regular swapping between two basses during gig

[steve-bbb]

soooooo, ive made a bit of a rod for my own back by using the fretless for about 40% of our set list and the fretted for the remainder

this naturally involves several switches of bass during the gig

what are you thoughts please on ideal/bestest way to achieve smooth changeover is it possible to avoid the cracks and bumps of pulling jack plugs out and in faffing around with turning vol up and down etc which is what im having to do at the moment as a dirty workaround

do i need a line selector box or a/b box or something?

i have two basses, both passive one fretted one fretless >>>> run the signal through a handful of boss pedals in a chain >.>>> into the passive input on my hartke head

ideas please? ta muchly peeps

Edited December 11, 2013 by steve-bbb

[brensabre79]

I do this, both Jazz basses, one fretted one fretless.

1. Same straplocks on both basses (the Fender ones work best for me)
2. A/B pedal, both basses plugged in to it. the one I have has a 'mute all' switch and an A/B switch with LEDs (just to avoid panic setting in)
3. two (or one double) stands

MUTE Unclip bass 1 (leave strap on shoulder - trust me it's quicker), place on empty stand, pick up bass 2 and clip on (A/B flip), You're ready to go.

Usually I can change-over while the audience finishes clapping just in time for singer to announce next song. On a good day I can sneak in a quick sip of water (or whatever you like) too.

[Lozz196]

Line selector sounds good, as does a Zoom B3. That way you can set up various patches for your sounds with the fretted bass, and then duplicate them for the sounds with your fretless, keeping the levels the same. Depending on how many pedals you use the Zoom may be able to do all of it in one box, so reduce setting up time as well.

[dudewheresmybass]

I have an occasional gig with a jazz trio. I use my eub and my dearmond jetstar. Both basses are plugged in to a boss ab2.
Smooth and silent switching, and quick too

[icastle]

It really depends on the size of the stage I'm playing on.

For a small stage I have a mute button on my amp that I press as I start to swap basses.
If I'm due an instrument swap, I'm walking back to my amp as soon as I play the last note and I'm good to go within 5 seconds.

On larger stages, that walk can take up valuable time, so I just use an AB box sat next to various weaponry.

[steve-bbb]

thanks peeps - off to look at the effect forum for a boss ab2

all my basses have their own individual straps which have straplocks over them - all vaguely colour coordinated to the basses

Edited December 12, 2013 by steve-bbb

[franzbassist]

I switch between electric fretless and EUB all the time. I've tried a number of different options over the years, but I keep coming back to the [url="http://www.tonebone.com/re-bigshot-io.htm"]Bigshot i/o[/url] as one of the simplest and most effective.

[LiamPodmore]

I just use the tuner as a mute usually, though my next board setup will cater for 2 basses (Once i purchase and find use for a fretless)

Liam

[JapanAxe]

I have used Snap Jack cables on my skinny-strings in the past but prefer to mute with the tuner pedal whilst re-plugging these days. I keep it down to one change per set max though.

[molan]

Lehle make the best switching pedals I've ever heard. They aren't cheap but build quality is fabulous

[PTB]

I use a Boss LS-2 which are readily available second hand. You can match the levels of your two basses and it allows a variety of functions well beyond the normal A B box.

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='PTB' timestamp='1386918421' post='2306334']
I use a Boss LS-2 which are readily available second hand. You can match the levels of your two basses and it allows a variety of functions well beyond the normal A B box.
[/quote]

thanks - i was looking at the pdf user manual on the bossus site for the LS-2 and it does look pretty versaitle

[gafbass02]

I've been using th neutrik muting jacks for a while. Seem fine with no issues as yet, they just mute as unplugged

[leftyhook]

cram all of your fretless songs together in the set ;OD

[Dad3353]

Play the whole set on the fretless..?

[gelfin]

Try one of these

[URL=http://s970.photobucket.com/user/gelfin5959/media/DSCF0005_zps6bccc808.jpg.html][IMG]http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae181/gelfin5959/DSCF0005_zps6bccc808.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[tauzero]

Using a wireless, secure transmitter to belt, switch off to change, unplug and swap, plug in and switch on.

Using a standard lead, either I use a switched jack (but make sure that the switch operates cleanly and reliably) or switch my multiFX into tuner/mute mode.

And the straps stay on. Quicker and less fumble-prone than keeping the same strap.

[Biaeothanata-Bassist]

I just use an A/B box as my live basses are both passive Precision basses so there's no need to worry about draining the battery.

I have both of them left plugged in, leave one on a stand with it's strap on and cable in then just swap it over and hit the button on the A/B box, no pops or crackles that way either. When I start using wireless again, i'll keep the A/B box with 2 cables in my set up as a back up in case of a wireless failure (i've had it happen, such a pain in the backside!)

*edit* it's easy enough to build an A/B box too, I did it myself and i'll happily supply the wiring diagram i used

Edited December 24, 2013 by Biaeothanata-Bassist

[simon1964]

A good, although not necessarily cheap, solution is a twin channel pre-amp like this: [url="http://www.tonebone.com/tb-bassbone.htm"]http://www.tonebone.com/tb-bassbone.htm[/url]

Also allows you to have different EQs and levels for each bass.

[deepbass5]

My Mark Bass LMK is just the ticket have one bass in one channel clean and another bass via FX board into the other channel and use the foot switch to change, this also acts as a mute so no pops and bangs. Then as Mr Castle 5 sec should do it.

[mikhay77]

Get a Neuser fretless bridge fitted to your fretted bass,problem solved!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYPHZlwLP3s