How many basses do you take to a gig?

[hesham8]

Never as pretentious as a guitarist bringing a floor rack that holds 5 at a time and they have them all sitting out.

Not exactly the case. What if said guitarist needs to play both acoustic and electric in an even proportion? In that case, doesn't it make sense to bring a backup acoustic and backup electric? Although, my guitarist just says, "Screw that, I'm just bringing the VG [and a backup electric]."


I bring my favorite bass and a backup, though I've never had to use the backup.

 

[Baird6869]

Always and only 2.

My main with a backup or similar basses - one with flats and one with rounds.

 

[lunker]

Acht....HE only had to sound like one guy... jk

4 passive, 4 fretless passive, 5 active

13 basses to one gig. Wow!

 

[Vic Winters]

2-3. Depending on the band.

SX SJB75 - Main bass, tuned standard/drop D
Ibanez ATK - Backup/slap bass, tuned standard, drop D
Ibanez GSR100 - tuned DGCF, CGCF

 

[winstonthecat]

I'm in the (2) club. My active Ibanez, and my passive P-Bass. Although I just picked up a Jazz 5-string, and once I get used to playing with it, I might bring that also.

 

[B-NoteCowboy]

Always two at least. Last thing I want to do is mess with restringing or trying to figure out what happend to an input jack. Just switch basses and keep rollin if something goes wrong.

If it's my KISS tribute, up to four basses.

Main bass
Backup to main bass
Axe bass which will be bloody and disgusting (one song)
Hollowbody bass (for "unplugged" set if we do one)

 

[madbassplaya]

I HATE changing basses in the middle of a gig. I find it somewhat distracting. If at all possible i'm only going to play one bass. That's why I gig with an American Standard Jazz 5 string. It covers everything I need. I do however usually have it's little sister there to back it up though. Just in case.

Murphy's law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong!

Carry as many basses as you want. As long as it's not to be a snobb and show off all your gear.

 

[fdeck]

One bass. In all my years of playing, an instrument has never quit on me. Horn players, keyboardists, etc., seldom bring spare gear. Instruments need to be good quality and well maintained. And, I load my own gear, and I don't play a super heavy schedule. One rule for me is that I always address minor issues before the next gig.

 

[QORC]

two. I always want to make sure I have a back-up in case a problem occurs, a string breaks, whatever

 

[Phalex]

I only ever bring one. Never had anything happen that I couldn't handle on the spot.

 

[Oric]

Generally 2, a fretted Jazz and a fretless Jazz. I usually only play one bass in rehearsal, but hey, my band insists the fretless is good for certain songs, so I might as well!
I might start bringing my Dano '63 as a backup bass. I don't think it sounds different enough to where the average drooler would notice, but it looks cool...

 

[jarrod cunningham]

3 : one four string , one 5 string , and a second 5 that i would let someone else play ....

 

[megadan]

I take one, I would take a second if I felt like I needed it but I've never broken a string at a show in my life.

 

[atheos]

Always two, my Ibanez ICB300EX and the good old GSR200 as a backup.

Here's a short list why:
Broken string: twice
Battery/active electronics fail: once
Weird feedback problems: once

No matter how good the bass is I'm not gigging without a backup. Anything can happen, even for the best instruments in the world. I don't have a backup backline, though. My new setup will be Sansamp + distortion pedal + head + cab so I'm not totally screwed if one device in the chain would fail. I might lose distortion or stage monitoring but the bass can be plugged directly in the PA without monitoring if necessary. We don't improvise so I know what I'm playing even without hearing it

 

[Hot Rats]

I am in the one bass arena....never had a problem in 20 years playing live. Like stated above, good equipment and maintaining that equipment has always worked out for me. I carry and extra set of strings. I know I am playing with fate...but that's ok. I trust my gear. I have just started to get into the 5 string bass for a certain gig I have, so, maybe I will be converting to the two bass crowd soon. Peace, John

 

[RED5]

Used to only carry one, until it fell and broke a tuning peg. Now I bring two and two extra string sets. I also bring a toolset/wire case that has become legendary. Amazing what fits in a briefcase.

 

[buzzbass]

2 - one to play and, one just in case.

 

[neuromancer]

I take two. No pretension. Good common sense, in case something, somehow happens with one, it's always good to have a backup. And they're so easy to carry, why not take a second, if you have it???

Same here. I've been questioned on it before; it just seemed like good contingency planning to me.

I can see why some players would bring more than 2 if they have them in different tunings, need a certain sound for 1 or 2 songs, or whatever the case may be. I'd prefer to keep it down to 2 if I can help it.

 

[badstonebass]

I usually bring two. If the space is really small I leve #2 in the car.

 

[Passinwind]

But, does it look bad/pretentious to take more than two? Where do you draw the line?

I draw the line at whatever it genuinely takes to do the gig. I never bring a spare/backup (I'll start whenever I experience my first need for one -- haven't yet in 35 years of playing), just whatever I know I'll actually be playing. Usually that's one bass, occasionally it's two though. If I needed twelve I'd bring twelve.