I hate switching basses...who's with me?

[biobass]

Yeah, it's a pain. There's a lot of switching for the current show I'm working on...upright, 5 string fretted & fretless.

Broadway arrangers like to maximize their tonal options (and producers of shows like to pay as few musicians as possible to achieve a satisfactory sounding score). This can lead to almost constant bass juggling for three hours.

Sometimes I'm switching for only one or two notes on a certain bass. And, some of the changes are fast and in the dark. I've got to be careful I don't wrench my back or an elbow lifting basses in and out of stands quickly.

Speaking of health issues, hope you get over yours soon, Jimmy.

If I remember correctly, Fun Home calls for five different basses: upright, five-string J-bass, P-bass, Hoffneresque, and fretless! And, the part was created by the bassist, George Farmer! I wasn’t getting a doubling (quintupling?) premium when I played it at a regional theater, so I just used my upright, my Roscoe Beck V, which can get a somewhat convincing P-bass tone, and my Turner Ren V fretless.

I’ve done shows where I had so little time for switching between electric and upright I had to sling the electric behind my back and play the upright while still in its stand.

 

[burgerdj]

+1 Rotating through basses at a gig has been unnecessary in my experience. It drives FOH nuts adjusting to different outputs and the audience could generally not care less. I bring two basses to gigs, but one is strictly backup.

Playing a casual gig at a backyard party - knock yourself out.

 

[TonyP-]

Heal fast Jimmy


I keep my life Basses to a similar I’ll put and they have a strap and already to go.

I always have a backup and sometimes I have to switch.

 

[Bass Man Dan]

That’s how I started playing five strings regularly

I used to switch to the five for the few songs in the set that required it.
That got old real fast.
I just started playing the five string the whole gig, mistakes and all, until there weren’t any more mistakes. Took a few weeks but it happened

Me too. All of this.

 

[el murdoque]

I've seen Muse live pre-covid.
Christopher Wolstenholme played several basses: I think I lost count at 7.
Most, if not all of them had LEDs in their fretboards, so when his part of the stage went dark, you could see how a roadie passed him a new bass, which basically was after every song.

That's fine. Having a Roadie and a Tech that did all the setup and the sound checking in the afternoon while I'm busy doing my rock-star-pre-concert-routine.
I'm not Mr. Wolstenholme and I have neither roady nor sound tech. I bring one bass to play and one as a backup that usually stays in the car.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I’m also in the non-switching category. If it’s a straight jazz gig I’ll happily play upright all night. If there’s any funky soul jazz on the menu, I’ll likely just bring the Fender with Flats (FwF) LoL.

On agency cover band gigs I’ll bring my FwF for the cocktail jazz set (and as a backup) and play my FSO 5 string with rounds for the entire party.

 

[G On Bass]

I haven't been in a project for a while where I had to change basses on stage. That being said, I used to do it all the time for tone reasons and had it pretty dialed in with wireless transmitters on each bass, and a boost pedal if needed to even things out. It literally took as long as it took to take one off and put on the other. I do understand than not all projects would even allow that little time between songs.

 

[40Hz]

I’ll bring my bass plus a PB for a backup.

But I’ve always played one bass for the entire gig. (Haven’t yet needed to use the backup. Whereat the Lord be praised! )

Studio is a different story. I might bring my main bass plus (maybe) a few very different basses depending on what was going to be recorded.

In the wise words of Meshell Ndgeocello: “Studio is Studio. And Live is Live. They’re two different worlds.” What works in the studio doesn’t always work in a live performance.

 

[bizzybass]

Nobody likes showing off my basses more than me. They're not super special or anything, but I used to be in love with the idea of switching basses just to show off the collection a little, plus it's cool to have different basses for different sounds and tunings. I've tried to enjoy it, especially since I spent a good many years doubling on upright on most of my gigs. Sounded like a good idea at the time.

Here's why I ended up hating it...

---It either slows the show down or it leaves you hanging and looking like amateur night because you're not ready when they start the next song. And many bandleaders don't care if you're switching and they'll count the song off anyway. So I just want to play one bass that can do it all.

---It's easy to switch basses that all have similar sound and output, but switching between a Stingray with new rounds and a Hofner with old flats is going to take some EQ to keep levels consistent and tones not so different that it throws the mix into a meltdown. And the more different basses, the more EQ's you need. Some folks will use programmable EQ's or pres and that's what I did most of the time, but it can take some effort to get it right. And I just don't want to spend time screwing with it. Once saw Heart's sound tech have to rebuild the bass mix from scratch for every other song because Steve Fossen switched every other song and never used the same bass twice.

---Two basses are manageable, but any more than that gets on my nerves during setups and teardowns. Have I done it? Sure I have! How do you think I know???

