How good is your back up bass

[bassatnight]

[b]My US P is a back up to my Wal..... [/b]

Why? Because I am considerably richer than youse!


(That's a joke by the way.....)

[bonzodog]

Cheers for the replies guys. I may never need it, but I would feel happier knowing I had a spare even if it was left in the car. I appreciate the advice on having similar sound to my main bass so may just look out for a good SH Tbird.......however as one poster already suggested there is an element in me that wants to convince myself that I need a back up just so I can go and buy a new bass. At least that's the excuse I will be telling the wife. If she knows its for gigs where I earn money to line her pockets, she seems to be ok with it!

[xilddx]

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1371055997' post='2109268']
Cheers for the replies guys. I may never need it, but I would feel happier knowing I had a spare even if it was left in the car. I appreciate the advice on having similar sound to my main bass so may just look out for a good SH Tbird.......however as one poster already suggested there is an element in me that wants to convince myself that I need a back up just so I can go and buy a new bass. At least that's the excuse I will be telling the wife. If she knows its for gigs where I earn money to line her pockets, she seems to be ok with it!
[/quote]

Never EVER leave you gear in a car

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1371048484' post='2109096']
Main bass = Fender US Precision
Backup bass = Fender CIJ Precision

Not much in them, the US edges it in the main areas, playability, sound, and weight, but not by much.
[/quote]

Should add, I only take one bass to gigs - I check the main bass before gigs, any problems, then the backup would get used. If they both fail, well I`ll just yell "boom" down the mic all night

[Dave_the_bass]

I tend to take my first bass (Tanglewood rebel) as a back up to my epi t-bird pro. I have them set up with the same strings and a similar tone out of the bass.

In the event of a failure of the epi all I have to do is hit the buttons on the strap locks, swap the bass over, and tweak the pre amp volume on the amp by a couple of notchs to take in to account the reduction in output voltage.

Never actually needed to swap mid set!

Only issue I've ever run in to was breaking a Low E String in the sound check. That was back in the days of only having one bass. Fortunately I'd only just changed my strings and still had the old one in my case.

[Deep Thought]

My Shuker JJ is my main bass, backup is a Mex Precision. I have seen a bottom E go on a bass at a fair-sized gig, and it took ages to change. I want to be able to take one off, put another on and keep going immediately. Unlike our guitarist, who has now twice broken a string on his fancy Musicman guitar with fancy locking trem, and spent about ten minutes changing it, whilst Muggins and the drummer have to fill in somehow.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1371053454' post='2109217']
I would contend that you are actually far more likely to have your amp fail on you than most basses , but very few non - pros have a back -up amp .
[/quote]
I have actually gone from taking a spare bass (another Stingray naturally) to taking a spare head unless it was a wedding gig then I still take a spare bass, Shuttle 3.0 as spare to Shuttle 6.0, Shuttle 6.0 as spare to Shuttlemax9.2

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='Mog' timestamp='1371053280' post='2109214']
You can change a string and tune it up in 90 odd seconds.
[/quote]

Or about 20 seconds if you fit locking tuners .... also has the added advantage of making normal string set replacements take a fraction of the time. Ditto for headless basses with double ball end strings.

Edited June 12, 2013 by bassman7755

[itsmedunc]

I've played for the last 5 years without a back up bass but a couple of months ago my Fender P developed a crackle at a gig so I thought I had better get it fixed and get a spare. My Gordon Smith is too heavy (and its in Belgium!) so I cant use that. Last week I bought a Vintage AV4 for £100, nice bass has 22 frets (which is a bonus) and will make a nice little back up. Only trouble is - after I bought it, a mate of mine offered me his MIM P in exchange for some equipment he had of mine which I accepted, I swapped another amp for an artist series Squier Jazz and then I couldn't resist a very very cheap Squier P classic vibe on Ebay. I now have 4 spares... My Mrs is not happy. Anybody want to buy a spare bass?

[Green Alsatian]

Does our keyboard player's left hand count? If my bass breaks, I'll just clap my hands and play my duck whistle.

In reality, as we gig so infrequently, there have been periods this year where I've had no bass and just bought whatever I could get as cheaply as possible on eBay and fix/set it up properly prior to rehearsals. My current (and only) bass is the £50 Pink Westfield.

Prior to all this, I used to gig my Fender AVRI '62 Jazz without backup, followed by a few years of using my home-made bitsa P-bass - never broken a string as I play with a relatively light touch, despite having hands like shovels.

Nige has probably offered the best advice - have your backup sound as similar to your mainstay as poss.

[DarkHeart]

i was using my cherry Jazz as my main bass and the cherry P as back up (they look pretty on the stand together ) but ive started using the headless hohner as it takes up loads less room on the usually small stage/floor

[cloudburst]

As of fairly recently...

Main bass = 1988 Steinberger XL2
Backup bass = 1988 Steinberger XL2A

Guess I'm boring.

CB

[thisnameistaken]

I don't have one. I've got two bass guitars but one is strung with rounds and one with flats, so they can't really back eachother up. One would be a couple of grand if you bought it new, the other under £200 (what's the point in having an expensive bass if you're going to put flats on it?).

I've also got two double basses but again they serve different roles. One sounds nice and I use it for amplified gigs and recording. The other sounds OK and I've strung it with slap strings and I use it for unamplified gigs and busking because it is mega-loud.

