summer. Something (to this day I have no idea what - I can't replicate the problem) caused the bass to cut out intermittently during a song and then completely for the last 20-ish seconds of the song. In the gig is not the time for me to trace down what is going wrong. Grabbed the second bass and the backup cable, ten seconds and I'm back up and running.

A must-have, to me.

 

[MonetBass]

As the adage goes: It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[QweziRider]

...or coming across as unprofessional.

That. Right there.

 

[Dynacord]

If I'm driving I take an extra - often more for variety than backup. Have done many gigs/tours that were fly dates (or have taken trains) with backline provided so backup instrument was not possible. I figure I have realistic ballpark of 2K gigs. Have had a couple amp failures. Never had a bass failure (other than an output jack nut starting to work loose once but I fixed that on the break - always have basic tools and extra strings, instrument and speaker cords, batteries, etc - any active bass I have will have passive option). I've done it enough without a backup that I don't consider it essential. If playing double bass (way more things that can go wrong) I always take an electric.

 

[Hasty]

That. Right there.

I gig quite a bit and generally only bring one bass. I don’t feel unprofessional.

More importantly… how the heck am I going to get a second double bass in my car? I bring an electric bass on the gig if I know I’m going to need it, which is only 40% of the time.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Only a backup if the main bass for the gig has never been road tested. I have an iPad if it really gets scary.

I had a fretless that just wasn't loud enough to cut through.

 

[Bill Murray]

So my question is do you need a backup bass. I realize during a show a string may break or a battery may go dead but have you ever actually had to change basses during a show and for what reason.

Truly depends on the environment. For bigger shows or weddings I always bring one, even though I’ve needed it zero times, if a battery dies (it won’t, because I change them before they get close to that, which is what everyone should do) or let’s say something strange happens I can just grab the other bass and keep playing rather than fidget during a show. For what it’s worth I’ve been to a TON of shows as well and I’ve seen a bass fail on stage zero times.

If I’m playing a bar gig, block party, private event, or something like that I just bring the one and if something happens oh well I’ll figure it out and the band goes on without me until I can join back in (this has never happened either).

if you’re trying to justify GAS then yea you definitely need another bass.

 

[JakobT]

Ya don't need it till ya do.

Only had to swap once due to an intermittent vintage pickup.

I hate those pickups that are vintage only some of the time.

 

[Ggaa]

Playing outside the wind blew a P off the stand and hit the hardwood face down, didn't even knock it out of tune, but.......

 

[Dynacord]

if you’re trying to justify GAS then yea you definitely need another bass.

Words to live by!

 

[Thumpinshelton]

For most of our gigs I take a backup just in case. Have I needed to pull it out.......nope....but for me it is a peace of mind knowing the show will go on if one fails. Now, for sub gigs or smaller shows outside of my normal band most of the time I don't take one. But this like many other topics are truly up to each individual and how they feel.

 

[Father Gino]

Someone gave me a Yamaha bass that they found in a dumpster. I thought maybe I should bring it to gigs for a backup. That’s silly says me. I put the Yamaha in the guitar stand and the E string got caught and broke the end of the nut off. Surely this was a sign from up on high.

At an outside gig my EBMM bass was cutting out intermittently. It ended up being the effects loop jack in my F1x preamp but I didn’t know that until much later. I messing with the battery in the bass in the dark and managed to break the battery case. Managed to cobble it back together, but just grabbing another bass would have been a whole lot easier.

To that end, I just bought a used, relatively inexpensive Hohner Steinberger copy. Less excuses to not bring a backup cause I’m too lazy to schlep one more thing I probably won’t need. I could even leave it behind the seat in my car.

I used to carry a backup little amp, but I’m too lazy now. I can always plug directly into the PA is necessary.

 

[Medicine Man]

I the thousands of gigs ive played i have needed a backup 3 times. That's a yes vote from me. It sure doesnt need to be fancy.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I prefer the saying
“Better to be looking at it than for it”

in the entertainment lighting world we packed 10% spares for cable and fixtures.
Things happen unexpectedly.
If something did happen, would you rather do a quick swap and move on or look like a doof while troubleshooting and repairing?
If its budget thats stopping someone from having a backup thats a different story, if you have another bass, why not just have it “just in case”?

 

[landrybass]

It helps when you play a 4 string and have a few songs that need a 5 and that 5 can double as a backup.