Practice instrument vs Live instrument

[Rayman]

Do you have a bass that plays and sounds great at home…….but in a live situation just doesn’t cut it?

 

Equally, do you have a bass that sits in the mix perfectly live….. but at home it’s just kind of meh?

[nilorius]

Nope, I like to use my Rosy at practice and also at gigs and recordings.

[BigRedX]

No. For me the whole point of practicing is so that I can play the songs at a gig. Therefore I use the bass I'm going to be playing on stage.

 

Otherwise IMO it's not practicing, it's just noodling.

 

Edit: in the days when I only had two quite different 5-string basses - one which my main bass and one which was a spare in case I broke a string at a gig, I would  try and do a rehearsal every month where I only played the spare bass, just to make sure I play all the songs properly on it, and I hadn't written a bass line that was only playable on my main bass.

Edited June 1, 2023 by BigRedX

[nige1968]

I stopped taking my expensive bass to gigs some years ago and loaded up on a couple of cheapies that I could afford to have damaged or stolen.

 

Think I recall reading that the sainted Jaco used to practice on a bass with a fretted P-bass neck, figuring that the 'speed bumps' and wider board would make things feel easier when he played gigs on his 'regular' Jazz.

[BigRedX]

2 minutes ago, nige1968 said:

I stopped taking my expensive bass to gigs some years ago and loaded up on a couple of cheapies that I could afford to have damaged or stolen.

 

If I didn't use my expensive basses at gigs there would be no point in having them.

[Rayman]

I haven't got any expensive basses

[Franticsmurf]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Do you have a bass that plays and sounds great at home…….but in a live situation just doesn’t cut it?

No, although as I play in a couple of bands and dep occasionally for a third, I do have basses that are more suited to the different styles. For the Hulla band (a general mix of popular stuff arranged for and played by a thirteen piece) I tend to use my P Bass, which sits nicely in the FOH mix, and/or my Sterling HH which gives me a little more punch. For The Rip (three piece playing a dirtier rock) I'm playing an newly acquired Ibanez EBH1000s and my Spirit headless, as we are likely to be in smaller venues and I need a more gritty sound. Depping I'll use whatever is appropriate to the gig.

 

For practice I tend to cycle through the bass collection as I like playing them all. I don't have a problem swapping between basses - even with the shorty EBH.

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Equally, do you have a bass that sits in the mix perfectly live….. but at home it’s just kind of meh?

If I had to pick one from the collection to cope with any gig I would like it to be the Sterling as I love the neck and the range of sounds I can get from it. But the reality is that taking a professional approach, the choice would have to be the P Bass because it works in most situations. 

[Ed_S]

I've had basses that didn't seem to like the changes in temperature and/or humidity that come with gigging, but were perfectly stable at home. If I enjoyed playing them sufficiently, I'd keep them with no expectation of being able to gig them. Not sure I've ever had any that really did the job live but not at home, though. That said, I do have a main live bass that rarely gets played at home, as at any given time it's cleaned and fettled from that last outing and ready to go for the next one.

 

As far as expensive basses which don't go out is concerned, if you want to own something purely for your own enjoyment and not put it at unnecessary risk of theft or damage, that makes sense to me. If you can just crack on and accept that stuff happens, that's probably a much better philosophy for maintaining healthy blood pressure, but I've never been able to operate that way.

[Rayman]

Some years ago I saw Andrew Levy with Brand New Heavies. He was using some kind of active jazz type of bass for a few songs, but it just wasn't holding up the low end. A few songs in, out came the Precision and boom, there you go, instantly better. Just got me wondering, if something that sounded great in a small room might not always work in the sheds?

[neepheid]

No, all my basses are used interchangably at home, in rehearsals and at gigs with wild abandon and lack of consideration for the sonic consequences.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Some years ago I saw Andrew Levy with Brand New Heavies. He was using some kind of active jazz type of bass for a few songs, but it just wasn't holding up the low end. A few songs in, out came the Precision and boom, there you go, instantly better. Just got me wondering, if something that sounded great in a small room might not always work in the sheds?

