Reminds me of a band I saw. Each guitarist broke a string and we had to wait while they restrung. Total rookie move.
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Why bring a backup?
- Thread starter savit260
- Start date
Reminds me of a band I saw. Each guitarist broke a string and we had to wait while they restrung. Total rookie move.
Engine207
Losing faith in humanity...one call at a time.
Not to mention a decent reason to get another bass. And a backup for the backup. And a backup for the backup for the backup... 
About a year ago I was at a gig, came back from break, picked my bass up off the stand and . . WHAT??? . . . the neck pickup 100% not working. No reason, it just failed. Never had that happen before after 20 years of gigging. Dimarzio Ultra Jazz, less than a year old.
Reached over and grabbed my backup bass . . . yet another reason to carry one.
I also had a guitarist knock my bass over during a break once, and the neck snapped right in half as it hit the floor. Since I had a backup, no problem (other than making him pay for a new neck). These weren't cheap basses either - they were professional quality instruments.
If you play for $$$ and want to be professional, bring a backup and keep it tuned up and ready to go, even if its a cheapie.
Reached over and grabbed my backup bass . . . yet another reason to carry one.
I also had a guitarist knock my bass over during a break once, and the neck snapped right in half as it hit the floor. Since I had a backup, no problem (other than making him pay for a new neck). These weren't cheap basses either - they were professional quality instruments.
If you play for $$$ and want to be professional, bring a backup and keep it tuned up and ready to go, even if its a cheapie.
I always bring a backup bass but only because I have a lot of basses and like to rotate around.
Common sense IMO even if the backup is a $99 Squier Affinity.
I play really hard and slap a lot and have not broken a bass string in 5+ years (and I play a lot).
Common sense IMO even if the backup is a $99 Squier Affinity.
I play really hard and slap a lot and have not broken a bass string in 5+ years (and I play a lot).
Oh backup bass and amp head ...
Played a gig once about an hour and a half away, packing light so I only took one bass a 73 Jazz that had never given me a moments trouble. First song key of G and I'm getting swaaank, clank, ping, no clean notes. The neck had gone out of adjustment back-bowed no clearence on about 4 frets, spent the whole night either pushing forward on the neck or playing in a different place on the neck.
Never had my Mark Bass LMII fail ... but did have a cord jack fall apart inside the one and only input making the head useless. The back up LMII came out of it's gig bag ... in about half a minute the show went on.
...
Played a gig once about an hour and a half away, packing light so I only took one bass a 73 Jazz that had never given me a moments trouble. First song key of G and I'm getting swaaank, clank, ping, no clean notes. The neck had gone out of adjustment back-bowed no clearence on about 4 frets, spent the whole night either pushing forward on the neck or playing in a different place on the neck.
Never had my Mark Bass LMII fail ... but did have a cord jack fall apart inside the one and only input making the head useless. The back up LMII came out of it's gig bag ... in about half a minute the show went on.
Learned this adage here on TB:
"Two is one, and one is none"
There's something to be said for redundancies.
Riis
"Two is one, and one is none"
There's something to be said for redundancies.
Riis
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,200
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Yes!
I've broken strings onstage countless times and changed basses on the fly or at the end of the song, I always have a second bass with me at every show.
I don't bring an amp backup, as I can just plug into the board and get at least enough sound to save the gig in an emergency. I'm not picky and they're small gigs.
But to be honest, I don't bring a backup bass, either. If my electric goes, I've got my Juzek right there, and vice versa, and I'll just make it work!
But to be honest, I don't bring a backup bass, either. If my electric goes, I've got my Juzek right there, and vice versa, and I'll just make it work!
i've been contemplating a cheap Affinity or ebay purchase for exactly this purpose...a Fretless jazz that likes to tune standard isn't a proper backup for an OLP that sits in Drop C
I've never broken a string, but I've had a jack go bad. I didn't bring a backup to that gig, so I had to be very careful because even the slightest movement could cause the signal to drop out. No, it wasn't the cable, it was the jack (which I just changed tonight). The plug fit loosely into the jack, and it was a closed style jack so I couldn't just bend the contacts to tighten it.
You never know what could happen, so it is always a good idea to have a spare. One time I had a Gotoh tuner break, but luckily I wasn't on a gig. It isn't just strings that can break.
Another thing I suggest is creating a few short jams that your band can play while a member is hooking up their new head, getting their back-up ready, restringing, etc... That way the music doesn`t stop, the dance floor stays(hopefully) full, and you guys look professional. Just make sure you have one for each instrument(including drums - which allows us bassists to give our best Larry Graham impressions 
)
)
i've got the perfect backup: hohner B2A. Little, easy to carry, no need extra stand (let it against a wall and it's good.)
, plays very well, good tone.
And yes, with the two balls string system, you can really change a string and tune into 30 seconds. impressive.
, plays very well, good tone.
And yes, with the two balls string system, you can really change a string and tune into 30 seconds. impressive.
I bring 4 basses to my bands cover shows but only 2 on our original shows . not just for strings a friend of mine use to think it looked cool to hit his drummers cymbals with his headstock till he broke a tuner so I had to let him use my backup ( NO way was he using my good stuff !!)
- May 12, 2007
- 481
- 43
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist for Low End bass guitars, DNA Amplification
I played a gig at Opryland last night, and didn't take a backup (Wife had the truck, couldn't fit anything else in the car); didn't break any strings, but I couldn't relax as much, knowing I had that insurance over there beside my amp! If I had a steiny, the fact is changing a broken string in 30 seconds can almost become part of the stage show; I can't get that kind of speed changing a string on any of my instruments.
Yeah always bring a backup never leave home without it! There are so many things that could go wrong you need something to fall back on in a pinch. Restringing during a break is okay but, not during the performance not prof.
I've been playing bass for over 34 yrs and rarely have ever brought a back up bass to my gigs, and I've played some pretty significant gigs in my time.
Reason being, is I've always got relatively new strings on my basses and the only string I seem to break is the G string which I can play without. I've always got an extra set of strings in case I decide I want to change them before the gig or during break time.
Plus, I don't have to haul around another bass that's most likely not going to get played at all.
It just works out for me very well this way.
Reason being, is I've always got relatively new strings on my basses and the only string I seem to break is the G string which I can play without. I've always got an extra set of strings in case I decide I want to change them before the gig or during break time.
Plus, I don't have to haul around another bass that's most likely not going to get played at all.
It just works out for me very well this way.
