Back-up Bass ?

[birdy]

To answer the original question I have broken one string in about 20 years of playing and had no other problems

BUT....depending on the gig can you take the risk? If you are getting well paid in a function band playing weddings and corporate gigs surely the professional thing to do is have a back up?

If you are playin the crappy pub with 4 people in that you have played 100 times before then maybe restringing isnt an issue but for anything serious I take a back up. Mind you we even take a back up desk so maybe we are just over cautious!!

Steve

[gypsymoth]

perhaps it is the way you play, and has less to do with the choice of strings or basses.
just an observation from playing the same basses and strings over the years, but having some distinct style changes.

edit - added an old solo bass tune to the link below. a cheap alembic with cheap rotosounds. a tender love song from the more civilized of two solo bass cd's. "can't leave you", fourth tune.

Edited September 21, 2007 by gypsymoth

[The Funk]

[quote name='gypsymoth' post='63425' date='Sep 21 2007, 05:38 AM']a cheap alembic[/quote]

Only 15 grand then?

[stingrayfan]

I've started taking one as a backup. Never broken a string, thankfully, but there's always the crackly jack socket or some other problem that could go wrong. So keep the spare just in case. Don't see the point on swapping basses at a gig. Think it's a bit pointless. The difference is too subtle live. Most people watching wouldn't notice.

[theosd]

I broke 5 strings in a week before... During the summer of last year, if I recall! Could be either the humidity fluctuation or must have been a dodgy batch of rotosounds (a problem not uncommon to me!!)

[alexclaber]

Everyone - check your bridge saddles! If they are not totally smooth then they are breaking your strings. Also, I do wonder if the recent-ish trend for thru-body stringing has resulting in more broken strings?

[quote name='gypsymoth' post='63336' date='Sep 20 2007, 09:46 PM']aahh, so you take as much exception to the inference that you might play like a "wuss" as others might take to the suggestion that they play "too aggressively".[/quote]

Maybe the gallant string breakers are just using wussy strings? Come on, own up!

Alex

[warwickhunt]

I haven't broken a string in 20+ years, last time I did it was like Alex said at the bridge saddles on a copy bass!

More problematic for me over the years has been dodgy jack sockets. I've never had one fail completely in one go but I have to admit it's sickening when you are mid-song/set and you get that sudden total loss of bass as the socket momentarily shorts out! In those rare and sickening moments the thought has flashed past, 'why the fook don't I bring a spare'! A quick extra wrap around the strap to jam the jack in a convenient working position and then I then replace the offending article with a Switchcraft and forget about it till my next bass fails. Oh yes that does indeed mean that the only real issue that I have with Warwick basses is/was the quality of their barrel jacks.

[gypsymoth]

maybe the non-breakers don't do many big bends?
110's on the 4 strings. but as I said, I'm playing bass like a wuss now (when I do pick it up) so it isn't an issue. and it wasn't an issue many years ago when I played like a wuss .

[gypsymoth]

switched that for an earlier tune that has a nice string breaking bend right off. 4th track, I can't tell you. a lovely little tune.

[gilmour]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='63718' date='Sep 21 2007, 05:36 PM']I haven't broken a string in 20+ years, last time I did it was like Alex said at the bridge saddles on a copy bass!

More problematic for me over the years has been dodgy jack sockets. I've never had one fail completely in one go but I have to admit it's sickening when you are mid-song/set and you get that sudden total loss of bass as the socket momentarily shorts out! In those rare and sickening moments the thought has flashed past, 'why the fook don't I bring a spare'! A quick extra wrap around the strap to jam the jack in a convenient working position and then I then replace the offending article with a Switchcraft and forget about it till my next bass fails. Oh yes that does indeed mean that the only real issue that I have with Warwick basses is/was the quality of their barrel jacks.[/quote]

Yes broken barrel jacks is a really big problem. I find that I have to replace mine once every couple of years. I don;t think it's exclusive to Warwicks, they go on both my Spector and Yamaha, It's active basses where it's a real problem (i think), a couple of my students who play active find exactly the same problem. There seems to be very liitle choice when it comes to the quality of the Barrel Jack you buy. At the moment I use slightly oversized Jack Leads, but it's not ideal as it only prolongs the agony and knackers your pedal's socket as well.

[ARGH]

Jacks,Cables,strings,pickups,Bass's,Amps,cabs........my own mind.

Ive broken them all.

I dont tickle my strings,I just want MAXIMUM tone,and more importantly,I want to put on a show....

If you want to not break strings..dont windmill,jump about,dance,hurl your Bass....or yourself around the room,smack,headbutt or punch the guitar,hit lighting rigs,mic stands...other members...etcetc...dont enjoy yourself like I do.

If you break strings,so what..........Its not the end of the world,

Poor technique,hardware,cheap strings......acid perspiration...none are reasons or excuses in my book for why they break on me,I say its because of the good old fashioned reason called simply 'Playing'.

I like them bright so what better excuse to change them by breaking them!!!!! Mine break at the bridge,nut.....on the fingerboard...over the pickup.......somedays I think they are scared to get out of the packet given the punishment they know they're gonna get!





