[Mahogany Martin]

For those of you who play gigs, do you always have a second guitar? If you're a strat player, do you bring another strat? Or do you prefer bringing something different (one with single coil and one with HBs)? Could you do any of the sets with one or the other?

 

[david henman]

...i played most of my life without a backup. occasionally, that has seriously backfired. i don't even want to think about it. these days i have a backup for virtually everything. for guitars, i have a strat plus a backup strat, and a tele plus a backup tele.

-dh

 

[Chito]

I've played over the years without any backup guitar. And yes occasionally, I break a string here and there. And mostly happens when I get lazy and don't change strings even when I am aware that I've gotten the most out of them. I don't have any guitars with trems so I've managed to continue playing even if I have lost a string.

But this last weekend, I made sure I brought a backup as we had 3 gigs over 4 days. And surely enough I broke my high E string in the middle of the first set on the second gig.

Come to think of it now tho, I didn't bring a backup at the last gig, which was at the Ottawa SuperEX. I guess I like living on the edge. :food-smiley-015:

My main guitar right now is a PRS Soapbar and the backup I bring is either another PRS Soapbar or my Fender 62 RI Tele.

 

[Milkman]

I've never played a gig without a backup. The worst case has been a shared backup in a two guitar band.


I can't understand why you would take the chance. I don't break strings at all, mostly because I change them before every gig, but even under the best circumstances and with the most consciencious maintenance guitars will occasionally go out of tune or break a string, or just plain fail.


Having a backup on stage is well worth the minor inconvenience of dragging it around in my opinion. Frankly with the amount of gear we bring to every gig, an extra guitar is the least of my worries.


Perish the thought, but what if something fundamental goes wrong with your guitar? It's such a small thing to bring a spare and can prevent a gig from turning to crap.

 

[hoser]

I always use a backup. Its a no brainer.
I use one that I can get the same kinds of tones from so if something happens I just plug in and go. nothing worse than seeing someone screwing with their amp mid set.

 

[Milkman]

I always use a backup. Its a no brainer.
I use one that I can get the same kinds of tones from so if something happens I just plug in and go. nothing worse than seeing someone screwing with their amp mid set.

Still better than a guy having to jump in the car or get on the phone and call someone for a spare, or pull out a soldering gun in the middle of a set (although if you don't have a back up guitar, it's not likely you're prepared enough to have a soldering gun with you either).

 

[david henman]

I always use a backup. Its a no brainer.
I use one that I can get the same kinds of tones from so if something happens I just plug in and go. nothing worse than seeing someone screwing with their amp mid set.

...my former bassist had a huge rig (can you say: overkill?) that begged for trouble. needless to say, we'd often launch into the opening song of the first set, the one everybody judges you by, and there'd be no sound coming from the bass. then, we'd have to stop playing, and everyone would stand around while he feverishly ran around checking his connections - it was always a loose or poor connection.

as you can imagine, i am a patient man...



-dh

 

[flashPUNK]

I just got back from the UK, and didn't use a backup guitar.. however, I WISH i had a backup Line6 Dl4 and Tubescreamer pedals

*curses*

 

[Milkman]

...my former bassist had a huge rig (can you say: overkill?) that begged for trouble. needless to say, we'd often launch into the opening song of the first set, the one everybody judges you by, and there'd be no sound coming from the bass. then, we'd have to stop playing, and everyone would stand around while he feverishly ran around checking his connections - it was always a loose or poor connection.

as you can imagine, i am a patient man...



-dh

I'm trying more and more to keep the stage gear minimal. Our bassist uses a little 200 watt 1 X 15 Yorkie, but really it's only a monitor. The main FOH bass comes from the PA via a DI.


A basic sound check can often weed out little glitches.

Also I use a FMEA approach. (What could possibly go wrong and what would be the impact).

This takes a lot of pressure off when it comes to show time.

 

[Milkman]

A lot of people bring a back up for a while and never use it so they figure, why bother?


Sort of like car insurance I guess.

 

[Ripper]

I carry 4 guitars to gigs. One is drop tuned so for a few of the songs we do I can use that. The others are there as insurance. They don't take up much space when packing and I've had to use them in the past. I also change my strings before a gig, but you never know what the gnomes are going to spring upon you.

 

[Milkman]

I carry 4 guitars to gigs. One is drop tuned so for a few of the songs we do I can use that. The others are there as insurance. They don't take up much space when packing and I've had to use them in the past. I also change my strings before a gig, but you never know what the gnomes are going to spring upon you.

Just in terms of my stage gear, I bring:

Two FR type guitars.
One Tele
One Acoustic
One Mandolin
One Digital sampling piano
One lap top (sometimes)

One floor based modeler







no pedals, no amps


I have no redundancy for the mandolin, but if my piano kacks I can use my keyboardists rig.

 

[nine]

I always take a backup because something always goes wrong.

 

[Xanadu]

I play bass in my band, Im gonna have to really try to break a string. and no I dont have a backup because what am i gonna do with 2 6-strings? THAT WOULD BE 12 STRINGS!!

OMG!!!1111oneone111

 

[Milkman]

I play bass in my band, Im gonna have to really try to break a string. and no I dont have a backup because what am i gonna do with 2 6-strings? THAT WOULD BE 12 STRINGS!!

OMG!!!1111oneone111

Breaking a string isn't the only possible failure mode. My bassist always brings a back up.

 

[Chito]

I play bass in my band, Im gonna have to really try to break a string. and no I dont have a backup because what am i gonna do with 2 6-strings? THAT WOULD BE 12 STRINGS!!

OMG!!!1111oneone111

I saw that happen with a band I knew who was in a BOTB for a spot at the CHEO BBQ last year. They were on their second song and the bass player broke his string. He didn't have a backup guitar and you can tell that he was really in a panic not exactly knowing what to do. Good thing a bass player of one of the bands they were playing against offered his guitar instead, which he took with no questions asked. Nice guy. The band that I knew actually won the competition. If the guy didn't offer his guitar, they wouldnt have been able to continue and would've lost.

 

[Xanadu]

I saw that happen with a band I knew who was in a BOTB for a spot at the CHEO BBQ last year. They were on their second song and the bass player broke his string. He didn't have a backup guitar and you can tell that he was really in a panic not exactly knowing what to do. Good thing a bass player of one of the bands they were playing against offered his guitar instead, which he took with no questions asked. Nice guy. The band that I knew actually won the competition. If the guy didn't offer his guitar, they wouldnt have been able to continue and would've lost.

oh, well ive never broken a string on bass before.

 

[Milkman]

oh, well ive never broken a string on bass before.

Rare but it does happen.

What if a pickup dies or a tuning peg snaps or the instrument gets knocked over and suffers serious damage?


The list of things that could go wrong causing a bass (or any instrument) to leave you high and dry is endless. Like I said, it's like insurance. You never need it until you need it.

 

[PaulS]

I always take two, not so much for backup but I'll do one set with the Sheraton and another with the Strat. I like having both guitars mainly to cover the sounds I like to get. It requires laying out the sets to suit this but that's never been a problem.

 

[Milkman]

I always take two, not so much for backup but I'll do one set with the Sheraton and another with the Strat. I like having both guitars mainly to cover the sounds I like to get. It requires laying out the sets to suit this but that's never been a problem.

I do the same really. My "back up" guitars get played every night. It's simple to switch between songs without interrupting the flow of the set.

I guess there are really only two or three reasons not to have a back up. Either you don't have one, you don't want to carry one around, or you don't want to subject a prized instrument to the dangers of gigging.


I have a few suitable guitars none of which are particularly valuable and when it comes to gigging an extra guitar or two is really a drop in the bucket.