switching basses

[whitespike]

I know most of us here own more than one bass. I own three, but have played my Ric 99% of the time for 10 years. Several gigs ago, I bring out the ol' P, and I had to think about playing the whole show, whereas the Ric drives itself.

One particular thing I noticed was that I tended to slide up one half step sharp ... almost like the neck was too short. Also, the dots on top of the neck are smaller and harder to see than a Ric's. It made it such a chore, but I hate to think I will always be a one bass man, even as much as I love my Ric. I'm just so used to it, it's like a leg.

Anyone else ever have this problem?

 

[lonote]

I play all my basses although some get played more than others. My Dark Star equipped Ibanez is getting most of the stage time lately but that will likely change soon. It is my most recent acquisition.

 

[HogieWan]

The Ric is one inch shorter in scale length, so that might explain why you would overshoot a fret in the higher ranges. If you played the P as much as the Ric, you'd have the same problems the other way around.

 

[Spinal Tapper]

I just rock one of my basses at each show - i think it's annoying and pretentious when musicians switch instruments during a show just to do it - unless its a drop-tuned song or something. Just IMO of course. Heck onna my favorite bands, MUSE, changes guitars/basses every song...

 

[Elliot850]

I have a bass guitar and an EUB to switch between.
I rarely get them confused though.

 

[iamthebassman]

My gig requires me to switch between a Hofner, a Ric, and a Fender Jazz; all with somewhat different scale lengths; oh, and sing too. No problem.

 

[Wadge]

I almost always take one bass to a show. For the last year it has been my Sadowsky, pretty much exclusively. I have just acquired a fender Jazz V and I'm playing that now, probably because it has new strings on and I do really like the bass. But I've put some new strings on the sadowsky also so that will probably take the lion's share of the gigs.

Its fun to try different basses.

 

[Moe Monsarrat]

I usually take two basses. Just in case of problems or if I get bored with whatever I'm playing. I never change basses just to show I own more than one. I saw the Eagles live once & they had more guitars on stage than anybody I've ever seen. Hell, they would change guitars during songs. Their guitar tech was more fun to watch than than the band. He would run around handing them guitars & then stop & sing a harmony part into a mike they had for him. Tim Schmitt used his Fender bass & a Carvin bass.

 

[rfclef]

I always take a 2nd bass to a performance, just in case something happens. My Birdsong is my main axe. I play my Epi Viola at church sometimes, but have not switched during a show, though I have thought about the Epi on a couple of the bluesy or rockabillyish numbers. But the Birdsong pretty much handles everything.

 

[Korladis]

I just rock one of my basses at each show - i think it's annoying and pretentious when musicians switch instruments during a show just to do it - unless its a drop-tuned song or something. Just IMO of course. Heck onna my favorite bands, MUSE, changes guitars/basses every song...

I just played a show last weekend and used my Ibanez Ric copy for the whole set except one song. That number was in a different tuning, so I used my friend's MIM jazz bass for it.

 

[iriegnome]

I think most of it is just getting used to the different scale lengths.
My 4 strings are 34" scales and my 5 strings are 35" scales. So, I like playing all my
basses. I switch on several occassions just for funzies! It all getting use to everything.

 

[Solarmist]

I had a short scale Mustang for awhile, and it was so easy to play it messed me up going back to 34"'s. I sold it.

 

[Slim Louis]

I think having a back up bass at all gig, local or road, is a must. I admit I get lazy sometimes and leave one behind before going downtown to play, and thats when I always get caught short! I have a 74 Precision tuned down to Eb because the band leader does! (Why do guitar players have to do that, anyway?) But I do to so I don't have to think about it, as does our keyboard player, he just pushes a button! Lord help the unsuspecting horn or harmonica player, sittin' in! I'm the house bass player at the Blues Society Jam, and when my bandleader buddy shows up, I have a standard tuned and an Eb bass ready to go! I rarely switch basses in the middle of a gig!

 

[MNAirHead]

I For simplicty all of my basses are the same scale.. it used to freak me out to have an inch longer or shorter.

Only exception is my ashory.

I have to force myself to rotate.

 

[whitespike]

Eh. No wonder. I didn't know the Ric and P were different.

I usually just take one bass. But, I am so used to the Ric, I have to watch my hands more on the P.

I lead sing as well, so it can be a bit distracting.

 

[rfclef]

I always take a 2nd bass to a performance, just in case something happens. My Birdsong is my main axe. I play my Epi Viola at church sometimes, but have not switched during a show, though I have thought about the Epi on a couple of the bluesy or rockabillyish numbers. But the Birdsong pretty much handles everything.

Oh, and all my basses are 30.5 - 31" scale...

 

[Korladis]

Eh. No wonder. I didn't know the Ric and P were different.

I usually just take one bass. But, I am so used to the Ric, I have to watch my hands more on the P.

I lead sing as well, so it can be a bit distracting.

Yeah, the P-bass is 34" scale. The Rickenbacker is 33.25" scale.

 

[spade2you]

Just play 'em enough and they'll be familiar. I have several basses with 17, 18, 18.5, and 20mm bridge spacing as well as 30" 32" (just sold), 33", 34" and 35" scale basses in 4, 5, and 6 string. Trust me, it's not as bad as one might think.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have about half 30" and half 34" basses. No problem switching. All it takes is practice with both.

 

[Baird6869]

I used to gig mostly with a P bass but during gigs, I switched to play a few funk songs on a Jazz.

Now I pretty much play my Roscoe 5er and bring a backup bass in case my Roscoe dies.

I don't like switching basses between songs though. When I used to switch, I would group songs together so I could do my switching between sets.