martthebass Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Since joining the current band about 8 years ago I’ve generally taken two basses to a gig, a heir and a spare. I don’t swap around for songs and until recently it was always 2 Mustangs or 2 Sandberg Lionels. I didn’t do this with my previous band but that was due to all gigs being local, with the current band only about a third of the gigs are within 30 mins, the majority being 1-1.5 hours distant. Over the last few weeks due to bass set ups, selling and whatnot I’ve just taken a single bass and it got me thinking, in 8 years I’ve never needed the back up, broke a string etc, so I’m rethinking my practice. For the last few gigs I’ve just taken one bass, a spare set of strings and an emergency bass med kit. Am I living on borrowed time, should I revert back to previous practice or is this practice more usual than not? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I always take a backup bass ..... 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 One bass is enough for me... If anything apart from a broken string or flat battery is likely to happen, bring a different bass... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I spent a long drumming career with only one drum kit. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted September 22 Author Share Posted September 22 28 minutes ago, Beedster said: I always take a backup bass ..... Trust you Chris 😂😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 (edited) Depends how seriously you take playing in a band. Do you mind letting your band mates down, screwing up a gig, disappointing an audience, pissing off a promoter? I do, so I bring 2 of everything. The last time I had a cab fail was in the 70's, the last time I had an amp fail was in the 90's and I've never had a bass fail, but I still bring 2 of everything. Edited September 22 by chris_b 11 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 (edited) Always took two basses on gigs (apart from very local ones)ready and set up on stage (in my view, a bass in a case in the boot of the car is no use in the middle of a wedding set when the guests are up and dancing). As it turns out I never had a bass fail but that’s not the point. My house has never burned down but I’ve still got fabric and contents insurance. We were being paid to provide a service at special occasions so why take the risk of a failure spoiling the event. With two basses on stage I did swap between them - one set on one, the next on the othe (just because I love them both so why not?). I might swap once during a set if one half of the set particularly suited one bass and the other one suited the other. Never got into that silly swapping between each tune. Edited September 22 by TrevorR 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staggering on Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 41 minutes ago, Beedster said: I always take a backup bass ..... Me too but in my case it's my DB and my Yamaha SLB 200 EUB...you never know what might happen with a big fragile wooden box. I also have a spare DB pickup in my gig bag. I'm a belt and suspenders/braces kind of guy.😁 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Back up bass ? No, never have, never needed one. ymmv of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 17 minutes ago, chris_b said: Depends how seriously you take playing in a band. Do you mind letting your band mates down, screwing up a gig, disappointing an audience, pissing off a promoter? I do, so I bring 2 of everything. The last time I had a cab fail was in the 70's, the last time I had an amp fail was in the 90's and I've never had a bass fail, but I still bring 2 of everything. This ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 6 minutes ago, ahpook said: Back up bass ? No, never have, never needed one. ymmv of course. Most parachutists have never needed a backup ‘chute…. 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Beedster said: Most parachutists have never needed a backup ‘chute…. I'm unlikely to die if my bass doesn't work... ...unless I really haven't read the small print for the next gig Edited September 22 by ahpook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted September 22 Author Share Posted September 22 18 minutes ago, chris_b said: Depends how seriously you take playing in a band. Do you mind letting your band mates down, screwing up a gig, disappointing an audience, pissing off a promoter? I do, so I bring 2 of everything. The last time I had a cab fail was in the 70's, the last time I had an amp fail was in the 90's and I've never had a bass fail, but I still bring 2 of everything. Your comment is appreciated but mitigation can be accomplished without overloading my poor Mini. Never have let a venue down in hundreds of gigs other than illness which can’t be mitigated against. With one bass, I always take a passive, spare strings and tool kit. I take two cabs, use both, if one went down it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I only take one amp (there is a spare at home which would be used if one had to go in for repair) but take a DI/pre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPHDS Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Ever since I owned more than one bass, I've always taken a back up.....and have I had to use it.....YES! (2x String snaps (at the same venue, a year apart.....), and total drop out (turned out to be a bad solder.....or rather someone had used Blu-Tack to attach the wires to the jack.....!) As such, I will always keep one in reserve.... I also used to swap for Drop D, then got a Hipshot, then got used to tuning on the fly.....