2nd bass for gigs?

[bassbluestew]

Nice Les Paul -check,
nice pose - check,
nice stance - check,
nice hair - check,
nice Marshall t shirt - check,
nice leather biker jacket - check...............oh sorry thought I was back in 1978, not [b]2008[/b][u][/u]....

I used to use cliches all the time, now I avoid them like the plague.....

S

[BigAlonBass]

[quote name='Jase' post='227853' date='Jun 27 2008, 10:04 AM']Same here. I have some spare leads, a few basic tools.[/quote]

Of course, those few basic tools mean you have to stop in the middle of the Set, strip your Bass down, repair whatever's wrong, and then carry on as if nothing happened. Not very realistic, is it? Even brand new Basses have been known to 'die' without warning, and there's nothing looks more professional than just grabbing your spare Bass and carrying on. Sods Law dictates that a perfectly reliable instrument will become unreliable at the most important time of your life, (or even just in the middle of your solo ) and that is when all the "Why bother with a back-up?" and "You must be pessimistic" jibes from your Band-Mates are answered in one fell swoop. I have been gigging for over 40 years (yes I'm that old!) and in all that time, I have only had my main Bass let me down three times, but the cheap stand-by kept the Gig going, the Punters dancing, and everybody else smiling.

p.s. and a second hand Crate Powerblock in my Leads case. Any sound is better than nothing!

Edited June 27, 2008 by BigAlonBass

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='227822' date='Jun 27 2008, 09:33 AM']Never used to bother but take a back-up now but it begs the question, should one take a spare amp/cab too....?[/quote]

It would make more sense than a spare bass wouldn't it ? In terms of what's the more likely to go wrong.

Logistics for most of us would make it impractical but there's a good case for having a POD or a DI box etc in the gig bag. At least then if the amp goes tits up we have a decent 'through the PA' option.

[RayFW]

I always take 2 basses. Sometimes 3.
I have a nice collection of basses and see no reason why I shouldn't play them "out". I find that different basses suit different songs better - e.g my P is best for old Motown/Soul stuff and my Stingray is better for funk.

If that makes my cock small, so be it.

[3V17C]

i [i]always[/i] take two basses even if its a just a half hour set. So far have only needed the spare once when my battered old green Attitude died on me mid gig - but if i'd [i]not[/i] had a spare bass we would have been screwed as it wasn't something fixable on the spot!

Liking the idea someone else mentioned of taking a Hohner/Steinberger type 'cricket bat' bass as a spare though - makes good sense - small, easy to carry, lightweight etc....hmmmm.

I always take a spare amp head too as it goes. Never had to use it yet but as my rig is getting a bit long in the tooth now its a good safety net. Bit of a pain carting it about but it generally just lives in the back of the car. Worst case it could also be used by one of the guitards if their amp was to go down too.

peace

c

[Jase]

[quote name='BigAlonBass' post='227867' date='Jun 27 2008, 09:42 AM']Of course, those few basic tools mean you have to stop in the middle of the Set, strip your Bass down, repair whatever's wrong, and then carry on as if nothing happened. Not very realistic, is it? Even brand new Basses have been known to 'die' without warning, and there's nothing looks more professional than just grabbing your spare Bass and carrying on. Sods Law dictates that a perfectly reliable instrument will become unreliable at the most important time of your life, (or even just in the middle of your solo ) and that is when all the "Why bother with a back-up?" and "You must be pessimistic" jibes from your Band-Mates are answered in one fell swoop. I have been gigging for over 40 years (yes I'm that old!) and in all that time, I have only had my main Bass let me down three times, but the cheap stand-by kept the Gig going, the Punters dancing, and everybody else smiling.

p.s. and a second hand Crate Powerblock in my Leads case. Any sound is better than nothing! [/quote]

What can I say? I live life on the edge Joking aside....my bass, which ever one I take, is checked before I leave for a gig, double checked in a sound check, leads etc are also checked before I leave and again checked at a gig...I can honestly say my bass has never let me down They get used daily, so if anything does go wrong it tends to get fixed before a gig.

Sods law this weekend, it'll all go horribly wrong

[waynepunkdude]

I have a "box of tricks" basicly a stanley toolbox.

