how many basses at a gig

[lojo]

Assuming a lot of you guys are weekend small gig pubs, clubs and parties like me, just wondering how many basses you take and why (other than for backup)

I love playing my flats when I can, but some of the songs I do with my bands need a bit of brightness (from duran duran to guns n roses etc), so there's a reason for 2 basses

I know at my level, one simple bass would do everything, but toys are toys

Anyone gig a P type and J type bass during a gig?

Edited August 7, 2010 by lojo

[chris_b]

One bass. If you've got time to change basses around in between numbers your set's running too slow!

[Beedster]

One bass and one backup. Never change bass between songs anymore. Never needed the backup either!

[mcnach]

[quote name='lojo' post='917825' date='Aug 7 2010, 11:24 AM']Assuming a lot of you guys are weekend small gig pubs, clubs and parties like me, just wondering how many basses you take and why (other than for backup)

I love playing my flats when I can, but some of the songs I do with my bands need a bit of brightness (from duran duran to guns n roses etc), so there's a reason for 2 basses

I know at my level, one simple bass would do everything, but toys are toys

Anyone gig a P type and J type bass during a gig?[/quote]

I have never taken two basses for the purpose of getting different sounds. For recording I see the point, but live I doubt anybody would notice other than myself. Whatever tone variation I need, I achieve from the bass itself and/or via FX.

I do play active basses 99% of the time. I play usually a Stingray or an OLP clone, sometimes a Warwick Corvette $$ or an Ibanez SR400 (active P/J type). I love my J-bass but it sees very little action live. With an onboard preamp you can get a lot of different tones, and I have a 10-band EQ pedal in my board... which is rarely used, but you can set it up for a radically different sound if you need it.

I do take a backup bass if the logistics make sense. The chances of the bass dying on me are very very very small. So I'm not too worried if I take just one bass. I do have strings, batteries etc. Yes, it's better to just switch basses and continuing... but I can change a string in a couple of minutes and the band would jam and keep the audience entertained... possibly making jokes about my situation as well
If the gig is an "important" one, and/or there's a really good fee involved then I take things more carefully and take two basses for sure. For a regular pub/small club gig I'm not so bothered. Although I do enjoy the idea of gear snobs in the audience seeing me play my OLP while the Stingray sits behind me as a back up

Edited August 7, 2010 by mcnach

[lojo]

Yeah, never called upon a backup either! but you always see them?


Changing basses, its what I love about the TC rig, a few seconds to plug it in, hit the preset on the floor and your running before the drummers hit 4

Could do it with one, but I love the flats for some songs at the mo.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='lojo' post='917857' date='Aug 7 2010, 11:46 AM']Yeah, never called upon a backup either! but you always see them?


Changing basses, its what I love about the TC rig, a few seconds to plug it in, hit the preset on the floor and your running before the drummers hit 4

Could do it with one, but I love the flats for some songs at the mo.[/quote]
American Precision, with Mexican Precision for backup.

To date, never needed the backup, but not gonna stop taking it along.

[blind pilot]

I take 2, one in standard tuning/Drop D, the other in C/Drop C. and sometimes I only use the C tuning for 2 songs. I did take three basses to our bands first gig last year, and the third was in C, but half a sep down just for one song, crazy-ness!

[PURPOLARIS]

I used to take 2 in different tunings and for backup, our set was arranged around the tunings so I would only swap guitars once. I've just (hopefully) bought a 5 string which I'll now need to work out the songs on and that'll leave me needing just the one Bass. I'll still take a back up though.

[velvetkevorkian]

One.

[basshead56]

I used to always bring a second bass as back-up, but have never needed it,
So now I just bring a Precsion with me and hope I dont pop a string or something like that.

I dont see the need to switch between basses at a small/local gig.
I think thats more of a Stadium-type thing when guys have roadies and racks of basses to choose from,
e.g. Mark Hoppus from Blink182/+44 switches basses after every song or 2- crazy!

[Master blaster]

i take 2. one for standard tuning the other drop d. I have them both plugged into a selector switch to save time so all i need to do is pic one up and push a button. for me this is quicker then just tuning down cos my tuners pretty slow.

