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Glad I had my P-bass!
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
A Keith McMillan battery tester is convenient; plug it into the instrument and hold down a button on it while the display shows voltage and estimated hours of life remaining. Checking the onboard battery condition is part of my packing-for-the-gig routine. Anyway, a couple fresh 9 volt batts ride in my gig bag. And the preamp in my bass is defeatable.
Haven't felt the need to carry a spare bass.
Haven't felt the need to carry a spare bass.
I've never had a battery die on a gig (touch wood), but I change mine every 6 months and never leave anything plugged in unless I'm playing it. I do carry extra batteries, strings, cables, and a backup head. I don't carry a backup cabinet because there is a pretty low failure rate there. I also take 2 basses to nearly every gig, but that is more because I end up taking fretless and fretted and swapping between them. Or not - some nights if I'm feeling one the other stays in the bag. Depends on which band I'm playing with.
I don't own a passive bass as I like my active electronics. Different strokes, but I don't view active instruments as a technical liability. I have had jack problems in the past, but that can happen with active or passive instruments.
I don't own a passive bass as I like my active electronics. Different strokes, but I don't view active instruments as a technical liability. I have had jack problems in the past, but that can happen with active or passive instruments.
I've seen these types of threads for years about always taking a second bass but as I think of it, in my circle of experience I've never seen another bass player do that.
Do whatever makes you feel more confident I figure, it's your business. It's all good and a great way to rationalize another nice bass.
By the way... I do bring extra cables and strings but in that "vein" of "what if" scenarios of folks that do bring second basses ( your business, not mocking just curious) at what point do you disengage that thinking and why?
Ex: extra strings, extra cables, fuses etc.all make sense to anyone and if you're on the road a second bass is of course a good thing but.
A backup amp?
A backup speaker?
A backup phone?
A backup car? ( motorcycle in truck bed)
A backup singer - they get sick
A backup drummer- they die
A backup GPS...
Where do you draw the line and why is that different than a backup bass?
If I let my imagination go wild with "what ifs" it gets weird.
I like a few different basses for different songs.
I know...
I draw the line at ridiculous suggestions. Most people have two basses and it it's not a lot of extra effort to be a professional.
I've seen these types of threads for years about always taking a second bass but as I think of it, in my circle of experience I've never seen another bass player do that.
Do whatever makes you feel more confident I figure, it's your business. It's all good and a great way to rationalize another nice bass.
By the way... I do bring extra cables and strings but in that "vein" of "what if" scenarios of folks that do bring second basses ( your business, not mocking just curious) at what point do you disengage that thinking and why?
Ex: extra strings, extra cables, fuses etc.all make sense to anyone and if you're on the road a second bass is of course a good thing but.
A backup amp?
A backup speaker?
A backup phone?
A backup car? ( motorcycle in truck bed)
A backup singer - they get sick
A backup drummer- they die
A backup GPS...
Where do you draw the line and why is that different than a backup bass?
If I let my imagination go wild with "what ifs" it gets weird.
And that's why I love basses with an active/passive switch
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,619
- 222,155
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
LOL... (been there, done that, -almost similar moment as you said-.. unbelieveable, I was still asking for my bass at that very time)...But I'd be happy to try it again if you invite me to,..
I'm open for your offerings .. only that I don't drink alcohol/beer anymore now.. perhaps hot capuccino will do?
one cappuccino w/small shortbread cookie coming up!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,619
- 222,155
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Or a back-up band… (or is that what the singer it thinking?…)
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,619
- 222,155
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Yes, I primarily play a 4-string w/the band - one song needs the lowness-factor. Maybe I can dial in an octave pedal and de-tune but a 5'r lands it. Some players would say - then only bring a fiver… but that isn't an option w/me, so I bring 2 basses; a passive 4 and an active 5'r. Bob's yer' uncle!
This will never happen to me. At the pull of the volume knob bass goes tottaly passive with volume, balance and tone at my disposal.
It happend to me once in church with an Yamaha RBX375 that didn´t have the option to go passive....luckily there was a new battery in its case...
