Never again!

[tallulahsdaddy]

I've been a gigging bass player for almost 20 years. Before yesterday, I'd never had a piece of gear fail on me at a show. Never even broken a string, honestly. I typically only bring one bass with me, and trust that things will work as they should. Never again! My bass started crackling at my gig yesterday, then completely stopped working. Fortunately, it was at the end of the set, and there was a piano at the venue so we finished up with some songs I play keys on. Still, it was very embarrassing and I will be bringing a backup bass to every gig I do from now on! Also a bag with extra cables, strings, and my DI/preamp in case something unexpected happens. You gotta be prepared for anything, as I learned the hard way yesterday!

 

[mrcbass]

It sucks, but stuff fails regardless of how much attention we pay to our gear. I hate dragging so much extra crap around that I will likely never need, but I look at it like this: If I have backup stuff, my gear won't fail - this is a good thing.

I'd rather have something and not need it - the reverse is embarrassing at best.

 

[Kriegs]

You went 20 years with no issues and, after a single incident, you're going to bring an extra bass, cables/ strings, preamp and DI
It was a battery in your active bass wasn't it?

 

[Stumbo]

I've been a gigging bass player for almost 20 years. Before yesterday, I'd never had a piece of gear fail on me at a show. Never even broken a string, honestly. I typically only bring one bass with me, and trust that things will work as they should. Never again! My bass started crackling at my gig yesterday, then completely stopped working. Fortunately, it was at the end of the set, and there was a piano at the venue so we finished up with some songs I play keys on. Still, it was very embarrassing and I will be bringing a backup bass to every gig I do from now on! Also a bag with extra cables, strings, and my DI/preamp in case something unexpected happens. You gotta be prepared for anything, as I learned the hard way yesterday!

You could have played key bass.

 

[Michedelic]

You went 20 years with no issues and, after a single incident, you're going to bring an extra bass, cables/ strings, preamp and DI
It was a battery in your active bass wasn't it?

Well, look at it this way...you buy insurance on a number of things, right? That ends up being a lot of money for something that(you hope)you don’t use, ironically. But you will never know when ‘the moment’ will come. Maybe never. Yeah, certainly someone can go overboard, but cables, strings, straps, batteries, small tool kit, plug strip, circuit tester, I get it. If it’s such a burden, just leave the kit in the car. I saved a gig once with a Crate Powerblock, and now with stuff like the ELF, having a backup amp is not an inconvenience. There’s no AAA for musicians, so I never understood shade being thrown on preparedness.

 

[tallulahsdaddy]

You went 20 years with no issues and, after a single incident, you're going to bring an extra bass, cables/ strings, preamp and DI
It was a battery in your active bass wasn't it?

Nope.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I am so cool and my gear is so cool it will never fail me when I need it most.
People who choose to schlep around all that extra gear are just insecure nerds and their gear is probably cheap stuff I wouldn't be on the same stage with.

 

[Joedog]

That's why I have a $100 Squier "trunk bass".

 

[micguy]

That's why I have a $100 Squier "trunk bass".

If I play with an unreliable drummer, should I keep one in my trunk?

 

[Kriegs]

Well, look at it this way...you buy insurance on a number of things, right? That ends up being a lot of money for something that(you hope)you don’t use, ironically. But you will never know when ‘the moment’ will come. Maybe never. Yeah, certainly someone can go overboard, but cables, strings, straps, batteries, small tool kit, plug strip, circuit tester, I get it. If it’s such a burden, just leave the kit in the car. I saved a gig once with a Crate Powerblock, and now with stuff like the ELF, having a backup amp is not an inconvenience. There’s no AAA for musicians, so I never understood shade being thrown on preparedness.

Nope.

View attachment 3599876
I am so cool and my gear is so cool it will never fail me when I need it most.
People who choose to schlep around all that extra gear are just insecure nerds and their gear is probably cheap stuff I wouldn't be on the same stage with.

You went 20 years with no issues and, after a single incident, you're going to bring an extra bass, cables/ strings, preamp and DI
It was a battery in your active bass wasn't it?

I guess my humor missed it's mark

My point it's happened to me more than once... one bad battery lead me to overreacting/ overplanning. I wasn't taking shots at anyone other than me

 

[KohanMike]

My backup is the other bass player in my seniors uke group of 50, and I'm his, but last week he couldn't make rehearsal, and wouldn't you know it, my wireless battery died, though I'm prepared, always have a spare, only missed about 10 bars of the song.

 

[tallulahsdaddy]

I guess my humor missed it's mark

My point it's happened to me more than once... one bad battery lead me to overreacting/ overplanning. I wasn't taking shots at anyone other than me

No offense taken! Honestly, if it had been a dead battery, I'd rather grab another bass that's ready to go then take the time to change said battery. You can't plan for every eventuality, but carrying an extra gig bag is a small effort to make in order to make sure I don't have this problem again!

 

[Kriegs]

No offense taken! Honestly, if it had been a dead battery, I'd rather grab another bass that's ready to go then take the time to change said battery. You can't plan for every eventuality, but carrying an extra gig bag is a small effort to make in order to make sure I don't have this problem again!

I did the same

 

[Joedog]

If I play with an unreliable drummer, should I keep one in my trunk?

If you can find a good "trunk drummer", especially for $100, by all means!

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Not quite $100. but it will do.

 

[micguy]

If you can find a good "trunk drummer", especially for $100, by all means!

We had a sax player at one point that we would pick up on the way to practice. One night, it was really cold, and the 3 of us already in the car (2 guitarists and a bassist) had our instruments in the back seat, to keep them warm. When we pulled up to the sax player's place he took a LONG time to come out, and the driver/guitarist rolled down his window, and said "you gotta ride in the trunk" We had joked about this during the long wait, and none of us were that serious, but the sax player said, "sure". Next thing we know we're rolling to practice, cranking the stereo, speakers located in the trunk lid (it must have been LOUD in there), hitting the occasional bump, and laughing about the sax player in the trunk.

A few months later the sax player left the band; we brainstormed the ad for his replacement. All of us WANTED it to say "must be serious; willing to ride in trunk", but alas we chickened out, and posted a regular ad.

 

[Wesley R]

If I play with an unreliable drummer, should I keep one in my trunk?

What, you don't keep your drummer in the trunk?

 

[electracoyote]

Was it an output jack failure?

I've had that happen. Fortunately, the spare was right there, tuned up and plugged into an A/B box, ready to roll. Literally less than 10 seconds of down time while I made the switch.

With some bands and gigs, you can get away with losing your one and only in the middle of a song or set. But I've never had that luxury. The vast majority of my performance opportunities would have resulted in the hairy eyeball (or worse) from a few people if I didn't have a back up ready to go.

 

[JRA]

i only took one ax when i only had one ax.

monkey in the trunk! hilarious!

 

[micguy]

What, you don't keep your drummer in the trunk?

Nope, just the sax player, and he earned that privilege.