It has

Spare strings

2 x speaker leads (if my speaker lead fails i am not using an instrument lead)
4 x instrument leads
1 x Fast Fret
? x Picks
Set of Allen keys
1 x Can of WD40
1 x Can of deodorant
2 x spare T-shirt (1 for me 1 for the drummer saves the smell in the van on the way home)
1 x role of gaffer tape
4 x Set lists (just in case we forget to put one together)
1 x spare strap
1 x towel to wipe down strings after the set is played
1 x brand new 9v battery
1 x string winder
1 x spare cheap tuner
5 x screw drivers
1 x stanley knife
1 x pair of pliers
1 x set of ear plugs
1 x marker pen
2 x mailing lists
1 x torch
1 x kazoo

I think that's all

Some of that stuff is invaluable even if you only use it once.

[Cantdosleepy]

I've not broken a string in the 11 years I've been playing. My singer has my backup bass at the moment - when his car gets fixed I'll ask him to bring it to gigs.

I bring three working instrument cables and a spare battery for my tuner. My bass is passive, and I loop the instrument cable through the strap so if I stand on it there's less chance of damage. Plus my bass lead is a telephone cord style, so it sorts the slack out most of the time.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

When we did a corporate gig at London Zoo, Three of us brought (and had lined up on stands):

[list]
[*]Fender Tele
[*]Gibson Les Paul
[*]Rickenbacker 12 string
[*]Yamaha Acoustic
[*]Tom Anderson Tele
[*]Martin Acoustic
[*]Gibson Semi
[*]Fender Jazz
[*]Epiphone Thunderbird
[*]Dean Pace Upright
[/list]

I think they were all used on the night, but after that one we started to [i]try [/i]to limit it to a couple each.

[Steve_nottm]

For one song in our set i need to downtune by half a step, so I decided to use a 2nd bass for that song, and therefore automatically have a back up should I ever need one.

Was about to say I've never needed a back up but that would be tempting fate for tonight's gig!

[ianrunci]

I only ever take one bass, I do take a spare lead guitar in case I snap a string during a particularly expresive bout of bending but as far as the bass is concerned I have never snapped a string on one in my life and the eq on the warwick gets me any sound I want whether it be funk, jazz, soul or rock so I can't be arsed setting up another one just for people to look at.

If people have lots of expensive basses they mght as well have them there so they can use them. Not much point in buying expensive instruments just to sit them in a bedroom. Its like buying a porche and sitting in it in the garage but never taking it out on the road

[Dubs]

I’ve got a funny story about needing a back up guitar in my old band (not me obviously…the guitarist needed it) – We had just finished the sound check at Junktion 7 in Notts and Baz (guitarist) leant his Epiphone Les Paul up against his amp……SMASH!!!!!
The guitar slid down the face of the amp and smashed into the floor, and I was watching this happening in slow motion from about 10 meters away feeling completely helpless to stop it. The headstock just completely snapped off in 1 cleanish break, Baz was gutted and tried gluing it back on with superglue! I’ve got some great pics of it but I can’t seem to find them at the moment…
Funny as f*** though cos he then went round asking the other bands if he could borrow a guitar after everyone in the place had just watched this happen.

[queenofthedepths]

I wouldn't lend a guitar to someone if I thought he'd lean it against an amp and snap off the headstock!!!

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='queenofthedepths' post='228071' date='Jun 27 2008, 02:53 PM']I wouldn't lend a guitar to someone if I thought he'd lean it against an amp and snap off the headstock!!![/quote]


Oh another thing in my 'Box Of Tricks' is a guitar stand.

[Freuds_Cat]

Back in the 80's when I played for a living I used one bass and a spare just in case. The spare probably got used 2 or 3 times in 10 years.

These days I play for fun and have a collection of basses.

I never turn up to a show without at least 3 or 4 basses because its now about having fun and my idea of fun is playing with my toys.
No point havin' them just to look at

[JoeS]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='227839' date='Jun 27 2008, 09:46 AM']We played with a band once that had 2 guitarists they had 8 4x12's 2 TSL100's each and an array of vintage gibsons.

