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Swapping Basses at a gig.


Phil Starr
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you've heard the old tosh we churn out Phil, you only need one bass for rock mate, guitards now using a Les Paul as well as the strat and it drives me nuts with the swap overs, we've told him to do it as little as possible and let us (me and drummer) start some intros while he does, but what with his reluctance for a set list ( a whole other thread!) its all becoming a real issue with the tumbleweed blowing between numbers ( I have no stage front craft)

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[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1390071487' post='2341206']
you've heard the old tosh we churn out Phil, you only need one bass for rock mate, guitards now using a Les Paul as well as the strat and it drives me nuts with the swap overs, we've told him to do it as little as possible and let us (me and drummer) start some intros while he does, but what with his reluctance for a set list ( a whole other thread!) its all becoming a real issue with the tumbleweed blowing between numbers ( I have no stage front craft)
[/quote]

see thats the difference, our setlist puts all our drop c songs together so the change only happens once and as my 5er has a low c its a change we dnt need to make at the same time and it can happen in a break between songs, and its no trouble for our singer to chat for a few seconds

andy

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It is easier for me to use two basses live, we have tracks in drop C# tuning and standard (as do the guitarists) so we bunch the C# tunings songs together then I swap to the standard tuned bass, the guitarist leaves his delay trailing off so there's no silence.

I use one of these http://buzzelectronics.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=61_72&product_id=81 it's takes me about 3 seconds!

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I use only one bass for the sets and I only carry a set of spare strings.
The guitarists use at least 3 different tunings, but I've transposed everything so I can play them in standard (BEADG) tuning.
Only exception is a couple of songs where I need a low A, so I just mute the signal with the TC Polytune, tune down (or) up afterwards and thats it.
Also sometimes we play certain numbers where I use Drop D on the five string [size=4] (BDADG) I transposed them also, but gradually started to use drop D, [/size][size=4]because they play better with the open D string and also playing comfort increased. Sounds silly, I know.[/size]

[size=4]I tend to use quality instruments I look very well after, so in my 8 years of gigging no basses failed me on stage or before a gig. Not even a broken string. (same goes for rehearsals)[/size]

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Same as post above, I take a 4 & a 5 string to gigs with my rock band, (Both Stingrays, so sound similar) but certain songs in our set require an open bottom D which just sounds & plays so much better on a 4 string, even after playing mostly 5 strings for 24 years...

I would much prefer to use just 1 bass a night & for my Function band I do so, Never having broken a string or suffered guitar failure mid gig..

That's it, completely jinxed myself now!

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[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1390071487' post='2341206']
you've heard the old tosh we churn out Phil, you only need one bass for rock mate, guitards now using a Les Paul as well as the strat and it drives me nuts with the swap overs, we've told him to do it as little as possible and let us (me and drummer) start some intros while he does, but what with his reluctance for a set list ( a whole other thread!) its all becoming a real issue with the tumbleweed blowing between numbers ( I have no stage front craft)
[/quote]We all love our guitarists, don't we. :)

I don't play anything that needs a dropped tuning or 5 strings and you are right about breaks between songs. It's going to be one bass for me then with the spare being just a spare, although I've never had a failure.

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In my band, smells like Seattle, we do the whole grunge tribute so we have a few different tunings. I jus leave one in concert pitch, one in drop D and the other in Eb. Then we group songs together in tunings so me minimise the time between songs mucking a out retuning.
In an ideal world, my jazz works better tha my PJ for some songs, so I wod use it for the appropriate song if tuning was no issue. Nothing wrong with swapping mid set as long is it not EVERY song

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I do sometimes use more than one bass but I have one strung with rounds and one with flats and mutes under the bridge, so they have a totally different contribution to the band sound even accounting for the bass-tone-ruining nature of most in-house PAs.

TBH though I think if it was a more subtle difference like the one you're talking about, I probably wouldn't bother live. The difference won't be heard front of house.

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What ever feels the best for you during the sets, I switched from rounds to flats on my P and 4003 and no one noticed then I introduced a Jazz to some gigs and still no one in the audience noticed any difference.

To most punters Bass is the ticklish / vibrating feeling they get at a gig.

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