Anyway, thx for listening to me yak while I try to get over health problems. Been a while I had this much free time since going corporate. And feel free to comment either pro or con.

Funk all dat!
What do you think about a P+J Bass or Jazz bass? My go to bass for 30 yrs has been a Fender Power Jazz Bass Special(22 Fret version) and I use those 2 pick ups to my advantage tonally. If a Jazz Bass is more your style, make the N-Vol/Br/Vol & Tone Vol your best friend in relation to getting different sounds.
..my 2 cents

 

[Relsom]

I carry 2 basses to a gig. My main bass and its identical backup. The sound guys have enough to do without me changing things around on them just because I can.

 

[Crash 56]

Most gigs I do these days need a couple of basses - either one tuned to Eb for some songs in my cover band or I use my EUB for some stuff with the singer/songwriter I play with.

I have a Bassbone pre with 2 inputs and it takes 10 seconds to change.

More than 2 basses at a gig would just confuse me

Another bassbone user here! I usually have a five string, and my piezo loaded fretless, but the bassbone makes dealing with the different levels simple!

 

[joel406]

I have five 5 string Basses. I use to bring a min of two to every gig. Now I just pick a flavor and go. Much easier and less hassle.

 

[jvgreene]

I switch from upright to bg for drop D songs when the band leader is tuning. And only on gigs with a drummer, which like 10% of gigs rn.

 

[ctmullins]

I always bring two basses to every gig, and I usually switch them out a few times.

Re: quickness - A cable with a Neutrik SilentPlug makes it really fast for two passive instruments. The SilentPlug will sometimes pop with an active bass, so that requires a quick stomp on the tuner button, no biggie. Also, I will usually switch basses during the beginning of a song with a long(ish) guitar or drum intro, where I have a few bars of cushion.

Re: levels - That's what the volume knob on the bass is for.

Re: different tones - That's actually a primary reason for switching.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I only own two basses. I like to play them both but only change over at break time.

They are very similar and I have pretty well internalized the settings on my amp to make the change pretty un-noticeable to our sound.

 

[Topkat13]

All of mine have knobs.

 

[Killing Floor]

I’ve never tried to match my outfit if that’s what you’re asking. A set is short enough. Maybe I grab fretless for a couple songs but I’d be ready with EQ so 3-4 seconds max. As cool (?) as I’m sure it would be to entertain the other bassist in the crowd with a collection nobody needs that.

 

[Ffreddy]

dude im 100% with you
I avoid switching mid set at all costs.

 

[mrcbass]

Nobody likes showing off my basses more than me. They're not super special or anything, but I used to be in love with the idea of switching basses just to show off the collection a little, plus it's cool to have different basses for different sounds and tunings. I've tried to enjoy it, especially since I spent a good many years doubling on upright on most of my gigs. Sounded like a good idea at the time.

Here's why I ended up hating it...

---It either slows the show down or it leaves you hanging and looking like amateur night because you're not ready when they start the next song. And many bandleaders don't care if you're switching and they'll count the song off anyway. So I just want to play one bass that can do it all.

---It's easy to switch basses that all have similar sound and output, but switching between a Stingray with new rounds and a Hofner with old flats is going to take some EQ to keep levels consistent and tones not so different that it throws the mix into a meltdown. And the more different basses, the more EQ's you need. Some folks will use programmable EQ's or pres and that's what I did most of the time, but it can take some effort to get it right. And I just don't want to spend time screwing with it. Once saw Heart's sound tech have to rebuild the bass mix from scratch for every other song because Steve Fossen switched every other song and never used the same bass twice.

---Two basses are manageable, but any more than that gets on my nerves during setups and teardowns. Have I done it? Sure I have! How do you think I know???

Anyway, thx for listening to me yak while I try to get over health problems. Been a while I had this much free time since going corporate. And feel free to comment either pro or con.

I've never felt the need to show off my stable, so don't have that issue.

I'd love to be able to use three basses for many gigs: my go to P with flats, a jazz with rounds and a fretless. They all offer different tone/feel. BUt the concept of trying to switch out between songs n stage is daunting for all the reasons you list. And with in-ears, it takes me a couple of minutes to get everything sitting just right when I mount up before each set - there's just no way that makes for a smooth show.

I have fantasized about a custom three neck bass that supports all three of my "needs", but 1) it would be a fortune (and I'd need two of them, 1 for backup don't ya know) , 2) can't imagine the weight and 3) I'm not good enough to show up with something that unique in public, so I just work hard at getting what I can out of my P.

 

[TNCreature]

I don't enjoy it. But sometimes, a necessary evil.
And I do mean EVIL!!!