But hey,I get paid and the audience call us back.........and thats the point.

[cheddatom]

I always want to take my spare 6 string as a back up, but I can't afford the hard case! I have a set of old strings that I put on in record time when I snap them live, which has only happened 3 times. If I were to have another problem with my bass, i'd be screwed!!

[The Funk]

[quote name='ARGH' post='65075' date='Sep 24 2007, 11:15 PM']But hey,I get paid and the audience call us back.........and thats the point.[/quote]

I think the point was whether or not it's worth having a back-up bass for when these things happen.

A spare set of strings is cheaper and more portable but re-stringing on stage might chew up valuable stage time.

I always have 3 spare 9V batteries with me btw.

[BigRedX]

No matter how fast you are at changing a string, from the PoV of the audience it will be too long.

On the whole having a spare instrument available when you gig is probably less important for a bassist then a guitarist, but you can guarantee that the time you don't take a spare will be the time you have a problem with your bass, and doubly so if the gig is in any way important.

[The Funk]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='65288' date='Sep 25 2007, 01:04 PM']No matter how fast you are at changing a string, from the PoV of the audience it will be too long.[/quote]

That's my philosophy. And that's why I'm picking up a back-up 5-string this weekend.

[cheddatom]

I managed to change a string during a breakdown bit in one of our songs, the guitarist and drummer just doubled the length of it to about 40-50 seconds. I wasn't in the audience, but i'm pretty sure I would have been impressed.

Obviously it won't turn out that lucky every time, and I would advocate taking a backup.

[minty fresh death]

It's better to be safe than sorry man, i've broken a strap on stage about two years ago and the only reason I could continue was because I had a spare on my back up, i've also had a string break before I was on stage due to some prat tech saying my bass was out of tune and trying to tune it himself...

Of course broken strings, battery packs dieing...etc are always going to happen if you gig regularly, unless your really lucky.

So just buy a cheap back up, like an SX or a Peavey.

[alexclaber]

How many strings do you need to play your basslines? Can you not do without one of them until the song finishes?

Alex

[TPJ]

I always bring a backup. I minute before the second set started at a theatre gig I was messing around with the drummer and playing with the vol off and 'pink' the g-string broke. I was glad I had my backup. I usually bring my Hohner cricket bat as backup, it's small and gets a good sound.

[Merton]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='65336' date='Sep 25 2007, 02:13 PM']How many strings do you need to play your basslines? Can you not do without one of them until the song finishes?

Alex[/quote]
+1, that's what I do. Then fix it PDQ and get on with it. Well, I say that's what I do, I haven't had reason to do it for years...

As much as anything else, it's good for your fretboard knowledge and theory

[The Funk]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='65336' date='Sep 25 2007, 02:13 PM']How many strings do you need to play your basslines? Can you not do without one of them until the song finishes?

Alex[/quote]

If my low B goes then I can't play the basslines on a couple of our tunes properly (because of the missing notes below low E). I could either play them an octave higher or play the missing notes an octave higher. Either option sounds crap.

But if my low B goes mid-song, what other option is there? I'd have to play the song out by doing either one of those two things.

[cheddatom]

Yeh, sometimes I can carry on without a string, other times I can't. If the any of my top 5 strings breaks before a chorus where i'm playing bar (barre?) chords, I lose one fifth of that chord!

It's a bit like trying to play our songs on a four string, it's fun, and develops your knowledge of shapes on the neck etc, but you can't really do it properly.

[gilmour]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='65336' date='Sep 25 2007, 02:13 PM']How many strings do you need to play your basslines? Can you not do without one of them until the song finishes?

Alex[/quote]
+1

you gotta get your fretboard knowledge up there to be able to do this. It's only playing in a different position. Stuff always breaks when you gig constantly but a screwdriver, pliers, spare strings and a role of the ever faithfull Gaffa Tape is a lot easier to lug around than an additional bass, and can fix most problems (for the duration of a gig anyway)

[BigAlonBass]

How heavy are some of your Basses? There is constant reference to "lugging it round" as though it were a ton weight. It's a Bass for goodness sake! As to the "I can change a string in 0.5 seconds" --not very helpful if a crappily soldered joint falls off in the middle of a song, is it? Happened once to me, after a "Technician" had replaced a pick-up. (That was a story in itself, because the pick-up started crackling loudly in the middle of the set). On both occasions, I grabbed my spare, and kept going. I have had expensive batteries die quickly and annoyingly in my Radio gear after I had just replaced them, (rechargeables as well) crackly jack sockets, snapped a string (once) beer splashed on the Bass during a Bar fight, and various other mishaps over the (too) many years I have been playing. EVERY time, I grabbed for the spare, finished the set, and got paid. Sometimes I even got congratulated for "not missing a beat", or "not dropping the band in it". Carry a spare. It WILL happen to you sometime. You can guarantee it. If it hasn't yet, you've been lucky, but rest assured it will!

Edited September 25, 2007 by BigAlonBass