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I will never gig without a backup ever again...

JC BASS 91

JC BASS 91

Oct 22, 2021
1,752
5,792
SW Missouri
#1
For the longest time, I always took a backup bass with me for those "just in case" situations that might arise. After years of never needing it, and never taking it out of the case even, last week I decided to stop doing it.

Last week's gig was fine. My 2000 Carvin LB-70 played with no issues and all was great.

This week, tonight, I had it with me and we played through sound check with no issues. We mill around the private party for a while and then we go to play. I try to tune my bass and I canNOT get the A string to stay in tune. I look, and I get it tuned, and can watch the post slip and drop out of tune under tension. WTH!?

I reach up and this happened...
20231021_222115.jpg


So there I was, about 40 minutes from home and have a broken bass.

Fortunately, someone in the audience pipes up and says, "You need a bass? You can borrow my dad's."

They go get it, bring it up to me and they say, "Its a pretty crappy bass, sorry," and hands me a Precision bass copy with a single mini-humbucker where the split-P would be. The name on the headstock in fancy script is "Aims". The output jack is janky, and no strap (my strap has Dunlop strap locks on it). I get a chair, and I sit for both sets and manage to get through with this bass.

It actually wasn't a bad bass. The jack was really the only bad part about it. The neck was nice, it stayed in tune and sounded pretty dang good. I don't know what I would have done had it not been close at hand for a party guest!!

I will never go without a backup ever again!!

Replacement tuner on order, but won't be here before our next gig. Its ok, though, as I have plenty of basses in the house, its just that this one is my "JC Bass Signature" bass. :cool:
 
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#3
Eh, still didn't *need* the backup :D

Seriously, that's really amazing and awesome that someone was able to help you out. I haven't seen a tuning post come apart like that before, wild.

Schallers are a lot easier to take off of the strap if need be. For Dunlops I can use a small pocketknife that I always have on me to pry that retaining clip out. A spare bass is one thing but having a little multi-tool type thing is also very helpful as part of the Bassist Survival Kit.

Grats on getting through the gig intact! You never know what can come up.
 
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#4
I usually carry a spare, but it was always because I play active basses almost all the time. But once I carried only a 5-string Precision bass. Passive, what could go wrong, right?

Well, how about the volume pot shaft coming out of the pot with the control turned all the way down? Oopsie!

But I had a few tools and a soldering kit, so I was able to solder around the volume pot and get through the night.

So yeah, I carry two basses…..:D
 
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#6
I know it's a little late for advice, but you could have taken the G string tuner and swapped it for the A. Since there's no money above the fifth fret anyway, you still could have finished the gig. Any parts that couldn't have been reached in the upper frets of the D string could have been played an octave lower. Hope this helps in the event you suffer another similar catastrophe.
 
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#7
Sucks that it happened like that with the bass. If someone had told you there was even a chance of that happening you probably wouldn't have believed them.

How cool that an audience member had one for you to use.

Lots if discuss on the "backup bass" on TB. Many folks are hardliners that it's not needed, but I'm nit in that camp. Always bring 2 myself. And not just as a backup bass, I like to play them and always play both during a gig.
 
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#11
JC BASS 91 said:
For the longest time, I always took a backup bass with me for those "just in case" situations that might arise.
Click to expand...

In 1967 I saw The Yardbirds, the Page / Beck line up. I got there really early and during their sound check Chris Dreja's Precision didn't work, so I volunteered my old Framus Star bass and rushed home to get it. How Page and Beck laughed when they saw it. . . the look on Chris's face! Still it got the band through their gig and Chris was very complimentary afterwards. He didn't need to be. . . . I knew it wasn't a great bass!

I have never needed a second bass for any reason, although I've carried one for the last 25 years, since I owned more than 1 bass. It's not a back up, it's another #1 bass, and I decide which one I'm going to play during the sound check.
 
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#16
Turxile said:
How about lesson #2; don't use strap locks, or any other accessory that limits flexibility ;)
Click to expand...
How does a set of Straplocks limit flexibility?
Unless you mean the lightning-like flexibility you need in order to catch your bass when it slips off the strap.
 
Last edited:
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#19
JC BASS 91 said:
For the longest time, I always took a backup bass with me for those "just in case" situations that might arise. After years of never needing it, and never taking it out of the case even, last week I decided to stop doing it.

Last week's gig was fine. My 2000 Carvin LB-70 played with no issues and all was great.

This week, tonight, I had it with me and we played through sound check with no issues. We mill around the private party for a while and then we go to play. I try to tune my bass and I canNOT get the A string to stay in tune. I look, and I get it tuned, and can watch the post slip and drop out of tune under tension. WTH!?

I reach up and this happened...View attachment 5226797

So there I was, about 40 minutes from home and have a broken bass.

Fortunately, someone in the audience pipes up and says, "You need a bass? You can borrow my dad's."

They go get it, bring it up to me and they say, "Its a pretty crappy bass, sorry," and hands me a Precision bass copy with a single mini-humbucker where the split-P would be. The name on the headstock in fancy script is "Aims". The output jack is janky, and no strap (my strap has Dunlop strap locks on it). I get a chair, and I sit for both sets and manage to get through with this bass.

It actually wasn't a bad bass. The jack was really the only bad part about it. The neck was nice, it stayed in tune and sounded pretty dang good. I don't know what I would have done had it not been close at hand for a party guest!!

I will never go without a backup ever again!!

Replacement tuner on order, but won't be here before our next gig. Its ok, though, as I have plenty of basses in the house, its just that this one is my "JC Bass Signature" bass. :cool:
Click to expand...
Crappy.


All my basses are JC signature basses...my name is JC, and I built them all
 
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