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

#103
Relsom said:
Just curious, are Carvin tuners rebranded Schallers or Gotohs? The only time I've ever had a tuner fail was one on a Peavey and it was a rebranded Gotoh ..... or an asian knockoff.
Click to expand...
Gotohs

Warwick also uses mostly Gotoh tuners and many posts (pun intended!) of folks have sheared off posts as well.
If it were my bass I'd switch them over to Hipshots, they'll drop right in.
 
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#105
Grinderman said:
Are you a carpenter too?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Union


I build bridges

IMG_0549.jpg
 
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#106
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...
Murphy's Law
Murphy's law - Wikipedia
Sep27_2016_Murphys_LawSmall.png

What is truly amazing is that it didn't happen until you didn't bring a back up.
 
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#107
Geri O said:
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
Click to expand...
You carry a soldering iron to gigs? And solder?
 
#108
Good reminder! I usually have a backup with me, but sometimes it is tempting to travel light. I have needed to use my back up on occasion. That was for other reasons, but I have also had those tuners fail! I don't know what brand yours are (there seems to be multiple versions), but the the Gotoh ones seem to hold better than the generic ones. I have an Ibanez bass with similar tuners and I have had 3 of them fail in the same way - sheering off at the base of the post. No problems with the Gotoh direct replacements.
 
#109
Fynn said:
Well, a bass is heavy and expensive. Spare parts and some light tools are not. I would bet you that I could change a single tuning key significantly faster, than changing 4 strings on my bass!
Click to expand...

Maybe (and props to you, because admittedly I couldn't do that, it'd be off to my tech), but that's still more time than putting down one bass and picking up another. That's my point - with a backup, the most time you're down is to open a case and pull out the backup. Mostly likely doesn't require any stoppage of a set, just another band member chatting to/with the audience to kill time for a minute while you switch.
 
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#110
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...


Sorry, to hear that.

I have a 1981 LB50, and a 1985 LB40, never a problem.
 
#111
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...
I have a 5-string bass that I got specifically for playing songs in a group where I needed to use a B string multiple times a night. My primary bass is a 4-string 1982 Jazz. The 5-string is not a great bass but it looks really good, sounds decent, is light, and didn't cost me an arm and a leg. I didn't worry about a back-up bass when I used to carry it with me but since I haven't needed to use it with either of the groups I've play with for the last 4-years or so, I've started leaving it behind on gigs. Your post has made me reconsider that move, and I just might start carrying it with me to gigs again...

theway_400x250.jpg
 
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#112
B-Mac said:
You carry a soldering iron to gigs? And solder?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily to the gig, but I have an electronics/soldering kit that lives in my truck all the time. I sub-contract with a few AV installers around town, making cables and soldering up equipment racks.

And being in bands, the kit has come in handy on a few gigs when someone else was NOT prepared with a spare whatever.
 
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#114
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...
What crazy luck. Cool that someone swooped in to help out!

IMO a backup instrument is an essential part of a live gear set. Personally, a backup has saved my butt more than once. No need to troubleshoot and fix the issue—just swap out the instrument and figure it out later.

To further convince myself, I’ve also watched in facepalming horror as some poor bassist or guitarist who didn’t have a backup panic and flail trying to fix their malfunctioning instrument while standing in a spotlight onstage. I want no part of that stress :) For me a backup is essential for peace of mind.
 
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#116
B-Mac said:
You carry a soldering iron to gigs? And solder?
Click to expand...
Of course, although the club I mixed in already had that stuff there. I rebuilt a Twin Reverb’s blown tube and screen resistor during a set break once. Not that much fun, but whatever it takes!
 
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#117
Passinwind said:
Of course, although the club I mixed in already had that stuff there. I rebuilt a Twin Reverb’s blown tube and screen resistor during a set break once. Not that much fun, but whatever it takes!
Click to expand...
But of course, silly me. :cool:
I forgot about the guy that brings an electric generator to gigs if the power goes out from a thunder storm.:woot::smug:
 
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#120
I always have a spare of everything at every gig. My spare bass bag has an extra of every type of cable in it, along with a TC BAM200 backup amp in the front pocket (which I have had to use twice since I got it 5 or 6 years ago). I play thru dual 1x12s because (as opposed to one 2x12) so if one goes out, I still have the other. I know that’s not likely, but the other advantages are it’s easier to carry two 1x12s than one 2x12, and for smaller venues, I’ll leave one in the car.
 

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