Why bring 2 basses to a gig?

[vvvmmm]

I saw BB King change a broken string on Lucile during a song. While he was singing. Got the new string on and tuned just in time for the guitar solo section.

There's a Richard Thompson at ACL DVD where he breaks a string at the beginning of a song, plays to the end - I have actually showed that to muso friends as, "This is how it's done."

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I haven't read any of the responses. I'm just going to trot out an old trope (one with which I strongly agree): "I'd rather have a back-up and not need it than need a back-up and not have it."

YMMV

 

[Dynacord]

Completely unnecessary.
My friend Dan toured Europe with a single bass, I know others who have done the same.
Extra strings? Sure, an extra bass? Too much weight.

That's the thing in these backup bass/amp threads - I don't think many commenting have done many fly dates. Just make sure the bass is solid - output jack and tuning machines tight, fresh battery if needed (any active bass I have always has passive option), spare instrument and amp cables, strings and batteries. Admittedly, since the advent of the really tiny class D amps I've added bringing a TE ELF head with me as it's so small and has a passable DI if really needed - have never ended up actually using it.

Gig I did this week - one bass in a gigbag... There were 4 other bass players who played at various points and I don't believe any had spares...

If throwing stuff in a truck to do a local gig with easy parking at the venue then, sure, why not?

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

When we were touring, we started with a box truck for all our gear.

P.A.
Drums (12 piece set with about another dozen cymbals)
4 guitars (two guitar players with two axes each)
3 guitar heads
3 4x12" speaker cabinets
2 basses
2 bass heads
3 8x10" bass speaker cabinets
sundry cables, microphones (I think we had 5 vocal mics), and I think the guitar players had a couple (each) of their favorite stomp boxes.

We toured for four years. In that time, I'm positive we had quite a few failures. I KNOW my main bass was a no-go twice. It was easily fixed, but I am thankful I had my back-up (which was so good-sounding and reliable it wound up replacing my main instrument).

I can't imagine doing a gig without a back-up any more than I can fathom driving a car without a spare tire. They're not called "accidents" because they're planned.

 

[_Obra_]

Instead of backup bass I bring a 4 string bass with D tuner, spare set of strings, and a Whammy bass pedal. I can do pretty much everything with it without carrying an extra bass.

 

[lunarpollen]

i almost always bring two because neither one can be made to sound like the other, and some songs call for different bass sounds than others.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I caught Michael Manring at Chicago's Double Door in 2008.
He broke a string while playing "Selene"
Although he had two other basses,He kept on playing his Hyperbass as if nothing happened.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Even the Blue Angels bring a spare jet to the airshows. I've seen a single aircraft depart the routine, land, transition to the back-up, and rejoin the team.

Riis

 

[dave64o]

By the time you go out to the car, get your bass, quick tune check, i would have a new string on.

Some things are out in the car, but I always have my bass behind me since I usually play both over the course of a night. Much faster than changing a string and, more convenient to decide at the start of a set which I'll play for that set.

 

[DrBnz]

Well ya can't blame the drummer. He's sitting right there. So you gotta blame the bass and bring out your backup.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

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.

You are saying touring bass players do not have back up basses on hand? That's not what I've seen over the years attending concerts.

I do bring an extra bass if there enough room. Why not if you can? Sometimes you just want to experiment a little bit with different flavors.

 

[SpiderBass1965]

Been playing over 40 years. Have had broken strings, pickups die, strap pins come off on basses. I have had the All Tube amp fail and solid state amp burn up on stage too. You do what you like for a show. I always come prepared for the worst. 2 Basses. Main amp plus a small backup amp(usually my Bergantino B/Amp). Extra cables, strings, and a small toolkit.

 

[2saddleslab]

Always bring two, one tuned standard, one tuned 1/2 step down. As well as an extra set of old used strings.

In 37 years I've only needed a backup twice. Once for a broken string [from a cue ball that flew off a billiard table and hit my bass while on a stand during break], the other was a failing pickup.

 

[Reedt2000]

Yup, that's a reason. I had a tuning machine post snap off the night before a gig.

I've brought 2 to every gig since.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

Nothing against people who have spare equipment, but does situation really call for it?
What kind of gigs? If people payed tickets to see you or those are corp/private parties, ok that's common sense. If it's local pub or small club? Ok, it's your personal preference and that's fine by me.
But let me ask you, does your keys player carry spare keys? Does drummer have spare snare or kick pedal? Singer has one more mic? Those are as (un)likely to fail as bass guitar.

You make a good point, but I did have a bass break a string (LaBella flatwound!) on one gig, and an amp blow on another gig last year. It was great to have a spare bass, and backup class D amp at the ready to save the show.

 

[Shindig73]

Like many things in life, the primary question involves each person’s RISK TOLERANCE. Everybody is different in their approach, and the analysis certainly includes each person’s personal experiences. Some people, for whatever reason, are more accident prone. Others are not (I’ve never broken a bass string over 35 years of playing). Some deal with adversity without stress, while others are more affected. Some have different backup plans to account for certain risks (such as equipping active basses with an active/passive switch), but feel the chances of another risk are so low as to not require any plan.

For me and it seems several others, playing a set list where both a fretted and fretless basses is preferred easily solves this problem.

 

[Ekulati]

Just a couple months ago on the morning of a festival gig for a couple thousand folks, I had a 25 year old Grover tuner shaft break at the base, near the gear. 40 years of gigging and first bass failure ever. Never even broke a string.

 

[31HZ]

I don't have fire insurance on my house because it never burned down before.

Where's the spare house, you know, just in case?

Rookie move imo.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

nah, just bring one bass. if there's a problem now you get the rest of the night off. go home and binge a show on Netflix

 

[Tim Skaggs]

I’ve been playing quite a while and have found myself in a band that has done about 250 shows since March 2021. During that time I’ve had one amp failure, a few cord fails, a power supply fail, a broken tuner shaft, and a couple situations where the bass setup changed before or during the gig.

In all the years I’ve been playing, I’ve seen about every major component on stage fail, including;
Batteries!!!!
Multiple different drum heads
Kick pedals
High hat stands (several)
Cymbal stands
Electronic drums (active pads & passive parts / triggers)
LOTS of drum mics (often due to being hit by the drummer)
PA heads / boards (once due to a spilled drink!)
PA power amps (open flames once!!)
PA speakers (powered & unpowered)
Monitor speakers (pwrd & un)
Keyboards (lost programming in the early days)
Many things related to the one or two guitarists I was with; amps, instruments, pedal board items, cords, guitar stands, etc.

I think I’ve only had one broken string on stage in all the years I’ve played. Most of my broken strings come during setup at home & I’ve probably had less than a dozen in all the decades I’ve played.

Oh yeah, I’ve also seen failed vehicles screw up several gigs (or prevent someone from getting home at the anticipated time)

I carry a spare of everything I can within reason. I always take more than one bass. I always take at least one passive bass. I almost always take two amps depending on the gig. I take a spare power supply(s), spare tuner, cords, etc.

My career was in telecommunications. Almost every piece of gear in the entire industry has engineered redundancy, including batteries. Almost every physical data path (cable route) are redundant or mesh protected (multiple paths available). It’s all kinda been ingrained in my brain.