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One to rule them all... OK, maybe two.
- Thread starter BassJuju
- Start date
How do y'all folks feel about having backups?
I mean... I supposedly got my Peavey as a backup to my Warwick but I have never in 20 years of playing needed a backup bass during a live show. I never take it to shows because I can't be bothered to carry a second instrument pointlessly... I have taken backups sometimes to more 'violent' shows (ones where I'll be running around, ones with more active moshpits etc) but never used one. Strings never break, hardware never breaks... if a battery goes dead I just swap it out (I always have an fresh spare in my gigbag/case and both my main basses have easy access battery hatches) or just switch to passive... I mean I guess I could use an extra bass as a backup should there be any weird tunings but that's never been enough of an issue for me to bother (a couple of our songs are in dropped D tuning, which takes about 5 seconds with my tuner to do).
I guess there's always the possibility of a freak accident happening (speaker coming off a railing and landing on your bass snapping it in half, etc.), but if you're careful enough most circumstances shouldn't result in a complete disaster, and to be fair anything more disastrous would probably result in a cancelled gig...
I mean... this even translates to many big bands. Steve Harris from what I have seen has never switched a bass during a show. Most bands I follow are the same, even guitarists only switch in the case of a broken string or something.
Then you have the Metallicas of the world who swap instruments almost every song.
Just made me wonder how that's all necessary...
I mean... I supposedly got my Peavey as a backup to my Warwick but I have never in 20 years of playing needed a backup bass during a live show. I never take it to shows because I can't be bothered to carry a second instrument pointlessly... I have taken backups sometimes to more 'violent' shows (ones where I'll be running around, ones with more active moshpits etc) but never used one. Strings never break, hardware never breaks... if a battery goes dead I just swap it out (I always have an fresh spare in my gigbag/case and both my main basses have easy access battery hatches) or just switch to passive... I mean I guess I could use an extra bass as a backup should there be any weird tunings but that's never been enough of an issue for me to bother (a couple of our songs are in dropped D tuning, which takes about 5 seconds with my tuner to do).
I guess there's always the possibility of a freak accident happening (speaker coming off a railing and landing on your bass snapping it in half, etc.), but if you're careful enough most circumstances shouldn't result in a complete disaster, and to be fair anything more disastrous would probably result in a cancelled gig...
I mean... this even translates to many big bands. Steve Harris from what I have seen has never switched a bass during a show. Most bands I follow are the same, even guitarists only switch in the case of a broken string or something.
Then you have the Metallicas of the world who swap instruments almost every song.
Just made me wonder how that's all necessary...
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,162
- 256,761
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Backups? If basses - on the whole - are failure prone then I'm happily ignorant of that. Or in a slightly different context, my bass has never failed me, nor do I foresee that as a distinct possibility. Probably YMMV, there is certain to be someone here who experienced a catastrophic bass failure in a live setting. Odds are with that, though I may imagine that probability to be on par with trampled by a wild elephant on the third Tuesday of the month.
Two for me... A P with round wounds and another P with flats.
But a recent discussion with friends brought up very good points in convincing me to get a Jazz in the future.
But a recent discussion with friends brought up very good points in convincing me to get a Jazz in the future.
I gigged for years with my old fretless Jazz Bass and a small combo amp. toyed with a few basses, but never brought them to a gig. I'm playing blues/roots. Bought a Precision and an upright. The Jazz sits at home now. The hard part is amplification of the upright. money is flying out the door working on more BOOM
Collector's syndrome.. It seems like I went through something similar collecting mechanical watches. Lots of selling and buying over the years, never really "happy" with my collection. Then, finally, I narrowed it down to just a few of them and I'm now in a place where I have not felt the need to add to the collection.
Same with basses for me. Been playing one for many years, then went through a bit of a buying phase and now feel I would be able to shed one or two and narrow it down to just a few (2, possibly 3)
Regards
Mark
Same with basses for me. Been playing one for many years, then went through a bit of a buying phase and now feel I would be able to shed one or two and narrow it down to just a few (2, possibly 3)
Regards
Mark
This has been a fun thread to read through - my take on this might be a little different than some.
I love playing fretless but have never been proficient enough at it to warrant keeping one around (read: I suck) and I despise the sound and feel of flatwound strings, so I don't need to accommodate those peculiarities. That said...
My stable of basses currently consists of five:
1986 Yamaha BB300 in candy apple red, first bass I ever owned, refretted twice, J-style pickup added, brass nut added, new tuners, and properly shielded. Beat all to hell. I will never part with this bass for nostalgic reasons, but I never play it these days.
Ibanez SRX300 in electric blue, twin humbuckers, active, skinny little fast neck, acquired on a trade, practically pristine. Never play it, sits in a hard case under the bed beside the Yamaha.
