Would you leave your rig behind???

[phaneo]

Ok, tonight was a first for me. I go to a gig, 45 minutes from where I live under the pretense that I must leave when we finish due to prior obligations. So I show up play for and hour or so, show goes great. As I start to roll up my chords the drummer from the next band asks if his friend a bass player can use my rig. Usually no problem but I say I have to leave. So he's wanting me to leave my whole rig and "He'll return it on Monday" so there are a few tricky variables here...normally I would have been "sorry dude I gotta go and I'm not leaving my stuff behind" However, the bass player needing a rig is an amazing bassist and I'm actually the hired gun playing his studio work live in my current band. He just happened to be at the show and they wanted him to play. So I'm torn because now I look like an ass if I don't leave him anything to play, but honestly I really don't even know these guys. My guitar player also a hired gun has played with the bassist on other projects and is like I'd do it. I said you'd leave your USA Tele and Fender Deluxe Reverb Tube amp with this guy....sure. Sorry but I worked really hard to aquire my markbass rig and Jazz with Nordies, and I'm a freak when it comes to it.

So after much persuasion and me feeling like an ass I left my bass and a sans amp for the guy to use thru the PA.

Was this totally weak, or did I cave and give in half way and look even worse.

What would you do??

[5StringBlues]

You did the right thing.Most likely the worst he could do to your bass is break a string.If you had let him use the Markbass rig and he didnt get the idea on gain knob setting he could have potentially messed up your amp.

Leaving a bass and the Sansamp enabled you to help the guy out but not put your amp at risk.I'm funny about people playing thru my amps.If it goes out while I'm playing,fine,but if someone else kills it......

[phaneo]

Thanks, feeling a little better about it!

[bassist4dalord]

Yeah, I agree with what you did. I got nervous when an 8th grader played through my $150 Crate BFX100! I'm not TOO worried about my bass, as it's a Squier Affinity Jazz V, but it just kinda freaked me out to have someone else play through my amp, crappy as it is. You did the right thing, man.

[16notes]

I say you went way above and beyond for these guys.

Sitting in is one thing; but expecting you to leave your gear behind?
That's over the top man... If you were tight with them or given
advance notice.. perhaps.

What you did was very kind and far beyond what 99% of players
would do. Kudos! Karma owes you one

DT

[newbold]

Good vibes come back to you. You helped the guy out and I bet he still sounded great.

I'd have left a modest rig if I didn't need it in the meantime in that situation...but not the $3k+ worth of gear you had with you.

[Haysoochreesto]

You shouldn't have been asked to do such a thing in the first place. They really put you in a bad position. If the guy was going in knowing he might be playing then he should have brought his own stuff. And what happens if your stuff gets ripped off or damaged? Is he going to pony up the cash to replace it? It's easy for me to say I wouldn't have done it but I wasn't the one being put on the spot being asked to do something that I didn't want to do... I probably would have caved too.

[5StringBlues]

It's true,you should have been asked before the gig................

[jmattbassplaya]

I would never leave my rig anywhere except at a friends house who I trust and know won`t damage it. One thing I`ve noticed over the years about people is that most don`t care one way or another about other peoples property. It`s all fun and games until something gets damage, and then no one will take responsibility or admit what happened to the owner.

And even if the player did nothing wrong and the amp just fried out on itself, I`d still be pissed at the guy... It`s just a bad situation every way you slice it unless nothing goes wrong, and that`s taking a big chance.

[klyph]

I guess I'm the opposite of most in this thread- I would lend my amp before leaving my axe. I understand how easy it is to blow somebody else's rig, but it just would not make me as nervous as somebody else watching my axe. Also, speakers are easy to replace; I'm not sure how many "off the rack" basses would sound and play like mine. Generally, the only time I let my axe out of my sight is when I leave the house and I'm NOT on the way to a gig!

[ric stave]

Originally Posted by phaneo

I go to a gig, 45 minutes from where I live under the pretense that I must leave when we finish due to prior obligations.

Did you really have to leave for some reason, or was that just made up? If you were already fibbing a little, you could've said the reason you had to leave was to play another gig, and you needed your gear. I'm not condoning lying, but if you didn't really have to leave and felt like you should help the guy out, you could've 'all of a sudden' found out you could stay for a little while longer.