We hadv a running joke that they were waiting for the second much bigger van that contaned there ego's along with a life size gold statue of the band.



This is one of them at a pub gig.[/quote]

Well I never, surely that can't be Liam from "bodybuilding metal" band Angst? Haven't seen them in ages, that picture just reminded me why.

I've only ever taken a spare when both my basses were tuned the same, one active, one passive, and I couldn't find a spare 9v battery. Apart from that I've always risked it.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='JoeS' post='228098' date='Jun 27 2008, 03:31 PM']Well I never, surely that can't be Liam from "bodybuilding metal" band Angst? Haven't seen them in ages, that picture just reminded me why.

I've only ever taken a spare when both my basses were tuned the same, one active, one passive, and I couldn't find a spare 9v battery. Apart from that I've always risked it.[/quote]


Indeed it is, have you seen them live? can you believe the amount of equipment?

[johnnylager]

[quote name='ahpook' post='227755' date='Jun 27 2008, 07:56 AM']i've never taken a spare bass to a gig.[/quote]
Me neither and never needed to - saying that's bound to jinx it. Never had another bass to take though, one does me. At least that's what I tell myself

[JoeS]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='228111' date='Jun 27 2008, 03:49 PM']Indeed it is, have you seen them live? can you believe the amount of equipment?[/quote]
Yeah, first time I saw them was about 5 years ago, they're about my age and from the same town as me so I used to see them week in, week out. They've always had stacks of gear, even when they were kids. Nice enough bunch of guys, but that second van did turn up more often than not

[budget bassist]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='228076' date='Jun 27 2008, 02:58 PM']Oh another thing in my 'Box Of Tricks' is a guitar stand.[/quote]
I once watched a gig where the stage started falling apart for some reason, the bassists spare stingray (that was sat in a stand) fell flat on it's face (i think it was ok) and one of their amps was in the process of tipping over too. Oops!

Also i always take a stand, a spare bass because i don't want to look a pillock tuning up on stage, i'd rather have another bass, and at least i have a backup. I also bring spare tuner AAA batteries, spare 9V batteries, about 3 leads because i've had my guitarist step on and break 2 of mine in one session before
I don't bother with spare strings though, i can't see any of them snapping.

[Dubs]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='228157' date='Jun 27 2008, 04:42 PM']I don't bother with spare strings though, i can't see any of them snapping.[/quote]

spare strings are almost the only things i do bother with - when i was about 17 i went through a stage of snapping a ridiculous amount of strings, at least 1 every 2 weeks (and often more) but this was more to do with aggressive slapping and a very badly set up bass.
Saying this, I’ve not bothered changing a snapped string when I’ve been on stage before. If it’s towards the end of the set then I can usually blag it and it’s not worth the 3 min total faff and looking like a complete cock.

[budget bassist]

Lol, i still don't see how you can do it, i play rough sometimes, but not THAT rough, i never even snapped a string in the 9 months i played guitar!

[MikeB]

Don't think I've ever taken a spare in my life - am I tempting fate? Have never broken a string (I take spare leads, etc in my bag, but no spare strings) The only thing I've ever had problems with is an amp, and I certainly don't take a spare one of those!

No doubt my gig this weekend will be a complete disaster, everything will break and I will wish I hadn't written this note!

[Funkmaster]

Pretty much I only take one bass to a gig. Usually my fretted Thumb and occaisionally my fretless Thumb.

But for ceilidh band gigs, as well as my Warwick Triumph upright which I play most of the time for ceilidhs, I always take the fretless too. Cause there's stuff I just can't play on the upright yet!

[Gareth Hughes]

I only take a spare bass anytime I've been tinkering with the wiring/tweaked the preamp,etc. That's more about MY unreliability than the bass's tho.

But you all could be tempting fate here - I had an unnecessary amount of gear so decided to scale down from 3 heads, 4 1x12's and a 4x10 to 2 heads and 2 1x12's. The thinking being that I'd really just convinced myself that I needed all these spares when I really didn't. Two weeks after reducing the gear - one of my 1x12's stopped working. I've never blown a speaker or had one die in 10 years. Soon as I don't have a backup......