Washburn Bantam B106 six-string in basic black, tuned E-A-D-G-C-F. I adore this bass for playing around with chording and for writing, and will likely do a good deal of recording with it this winter, but most of the time it sits in the hard case.
2010 Warwick Corvette Pro, pristine and recently acquired, incredible sound, haven't bonded with it so far. Still tweaking the setup - it's just not quite there yet. I have been gigging it a lot of late trying to form an attachment to it, and am thinking that the slightly higher, stiffer action might be better for live performance anyway.
2007 Ibanez SR506, purchased used online about five years back, my absolute go-to bass for anything and everything. Plays better than any other bass I have ever picked up. Action is just ridiculously low with *zero* buzz anywhere on the neck, flawless for tapping, slap, or fingerstyle. I must have just lucked out, because this bass sets the gold standard for perfection IMO. Even with the strings pretty dead it sounds and plays better than 99% of the other basses I have ever picked up.
If I had to choose, I could run with only my SR506 and never look back. Yeah, I would be a little peeved to lose the Yamaha or the Warwick (especially since I am still tweaking it and might yet get it perfect), but realistically, the Ibby would handle *any* gig I would ever be asked to do. Assuming nothing significant changes it will like as not be my favorite go-to until I die, which might happen sooner rather than later if I don't stop hauling basses into the house. LOL!
OP, I get where you are coming from - when you spend a *lot* of time on one instrument, everything else feels a little 'off' by comparison. Not necessarily 'bad', but definitely not what you're used to. When I first received the Warwick last week I changed the strings to my preferred set and did a complete set up, but when I tried to play it I was amazed by how different it felt from my SR506 - the same exact strings felt *way* more tense by comparison. My first reaction was, "OMG - I just paid *how* much $$$ for this thing?", followed quickly by, "Where's my Ibanez?" LOL! I powered through it and am enjoying the Corvette now, but it was super-weird to begin with. I had been playing the Ibanez for the past five years almost exclusively and ANY other bass felt really strange.
After buying the Warwick I felt a little bad having so many basses in such a small place, and was planning to sell the SRX300 and Washburn (after restringing to a more normal B-C tuning), but the LSW intervened. She pointed out that where we used to live, buying and selling instruments was easy - I had lived there for over 40 years, knew everyone in the music community, and instruments were comparatively easy to come by. Where we live now, the music community is smaller and cliquey, and there are no real local music stores, so she admonished me that I had better just leave well enough alone, as I would be hard-pressed to replace anything that I sold at twice the price.
Gotta love that woman.
So OP - don't feel bad that one particular bass has the lion's share of your affection - I think it happens to most of us at one time or another. That said, it's still nice to have a few others around for a little perspective or inspiration occasionally, even if you always run back to your old favorite.
I love playing fretless but have never been proficient enough at it to warrant keeping one around (read: I suck) and I despise the sound and feel of flatwound strings, so I don't need to accommodate those peculiarities. That said...
My stable of basses currently consists of five:
1986 Yamaha BB300 in candy apple red, first bass I ever owned, refretted twice, J-style pickup added, brass nut added, new tuners, and properly shielded. Beat all to hell. I will never part with this bass for nostalgic reasons, but I never play it these days.
Ibanez SRX300 in electric blue, twin humbuckers, active, skinny little fast neck, acquired on a trade, practically pristine. Never play it, sits in a hard case under the bed beside the Yamaha.
Washburn Bantam B106 six-string in basic black, tuned E-A-D-G-C-F. I adore this bass for playing around with chording and for writing, and will likely do a good deal of recording with it this winter, but most of the time it sits in the hard case.
2010 Warwick Corvette Pro, pristine and recently acquired, incredible sound, haven't bonded with it so far. Still tweaking the setup - it's just not quite there yet. I have been gigging it a lot of late trying to form an attachment to it, and am thinking that the slightly higher, stiffer action might be better for live performance anyway.
2007 Ibanez SR506, purchased used online about five years back, my absolute go-to bass for anything and everything. Plays better than any other bass I have ever picked up. Action is just ridiculously low with *zero* buzz anywhere on the neck, flawless for tapping, slap, or fingerstyle. I must have just lucked out, because this bass sets the gold standard for perfection IMO. Even with the strings pretty dead it sounds and plays better than 99% of the other basses I have ever picked up.
If I had to choose, I could run with only my SR506 and never look back. Yeah, I would be a little peeved to lose the Yamaha or the Warwick (especially since I am still tweaking it and might yet get it perfect), but realistically, the Ibby would handle *any* gig I would ever be asked to do. Assuming nothing significant changes it will like as not be my favorite go-to until I die, which might happen sooner rather than later if I don't stop hauling basses into the house. LOL!
