After handing a stranger my main bass without a second thought then immediately regretting and panicking for a half hr.
I started bringing a spare because I never want to be EITHER guy in that situation ever again.
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How many times has your bass failed you?
- Thread starter RexxRokket
- Start date
I started bringing a spare because I never want to be EITHER guy in that situation ever again.
No failure in 13 years of playing.
I do not discount the possibility. I had a gig on Wednesday and managed to screw up a string change on my L-2000. Two strings were cut far too short, the others were a bit too close for comfort and so I mixed two brand new sets of strings together to gig the bass that night. Because I was scared of some kind of spontaneous disaster, I brought my backup. The gig went well and both basses performed spectacularly.
Normally, though, I'm a one-bass guy at gigs.
I have been gigging and recording for 20 years now and none of my basses have ever failed me and i never take a back up.
a) once, while playing a gig, my A string screw that connects the saddle to the bridge came loose and fell off the bridge (on a fender p bass). didn't noticed that till the gig was over because the E and D saddles kept the A saddle in place.
b) another time, on a gig again, i had a faulty barrel input jack that almost wasn't working at all. i had to constantly move the input jack to have signal...
c) once, while getting a litlle bit crazy, i accidentaly worked the d string too hard and the string was stuck under the pickup screw of my fender p... i had to loosen the string and remove it from the pickup screw in order to continue after the song was over.
d) once i had a nut broken and split in half... the instrument went out of tune in a second....
e) another time, the worn saddle screws of a fender bridge were not holding the proper hight of the E string saddle ... i had to tune the bass every other song till the gig was over and the action of the string at the end of the gig was super low, i had to use a very light touch to produce any pitch in that string
f) broke a string once
g) had an amp failure once
i gig a lot and if you play every day (from May till October for me) instruments are under constant stress and some times anything can happen. if a musician is working constantly and has the space to carry an extra instrument, cables and a preamp box is ideal.
b) another time, on a gig again, i had a faulty barrel input jack that almost wasn't working at all. i had to constantly move the input jack to have signal...
c) once, while getting a litlle bit crazy, i accidentaly worked the d string too hard and the string was stuck under the pickup screw of my fender p... i had to loosen the string and remove it from the pickup screw in order to continue after the song was over.
d) once i had a nut broken and split in half... the instrument went out of tune in a second....
e) another time, the worn saddle screws of a fender bridge were not holding the proper hight of the E string saddle ... i had to tune the bass every other song till the gig was over and the action of the string at the end of the gig was super low, i had to use a very light touch to produce any pitch in that string
f) broke a string once
g) had an amp failure once
i gig a lot and if you play every day (from May till October for me) instruments are under constant stress and some times anything can happen. if a musician is working constantly and has the space to carry an extra instrument, cables and a preamp box is ideal.
Had a nut crack in the bottom of the G string slot one friday night and most of the outside portion of the nut fell off. The string would stay in place but i had to baby it to keep it there. I took it the next day to a really good tech and he made me a brass replacement which is still working fine more than twenty years later. i take a spare if i go out of town.
Exactly zero times.
I had a cable fail once, and accidentally switched a -15 db pad on a pedal, but that's it.
Never brought a backup but may start bringing one, I just never had the capacity to carry a backup around in crowded urban areas.
I had a cable fail once, and accidentally switched a -15 db pad on a pedal, but that's it.
Never brought a backup but may start bringing one, I just never had the capacity to carry a backup around in crowded urban areas.
Back in the olden days I had guitars take damage or have failures, so I was glad that I always had 2 or three with me.
You needed a guitar with a whammy, but I hated them so my main was hard tail, and then the doubleneck 6/12 was "needed".
Crazy '80s--good times.
Never had a bass fail me live in the last ten years, but always bring a spare. Or an 8-string or a BEAD and/or an AEB--what's in the set list?--so there's been something on hand in case of trouble.
In the intervening years I made my living running FOH sound--touring, venue engineer, national acts, local bands, on call, etc.
Seen it ALL go down, and that reinforced my caution. Random customers, fans, friends and family, venue employees, and especially bandmates have an innate ability to wreck stuff in a single careless second.
If you just expand your sonic palette a little bit--maybe choose an oddball bass that's perfect for a couple of the softer songs or whatever--you've also given yourself a great reason to carry an instrument that'll at least get you through that set or the whole night if something happens.
The people that didn't bring a spare guitar usually cost me my break time to fix it, meaning no dinner/phone call home/bathroom break/trip to the bar, etc while soldering or wrenching.
Seems like every other time I fixed their janky stuff the same sentence would reach my ear: "Yeah...it was messing up last week, too".
Are you only playing a couple of songs on a long list of bands? No problem. Someone will have your back if you're not a jerk.
Is your act the only one there? Time to be a responsible citizen.
Ever heard the phrase "The show must go on"?
The implied second half of that is "or the band doesn't get paid (the drummer has a new baby), the club and it's employees lose money (waitress #4 gets her car repossessed), and sometimes the audience will wreck everything and burn the place down".
Who wants to be responsible for that?
Bring something.
You needed a guitar with a whammy, but I hated them so my main was hard tail, and then the doubleneck 6/12 was "needed".
Crazy '80s--good times.
Never had a bass fail me live in the last ten years, but always bring a spare. Or an 8-string or a BEAD and/or an AEB--what's in the set list?--so there's been something on hand in case of trouble.