It happend to me once in church with an Yamaha RBX375 that didn´t have the option to go passive....luckily there was a new battery in its case...
Active basses require a good battery check meter.
I had the same issue with my first active bass.
Another issue that happened was the battery lead broke when I was changing batteries.
I can see the advantages of a passive bass.
I had the same issue with my first active bass.
Another issue that happened was the battery lead broke when I was changing batteries.
I can see the advantages of a passive bass.
Same here.
I could really care less what other people do, but I have had at least a 1/2 dozen bass malfunctions over the years that would have been gig ending. Broken jack, broken nut, bridge saddle screw shooting off my bass never to be found again, pickup frying, etc.
I generally bring a dual gig bag to gigs and if I only play one bass all night, the $299 Squier stays in the bag. Barely any extra effort at all.
Also, cabs rarely die but I bring 2 to each gig. If one did dies, I would only run one cab. If my preamp or poweramp dies, I have a DI box and go thru the PA.
im pretty sure "glad I had my P-Bass" is a passage in the bible anyway. Fitting it be the saviour in a church service.
In addition to an extra bass, I have a old-fashioned tackle box with fold out drawers that I take spares of everything, adaptors, soldering iron and equipment, tools, etc., what ever I have found necessary to have or have needed at any time to fix something to keep a gig going.
One recent modification: I sold all my tube amps, so I also sold all the spare tubes. The guitar players I play with who use tube amps now need to look elsewhere for a replacement tube.
The best story about having everything in the tackle box was a drummer who teased me about nothing for him when setting up for a gig. Well, half way through the first set his high hat chain broke. I was able to fix his high hat with an old bass string and my needle nosed pliers to get him through the gig. He apologized and thanked me.
In addition to just having spares, have a checklist to make sure you have re-stocked the spares used on the last gig and leave early so you have time to stop at the hardware store or music store on the way to the next gig to re-stock.
One recent modification: I sold all my tube amps, so I also sold all the spare tubes. The guitar players I play with who use tube amps now need to look elsewhere for a replacement tube.
The best story about having everything in the tackle box was a drummer who teased me about nothing for him when setting up for a gig. Well, half way through the first set his high hat chain broke. I was able to fix his high hat with an old bass string and my needle nosed pliers to get him through the gig. He apologized and thanked me.
In addition to just having spares, have a checklist to make sure you have re-stocked the spares used on the last gig and leave early so you have time to stop at the hardware store or music store on the way to the next gig to re-stock.
Exactly the point.
Granted, if Cheese had changed out batteries pre-performance, he wouldn't have needed his spare. But another thing that I find kind of arrogant and annoying is the insinuation that if you properly maintain a bass, nothing could possibly go wrong. What another load of crap. Even if you bring a bag of spare parts and a soldering iron, are you really going to spoil the show by busting out your tool kit and telling the audience to wait while you repair your bass? If you have the luxury to stop a show cold in its tracks while you fix your one bass with no negative consequences, hats off to you. That's never been the case for me. Even at the weekend club or praise and worship level, that would be wholly inappropriate.
Like Baird, I have had some of the most unusual freaky unpredictable stuff happen to my basses, stuff that would have required a detrimental break in the action to repair (even a string break would have killed the momentum), and I can assure you I maintain my basses very well. So glad I packed the extra ten pounds of spare bass and only took five seconds of showtime to do a quick switch on the fly. It surely kept certain club owners from chewing our asses on the spot and never having us back.
An ounce of prevention...
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I don't know about that, most of the gjuitarists I've ever played with played one, two or three guitars, every drummer I've played with had four, five or more drums at ever gig PLUS cymbals!I own, play and love both active & passive basses, but I only take one bass to gigs and it's passive. Like a bicycle it gets checked/once-over regularly so that when it's used live it performs as it should. And never ever broke a string (I dig-in at times but don't play aggressively enough to do that). Some may say I'm lucky, but I think it's just simple maintenance that can prevent most "unforeseen" problems. Multiple instruments at a gig is such a guitarist thing anyway.