[Cat Burrito]

At a standard gig it's just a Precision but at the bigger gigs I'll take my upright too. Or if it's acoustic just the upright

[jezzaboy]

I always take 2, one for playing the gig the other for a back up. I have never had too use a back up bass but I would hate for the main bass to go down whilst playing a gig. Back up bass is a P bass made from parts of Fenders and Squires I had lying around, that way if anything happens too it, no big deal.

Jez

[Prime_BASS]

One.
Either the jaguar or SUB
Which Evers strings are brighter.....

[mcnach]

[quote name='Master blaster' post='917899' date='Aug 7 2010, 12:25 PM']i take 2. one for standard tuning the other drop d. I have them both plugged into a selector switch to save time so all i need to do is pic one up and push a button. for me this is quicker then just tuning down cos my tuners pretty slow.[/quote]

I installed a Hipshot D-tuner in a couple of my basses: click, and you are there.

Although with a little practice I can just turn the tuner to where it should be for D or E... I did it so many times on one particular bass, you learn these things.

[MacDaddy]

2 plus spare strings. Although have taken just 1, but always with spare strings.

[Happy Jack]

Two basses, one a 5-string.

We have one (yes, just one) song that actually needs a 5-string bass, so I play the 5-string for the set that contains that song, and the 4-string for the other set.

That sort-of-justifies taking both basses.

As luck would have it, I can also swop basses mid-set as much as I like (although I agree with chris_b's comment above) because we're very much slide guitar led, and my slide player needs three guitars with three quite different set-up's so he changes guitar three or four times in every set we play.

[mxm]

2 Basses and 2 amps.

I'm not being over-cautious, it's just based on my experience. I've had jack sockets disintegrate and amps die on me, usually in the middle of nowhere. Much of my previous gear has been elderly/secondhand...

[M-Bass-M]

One, because that's all I have

I'd like to have a back-up bass in the rare event that a string goes mid-set, and if I ever get into fretless then that's potentially a third bass - but then that's just being greedy!

[jwood662]

I use 2 although I'd just take the one if I could get away with it. Since I'm too tight to buy a tuner pedal it takes me less time to swap basses then it does to swap between normal and flat tuning, so the stingray I use for Eb stuff and the jazz to switch between standard/drop d,

[stingrayPete1977]

Things only ever go wrong at gigs that are miles away,If its a wedding in a castle 200 miles from the nearest house you know thats the one where the amp blows or the drummer forgets his kick drum pedal because he took it to practice the night before and its in his "wrong bag".Yet at a pub walking distance from your house or one where you have fellow muscicians nearby with a house full of spares theres never a problem,Sods law I suppose?

OT, 2 basses always a Ray depending on the mood as to which one and a Jazz which if it turns out a pokey place or a crap gig I leave it packed away but kept in sight. If its a dump then just the Jazz and spare strings/battery.(i.e Acorn in Erdington ask EBS about it!)

[gafbass02]

when i was in doublecross it got to be a nightmare, i needed my four and a backup four and a six and a backup six.
I quickly decided against playing sixers!

[Marvin]

[quote name='M-Bass-M' post='917931' date='Aug 7 2010, 01:12 PM']One, because that's all I have

I'd like to have a back-up bass in the rare event that a string goes mid-set, and if I ever get into fretless then that's potentially a third bass - but then that's just being greedy![/quote]

I'll join your club, I've only got one bass as well.

[2pods]

At weddings etc, before we learned sense and refused to let any one come up and play, I used to take a Korean Spector, so if we had a band wanting up, they could use that.
No one got my Anni 'ray :ph34r:

Edited August 7, 2010 by 2pods

[casapete]

Never (sadly?) done a gig that demanded the sound of 2 basses - my Stingray can be coaxed into quite a lot of different noises.
As for a backup, have never taken more than 1 bass to a gig. Only time I wished I had was when the battery in my Precision Lyte
gave up the ghost with no warning mid set - fortunately I carried a spare but the band had to do one song without me.
Never broken a bass string in 30 years, but again always carry spares - also have spare leads/strap etc.

Of course I'll probably now break a string and have my bass die on me tonight!