👕 Get New Ernie Ball Merch Now!
  • Ernie Ball
  • Music Man
  • Sterling by Music Man
  • Security notice: Ernie Ball staff will never send you a direct message about a prize or giveaway, and will never ask you to click a link to "claim" anything.
    If you receive a message like that - even from an account whose name looks official - do not click the link. Please report it using the Report link on the message so the moderators can act. A scam campaign impersonating admin accounts was blocked on 29 July 2026; those accounts are banned and their messages have been deleted.
Majesty Premium Select

Do you use multiple basses for a gig?

I probably wouldn't get them on a fretted, only on a fretless if I did get them.
 
Wow... I assisted in the derailing of my own thread... :rolleyes:


So, it sounds like most folks grab a bass for a set. Most folks are well prepared with a back-up in case there are any issues.

Doesn't appear as if there are any strong feelings related to a certain configs being required for a certain circumstances or songs (e.g. "I always pick-up the single H Bongo for xxx").

Myself, I expect to share the load between my fretted Sterling and fretted Bongo until one becomes more "natural" to me.

Then I will likely order an additional Sterling or an additional Bongo! :D
 
I generally take a couple to a show. I mainly use the one for the show, but have a backup or two. I will switch to fretless for a song or two then go back to fretted.
 
most of the time i just take 1 bass to a gig. Ive taken a backup a few times but nothings ever gone wrong so i figure "why carry around something else id be afraid of someone stealing". + lugging stuff around is annoying and im lazy.

i figure if anything goes wrong one of the other bands will lend me their bass
 
I've been taking my SR4 & SR5 to my last few gigs. My reason is that since I've been a 4-string player for so long, I wanted to have my trusty SR4 within easy reach if I needed it. Next gig, the SR5 is flying solo!
 
I take two Basses one to play and one for backup. I used to carry just one but had a string break and had to play with three strings the rest of the night. Now I don't have to worry.
 
I always take a back up. My SR5 is my main gigging bass, but if I break a string, or if the drunken wildman singer blunders into me and snaps off the headstock -- I like to have another one at the ready. Usually a fretted, but sometimes a fretless, neither which are EBMM instruments, unfortunately. Yet.
 
Psycho Ward said:
If I'm getting paid for the gig I take two, just in case. At the local jam I just take one, what the hell. For pictures I could haul all of them out, and really folks, it's the pictures I do best. :D
Click to expand...

Hmmm....Interesting way of doing it.
 
I used to use 2 Fender Jazz basses and a Bongo 5 for 2 songs that require drop D.

Since I am now playing mainly with a hard rock band (Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, Chili Peppers, etc.), I use the Bongo 5 for everything unless I have a battery or string problem. If I have to switch, I grab the Fender Geddy Jazz but that is a very rare occasion.
 
I always take two to a gig but, as many before me have said, I'll usually stick with the one I start with unless there's a problem. There have been a very few times that I have switched out for one set or the other though.

The handful of times that I've been to a jam I only have taken one bass with me.

I do however plan to buy a second Little Mark II sometimes this year and keep it with me even though we have a PA that could easily handle my bass direct. I think the amp is a lot more likely to fail than the bass.
 
I am odd man out here. :D (big streach ) I only take my Bongo to gigs. I don't figure it is going to break. :)

If I took two basses I would also take 2 amps and duplicate everything.

Been a couple of gigs I wish I would have had a backup bass player at. :)


tk
 
I usually take a 'main' bass to gigs, most of the time the Stingray, sometimes the Aria, and I have a headless Hohner stick bass I cart along as a spare. Just in case something happens, but its light and not too much hassle to take as a 'just in case' spare.
 
I've kind of wanted a DeArmond Ashbory bass as a backup, as it's no hassle to carry it with you. :D And it would be funny. Wouldn't get much playing time though, as I have my Sterling.
 
I've been playing an average of 4/5 gigs a week for the last ten years, and i have never needed a backup so i guess i don't need one :D
I take good care of my basses and make shure they are in perfect working conditions.
 
Rano Bass said:
I've been playing an average of 4/5 gigs a week for the last ten years, and i have never needed a backup so i guess i don't need one :D
I take good care of my basses and make shure they are in perfect working conditions.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your good fortune! These may never happen to you, but are possible ...

Drunk dancer knocks a mic stand into your bass, broken nut
10 years of pogoing finally takes it's toll on input jack solder joint
Dance floor brawl during break before your final set spills onto the stage, headstock snapped
Father of the bride comes on stage to use mic to make announcements, spills pitcher/jug of beer onto your bass which is sitting in it's stand plugged in, preamp fried

Keep your fingers crossed :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Classic Rock N Roll Slinky
Back
Top