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Why bring 2 basses to a gig?

#83
Never been without 2 and I have broken strings. Some of it depends I think on the music you play. If you are playing elevator music or the like, songs without attack, chances are you won't have an issue? But, with all the active basses being played new batteries fail to. Without a passive mode to back it up, then what? You've got extra batteries, where are they? Going to make the fix during the song or between songs? No matter, people are waiting. It's not if it happens (something) it's when. To each their own.
 
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#84
Doug P said:
I’ve come across this subject many times, on TB and other sites.
The one thing I have not seen here in what 5 pages of responses…….. If you are getting paid for being up on a stage with a crowd, ( not just a couple of your friends and your wife ) why would you not be prepared for
“the thing that never happens” ??
The audience doesn’t want to see you stop go get a string and put it on, tune up, smile to your band mates and say “sorry, ok, let’s start that song from the second verse……”. Really ??
You don’t have to “be professional “ but you can be ready for whatever ??? I don’t understand how so many can talk about their gear, what cab sounds best with brand X amp, how many basses I own, the perfect brand of flats on my P -Bass with tort pickguard, should I place my compressor in front of my other 8 pedals or behind…… ?
Now I’m not the “God” of bass players, but being ready for that one time matters…..remember your getting paid, a nice size club of a couple hundred out there came to see and hear a show. Maybe they paid a good cover. Is this how your going to present yourself and your band in your area / city ? The manager is behind the bar going… *** ?
I don’t remember playing with a drummer who didn’t have a spare kick pedal and snare. Guitarist with a back up or different tuning or….. a spare amp or DI box that anyone could use to make noise.
Get a gig bag that holds two basses maybe ?? I can only speak for my experiences where things went wrong and I’m happy I was not holding up the show. I sure don’t want to be “the one” that the crowd is looking at during that string change or…. We have spent much $$ to get our gear, get the band formed, promote our band to get paying shows, and get asked to play again by the venue, promoter, or other bands.
So, yea I’ll take a spare bass, batteries, cable, and……. Because I’d rather have my band mates and peers think I’m doing the best to bring it every show, for $100 or $1000 at payout.
My first TB rant. Bring it !
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Correct. And, your reputation is built on your reliability of smooth operations, putting on a solid show, and attracting people to your show. Fail any of these, and you not only won't get the re-book, word will get around and eventually you won't get booked elsewhere.

When you start gigging, there are many other factors that go into making a good production than just slapping da bass. My group just played a joint whose management was impressed by our fast, smooth load-in and that was a factor in their decision to re-book us. Not in 30+ years of gigging have I ever been told something like that LOL... learn something new every day!

Bottom line: there are many things that can go wrong with a gig... and it's quite easy and reasonable to mitigate most of those vulnerabilities. This reasonability leads to an expectation by venues that you've got most things covered, and your willingness and flexibility to do so dictates your level of professionalism. Your level of professionalism is a major factor in your ability to get hired. By all means don't act like a pro... that will help make it easier for my band to get hired instead. :thumbsup:
 
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#85
RyanOh said:
View attachment 5054129
Exhibit AView attachment 5054130
Exhibit B

Have not broken a string in decades while on a gig. Strings are less than 6 months old.
Ayyyyy.
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Exactly why I bring two.

I used to break A strings on my Jazz all the time.

Now on my Warwick or SSD I rarely break strings and when I do it’s a D or G string.

Plus more can go wrong than just string breakage.
 
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#86
RattleSnack said:
I never take backup bass to a local club gig, but I do have a spare strings set, cable and batteries. I figure it wouldn't be a big deal to put on spare string if one failed. On a biger gig, like festival, I may bring backup bass, even though I haven't had any kind of failure in more than 20 years of playing.

In the history of modern music, most bands played with members having one instrument and making do, while creating music we admire today. I fail to see why would someone playing local pub equip themselves on par with some big name pro on a continent tour.

