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What equipment do you bring to a gig


Boodang

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4 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

In 34yrs of playing I have only ever broken one string and had one amp let me down so I am very much a bass / amp with a few spare leads / cables etc if I remember kind of player. 

I only ever had equipment failure once when the jack socket disappeared into the bass - typically it was when I failed to take a spare bass.

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If venue has tolerable back line:

 

Bass, strap, preamp/DI pedal plus PSU, two leads. All in one gig bag. No spare strings. This is is what I will be slinging on my back for Hope & Anchor gig on Saturday.

 

If rubbish or non-existent back line:

 

Above plus one loud amp (Orange TB500) and one loud cab (BF Super Compact)

 

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Bass in a gig bag along with spare strings ( old ones boiled ) ,.Strap. Small tool kit inc fuses. Stand. Goes on the back seat.

 

2 barefaced cabs , tc amp , all cables in spares of each type , extension reel, 2x akg mics. All that in two cajon bags. Chucks in the boot with a mic stand.

 

CDs for the trip.  Probably something like Steely Dan on the way there but definitely Leonard Cohen on the way home to help switch me off.

 

Can of febreeze , so my sweaty clothes don't stink the car up.

 

Carrier bags. You never know what you can blag. Beer and the remains of the buffet being favourite but I'll take anything - came home with three radiators once !

 

 

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Nicko said:

Two basses

One Amp

One 2 x 12 cab

Small pedal board

Case full of leads, picks, spare strings and a few tools

Guitar stand

DI cable, just in case

A towel and spare T shirt

 

 

 

 

Pretty much this for most gigs these days. Both basses are in single gig bags with stuff needed for stage stuffed in one bag plus all spares (including a spare micro TE Elf amp and my own DI box in case of emergency) in the other. 

 

When I fist joined a band that gigged regularly all over the place in the early 80s, I just had the one P bass before that, which served me well for several pretty good bands and occasional gigs . When they asked me to join, they said that I had to get a spare bass, even if it was just a beater, 'just in case'. In nearly forty years since then, I have done maybe a thousand gigs or so and needed a spare just four or five times. But, as luck would have it, each of those occasions has been a pretty important gig and I have been really glad to have a spare bass available.

 

It depends on logistics / importance of each gig, but I take spares whenever possible. 

 

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Doesn't it depend not just on the type of gig, but also on your role in the band? Of course for plug-and-play gigs where backline, PA, lights and sound engineer are provided, it's just a matter of carrying an instrument, a lead and a tuner. When the gig is in a pub or club and the stage (or corner by the gents') is bare, that's another matter entirely.

 

For our main band @Happy Jack and I carry absolutely everything except the drumkit. PA, backline, desk, cables, microphones, bass guitar and double bass, all stands, lights, recording equipment, cameras, band banner with name and logo, plus the frontman and his two guitars and combo. We also always carry spares for most of the above - although not for the frontman... 🙄 😉

 

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18 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

In 34yrs of playing I have only ever broken one string and had one amp let me down so I am very much a bass / amp with a few spare leads / cables etc if I remember kind of player. 

 

Same here.

 

One bass

One amp

2 cabs. 

One fx pedal 

One wireless system  

One spare lead in case the wireless system plays up 

One spare battery. 

 

That's it.

 

Oh, plus one guitar stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Newfoundfreedom
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I haven't gigged for about two years now, last one I did I just took a bass, headstock tuner, strap, a Sansamp of some sort and cables.  I used to take a lot of kit, but in truth it was unnecessary to do so.

 

[Edit]  Earplugs.

 

 

Edited by NancyJohnson
What was that you said?
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Bass x2 (sometimes just one if the gig is close to home - I know, it doesn't make any sense).

Helix LT

Headrush FRFR-112

Line 6 G10s wireless - sometimes

TC Helicon Critical Mass vocal processor (crowd vocal simulator / octave up and down)

Mic

ipad or Kindle Fire tablet with bandhelper and mic stand holder.

Leads inc spare

extension power leads

IEM pack and earbuds

Mini guitar stand

Plectrums

Earplugs

Baby powder (essential on hot gigs)

large sweat band (so my forearm doesn't stick to bass body)

Water bottle (we all use a sport top bottle for water - saves any dangerous spillages)

Business cards

Change of clothing (depending on gig)

Cash, just in case.

