Back up bass, yes or no?

[jezzaboy]

I always take 2 no matter how close or far away the gig. If something goes wrong and you can`t sort it for whatever reason and you don`t have a spare then it`s amateur hour.

 

I have a Gator double gig bag that always come with me but I must admit with 2 basses and the weight of the bag, it`s a pain to carry. A while back I bought one of those Mini Squier P basses and it was ideal but felt like a kids bass at the end of the day.

 

But at the same time I realise that I may never need a spare. It`s just whatever suits you.

[bass_dinger]

I rarely take a spare bass guitar to gigs  - being church services, none are important enough to worry about. 

 

However, I did once play an open air gig and took two basses. Like a total buffoon, after the break I picked up the spare and tried to play it - but it wasn't plugged in. 

For that reason, the band always brings a spare bass player....

 

 

Of all the solutions offered here, the one that I will adopt is using two basses, one for each half of the set. That gives both basses a workout under gig conditions, and gives purpose to bringing two basses. 

[bassbiscuits]

For many years I only owned one giggable bass, and one of the biggest gigs I’ve done was a festival in Poland where I could only take one bass. Just made sure it was a reliable one. 
 

Jury’s out on local pub gigs tho. I’ve never needed a back up in 30+ years of gigging but I habitually take two amp heads and two basses whenever I can.  
 

Last few gigs I’ve tempted fate and taken just one of everything, and tried not to let it freak me out too much!

[tauzero]

I've now also settled on the policy of taking two basses and doing one half with each. One fretted, one fretless, one headed, one headless (as I have basses in all four combinations, that's quite easy).

[gjones]

If I'm gigging a fair distance away I take a spare amp head but not a spare bass. I've played well over 1,000 gigs and never needed a spare bass (I've forgotten to bring my bass but that's another story). For most of those gigs I only owned one bass anyway, so bringing a spare wasn't an option. Now I have many more than one, I still only bring the one, it just takes me longer to figure out the one to actually bring.

 

 

[rOB]

I've sometimes thought about a cheap, headless, stick bass to have as backup. Small and light package to load and store on stage.

 

Something like this 

 

Has anyone taken that approach?

Edited September 22 by rOB

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, martthebass said:

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?

 

The way I approach this kind of question is...

 

"What will the consequences be if I am at the destination without a functioning bass?"

 

 

[mcnach]

9 hours 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.

 

 

As long as there is a microphone, you could always just hum the bassline...

 

 

[mcnach]

7 hours ago, SPHDS said:

(2x String snaps (at the same venue, a year apart.....), 

 

Have you considered not playing at that venue? 

🤠

[Tdw]

3 hours ago, rOB said:

I've sometimes thought about a cheap, headless, stick bass to have as backup. Small and light package to load and store on stage.

 

Something like this 

 

Has anyone taken that approach?

I usually take a hohner b2a as a spare bass for the reasons above. It has a passive mode if the battery is playing up too.

[JoeEvans]

Has anyone had a bass failure during a gig that wasn't a broken string or a dead battery? I'm curious as to what the possible failure modes might be.

[Skybone]

I can understand taking a spare instrument if you are in a band that's going to play 2-3 hours worth of music over numerous sets at functions / weddings etc.

 

However, if you're playing 30-40-60 minute sets down the Dog & Duck, then I think it's probably a bit overkill.

 

[SumOne]

I'm possibly tempting fate, but I don't take a backup Bass. I've never had a Bass suddenly stop working on me, they're fairly basic and sturdy things really (when compared to electronic things like my stage keyboard or DJ setup, which I don't backup). 

 

If I was backing up anything then I think it'd be the Amp, they seem to be the most likely point of complete failure. 

[Paul S]

Thing is with a back up bass is that you never, ever need one right up until the time that you do.  Which could be never or your next gig - it is impossible to predict.

[police squad]

1 hour ago, JoeEvans said:

Has anyone had a bass failure during a gig that wasn't a broken string or a dead battery? I'm curious as to what the possible failure modes might be.

My trusty '73 P bass, the pickup went open circuit and I had very little volume. I cranked everything right up and got some kind of sound that finished the gig

This was 20 years ago, I always carry a spare bass now

[BigRedX]

I have an off/on relationship with having a backup bass. In almost 45 years of gigging I've needed one 4 times (always for a broken string) and not had one once.

 

All through the 90s and early 2000s I always had a backup bass and never once needed it. At one point I was playing both fretted and fretless bass and would have a spare for both. At the moment whether or not I take a backup bass depends on how important the gig is and how I am getting there. For very important gigs where there is plenty of room in the band transport (i.e. we're not a crammed into a single car) I'll take a backup. For everything else a spare battery if applicable and a spare set of new strings will have to suffice. 

 

Personally I think it's more important to have a spare for a short set where your band has 30 minutes to impress an audience who probably haven't seen you before and maintaining the flow of the set is essential as opposed to longer gigs where dropping one song because you need the time to change a broken string won't be the end of the world.