Edit: Further more, never saw key player bringing backup. Same as drummer, or anyone from horns section. When I think better, only guitar players, having instrument prone to breaking strings due to bending, carry backups.
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I bring spare cables, and a spare bass, drumsticks, guitar picks, guitar strings ( I i don’t play skinny strings) 9v batteries and a DI just in case. Why not? Doesn’t make me a touring pro.

It makes me a Boy Scout always prepared
 
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#88
It depends on the gig. Most gigs I do, a set of strings and an unscheduled break would do the trick while I swap strings. If it’s a theater gig, I’d have more than one bass because you can’t take a break. I also check my blood pressure and cholesterol before a gig to see if I should take a backup bassist.
 
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#89
bholder said:
a backup is good, but I usually would bring one fretted and one fretless. not necessarily the best backup for the song, but hey, good enough just in case
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I bring a Squier P5 as a back up for my DB on "important" gigs. I had a tuning machine fail me on my EUB strung E~C and the D string became useless. No backup-- but I finished the gig.
I told the guy that wrote arrangements for the band that I'd do my best, but would not able to play the parts as written.
It was an outdoor church festival---- the crowd enjoyed the music, the band thanked me for being able to hold down the low end.
 
#90
RattleSnack said:
That's exactly what I'm saying. Drummer may have spare skins, but he doesn't carry a whole spare drums set. He'll take 5 and fix it best he can and finish the gig. Keys player will have spare power or instrument cable if his cuts out.
So, having spare strings, cable and basic tools is common sense for a bass guitarist.
Whole spare instrument and amp?
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Swap a bass? 15 seconds. Change string? 5 minutes or more.
 
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#91
ebo said:
I’m starting to consider bringing a spare bassist. I’m getting to the age where I break down often.
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An on-call sub isn't a bad idea. :D

MegaSwing said:
I take a spare bass when I’m more than 20 minutes from home, and I always take extra strings and a backup amp. As tiny and affordable as high-power bass amps have become, there is literally no excuse not to.

Because stuff happens.
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So if you're less than 20 minutes from home (double whatever that is for both ways),

it's okay for the show to stop while you drive home and grab another bass?

I've got a new place that's 7/10s of a mile from my house; I couldn't imagine doing that. :)
 
#92
Michedelic said:
Forget the guitar players. I’ve had strings break, half of a P-Bass pickup die, drummers busting a snare and breaking a kick pedal, and….witnessed a DX7 crapping out. Fortunately the keyboard player’s brother had one also, and lived nearby. To stall for time we launched into what turned out to be a half hour version(or it seemed like it)of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”, what a workout that was, but we kept ‘em on the dance floor.
I’m in the bring a fretted and a fretless camp, but I just don’t understand this phobia about bringing more than one bass. And you don’t have to be playing an arena to be prepared in a professional manner. How’s everyone’s spare tire?(In your car, not on you)
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Many new cars don’t have a spare tire.
 
#94
I have brought a back up to festivals as well. But, I have broken a string on stage 4 times. Always the E string. And on 4 different basses. Some times I get a little to fired up and grab and pluck the string on a hard stop note in a song, apparently way to hard sometimes. I haven't brought a back up in a while so at this point I'm simply testing fate
 
#96
Marko 1 said:
An on-call sub isn't a bad idea. :D


So if you're less than 20 minutes from home (double whatever that is for both ways),

it's okay for the show to stop while you drive home and grab another bass?

I've got a new place that's 7/10s of a mile from my house; I couldn't imagine doing that. :)
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It’s just a general guideline. I’ve never had to invoke it. My band is resourceful and could entertain without me. Someone could bring it to me. Or we’d just play longer. If it were a particularly important gig, I’d just take a two-fer gig bag.
 
#98
Haven't started bringing 2 basses(or amps)to gigs yet, but I've been lucky. Broke a string in the late '70s(had a spare) and in the mid '80s had a P on a cheap stand blow over on its face, broke a tuner but stayed in tune(been using Hamilton neckhangers since)....early '90s had an amp go over on a bouncy stage and cracked a circuit board(DI anyway and they put it in the monitor mix). ~5 years ago a 9v died a minute before downbeat(bandmate had an extra). So thinking about a little redundancy now.
 
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