I’ve brought one before - mostly because of TB advising me to - but have never ever once in 30+ years needed one, so I no longer do. Just another bass to have stolen, IMHO.
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Do you need a backup bass.
- Thread starter pica
- Start date
My friend… that is the best summation of this entire thread. I agree with you 1,000,000 percent.
I have a bunch of backups and I never gig. I need more backups, actually.
I wrote above that I defined “cost” loosely as the added effort to carry the extra bass back and forth and more tangibly the chances it gets stolen from your car or the corner of the room you’re playing in. Less of a problem if you have room on stage for it. I don’t, always.In a high profile function band: two-three minutes deadtime onstage to fix a battery is too long (especially if the set is comprised of several songs all seguwayed together into one 15 minute long stretch, which was common back then)
ln your earlier post, you said something about considering "the “cost” of carrying a backup is much higher"...What cost? Its just packing another bass. Not a big deal to me......I dont own any basses that I would never consider not playing onstage or that I need to keep prestine for whatever reason...to me, they are tools, not art
That said, I'm not always the brightest bulb in the drawer. One gig always has a double bass for me as part of my backline. It took a year with that gig and my wife to tell me "You big dummy, that IS your backup if the electric dies. Stop flying with two electrics."
I do regular and detailed maintenance. I’ve still had the following happen during gigs.
Broken string, Sudden Battery failure, sudden failure of half a P-Bass pickup in a passive bass, and amp head failures.
Always bring at least two basses and two amps. If you’re in the fully ampless camp, bring a spare IEM, and a spare Di.
Broken string, Sudden Battery failure, sudden failure of half a P-Bass pickup in a passive bass, and amp head failures.
Always bring at least two basses and two amps. If you’re in the fully ampless camp, bring a spare IEM, and a spare Di.
If I was in a cover band doing 2-3 hour sets than I would definitely bring a back up. I'm an original rock band that does 45 min max sets and I feel like I should be able to make it without a backup. I do bring an extra set of strings and instrument cables in my case.
I also check everything on my bass before each show. My GK bag has a dedicated set of instrument and speaker cables only used for gigs.
I also check everything on my bass before each show. My GK bag has a dedicated set of instrument and speaker cables only used for gigs.
In the last 50 years I've had 3 amps fail. First 2 in 68 and 71, and the last one in the 90's, and they were all tube amps. I've been problem free since moving to SS amps and now D class. You are one unlucky guy.
I typically carry a fretless & fretted. On rare occasion, if I don't take a fretless, I'll take a P & a J.
So, NO, I don't need a "backup"
So, NO, I don't need a "backup"
Prior to moving to Southeast Wisconsin from Northeast Wisconsin I never did, but since I continue to play with the band from Northeast Wisconsin and live a minimum of 2hours away I now bring two basses on every gig most times these two
Duke
Duke
Yes, and yes.
If you check all adjustment and maintenance points on your bass routinely (as we should) it is an admittedly rare occurrence to have a bass failure. But there are some things you can not possibly anticipate. I've lost count how many threads I read here on TB where the poster expresses surprise and amazement that a brand new pack of strings had a bad one where the core was brittle or compromised and snapped unexpectedly.
It's also very dependent on the standards of the project. For some bands, the live on-stage down time is relatively unimportant and harmless. For others, it's the kiss of death and cause for dismissal. I generally find myself in the latter, where the BL expects a seamless uninterrupted flow. I can not count on the band to cover for me for a protracted length of time while I change a string or otherwise repair my malfunctioning bass.
Personally, I have had an output jack mysteriously fail. Scritchy scratchy scritchy scratchy...dead. I've also had a string break. Both times I had another bass ready to go; it took literally a few seconds to switch it out and keep playing. Both times my BL (and quite possibly our clients and audiences) would have been most unhappy if I needed more time than that. Though I have never needed to switch basses in thousands of other gigs over 40 years, having a backup there for those two rare exceptions was well worth the small price of lugging two and having them both on a stand ready to go, every show.
I've heard stories of borrowing a bass from another player in the room (only works on multi-band shows) or driving somewhere to retrieve another bass, etc. If you've got that luxury, more power to you. I just never have, and I probably wouldn't be a good fit in a band with those performance standards.
I think for most practicing performing bass players this is good general advice: If you can swing it, at least acquire a cheap beater, practice your set up and maintenance skills by dialing it in to be a great player, pack it along to the show, strap it up with a cable to the A/B box or a spare wireless TX, and have it ready to roll at a moment's notice.
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My, aren’t we judgemental today?
It’s been a long time since my last amp failure and even longer since my last broken string. Bass issues have occurred every now and again across the decades.
Haven’t had a class d amp fail…yet.
Better to be ready for anything than to be the unprofessional one who causes a problem with the live show or session.
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You don't need one. Until you do.
(somebody probably already said this, but I'm not reading 7 pages of responses)
(somebody probably already said this, but I'm not reading 7 pages of responses)