[Beedster]

18 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I have an off/on relationship with having a backup bass. In almost 45 years of gigging I've needed one 4 times (always for a broken string) and not had one once.

 

All through the 90s and early 2000s I always had a backup bass and never once needed it. At one point I was playing both fretted and fretless bass and would have a spare for both. At the moment whether or not I take a backup bass depends on how important the gig is and how I am getting there. For very important gigs where there is plenty of room in the band transport (i.e. we're not a crammed into a single car) I'll take a backup. For everything else a spare battery if applicable and a spare set of new strings will have to suffice. 

 

Personally I think it's more important to have a spare for a short set where your band has 30 minutes to impress an audience who probably haven't seen you before and maintaining the flow of the set is essential as opposed to longer gigs where dropping one song because you need the time to change a broken string won't be the end of the world.

 

When I played electric exclusively taking one fretted and one fretless worked really well, each could be backup for the other if needed, but it also gave me lots of options. The first rock/indie set I did exclusively on fretless, and completely on a whim about 5-mins before the gig, was a revelation for me, if not the audience  

[lemmywinks]

Always take a backup bass and my spare cables, power supply and preamp are in the front pocket of its gigbag so it's a single item that has all my spares in it.

 

I've needed a spare bass twice in 25 years of gigging, once because of a dodgy volume pot on my Warwick and the other time when the jack socket on my Sire spontaneously decided to become temperamental. Both times I could just pick up my spare and carry on.

[rushbo]

I have the luxury of a spare bass, so it comes with me to every gig. I've broken about five strings at shows since I started gigging in 1986, so some people might think that carting another instrument about is a waste of effort. I would disagree. It takes seconds to swap basses - certainly less time than it takes to change a string. I have also had the strap button come away from the body of my bass at a gig, so the spare was pressed into service on that occasion, too.

For me, it's insurance - the mild inconvenience of having one extra thing to bring to a gig is outweighed by the piece of mind. And, if I'm doing a two-set gig and I'm feeling saucy, I might give the backup a run out too.

[fretmeister]

If it's a paid gig then I take a backup. The client is paying and nothing should interfere with the gig. I've always gigged with 2 cabs and I take a spare small head too, so effectively it's two 1 cab rigs if necessary. Have to be really unlucky for both cabs and both heads to crap out. 

 

If I couldn't take a spare head then I'd at least make sure I had an emergency di pedal in the kit bag.

 

If it's a jam, then just one bass.

[Greg Edwards69]

Generally yes, I take a spare. I have on occasion taken just one for logistical reasons without issue, but it's always in the back of my mind that something could happen.  Besides, if we're being paid to provide a service, we should be prepared and have a contingency plan for potential problems.

 

I got fed up with taking two 34" basses to gigs just for one to stay in a gigbag all night, so last year I bought a cheap Jackson Minion as a "hope I never need it" backup. It's really no fuss to transport and will get me out of trouble if the worst happens. Also, when I change strings on a bass, I keep the old set in the bass' gigbag, just in case.

 

FWIW, I usually only take one bass to rehearsals, but those spare strings will suffice in that situation.

[tauzero]

11 hours ago, rOB said:

I've sometimes thought about a cheap, headless, stick bass to have as backup. Small and light package to load and store on stage.

 

Something like this 

 

Has anyone taken that approach?

 

That's why I have a Hohner B2AV (although they're a tad more expensive than full-on cheap).

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

When I played electric exclusively taking one fretted and one fretless worked really well, each could be backup for the other if needed, but it also gave me lots of options. The first rock/indie set I did exclusively on fretless, and completely on a whim about 5-mins before the gig, was a revelation for me, if not the audience  

 

While playing the fretless parts on a fretted bass would have worked even if if it wouldn't have sounded as good as I would have wanted, playing the fretted bass parts on a fretless bass was way beyond my ability, and the fretted bass was the one I was more likely to break a string on.

Edited September 23 by BigRedX

[Beedster]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

While playing the fretless parts on a fretted bass would have worked even if if it wouldn't have sounded as good as I would have wanted, playing the fretted bass parts on a fretless bass was way beyond my ability, and the fretted bass was the one I was more likely to break a string on.

It was the gig in question that made me realise that not only could I play the whole set fretless, but that it was a lot more challenging and enjoyable, the band seemed to prefer it because it gave us more options (plus a small extra USP), and while I’m not the best judge, I think it sounded better in most tracks. I wasn’t doing cliche fretless - not a chorus or sliding double stop in sight - I was simply playing the existing lines without frets. It was a enjoyable period 👍

[BigAlonBass]

Played for over 50 years, and only needed a back-up twice in all that time. Happily, they were both "Big" Gigs, and I would have looked a right plum without another Bass to pick up in a hurry. (One string which destroyed itself, and "bird-nested" round the others, and one electronic breakdown.) 

I had made a Hanger from two Guitar Hangers and a strip of steel, welded together and held in place by the weight of my Amp, so both Basses hung down the sides of my Stack, and never got in the way.