What would you do?

[MjaMjo]

Allright, this happened to me yesterday;

My band had a gig, one of 5 bands and we had the sweet spot as band number three to go on. We had a great time and did a good gig, with a good crowd in front. So far, Great!
We play Zeppelin-ish rock, and our leadguitarist played in a blackmetal-band, lets call them Zuge, a couple of years ago, and they planned a reunion gig, and were to go on stage right after we went off.
So, we go off, and Zuge go on. I go to the backstage-area and pack down my instrument, a brand new winered Yamaha BB414. Then I go out to the stage to look at the show. Suddenly Zuge's bassist proclaims on the PA "My bass isnt working!", and then he jumps of stage, only to come back to stage with MY BASS. Had he asked me? No! He just stole it. Apparently I was the only one there with a bass. Not only did he take my instrument without asking me, he went on a total rampage on stage, smashing in to everything, and denting my precious instrument. I decided to play it cool and see what happened, as I hoped that he would just smash the neck or something and would have to buy me a new one, and AT THE TIME, I felt going on stage and ruining the reunion-show that my friend (leadguitarist in our band) had looked forward to, would just've made me an ass in front of the crowd. I ofcourse regret not doing this today.

After the show, he came backstage, and said:

Him: "Hey, I borrowed your bass"
Me: "Yeah, what the ¤%#" man?! You cant just steal an instrument!"
Him: "yeah well you werent here."

At NO time did this SOB show any respect, he just talked as if it was the most natural thing in the world that he had just stolen my bass and dented it. He left the backstage-room, and I found him outside 5 minutes later hanging out with his fellow BM'ers. Ofcourse we started arguing, and were about an inch from a fistfight (Which I tried to avoid, because some important booking-guys stood behind us). That stupid ¤%#"¤% couldnt understand why I was so pissed about him stealing my bass. Apparently the bassist had asked my friend if he could borrow my bass, and my friend apparently said yes. Ofcourse, my friend has no recollection of this at all. I told him that it's a matter of principle, that you at no point gig with another persons instrument without asking, and WHEN YOU DO, you treat the instrument with the utmost respect, not like a POS-bass that you can smash all around the stage.

So, what would you have done?
If he had just apologised when I first saw him backstage, I would've let that be it. But he acted like the most arrogant #¤%&¤# I've ever met.

[purfektstranger]

I would have been tempted to beat the $#!t out of him plain and simple but you were in a tough situation. What this guy did wasn't only disrespectful but totally wrong. IMHO the guy is a complete moron for taking the bass without asking (or asking your friend as he says he did) and then treating it like a piece of junk. Your friend was also wrong to act on your behalf if he did agree. Water under the bridge but in future you might want to keep a closer eye on your gear after the set. I know it isn't always easy, especially in multi band gigs, but necessary to help avoid a repeat of what happened.

I organise alot of shows and I always tell the bands to secure their gear after the show. It does happen on occasion that a piece of kit doesn' t work and someone lends out a guitar or pedal or whatever. The old rules apply though....treat the gear with respect and if you break it, you bought it.

[thumpbass1]

I'm sorry you had to suffer an idiot of that sort. He
deserves a good ass kicking to be sure but then you face
having to talk to the police etc etc and all of the rest of that
brand of trouble.I commend you for not pushing it into a
full blown fist fight. Also your so called friend is no friend either for not backing you up.
In my world of playing blues clubs most of the musicians are
pretty decent folks and the morons are far fewer than the
heavy rock days of my youth. In fact to go grab someone
elses axe without permission is held in the same contempt as
theyd grabbed another mans wife on her ass and yes violence
could ensue. In any case keep an eye on your axe and be ready to stand your ground against the clueless morons of
the world.

[Woodchuck]

You can borrow my amp, AND THAT'S IT! I know that this is going to be an unpopular comment, but if I'd seen my Sadowsky heading out on stage without me, I'd have walked out there and pulled the plug and grabbed my bass. Sorry, I am who I am, deal. I know things happen, but you just don't grab other people's stuff without asking.

[RavCat]

Dude, a tough situation and I totally sympathise! I'm glad you shared this with us all - I won't be leaving my bass in its case without locking it from now on!

[davetakis]

uhhhhhhhh.......i dont see what the debate is here. there are exactly 2 people on the planet allowed to even touch my basses. me and rick price. first of all he stole your bass. 2nd of all he dinged it. 3rd of all he acted like a jerk. 4th of all your buddy said he could borrow it without asking you first.

solution:
to the bass player- steal his bass and ding it like he did yours and then punch him in the mouth.
to your guitar player: let someone borrow his most expensive instrument without asking him first, and then borrow his gfriend without asking, then borrow his car without asking, and then punch him in the mouth.