(still play in Drop D, and got the Hipshot fitted to the Epi, but it's now back up to The Birthday Bass (along with Silver Sparkle (Squier P)) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfrasho Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Most of my gigs currently I drive to so firing another bass in the boot makes very little difference to me so I do it. Especially wedding/function gigs. If space or travel is an issue then I'm comfortable taking one bass but i do take doubles for evertyhing else, so if any other part of my signal breaks, I've got options. Including strap... I've had a strap fail. Back in the day though I played some pretty big gigs with one bass (and probably no spare strings), with zero issues. The spare sits in its case though, I dont set it up on a stand on stage. If something goes wrong, I'm pretty comfortable that I could get the bass out and ready to play by the start of the next tune! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I used to quite arrogantly just take one bass to the gig for many years but in the last few years I've taken two. Then I got the bright idea of swapping basses at half time. I don't give a monkeys if they're completely different basses - in a band mix, in a room full of pissed up punters, who cares which bass I use? At my most recent gig I played a Sire Z7 in the first half and my Epiphone Les Paul in the second half. Completely different basses. Why? Well, no-one's given me a credible reason why not, so I'm just going to continue to do my thing. If I take two basses to a gig, I might as well use them! 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 1 hour ago, martthebass said: Your comment is appreciated but mitigation can be accomplished without overloading my poor Mini. Never have let a venue down in hundreds of gigs other than illness which can’t be mitigated against. With one bass, I always take a passive, spare strings and tool kit. I take two cabs, use both, if one went down it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I only take one amp (there is a spare at home which would be used if one had to go in for repair) but take a DI/pre. How much of a problem would it be to put another bass in the Mini? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I take two identical basses. Possibly a different colour, but the same pickup in order to keep levels the same. Whether anyone does is down to them and I wouldn't criticise them for not doing so. Generally never used the spare but did break a machine head in France in 1995. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbandit599 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Yes, always, and have needed the spare once. The active bass I'd used in rehearsal two days before a festival gig decided to allow a solder joint to come apart on the battery connector. Completely dead bass on stage with a few hundred people waiting... Spare to the rescue - utter terror dissipated... If I don't know the venue I take a 32" scale spare so I can use that if space is particularly tight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted September 22 Author Share Posted September 22 16 minutes ago, Beedster said: How much of a problem would it be to put another bass in the Mini? I could put it on the roof 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 15 minutes ago, martthebass said: I could put it on the roof 😂 How I used to have to get DB to gigs when I also took the wife kids in the back No spare possible back then....... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Only time I ever needed a backup was at a gig when I hadn’t taken one. It was a fault in the electrical parts. Fortunately the headliners lent me their spare, otherwise I would have been sat around like a spare. To make life easier I have a Mono M80 Dual which is only a bit bigger than the single, makes it a doddle to take 2 basses to gigs. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 18 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: To make life easier I have a Mono M80 Dual which is only a bit bigger than the single, makes it a doddle to take 2 basses to gigs. Likewise for electric 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_dinger Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 1 hour ago, Beedster said: How I used to have to get DB to gigs when I also took the wife kids in the back No spare possible back then....... Oh my! Surely the windchill will play havoc with the strings and the tuning by the time that you reach the venue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 2 minutes ago, bass_dinger said: Oh my! Surely the windchill will play havoc with the strings and the tuning by the time that you reach the venue? Living in a very old stone farmhouse 25 miles east of Aberystwyth at the time, the Welsh weather f***ed every aspect of double bass tuning at the best of times And I would kill to live there still 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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