• 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.

Has Anyone Had A Bass Go Down During A Gig?

jnammy

jnammy

Sep 23, 2000
993
253
Orange County, CA
#1
Just curious, has anyone had a bass malfunction during a gig? If so, what went wrong?

People always say "My bass is so great that I never bring a backup", but when things go wrong, isn't it usually due to the strings or batteries, which has nothing to do with the bass itself? If anything, a poor setup probably has more to do with string breakage.
 
#4
Had stuff go wrong with both passive and active. MIM J-bass bridge saddle screws unwound themselves and came out leaving me with an E string sticking to the pickups. Also had the input jack on my active Traben go out while playing at church.
Lesson learned, don't gig without a backup.
 
#5
Yes.

I'm not worried about string breakage as I've been playing long enough that one broken string isn't gonna stop me finishing the set and I always have a spare set. But I've had Basses with actives give trouble during gigs (and not flat battery trouble) so I always carry my passive Squier Vintage Modified Jazz fretless as a backup now for gigs where I'm using a Bass with actives. Just paranoia...
 
#7
My passive P-bass of all things got weird on me in the middle of a set, last week. I traced it down to the output jack (the farting noise would cut in & out when I wiggled the cable).

I opened it up, looked like maybe the ground wire was routed through one of the tabs that contacts the plug. I put it back together more carefully and everything is cool again... for now.

This isn't the first time I've dealt with this kind of thing on a passive bass. And with active basses I've had batteries die right before downbeat. And neither of my active basses currently have a bypass.

So... yeah. I'm pretty sold on having a backup handy unless it's a real mellow job close to home.
 
#8
I opened up my case one time and my "G" string had come completely unwound (insert obvious joke here) making it impossible to re-string it onto the tuner post - everytime I tried tuning it up, more of the wire unraveled the higher the tension got. So weird, because it was fine when I had put it in the case the night before the gig.

Luckily, the nice bass player in the band opening for us had an extra string he let me have. I bought him a beer in exchange for his courtesy.
 
#10
The only live malfunction I've had in the past 15 years was a dead battery, which of course, was an active bass with no passive mode. I guess it was kind of my fault since I didn't notice the output decreasing or the fuzzing that usually precedes a battery dying. I wish I could remember what kind of battery it was since I could've swore that it died all of a sudden. It's silly, but I don't even remember which bass it was because it was so long ago. Ever since then, I really tried to stick with passive basses which worked out great since I also prefer the passive sound (from good pickups).
 
#12
I've had 3 strings break, but not for a long time, because I don't beat on them anymore. But the worst when a bandmate bumped my bass over and it fell off the stand and broke the tuner peg for the G string (of course it was out of tune after the fall too) :(

I almost always bring a spare unless it's a really short gig.
 
#13
Hmm... let's see:

-Broken strings. Countless times (usually the E string, too).

-Battery. My battery has died twoce while playing live on my active ATK.

-Unintential detuning. Also many times. I tend to thrash around a bunch. It's not uncommon for my headstock to whack something or someone and detune me mid-song.

-Broken Headstock. Nailed a kid in the head with my old franken fender P. Cracked the headstock and took a halfdollar sized chunk of scalp and hair off of his head.

-Broken Bridge. Soon after i replaced the neck on the franken fender some problems aroze at a show we were playing. A bouncer started choking a 16 year old kid in front of me, so i layed him out with the bass... which poped the bridge out.

-Busted Nut(:hiding:). Our singer's mic cord got tangled around my headstock and somehow broke the nut.

-Broken ME!! I flailed a hand during a basement show and caught it on a low beam, cracking my metacarpal. It was night 1 of a 2 month tour!! We spent the night at the hospital and i just taped it up and delt with it for the rest of tour...

-Amp troubles. I've blown speakers on 3 occations and have had amp malfunctions on about 6 or so.



So yeah... i'm a pretty staunch supporter of always bringing back up basses and an extra head. Also, these are my reasons for not owning any basses over the $600 mark... :bassist:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back