[neepheid]

I don't have a backup bass, all my basses share top billing and I alternate between them all for gigs and practices depending on my mood but trying to be even handed in the distribution.

Also - have I just been lucky? I've never broken a string while playing. Maybe I've spread my breakage probability thinly with many basses

[Cat Burrito]

Don't use one anymore. I once broke a string back in 1997. Back then I had a much poorer technique, I played with a heavy pick on lighter strings and right by the bridge. Now I play with very heavy strings away from the bridge and play fingerstyle. Touchwood but I'm fairly confident that in hundreds of gigs later the string breakage of '97 will continue to a distant memory. Using passive basses there is less to go wrong too.

All that said, in my rockabilly band I think if the upright bass let me down I'd just be buggered though!

edit typo

Edited June 12, 2013 by BurritoBass

[EMG456]

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1371071272' post='2109564']
As of fairly recently...

Main bass = 1988 Steinberger XL2
Backup bass = 1988 Steinberger XL2A

Guess I'm boring.

CB
[/quote]

You're boring!

As I don't really see the point in owning two basses that are exactly the same, my backup will always be different to my main bass.

Then again, the main bass is likely to be a different one on different gigs also - no point having them and not using them and I like to just pick before I go out the door.

But they'll all sound exactly like me playing the bass!

And +1 to never leaving spare gear in the car. If you need a backup bass at all then it needs to be ready and tuned at the stage temperature and environment and not stolen from the car.

Cheers

Ed

PS Amazed at all these folks who have never suffered a broken string - good on you... or alternatively, try harder!

Edited June 12, 2013 by EMG456

[xilddx]

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1371076321' post='2109659']


PS Amazed at all these folks who have never suffered a broken string - good on you... or alternatively, try harder!
[/quote]

I broke an E string once, only break ever. I changed it on stage during a song in almost milliseconds. Two individuals approached me afterwards and congratulated me on the supersonic string change, but not the music.

[Les]

I have to say I have never taken a backup bass with me in 35 years of playing, nor Have I ever needed one.

[redstriper]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1371081573' post='2109722']
I have to say I have never taken a backup bass with me in 35 years of playing, nor Have I ever needed one.
[/quote]

Same.

[i]Edit:[/i]
And it's the same bass....... which was 15 years old when I bought it in 1978.

Edited June 13, 2013 by redstriper

[grandad]

Same here, never taken a backup.

[BigRedX]

I'm really glad I had a backup bass with me a couple of weeks ago when I broke the A string 4 songs from the end of the set. I got through the song I was playing with a much simplified bass line avoiding the broken A and the D which it was covering and consequently completely unusable.

I swapped basses while I singer was introducing the next song. Carrying on with the broken string would have been impossible for at least one of the songs we were still to play and trying to fit a new string at this point in the set would have completely destroyed the momentum we'd been building up. IMO you owe it to your audience to be prepared when you take to the stage.

And while it might be possible to fit a new string in 90 seconds in the comfort of your home, on a dark stage with your band mates giving you the hurry up, it's going to be a completely different story. And that's provided your spare strings are easily accessible on stage and not still in your equipment case in the dressing room. Of course once you've got it fitted, if its a new string it'll take the next two songs to stop it going out of tune, and if it's a used one it will most likely break during before the end of the set!

[Low End Bee]

Ever since an A string went on a sound check last year when I hadn't bought a back up I take two. Next gig will see my Eastwood Stormbird get it's first outing backed up by my US P bass.
I also have a spare cable and a DI close by. I was never in the scouts. Maybe I should been?
When we've only got 40 minutes to impress a crowd I don't want to waste any of it string changing.

[Dr.Dave]

How good is my back up bass....

As good as I am. No better . no worse !

[Jacqueslemac]

I always take a spare too, although I haven't broken a string in ten years.

For the reasons stated, my back up is as close to the main bass as I can get (i.e. both Corvette $$s or USA Jazz and Aerodyne Jazz).

Since suffering a few glitches with my Orange amp, I do now take two amps too. Both are wired to the cab and plugged in (although not both turned on at the same time).

At my last gig, the Orange started playing up again, so I just pulled the lead out and put it into the Hartke (I'd sound checked using both so the sound wasn't too different from one another), switched it on and no-one even noticed (not even the rest of the band).

The trouble is, my Orange has been behaving itself for the last two rehearsals, but how long dare I leave it before I stop taking a spare amp?

I also take spare strings, by the way (am I paranoid?) and my toolkit lives on stage behind the cab. Came in useful a couple of gigs ago when the lead guitar suddenly realised he needed his capo for the next song and it was in the - locked - dressing room. Luckily I have one in my toolbox, even though I don't play guitar (it's handy to keep strings in place when adjusting the neck).

The toolbox also has a torch which has come in handy more than once when setting up.

Where do you stop?

[PaulWarning]

I used to think my backup bass was good, a MIJ Hondo professional, my main bass is a MIA P, I compared them a few months ago and found out why I bought the P, still I've never needed the backup but don't want to tempt fate by not taking it, Using a Marshall MB 4210 combo (great sounding amps but not the most reliable) I also use a Carlsboro Bass Beasty as an extention 1 x 15 cab, so if the Marshall packs up I've got a backup amp.
Just hope my back stands up to the punishment