How many Basses Does Everbody bring to a gig?

[thunderbird66]

I have brought up to 4 ( they look cool on stage if you have the room )& usually only switch if the chosen one ain't cutting it or equipment failure. I hate that.

 

[MikeyThrottler]

1 for local gigs, 2 for road gigs. (I play originals only and have no need to switch basses or change tunings during a set).

 

[jet_king]

haven't played a long enough set in a while to need the 2nd bass but the most I've taken was 2 cause i only had two at the time, 2000 fender MIM Jazz and a 1980's status series 1000. I now have 4 of my own bass' soon to have 5 with the new addition of my first fretless. If i were to go out and play today though I'd bring my 2000 MIM jazz and my 1997 fender MIM Jazz.

 

[portlandguy]

only 1

 

[maxiegrant]

All the ones that I bring.

At least 2, often 3.

 

[kjpollo]

I always bring 2 but I've never played more than one. I used to take my Carvin LB75 and a 4 string as a backup.
Now my G&L L2500 is the primary and the Carvin is the backup. I play modern country and I need the extra low notes a lot more often than I thought I would so I only bring my 5s to gigs now.

I brought out several of my 4 stringers when we played a party at my house but even at an informal gig like that I played the G&L 100% of the time.

Our rhythm player switches between acoustic and electric a few times during the show and both guitarists switch to a tuned-down guitar for a couple of songs so I dont want to add bass changes into the mix because my changes wouldnt necessarily line up with theirs. And I dont want to be responsible for killing the flow if a set is working really well. I let the guitards have that dubious honor.

 

[JimmyM]

Actually I mean tunning down half step all 4 strings so you play "normally" all the half step down songs and you play half a note up the songs on "regular" tunning, does that make sense? Sorry about the confusion.

Ah, I get it now. That's very different.

Never mind.

 

[ShoeManiac]

Over the past couple of years, I've worked my way down to 2 basses per gig. And typically that was 1x 5 string and 1 x 4 string, both fretted. That's a dramatic improvement from what I used to do. Prior to that with my last steady gig I had been bringing 3 basses. That was when I was playing more Electric Upright, and I'd also have a double gig bag with 2 bass guitars.

10 years ago was another story. Then, I might have brought as many as 4 instruments to a gig. And that might have been 1 x fretted 5 string, 1 x fretless 5 string, 1 x fretted 4 string and 1 x Electric Upright. And I may have wound up playing all of them over the course of a couple of 1 hour+ sets.

For me, a lot of it boiled down to time and convenience. How long was the set? How long did I want to take for load-in and set-up? How much time did I have to switch instruments between songs? How many gig bags did I want to lug? And how versatile/capable were the instruments I was bringing to the gig? All of these factors came into play for me.

And don't discount the backup bass factor. On one gig last year we wound up with terrible ground loops due to dirty/ungrounded power at the stage. My main bass wound up sounding terrible because it could not cope with the ground hum. But my recently shielded backup bass? It sounded great because it wasn't picking up the ground hum from the power.

 

[kcole4001]

Two: 4003 with Hipshot D Tuner for drop D songs, and a Peavey 5 string for stuff that needs to go lower than D.
The Rick is my main bass, so if I only take one, that's what I grab.

 

[Shardik]

If I play more than one, it is a fretless. So I play 1 or 2.

But I always bring at least 2. A backup is a handy thing.

 

[fisticuffs]

I used to bring a second and pull it out just because I bothered to bring it. Problem is the two weren't different enough in sound to bother. Now I just bring one. Probably not the wisest move but I haven't broken a string or had any bass problems on stage since 1997. Knock on wood.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Anyone bring additional basses to play at gigs rather than as just a backup?

I enjoy reading about those who do, but I just play one, with one more as backup.

Same as you I enjoy variety, but at the gig I usually go with K.I.S.S./"set it and forget it".

Actually, with my "Motown band", I sometimes think about switching between one bass strung with flats and another with rounds. But unlike my other bands, they are pretty good about leaving very little time between songs, so I do not want them to factor in my bass swaps, nor do I want to add any gear that would make bass swapping happen more quickly.

 

[Broadstbully22]

I play one most of the time. Always take two. I just have one bass I found that is just everything I need. It is my sound and feel that I love. Nothing else compares to it. I go to gc and play others and walk out still thinking to myself it can't touch my bass. My backups are great but just can't compete. I'm lucky to have found something in life that fits me so well.

 

[Broadstbully22]

Also with a processor and a hipshot d tuner there is very little that I can't do and do quickly. No bass changes, just push a pedal and hit the latch on the hipshot. 2 seconds and we are off and running.

 

[jjk2007]

1.

 

[malthumb]

Thanks! I really appreciate the advise.

How well does the wireless work? I was just in the guitar shop with my husband and he was looking at one wondering if it would work for my situation.

I use a Line 6 G30. Works great. Our guitarist uses a Lone 6 G50. Has better user interface than e G30. Maybe a few other improvements that I wouldn't notice. It also works great.

 

[bassguy72]

I play one 7 string bass for everything..... because I only own one at the present time.....lol

 

[Biggbass]

I usually pack two and leave one in the double Mooradian bag behind my amp.

 

[Gaolee]

I used to switch between the P and the EB. Now I typically play one, whether it is the fretless, the P, the EB or the upright.

 

[groooooove]

generally one. sometimes DB and EB. sometimes fretted and fretless electric bass.