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How many times has your bass failed you?
- Thread starter RexxRokket
- Start date
I'll out of habit bring a backup in case of string breakage unless I have a friend on the bill who I know will let me hide his bass behind my amp just in case.
Reason: I broke strings once or twice like 35 years ago. Will never put myself in that position again. Fortunately I switched to lighter gauge strings long ago, which alleviates breakage under my heavy attack.
Still. the habit - and the phobia - remains.
Reason: I broke strings once or twice like 35 years ago. Will never put myself in that position again. Fortunately I switched to lighter gauge strings long ago, which alleviates breakage under my heavy attack.
Still. the habit - and the phobia - remains.
Since 1979. Twice. Neither one was it the bass fault. Someone knocked over and the g string tuner broke right off.another time I pulled the e string too hard and the nut broke couldn't play that string at all.and at least 6 or 7 times broke a string. That's why I always bring 2 basses
Cord?
Yes!
Amp?
Yes!
Bass?
No.
I have forgetten that I had turned the bass's volume knob down.
That's brain failure.
Yes!
Amp?
Yes!
Bass?
No.
I have forgetten that I had turned the bass's volume knob down.
That's brain failure.
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I've had:
-Battery die
-Input jack get very noisy
-String break
I nearly always have a spare on a stand, wired up and usually on an A/B box. I'm gigging once a week in situations where we're almost always the only band on the bill so if there's going to be a backup it's coming from me. Also, I like mixing it up so being able to play a different bass second set (or just when the mood strikes) is just good fun.
The few times something has gone wrong it's been very nice to have another in my hands inside of 10 seconds.
-Battery die
-Input jack get very noisy
-String break
I nearly always have a spare on a stand, wired up and usually on an A/B box. I'm gigging once a week in situations where we're almost always the only band on the bill so if there's going to be a backup it's coming from me. Also, I like mixing it up so being able to play a different bass second set (or just when the mood strikes) is just good fun.
The few times something has gone wrong it's been very nice to have another in my hands inside of 10 seconds.
Only bass "failure" I've ever had was a battery quitting at a gig last year. Would have been easy enough to replace the battery but I gig a 4 and a 6, and it was less trouble just to finish the gig on the 6.
I've had a bass head fry, and a guitar amp input jack go squirrely, but I'm just not carrying extras of that stuff
I've had a bass head fry, and a guitar amp input jack go squirrely, but I'm just not carrying extras of that stuff
one time, rehearsing for a TV show (we played live) already in the studio A and G string snapped (not at the same time) and ever since then, even though that is not my main bass anymore, I always bring a back up bass just in case, even if i try to fool myself and just bring one i end up turning around and going home for my back up bass...
I had my 4001 drop a pickup first number...….lucky that I had a good old P bass back up that night
I also never bring a back up but...I just bought a brand new Hagstrom Viking which I have been playing and next week I will take it to it's first gig. I will bring my P-Bass as a back up for the next few gigs until I'm sure everything is good.
I'll add 2 ideas to my previous comments.
First, off, in my current gig the lead singer/rhythm guitarist brings two guitars to every gig. He (rightfully IMHO) sees the necessity of having a backup ready. Though a guitar string break is far more common that a bass malfunction, I can't see me being willing to do less than he to ensure that the gig keeps moving, especially when he's paying me.
Secondly, it's not the end of the world to stop the show if a string breaks or a battery needs replacement, but is it worth it? As a bass player I endeavor to be the best-oiled cog in the machine. That goal does not include me being the reason for a stage delay. My job is to support the leader, and part of that is not being the source of any delays or worry on his part.
The unfortunate fact is that failures can happen regardless of how good your gear is and how well you take care of it. This is why I ALWAYS take backup to a paying gig, despite owning quality basses and maintaining them properly. It's like insurance: peace of mind.
Have I needed backup? YES. I've been gigging for over 40 years and have "only" needed the backup a dozen times, give or take, but that's a dozen gigs that weren't halted or crippled because of me.
Some of the failures were field-repairable -- broken strings, f'r instance. Even so, I never want to halt a gig so I can change a string, nor do I want to finish out a set with a missing string. It's so much better to quickly switch to a fully functional bass.
More importantly, some of the failures were NOT field-repairable. Best example of this was when the nut broke on a brand new Music Man bass, causing the E string to go flopping off the side of the neck. That definitely sucked, but I merely switched to my backup... disaster averted.
So maybe you'll gig for decades and never need a backup. But you should really ask yourself how you and your bandmates will feel if you ever do.
Twice. Same bass and same problem. It came with Gotoh Licensed tuners (not the real thing), and I had 2 different ones break on the same bass at 2 different times. Needless to say, it now has a full set of real Gotoh tuners on it instead.
Couple a three times. Two times broken string, one time jack socket problems. The first time, I didn't have a spare bass and played without an E string. The next two times I was prepared and had a backup bass.
My bass fails me everytime it plays the wrong note or plays the note at the wrong time. Happens repeatedly, and I'm getting pretty fed up with it.
I know what you mean. That is why your band need to bring a back up bass that plays the right notes at the right time. Problem solved.
My Fender Elite P wanted to fail once, batteries died, but then I brought her back to life in a snap with the active/passive switch and was good to go.
Now I don't even use her in active mode so failures will probably be super rare if at all, but I still bring my backup P just in case.
Now I don't even use her in active mode so failures will probably be super rare if at all, but I still bring my backup P just in case.
If you play before an audience or in a studio, and you're serious about playing, then just one failure is one too many. The people who pay you expect you to play -- they don't expect you to stop playing in order to fix problems. And even if you're doing a free gig, your reputation (and that of the band) is on the line; are you reliable, or are you going to waste the audience's time (and that of your bandmates) because you have to stop playing?
Gigging since 1988, and it's happened twice. First at one of my earliest gigs, just a broken string, but it was a drake three songs in having to stop and deal w/ that.
Next time was two years ago, total failure of the neck pickup on my #1 Jazz. Glad I had a backup this time.
Next time was two years ago, total failure of the neck pickup on my #1 Jazz. Glad I had a backup this time.
