you use the same bass for all the songs?

[Tunaman]

Sterling HH with a Shuttlemax 9.2 & you have the most tones possible in one combo

 

[ChopperDave]

I only ever play my J at rehearsal and gigs. I have a Franken-J at home for practice, but that likely won't see a rehearsal or gig until I do some more work on it, and then only if it sounds as good as my 75RI. (We'll see ... I refinished it and it looks damn good.)

Honestly, I've been GASsing for a Ric and for a nicer P, but now that I've got my rig squared away, I'm finding that I can get such a wide variety of tones from just my J that I almost don't even want to try anything else (lest I open up some major floodgates--well, if x other bass sounds good on my rig, what about y other bass ... or z other bass ... pretty soon I'm eating beans like a hobo and selling my body down at the bus terminal ...)

Ahem, anyway, when I finish building (stripping/staining, really) my FrankenSquier P, I think I'll bring that to shows for drop-d songs and as a backup.

 

[Old Fart]

I like simplicity, and I think of simplicity as a bass value. We bassists are a unique breed, and notice we tend to have things in common. We are more stable than other musicians, overall. We come prepared. We are not as attention-seeking. And we need fewer instruments and fewer bells and whistles. My preference, when it can work, is to play one bass all night long, and plug it directly into an amplifier. I can make tone adjustments between songs, and during songs, to tailor the tone to the song. Particularly if the bass has more than one pickup.

Heck, if you’ve got a killer-sounding fat deep tone, and also (where needed) a killer-sounding cranky/sharp/trebly tone, then those two options are going to get compliments and serve the music. Audiences can’t tell the difference between Sting’s tone and Entwhistle’s tone. But they can recognize a ‘good’ tone when they hear one. Besides…..the variable that makes by far the biggest difference is the fingers. Sounding good is maybe 10% tone. Maybe. At least 90% skill.

I always always always bring a backup axe.

 

[nostatic]

I always bring two basses to a gig. Which ones depends on the band. It comes down to mix-and-match based on the music and what I want to accomplish. I'll typically swap between instruments within a set, though sometimes I won't - depends on the show. Each instrument has strengths. Sometimes I'll use the "wrong" one just to get a different perspective on things:

Fodera Yin Yang Deluxe 4 - can cover any gig and goes out on most every one.
Fodera Monarch 5 fretted (E-C) - if I want to comp chords or play a lot of melody
Fodera Monarch 5 fretless (E-C) - if I want to get a fretless vibe
Rob Allen Deep 4 fretless - if I'm trying to cop an upright feel
Lull P4 - if I'm doing rock and just want a P-bass

Tonight the gig is my band which is vox/sax/drums/bass. I have to cover a lot of ground so typically I would take the YYD and 5-string fretted. I may go with both of the 5-stings though as I'm liking the places where the fretless bass leads me. I routinely switch basses between songs on these gigs, and will actually pick up a banjo for one tune.

Tomorrow is Steely Dan tribute band, and it'll be the YYD and Lull. Sunday is a jazz hit and I'll probably take both the 5-strings as they are the most recent acquisitions and I'm still trying working to figure them out.

 

[tmntfan]

I used to swap between upright and electric a lot but that is different discussion I would say. These days I have 2 basses I like to use a fender RW p-bass for "vintage" tones playing old Motown/soul tunes and a bongo 5 sting for more modern songs.

although this doesn't happen at rehearsals and rarely happens at gigs unless they are fairly high profile cause I'm lazy and don't feel like taking all the extra stuff to make switching easy. like others have said nobody else can really tell the difference and I can play songs on either one.

 

[klaus486]

I play my fretless Jazz for everything. Gassing for a fretless P tho....

However I am completely lazy and happily just bring the one bass.

 

[Biggbass]

at a gig I use the same bass from start to finish.

 

[MikeyThrottler]

I play punk/rock/garage-type stuff and one bass pretty well covers it all. I have a quiver of Precisions in the closet and just pick the one I want to play for that show. I rarely bring a backup.

 

[Nedmundo]

I usually pick one out that i want to play and use it for the entire show/practice.
Recording is another story.

Same here. For awhile, I would sometimes switch between a P or J and a DiPinto semi-hollow, but that got old apart from a couple of gigs that required the DiPinto's 24 frets for one of that band's signature tracks. Now, I just have an SB-2 and a few J-basses, so at gigs I pick one and go. I could envision switching between a four and my Jazz V, but whenever I've really wanted the five I've just used it for the whole set.

When recording, I fuss over it a lot more. My J-basses all sound different, and the differences can be magnified depending on their strings, so I'll try them all on some tracks and pick the one I prefer.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I'm in a soul band, so I just play a P-Bass all night. I do bring a backup, also a P-Bass, in case something goes wrong. Our sax player changes from alto to soprano to flute to percussion between songs, so I don't want to add to any delay by changing basses. Plus, the P-Bass just works best for our stuff.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Generally I use my Ric all night.

 

[JimmyM]

Rare is the time I bring more than one bass to a gig, and I use it for everything. Most of the time it's a Fender.

 

[two fingers]

Yep. I have a few others, but my Fender Roscoe Beck Signature V gets all the playing time these days. I'm probably about the fifth or sixth TBer to own it but I plan to keep it. It covers just about any tone you can think of.

 

[JohnnyD]

I play my J all the time for shows, but practice with whatever I feel like playing that day. My J has a Hipshot extender on it so it make it my go to during a gig. I also play keys and have enough equipment to cart around so between my bass gear and my keys gear I try to bring as little as possible,

 

[steve_rolfeca]

I never swap during a gig. To be fair, I do play 5-string basses, and choose them for flexibility.

When my Dingwall ABZ5 comes in, I'll leave the stock stainless rounds on for rock stuff, and put TI Jazz flats back on the self-made singlecut in my avatar, for softer gigs.

I'm pretty sure that will be the end of the project basses I currently keep around as backups.

 

[sumgruuvz]

we play a variety of stuff for different tunings. therefore the ww gets most of the action because of standard and b tuning songs. and the spector gets the drop d songs.

 

[ezstep]

I sold my 2x15 cab. I sold my tube head (52 pounds). Normally I use a 1x12 Bergie and a Shuttle6.0. After downsizing, do you think I'm gonna carry two basses to only one gig?

Yeah, I use the same bass all night long, regardless of which one I take.

 

[Bongokid]

I do. I play all my music with my Fender Jazz

 

[bigmoosepi]

I have two pbasses, one is tuned to C standard with 65-130 and the other is E standard with 45-105. I swap as needed.

I'd only use one if I could handle the floppiness of standard gauge downtuned but I can't.

 

[rapidfirerob]

Still playing my 85 Alembic Spoiler, happily. I bring a Dano reissue for backup. If I had lots of money, I'd be looking at getting a Fodera or an Adamovic.