Phone (useful torch feature)

Keys so I can get in when I get home

 

Regarding backups. I used to bring two amp heads before going frfr.  I had a disaster one evening when my old Markbass LMII suffered a small drop in its case that caused microfractures and it went into protect mode after 20mins.  My trust in class D being roadworthy went down since that day.  Me and both my guitarists all use a helix and an frfr speaker each.  One of them also bring a stomp as a backup with a couple of basic presets saved for any of us to use. This way, we have a backup if one of the helix devices craps out and each frfr speaker has a spare input so there's redundancy if one of them fails.  We also go direct to FOH as well, so it's not a huge deal.  We need to upgrade our IEM system because it's crap, but when we do, that will make the on stage frfrs even more redundant.

 

Edited by Greg Edwards69
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One or two basses, the second left in the case unless needed (I am also one of those old-timers who cannot remember breaking a string in 40+years of playing)

Combo Amp

Gig bag has tools, spare strings, batteries, leads, tuner, a couple of rags, etc

Small bag with spare kettle lead, fuses, mics and clips, guitar stand, direct box, Zoom, gaffer tape, 2 mic cables

Maybe a mic stand and a music stand if needed (I cannot remember lyrics)

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While I play fast and loose what with not taking a spare bass to the gig (I know, my place in hell was reserved long before I started playing bass), my bag o stuff is probably overcompensating for something...

 

Cables (instrument, XLR, speakon, power, misc small ones like pedal interconnects, DC power daisychain, USB power, 3.5mm aux audio in/out)

Stand (foldy Hercules thing)

Spare strings

Tool kit

Notepad

Wee towel

Spare T-shirt

Duct tape

Behringer DI/preamp thing (for amp emergencies)

Pedal PSU

Earplugs

Clip on tuner (for pedal tuner fail)

String winder

Pedal tuner

OD pedal

9V batteries

Zoom audio recorder

Phone charger (doubles as PSU for Zoom)

 

That's all I can remember without having the bag to hand.  Do I need all this stuff?  Probably not.  Perhaps I should consider a bag o stuff lite edition.

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I never had an amp go down on me yet but the head I use was bought secondhand and initially had a slight distortion issue that I managed to fix (loose connectors attached to the board), so I bring a backup just to be sure.

 

I also bring strings, a small toolkit, spare lead, batteries, etc.

 

I don't bother bringing a spare bass as basses are pretty sturdy things (of course if I was playing Wembley I might think about it but usually I'm only playing the Dog & Duck).

 

 

Edited by gjones
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Bass, Amp, Cab, Pedals, Cables.

 

I worry about forgetting the little things - it's quite hard to forget the Bass or Cab! but quite easy to forget small but cricial things like the speaker cable, strap (a downside of using flush dunlop straplocks - can't just borrow someone elses strap), guitar cable, amp & pedal power.

 

I've never had a Bass string break so until reading this thread never even considered needing to carry around spares. Perhaps I should though?!

 

I've never had a Bass or Cab break and imagine it's a rare occurance. The Amp is the thing I'd assume is the most likely to break (although how often does that actually happen with fairly new, fully working class D amps that are used with the correct Cab?), if I get a new Amp I might keep the old as a backup.

Edited by SumOne
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Bass with gigbag

Strap, 2 cables, power lead and Eich T900 fits in the gigbag alongside picks and ear plugs

HX Effects

 

If I can/logistics I'll bring my Barefaced Big Baby 2.

 

That is all I have not counting on my other bass! Very important for me to have 'only' what I need - that's how I afford to get the basses I like most, otherwise my budget is spread into too many things...!

 

Ander.

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Bass of choice, small bass as backup

Pedalboard

Amplifier

2 x Bass Speakers (1x12s)

Wireless transmitter

all cables and spares in bag, all power leads and extensions

Microphone Stand & Microphone

bass stand

IEM sender, reciever and in ears

iPad

2 x 12" PA

Optionally 1 bass bin

Legs for PA

X18 Mixer

X-Control for mixer

Wireless stuff for mixer

Pair of Lights

Some kind of recording device, little zoom audio or video recorder

Phone, wallet, keys.

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