What do you use for a back up?

[electracoyote]

I used to bring cheap no-name pawn shop specials, just something that would tune up, stay in tune, and get me through the gig if my #1 failed.

As soon as I had the scratch, I went with a backup that is similar if not identical to my #1 for the performance.

 

[Matt Dean]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

 

[Gaolee]

I haven't had anything fail, so I don't generally worry about a backup. With the upright, a backup is out of the question, and my amp is on the bulky side, so I don't take a backup amp, either. Tempting fate? Perhaps.

 

[Tom Howland]

Never had a backup till yesterday.
Got a Fender Modern Player Dimension.
Great Bass for the money.

 

[lawjazz1]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

See Fuzzbass above.

 

[GBassNorth]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

I did see a drunk at a bar fall onto the stage once. Funny thing is he broke the headstock off of a Gibson bass that was in a stand and was the bass players backup. So I guess it makes sense to bring a backup as sacrificial fodder if nothing else.

 

[gregmon79]

If your price range is that high, why not get a used G&L tribute?? Or a really nice MIM Fender Jazz? That is what I would do. I have an Ibanez ATK 300 for my main player but I will bring a Squier Affinity p/j with me for a backup when I feel I need it/should.

 

[tekhedd]

My backup bass is the same bass I was playing but with one broken string. I have a spare set of strings... sometimes...

 

[themarshall]

My wits, mostly. I have a dodgy eub that I always bring a bg backup for.

 

[electracoyote]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

Absolutely. And, since my performances depend on rapid movement from song to song with no time in between, even a string break constitutes a fail for me.

Also lost the output jack once. No way I would have been able to fix that on stage. It would have killed the show dead in its tracks.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

Something different...

I would consider my Regenerate M5 my "primary" bass and have a Lakland 55-94 for my "backup." Of course, that means when I am playing the Lakland the Regenerate is the backup.

My fretless is for fun since I'm not good enough to play it out yet.

Dan K.

 

[Din Of Win]

I do something similar. Though i do not worry about it TOO much, as i have VERY rarely ever had to break out the backup.

I play a 1977 Univox Hi Flyer. I have an SX shortscale Jaguar that i bring as backup. Though, i am going to be purchasing an Eastwood Hi-Flyer soon to have more of a match... in terms of aesthetics, playability, and tonality.


To the OP, for an L2500, a tribute is a great match. It's cost effective and has the same, familiar tonal options. If you want something different; check out a Peavey TL-5. It's close, in the swiss-army-bass approach. Most in-the-know sellers won't let them go for much less than a new 2500, but if you're diligent you can find some really good deals. I recently saw one go on craigslist for ~$200.

 

[Nedmundo]

What I do bring is a backup head. I throw a micro in my gig bag for most shows since I never know how well I can trust the house backline in NYC bars.

I've done this in shared/unknown rig situations too. A couple of times, I've also left my Roland Cube 100 in the trunk just in case. I've even brought my Roland guitar amp as a backup for my band's guitarists, particularly one with a great sounding but flaky Mesa. He almost used the Roland one night, but the Mesa came back to life just in time.

 

[StuartV]

I always take a backup. If my primary is a 5-string, then I make sure my backup is a 5-string, too. If primary is a 4, then I'd take a 4 or 5 (or 6) as a backup. I just don't want to be in a position where I've rehearsed a song using notes on the B string and then not have it.

Other than that, I would have my backup be something different, but that would still do an acceptable job if I needed to switch to it.

If I were using my L-2500 for a gig, I would take my Sterling 5H as the backup. But, honestly, most any decent 5-string would be fine. The difference in tone, in a band mix, is not going to make any difference to how much the audience enjoys the show.

 

[mikeswals]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

did you read my post? 2 threads going on on just about the same topic:

I maintain my basses too. But at one gig I did soundcheck with my P Bass, worked fine. 15 minutes later we kicked off the first song, and the bass made no sound, so I quickly swapped to my StingRay. Once I got home I pulled the pickguard up and saw the wire solder joint broke at the jack, so there was no way of fixing on the fly once the band started the set.

 

[bluesdogblues]

What do I use for a back up?

Stage: Any Fender Precision Bass standby for me (it's on the raider's list)...but I almost never use them.

Studio: Anything available at the time

 

[Rickenbass]

I'm I'm using this.




I bring this, just in case.

 

[Runnerman]

Always 2 basses to every gig. Depending on the setlist backup will be half step down or standard tuning. Most common backups I bring are my MIM Jazz5 or my Fury. Everything has EBMM strap locks so I can just keep the strap on and change the bass which is important as my wireless is velcro'd to the strap. Changes are very quick.

 

[electracoyote]

I'm I'm using this.




I bring this, just in case.

Lime green figured top Spector FTW. Beautiful.

Is that custom, or did they mass-produce that finish?

 

[Fuzzbass]

Has anyone had a bass guitar fail?

Oh, yes.

In 30 years I've had less than a dozen failures. Most were broken strings (probably defective, I don't play that hard), however I've had two critical failures:

• On a Music Man Cutlass I that I bought brand new and had owned for only a month, the bass side of the nut broke off, causing the E string to flop off the side of the neck.
• On a Warwick Streamer Stage I 5 that I bought used, something went bad in the barrel jack (?) which generated horrible noise whenever the cable jiggled. I couldn't fix it during or after the gig... had to take the bass in for repair.

The last two proved to me that a backup is a necessity, no matter how good your gear is or how well you take care of it. Without backup, my band would have been dead in the water, probably for the rest of the night. Heck, I think it's unprofessional to force your band to halt the show even when repair is easy (string replacement).

True, I haven't needed backup at the vast majority of my gigs, however the point is that no one can be 100% sure a failure won't happen, and no one knows when a failure will happen.

Funny thing is, I don't recall any failures happening at rehearsal -- but "happening at the worst possible moment" is a corollary of Murphy's Law, right? For me, the peace of mind far outweighs the slight inconvenience of always bringing backup to gigs.