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How many basses do you take?

#41
I take 2. I've relied on a backup a number of times over the years. Sometimes I set both up w/and A/B switch. Sometimes one of them is an upright :). It just depends, but almost always 2, unless it's a jam session where 1 is fine.
 
#42
StuartV said:
...And if you have a spare bass sitting there ready to go, you're covered in the event that something even worse happens - e.g. strap button screw pulls out or breaks, somebody steps on the instrument cable and the bass' output jack gets broken, the bass is active only and the battery dies, etc.. It's just too easy to have something really minor throw a major wrinkle into a smooth set to not have a hot spare bass.
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...and I have each of those things happen at least once in 43 years, some more than once, and more...! Let me add: pickup died, nut cracked, tuning peg went kpfooeyl... and that's just off the top of my head.

Always a spare...
 
#47
delta7fred said:
Fassa

I can see the cello tuning tuning but, excuse my ignorance, what is the advantage of dropping the A to G on your 5er?
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In the days when I played worship music from piano music, I found myself having to do some very odd string shifts, including one song I remember well where I was shifting from low A (yeah, seriously low) to something like a G, and then to C on the A string. So rather than muck about on the E string and then crossing over, I made it so I played open G on my 2nd string and then while my hand was free I could shift to C easily.

I seem to remember that the song was pretty fast, and I wasn't confident in playing that fast.
 
#50
Two basses for most longer gigs (3-4 hours) - not so much as a backup (although it has been only needed once... string) but, more as a change of pace. For 2 hour gigs... only if I really feel like it - and for church services hardly ever more than one comes along.
 
#52
Fassa Albrecht said:
In the days when I played worship music from piano music, I found myself having to do some very odd string shifts, including one song I remember well where I was shifting from low A (yeah, seriously low) to something like a G, and then to C on the A string. So rather than muck about on the E string and then crossing over, I made it so I played open G on my 2nd string and then while my hand was free I could shift to C easily.

I seem to remember that the song was pretty fast, and I wasn't confident in playing that fast.
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Thanks Fassa

I believe you but don't quite understand for a variety of reasons (but don't worry) including - I have never played from sheet music, I very rarely play open strings, plus I 'know' the song. Once I have the chord structure in my head I am good to go, just name the key.

Most of the stuff I play is by ear and no open strings so when the singer wants to drop or raise it by a fret or two I don't struggle. If he is having an off night he may ask to drop the odd song by a fret at a gig. My usual response is "If you can handle it I can".
 
#54
geoff_in_nc said:
Anyone ever really had a bass fail during a gig?
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Yes indeed.

I have a Gibson T-Bird that I thought was totally reliable. Suddenly, mid-song at a bar gig, the output jack began to fail, producing a horrible scratchy output. There was no fixing that on the spot. When I later took it to my electronics tech, it took him 20 minutes to diagnose (he'd never seen an output jack fail in that way).

Fortunately, I had a back-up on stage with me that night.

I've always brought a back up, and that's the reason. You never know if or when your number might come up.
 
#57
Two!! I was on tour and mid song, mid set, my American Precision Deluxe's dual jazz humbucker pickup decides it has lived long enough. No Joke! I take good care of my gear, but as I always say, "Everything works until it doesn't!" It had this horrendous squeal that made everyone in front of the PA duck and cover with their hands over their ears! I didn't even know what was happening before the sound guy ripped my fader. I stomped my mute a second after that. The whole ordeal took about 3 seconds. It was BRUTAL!! Luckily I had a back up bass (Nathan east signature yamaha). I pulled the cord from my fender, bent over and turned my volume down, and checked the unplugged cable for signal. It seemed to be working fine. I picked up the yamaha and plugged in, checking that there was no squeal, I turned up and managed to find myself 2 bars before the last chorus. Sound guy gave me a quick thumbs up that all was good in his world. I came back in on the one, and sweated bullets for the rest of the night!! Funny thing is, the singer who hired me was clueless to the whole event because all he could hear in his in-ears was himself!! Ha!

So I ALWAYS. ALWAYS, take 2 basses. Just get a double gig bag and you won't really notice that much more stuff. Just a little more weight to schlep around.

My $0.02
 
#58
Two mostly. On rare occasion I'll take three basses, but I can put two basses into one double gig bag which is handy. Depending on the gig one is a fretless six.

I carried one bass for years, but now I have one I like especially for soloing and slap stuff.
 

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