Sad Stories of Self Inflicted Stupidity where the victim is your gear?

[Ubersheist]

So, I posted this in another thread:

Originally Posted by Ubersheist

Weird one for sure!

It does remind me of watching the guitarist's pretty new $3000 Taylor acoustic go 'splat' on the stage and chip off a chunk of wood from the headstock. And the guitarist's (same guy) stack of speakers for one side of the PA falling forward and sort of tumbling away from us on the floor below the stage. And that same guitarist leaving a Fender Mustang of some sort up against a space heater, which destroyed the paint job and partially melted the pick guard or something on it.

There's even more... I'm not joking when I state that at one gig, we got repetitively pelted with Ding Dongs and Twinkies, which got all over my bass and my amp. (We had given them out to the crowd earlier in the night, and we were a stupid punk band....)

One more off topic incident: After we stopped playing in the back yard at this one house party, the drummer and guitarist got trashed, and passed out. Somehow in my own drunken stupor, I managed to get my stuff torn down and put away, but I also got our little PA system all put away. The drummer and guitarist woke to see that the sprinklers had been on overnight and had soaked the drum kit and the guitarist's combo amp!

I bet it's been done before, but I think I'd like to read a thread dedicated to just stories of damaging your own gear....

After posting that, I just remembered leaving my crappy (but the only amp I had or could get at the time) on the open tailgate of a truck. It was on wheels, but still hung on... until the road made a winding turn to the left along the top of a cliff. The amp didn't go down the cliff, but for an instant, I did think it might. We were moving pretty fast and the amp got really, really scruffed up, but the amp amazingly still plays fine to this day.

Anyone have any other tales of brutality that you bestowed upon your bass (or other gear)?

[Ubersheist]

Oh boy... I'm remembering even more... My buddy sat on the cooling fan for his old amp. Since he was blocking the intake for the fan, the amp overheated. A whole lot. He jumped up at one point and said something like "what the hell??" It melted some stuff, and he had to send it off to get repaired.

Or my other idiot 15 year old bass player friend... He read somewhere that Lemmy or some other bassist he idolized took a pencil and stabbed the speaker cone to get a distorted/overdriven sound back when they didn't make amps that easily distorted or got overdriven. So, he got me to help him stab it a few times while he played. It really didn't turn out at all like we had hoped. :Smacks my own head:

[Ubersheist]

No one else have a story to share?

[helterschecter]

I don't have a story to share,but stabbing that speaker is pretty classic..lmao

[electracoyote]

Adjusting TOM post on my Gibson Les Paul with a large flathead screwdrive. Screw driver slipped. Nice 6-inch long divet on the face of my LP.

I've done other dumb things, but that's the worst.

[EricssonB]

My old guitar amp's speakers had a center bubble that was made of foil. Someone was messing around with it while the cloth cover was off. Someone dented the foil. Over time the dent turned into a tear. That tear would vibrate while playing. I thought that I could fix that.

I figured that since it was foil, I could use a lighter to melt it back a little bit so's that it wouldn't vibrate.

It worked, but I set the speaker ablaze.

[BassClefJean]

Originally Posted by Ubersheist

Or my other idiot 15 year old bass player friend... He read somewhere that Lemmy or some other bassist he idolized took a pencil and stabbed the speaker cone to get a distorted/overdriven sound back when they didn't make amps that easily distorted or got overdriven. So, he got me to help him stab it a few times while he played. It really didn't turn out at all like we had hoped. :Smacks my own head:

That's supposed to be how Link Wray reproduced the sound he got from a blown speaker when he recorded "Rumble".

Cool song.

[mattbass6945]

we got rear end after a gig at 3am, and one of the guitar players strats went out the back window. i ran into oncoming traffic to retrieve it. since it was in a soft case i thought i saved it. upon later inspection, not so much. hey, at least it wasn't a bass!

[robbotbass]

We had a guy try out for our band about three years ago. He talked a big game had super nice gear and we thought ok a little bit of an Ego but we'll let him try out. He tries out plays pretty well but not a fit for our band. we where talking as he put his 1960's Les Paul away in his case bragging about himself. He sets his axe in the case stands up our drummer says we'll talk it over and give you a call if we are intrested. He says i know your ganna call bends over picks up his case and his guitar falls to the cement with a crash. The guy didn't latch his case. He says a few choice words and storms off...... We never called him but if he only knew the laugh we still get to this day!

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by BassClefJean

That's supposed to be how Link Wray reproduced the sound he got from a blown speaker when he recorded "Rumble".

Cool song.

That's what reminded me of my story. I was reading that Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists list, and they mentioned Link Wray and how he stabbed his speaker with a pencil.

I honestly don't remember if it was a pen or a pencil or a knife or a combo - it was almost 25 years ago. My buddy had an old Acoustic amp with two 15s in it. I kept popping holes in it (which I do remember it being harder then I thought it would be), and it didn't really sound cool, just blown. At some point, I obviously hit a wire or something, and the one speaker went dead. He replaced it with a mail order speaker, probably from Carvin, as I recall. Stupid...

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by mattbass6945

we got rear end after a gig at 3am, and one of the guitar players strats went out the back window. i ran into oncoming traffic to retrieve it. since it was in a soft case i thought i saved it. upon later inspection, not so much. hey, at least it wasn't a bass!