Sounds like he forgot to change the amp from passive to active.

[JapanAxe]

I’m a Precision guy and I did have one that sounded great at home but just didn’t punch through live. I moved it on quite quickly.

[Linus27]

I have a 70's Reissue Fender Precision that has a fretless maple neck strung with Rotosound 77 Flats that sounds incredible recorded so it's my go to recording bass. I tried my other basses but the 70's Precision just sounds epic. I don't however play it live as it just feels a bit clumsy and not as comfortable to play.

 

For live I use my fretless Japanese 62 Reissue Fender Precision which is strung with LaBella Low Tension flats or my fretless 62 Reissue Fender Jazz strung with LaBella Black Nylon Flats. Both are amazing to play live but don't sound as good recorded.

[asingardenof]

No, I like both of my basses and try and rotate them so they both get playing/rehearsal time.

[Delberthot]

I've got a bass I use to practice at home on - a Harley Benton Jazz. Occasionally I take it to rehearsals.

 

My gigging basses are used depending on what I fancy playing that night. No problem cutting through as one is an EBMM Sterling and the other is a Status necked Jazz with EMGs and 2 band EQ

 

I've just put an old set of Chromes on my Jazz and that's what I'll take out next. At some point along the line I am going to stick a set of D'addario Prosteels on my Musicman Sterling and use that. From previous experience EBMM Sterlings sound terrible with flats. as in dull and lifeless, whereas Stingrays sound amazing with them.

 

The best recorded sound I ever had was with a Riverhead Jupiter many years ago

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Delberthot

[chris_b]

I don't have practice gear.

 

Everything is interchangeable.

[PaulWarning]

I use my MIA precision for gigs and a Vintage V4 for practice, very little difference between them apart from the Fender has newer strings on it and when they start to sound a little dull they go on the Vintage and a new set on the Fender

[uk_lefty]

All my basses are ready to gig. In terms of getting the sound, I know each of my basses and set my amp and pedals differently if I'm going to take a different bass, but I also play differently on each. Out of five basses the closest sound wise are probably my Fender jazz with fretted maple neck and my Harley Benton fretless jazz. I gigged the Harley Benton fretless jazz as soon as I got it for a pub gig. My current band isn't typically what I'd use a fretless for but I do every now and then.

[diskwave]

Nope. My CV70 sounds grt, even in the shower🤣

[Woodinblack]

Yes my Ibanez artcore semi hollow, it's too gassy live but louder than the other basses when not  plugged in

[Baloney Balderdash]

I prefer to mainly play one instrument both at home and otherwise, though which that instrument is might change over time.

 

I think it important to know one's instrument as well as possible and be completely at home playing it in order to be capable of delivering an optimal performance, and you only get to know an instrument by actually playing it, and playing it as much as possible.

 

And with instrument I mean literally individual instrument, and not just instrument type in general.

 

Fact is you are simply not going to play as well on an instrument you only play live, that is unless you are a full time live musician.

 

But even then you would still play better on an instrument that you are also actually playing off stage when practicing/rehearsing. 

 

Studio/recording sessions are different, because having a certain specific tone/sound is more important, or even can be quite crucial, there, but also very different from a live situation as you practically got as many takes as it takes to get it just right.

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[pbasspecial]

Sometimes if I’m feeling frugal, I practice on flats so that the gigging rock bass with the fresh roundwounds keeps their zingy sound a little bit longer. 

[tauzero]

On 01/06/2023 at 17:13, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Sounds like he forgot to change the amp from passive to active.

 

Or was foolish enough to use the "active" input on the amp for an active bass. Passive input is the best IME (sample of about 30 basses).

[Lozz196]

Yep, I have 2 JMJ Mustangs, one for home use one for rehearsals & gigs. I couldn’t use one type of bass for home use and a different type for my bands as that wouldn’t work for me. Ideally I’d just use one for everything and keep the other solely as backup but I’m too lazy to keep putting a bass in/taking a bass out of its case so I use both.

[tauzero]

I just use whichever comes to hand for both home and live.