OP, I get where you are coming from - when you spend a *lot* of time on one instrument, everything else feels a little 'off' by comparison. Not necessarily 'bad', but definitely not what you're used to. When I first received the Warwick last week I changed the strings to my preferred set and did a complete set up, but when I tried to play it I was amazed by how different it felt from my SR506 - the same exact strings felt *way* more tense by comparison. My first reaction was, "OMG - I just paid *how* much $$$ for this thing?", followed quickly by, "Where's my Ibanez?" LOL! I powered through it and am enjoying the Corvette now, but it was super-weird to begin with. I had been playing the Ibanez for the past five years almost exclusively and ANY other bass felt really strange.
After buying the Warwick I felt a little bad having so many basses in such a small place, and was planning to sell the SRX300 and Washburn (after restringing to a more normal B-C tuning), but the LSW intervened. She pointed out that where we used to live, buying and selling instruments was easy - I had lived there for over 40 years, knew everyone in the music community, and instruments were comparatively easy to come by. Where we live now, the music community is smaller and cliquey, and there are no real local music stores, so she admonished me that I had better just leave well enough alone, as I would be hard-pressed to replace anything that I sold at twice the price.
Gotta love that woman.
So OP - don't feel bad that one particular bass has the lion's share of your affection - I think it happens to most of us at one time or another. That said, it's still nice to have a few others around for a little perspective or inspiration occasionally, even if you always run back to your old favorite.
"Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"
Clint Smith
Clint Smith
I love kidding myself. The laugh is on me, by me, for me.
that is until my wife comes around and starts counting........ which she has started doing lately.
I really grow weary of someone telling me what I can to can't live with. It takes a lot of damn gall to ASSume what I need or don't.
If that works for you, fine, but you'll NEVER EVER see me tell someone else what they need or don't need. I'll support your situation 100%.
Until you make a statement like that.
I need 3 basses to satisfy my situation. Either a Jazz bass (my current go-to) or a Stingray, then a Precision (because it's requested) and a Jazz fretless. Period. Get over it.
Two basses, a P with flats for old school thump and a J with rounds for a more hi-fi sound. I used to emulate both sounds using a 5 string Stingray and a lot of technique, but there's something really cool about playing the real deal and getting the actual sound as opposed to "sort of" getting there. I'm keeping the Stingray though, because it offers something that the other basses don't do that is of value to me for certain gigs.
I have a small, respectable collection that was amassed when I was doing a lot of session work and needed a lot of different sounds. Having some other nice basses helps keep my "Grassisgreeneritis" in check, as I can grab a different instrument if I get bored with the stuff that I'm currently playing. I rarely try basses out anymore when I go to stores, and when I do I generally don't find them to sound any better than the stuff I already have.
Don't get me started on pedals, though...
I have a small, respectable collection that was amassed when I was doing a lot of session work and needed a lot of different sounds. Having some other nice basses helps keep my "Grassisgreeneritis" in check, as I can grab a different instrument if I get bored with the stuff that I'm currently playing. I rarely try basses out anymore when I go to stores, and when I do I generally don't find them to sound any better than the stuff I already have.
Don't get me started on pedals, though...
That's fine, but no one tells me what bass to bring, either. People know what I play and sound like and either they can deal with it or not. Fortunately - for me - no one tells (requests) me to play any particular bass.
I hope to achieve this. I think I might've found the type of bass for me. I hope I am done gassing over basses I know won't work for me. It's hard though with all the purty pictures posted on TB
I currently have 4.
Jazz w/preamp, P-bass, Stingray, NS NXT electric upright
I could cut the bass guitars down to just the J or P although right now I lean toward the Jazz and if it were my only then I would want to add a passive tone control like Sadowsky. Basically I would want to option to have whatever bass sound modern or not. At this point I'm all in with the NS NXT so it's not going anywhere.
Jazz w/preamp, P-bass, Stingray, NS NXT electric upright
I could cut the bass guitars down to just the J or P although right now I lean toward the Jazz and if it were my only then I would want to add a passive tone control like Sadowsky. Basically I would want to option to have whatever bass sound modern or not. At this point I'm all in with the NS NXT so it's not going anywhere.
I always use the 83 L2000 for shows, but on the rare occasion when the action is off or I need to record with a bass that has lower output I need another bass
Never. It's just on hand in case the real one has to go in the shop.
I should try the "cooling off" period. What I usually do instead is try to hold off while continuing to compare and shop for the best deal. I wind up obsessively shopping until I decide I need to spend my time better and buy the best deal I found so I can quit obsessing. So in the end I justify my purchases as needed for my mental health
It's twisted but I think I'm going to shop for a bass gear calendar to start using for my cooling off periods