Crap. You just reminded me of another story. I left my bass (in a soft case) leaning up against the van just after a gig. I intended to put it in last on top of all the other stuff. I forgot about it, and took off in my car. The guitarist (it was his van) said that as he was pulling out, the case with the bass in it fell over and somehow got under his wheel.

He ran over the bass in a soft case with his van.

I probably would have never known though. It seemed to come out unscathed, as it was a piece of junk Ibby bass that was already fairly scuffed up before the incident. I think there were a few new ones on the neck, though.

[WilliamSandoval]

My guitard tried to clean his strings with a lighter thinking the gunk would burn off or something.

He ended up breaking every string.

[JohnMCA72]

Originally Posted by robbotbass

We had a guy try out for our band about three years ago. He talked a big game had super nice gear and we thought ok a little bit of an Ego but we'll let him try out. He tries out plays pretty well but not a fit for our band. we where talking as he put his 1960's Les Paul away in his case bragging about himself. He sets his axe in the case stands up our drummer says we'll talk it over and give you a call if we are intrested. He says i know your ganna call bends over picks up his case and his guitar falls to the cement with a crash. The guy didn't latch his case. He says a few choice words and storms off...... We never called him but if he only knew the laugh we still get to this day!

That's why I always pick up an instrument case with the lid TOWARDS me, not away. That was a lesson learned the hard way.

[awakefie]

Originally Posted by Ubersheist

So, I posted this in another thread:




After posting that, I just remembered leaving my crappy (but the only amp I had or could get at the time) on the open tailgate of a truck. It was on wheels, but still hung on... until the road made a winding turn to the left along the top of a cliff. The amp didn't go down the cliff, but for an instant, I did think it might. We were moving pretty fast and the amp got really, really scruffed up, but the amp amazingly still plays fine to this day.

Anyone have any other tales of brutality that you bestowed upon your bass (or other gear)?

Reminds me of an old Arlo Guthrie tune, The Motorcycle Song (Signifcance of the Pickle). I don't know why.

[Spectrum]

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

That's why I always pick up an instrument case with the lid TOWARDS me, not away. That was a lesson learned the hard way.

I also learned that the hard way. About 20 years ago I picked up my bass case and the lid wasn't latched, so out came the bass and one of the latch tongues dug a nice gouge in the finish. It was one of those old cheapo cases they used to sell mainly for acoustic guitars, before gig bags became the norm, the kind with the fake leather semi-hard shell and the cheap latches. That bass is still around, and if it wasn't for that one gouge the finish is almost mint. I still haven't forgiven myself for that; I'm very good at taking care of equipment and stuff like that upsets me.

[fhm555]

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

That's why I always pick up an instrument case with the lid TOWARDS me...

+1 of those who need not ask why.

[fhm555]

I had an old rag of a ford truck and one night I loaded my 215 cab in the bed and took off for home. Apparently dew had fallen on the bed, or I was a little intoxicated and didn't realize how quick I took off from a stop sign, but the cab slid back hit the gate knocking it open and went out into the street. When I got home my cab was gone so I jumped back in the truck and retraced my route. It was laying down in the truck but when I went back looking for it it was sitting up at a goofy angle in the middle of the street. Two of the casters were bent which accounted for the funny tilt. I never did replace the casters, I just made me a shim out of a chunk of wood I found in the barn.


Fast forward about 15 years...

Wifey just bought herself a new truck. I borrowed it one night to haul my gear. After the show I put my 410 in the bed and gave it a good shove to get it up close to the cab. I had quit drinking by then so apparently some dew had fallen and the bed was slick with it, and my cab flew forward and put a nice crease almost dead center of the box on her 1 week old truck.

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by fhm555

Wifey just bought herself a new truck. I borrowed it one night to haul my gear. After the show I put my 410 in the bed and gave it a good shove to get it up close to the cab. I had quit drinking by then so apparently some dew had fallen and the bed was slick with it, and my cab flew forward and put a nice crease almost dead center of the box on her 1 week old truck.

Heh.... Older, and a bit wiser, but still just not getting it right! I love it!

[JdoubleH]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

My old guitar amp's speakers had a center bubble that was made of foil. Someone was messing around with it while the cloth cover was off. Someone dented the foil. Over time the dent turned into a tear. That tear would vibrate while playing. I thought that I could fix that.

I figured that since it was foil, I could use a lighter to melt it back a little bit so's that it wouldn't vibrate.

It worked, but I set the speaker ablaze.

A tearing aluminum dust cap can create some awesome distortion. Holes in the cone don't do much. If you are going to 'mod' an old speaker, an aluminum pie plate glued to the cone is a worth a try.

[Never_grew_up]

+1 on not latching the case - Dropped my early 70's EB-0 on a concrete warehouse floor but my guitar player hollered as it was falling so I set the case down and the bass fell *mostly* on the lid of the case but it got 2 road rashes on the upper curves of the body. So I learned how to strip & refinish a solid body bass.

Had my old acoustic (Big emotional attachment to it) guitar out leaning against the wall (face in of course). Pulled the battery for my Ryobi drill out of the charger on my desk & dropped the battery on the shoulder of the acoustic, punching a sbout a 1" x 3/4" hole in the guitar. I actually cried.