[Visirale]

That sucks so much. I am very protective of my basses, and sometimes people get mad about it, but I don't care.

This is why locking cases are nice.

[haxality]

Wow, this thread even made me fear for the life of my Squier P-Bass.

[Showdown]

Twice I've had someone - a customer, not even someone in another band - go onstage and grab my bass and start playing while I was at the bar during a break. I flipped out both times. The first time I told the bouncer who was standing next to me and he kicked the guy out. The second time I went up to him and screamed "put the ######## bass down!". He did and apologized. Those guys weren't gigging musicians and must not have understood that you don't pick up someone's instrument without asking. In your case the guy should have known better.

In some bars I won't take an expensive bass because of this kind of thing.

[Steve]

What I would have done, seriously, was walk onto his stage and take it from him by force if necessary.

[phxlbrmpf]

Man, I'm really sorry to hear that! I played in a four-piece band once and my guitarist broke a string in mid-song so he grabbed the other band's guitar player's axe and strapped it on, but everything was cool as he and the other guitar player were friends!

So I guess being left-handed has at least one upside after all, but this thread still inspired me to take better care of my stuff.
I can't get over the fact that he was trashing your bass around, hell, it wasn't his!

[Pennydreadful]

I would've hit him. I know, I know, that's not the way to solve things, there were booking guys there, etc. Still. I would've hit him. Because I'm pretty sure there's no way you could get him to pay for the damages, and there's not really a good way to pay him back, and I'll be damned if I'd just let it go.

So. I'd punch him in the mouth like davetakis suggested.

[black lake]

You handled this situation with grace and dignity. Going up on stage and ripping the instrument out of his hands was not the way to go, but I would have marched out between songs and told the a-hat not to damage the bass or he would be buying it after you called the cops to report a theft.

In life you wade through a lot of s**t, the best you can do is avoid the stuff that doesn't wash off, or is over your head

[JansenW]

Originally Posted by black lake

You handled this situation with grace and dignity.

+1. If there are other bands, I'd immediately lock my bass up or at least detune it!

[MjaMjo]

Thanks guys.

It hurts looking on the nicks and dents my brand new Yamaha got last night.

But I have to add something;
My friend (leadguitarist) did back me up and say that he hadn't told him (the bassplayer) that it was cool for him to steal my bass. Apparently, the entire vocabulary of the bassplayer consists of 4-5 curses, which he flung out like a bad replica of 50 Cent. Don't you just hate that kind of people.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck

You can borrow my amp, AND THAT'S IT! I know that this is going to be an unpopular comment, but if I'd seen my Sadowsky heading out on stage without me, I'd have walked out there and pulled the plug and grabbed my bass. Sorry, I am who I am, deal. I know things happen, but you just don't grab other people's stuff without asking.

What WC said.

[throw_this_away]

I will let someone use my amp if they seem like they are sober and decient (and they are playing a show with us). No one EVER plays/borrows my rics though. I won't even let the guitarist in my own band borrow them for a night (mainly because he doesn't always keep good track of his own gear).

[addylewis]

I have no problem with people borrowing my gear - I've loaned my bass/amp to other bassists a few times, no problem - they took care of it, and they asked ME first.

NOW...

...if I were you I'd have taken him into a dark ally and decked him one. Having said that he asked your mate if he could borrow it. Give your mate an earful...what right has he to loan out YOUR stuff without permission? - he may be a mate, but if he lets someone use your gear without even considering asking you before saying "yes" then you don't need him because he's not a real mate - at the very least tell him not to come to the next gig "after what you did last time" - see what he reckons to that...if he doesn't like it, tough...if he starts arguing with you then bill HIM for the dings on your bass...ultimately its HIS fault it ended up onstage with that unresponsible POS after all...!

[Marcus]

You've guys have had pretty lousy experiences... glad I haven't been there yet ^_^;;

If I were in the thread starter's place, I would have followed him on stage and asked him what he was doing, if he would not have apologized and asked politely, I would simply demand verbatim, "Give me my ------- bass back now, ------------- ---- ------."

As far as random people touching my bass while I'm not around... it's never happened at a gig. When it does... there shall be trouble.

[zombywoof5050]

Originally Posted by MjaMjo

So, what would you have done?

The moment I saw him using my bass I would have walked onstage, pulled the plug, and retreived my bass. I don't care how much of an ass everyone thought I was being, you just don't do that with someone else's instrument.