In the intervening years I made my living running FOH sound--touring, venue engineer, national acts, local bands, on call, etc.
Seen it ALL go down, and that reinforced my caution. Random customers, fans, friends and family, venue employees, and especially bandmates have an innate ability to wreck stuff in a single careless second.
If you just expand your sonic palette a little bit--maybe choose an oddball bass that's perfect for a couple of the softer songs or whatever--you've also given yourself a great reason to carry an instrument that'll at least get you through that set or the whole night if something happens.
The people that didn't bring a spare guitar usually cost me my break time to fix it, meaning no dinner/phone call home/bathroom break/trip to the bar, etc while soldering or wrenching.
Seems like every other time I fixed their janky stuff the same sentence would reach my ear: "Yeah...it was messing up last week, too".
Are you only playing a couple of songs on a long list of bands? No problem. Someone will have your back if you're not a jerk.
Is your act the only one there? Time to be a responsible citizen.
Ever heard the phrase "The show must go on"?
The implied second half of that is "or the band doesn't get paid (the drummer has a new baby), the club and it's employees lose money (waitress #4 gets her car repossessed), and sometimes the audience will wreck everything and burn the place down".
Who wants to be responsible for that?
Bring something.
Most of my playing past went on with only one bass but now that I own multiple, I started taking one 5 string and one main 4 string with me. Sometimes I feel too lazy to switch to the other though. Never had a string break or another failure myself.
But I've seen guitarists having their stands topple, guitars break, having to go to guitar shops for repair just before a show. I also once saw a professional player lose his bass during flight, so I had to lend him my bass. Right before the gig. Things happen. Nice thread for risk assessment.
But I've seen guitarists having their stands topple, guitars break, having to go to guitar shops for repair just before a show. I also once saw a professional player lose his bass during flight, so I had to lend him my bass. Right before the gig. Things happen. Nice thread for risk assessment.
Good day sirWell, I never did - but, it wasn't my bass anyway. I was just really lucky... There's this Guy named Murphy, who has had a long and successful career making sure that anything that can go wrong - will go wrong. Eventually... One thing I learned really early in life was - don't tempt Murphy. Especially if you make a career out of being a Combat Engineer. It's a real foolish - and dangerous - thing to do... Yeah, there are people who haven't met Murphy - yet - but, IME, they're usually the people who win lotteries, too. If you're not one of those people? Well, I imagine Murphy will get around to you one of these days...
Since I started playing bass in 1966, my instruments have been 100% reliable. I have never broken a string and never had a bass fail or let me down.
- Oct 18, 2012
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I have never had a bass fail me. For years, I only owned one bass and never had a problem. As I gained experience, I brought 2 or 3 basses to gigs so I could get different tone based on the song.
As a bassist, I've needed a backup probably 6-7 times in 35 years of playing. Broken jack, broken strings, strap button pulled out, pickup actually fell out!
As a guitarist, I've broken plenty of strings live, and always had a backup for a quick swap.
Besides my own experience, I have been in bands with people who had instrument failures, which were non issues because they had a handy backup.
I've also been forced to stand onstage playing naked bass and drum grooves to a confused audience, because a guitarist who didn't have a backup was off to the side of the stage frantically trying to troubleshoot his issue.
On many occasions, I have seen big name professionals as well as locals have on-stage failures that required an instrument swap.
The concept of not bringing a backup is crazy to me! But then again so are wing suits.
As a guitarist, I've broken plenty of strings live, and always had a backup for a quick swap.
Besides my own experience, I have been in bands with people who had instrument failures, which were non issues because they had a handy backup.
I've also been forced to stand onstage playing naked bass and drum grooves to a confused audience, because a guitarist who didn't have a backup was off to the side of the stage frantically trying to troubleshoot his issue.
On many occasions, I have seen big name professionals as well as locals have on-stage failures that required an instrument swap.
The concept of not bringing a backup is crazy to me! But then again so are wing suits.
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Never. But I carry strings, tools, a small flashlight, cables. My bag has more crap in it than my girlfriend's purse .
Never had one fail on a gig.
Had two fail during home practice or rehearsal. One was an output jack. The other was a pickup selector switch. Both revealed themselves in the first week of ownership. I don't gig a bass until it's been put through its paces for a month in an attempt to reveal factory defects in the wiring/components that mght not show during a visual inspection. Preventative maintenance goes a long way.
That said, if I need two sounds, there will be two basses on stage. If I don't need two sounds, I'll still have a spare out in my truck.
Had two fail during home practice or rehearsal. One was an output jack. The other was a pickup selector switch. Both revealed themselves in the first week of ownership. I don't gig a bass until it's been put through its paces for a month in an attempt to reveal factory defects in the wiring/components that mght not show during a visual inspection. Preventative maintenance goes a long way.
That said, if I need two sounds, there will be two basses on stage. If I don't need two sounds, I'll still have a spare out in my truck.
- Aug 21, 2003
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The real question ins how many threads are there on this exact topic?
Nobody ever needed a backup until the first time they needed a backup.
Given how easy it is for 99% of us to carry a backup, I don't understand this extreme reluctance to be prepared in case of emergency. How would you feel explaining to your band mates why you couldn't finish a gig because you were too lazy to carry a second bass?