It wasn't cool that you were put on the spot like that. You did handle it well, but honestly, if it were me and it were one of my more expensive basses opposed to my 'beater', there's no way I would've left it - for anybody. Who shows up to play a gig and doesn't bring any equipment? If the other guy decided that on his own, he needs to learn a lesson. And if it wasn't his fault and the other guys told him "No problem, you can play - we'll have an amp and a bass for you..." - and didn't bother to work that out ahead of time with you, then THEY need to learn a lesson.

A little tangent story - years ago, one of my bands was playing a local multi-band event - I played bass and keyboards. We finished our set, and I was packing up as the next band was setting up - we had to go right from there to another show about an hour away. The keyboardist in the next band all-of-a-sudden realizes he forgot the power cord for one of his synths (he had 3) and wanted to borrow mine - I had to decline. I felt bad for him, and he prob thought I was being a jerk, but seriously, if they didn't get the cord back to me before my other show (an hour away - sure, like THAT was going to happen!) I would've been screwed - not just me, my whole band. I'm guessing he learned a valuable lesson that day about being prepared, especially for a high-profile show - at least, I'm hoping he did. If he didn't check his stuff more carefully the next time, then there's no helping someone like that.

If I would've had a spare, or didn't have another gig right after, I certainly would've lent him the cable - and prob wouldn't even expect to get it back. But an amp and a bass? If no one in the other band made arrangements to actually have that stuff taken care of before their show, it couldn't have been that serious a gig anyways.

IMHO

[Mulebagger]

I can relate! This summer I was playing at a festival and the singer in my "former" band had prearranged a guitar and bass player to sit in. She never mentioned it to me until the guy was standing next to me asking for my Modulus. I saw that he had on overalls and I just thought the buttons would trash my bass. I said no, but she asked please and I was in front of a ton of people so I surrendered my bass. This guy sucked. He didn't play a 5 string so he tuned my B up to an E just in case he hit it by mistake. Then he re equed my bass and turned around to my DB750 and cranked the pre to get a muddy dirty sound. I was freaking out and pissed. Our manager was freaking out as well (he was a bass player in another life). I figured that they didn't value me as a band member since they had no regard for my posessions. Ironically, the singer doesn't own a mic or PA. SO I told them to F off and quit a few days later. That kind of stuff is really uncool. I feel that if you plan on sitting in, check with the guy first and don't expect to use someone elses gear. Never again.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

I would never leave my rig anywhere except at a friends house who I trust and know won`t damage it. One thing I`ve noticed over the years about people is that most don`t care one way or another about other peoples property. It`s all fun and games until something gets damage, and then no one will take responsibility or admit what happened to the owner.

And even if the player did nothing wrong and the amp just fried out on itself, I`d still be pissed at the guy... It`s just a bad situation every way you slice it unless nothing goes wrong, and that`s taking a big chance.

If I was good friends with the guy, wait no, not even if it was a good friend.I agree people have no respect for other peoples property.Thats the general rule.

[dmusic148]

Nope. If you wanna play, bring your own crap. No bass, too? Lol......

[wld3]

Originally Posted by Mulebagger

...the guy was standing next to me asking for my Modulus. I saw that he had on overalls...

oil : water

bleach : ammonia

overalls : Modulus

[randy clere]

Ya never leave your rig or instrument for somebody else regardless... End of story.

[D.Don]

Originally Posted by phaneo

Was this totally weak, or did I cave and give in half way and look even worse.

What would you do??

You did good, I am not sure I would have done that good, I think I would have lied and said that "Ah I would love to, but I am packing up the stuff to go to bla bla bla so it wont work out, really sorry!"


Unless I knew anyone of the guys and REALLY trusted him to take the responsibility if anything would f up.



D.Don

[DaveDeVille]

Originally Posted by phaneo

Was this totally weak, or did I cave and give in half way and look even worse.

What would you do??

only you can decide if it was a " weak "move ,
but i know i wouldn't leave my bass or amp behind for anyone ...

him asking to borrow your stuff for a set or two ,
and only if you were familiar with the guy , maybe a different story .

imo , it was very un-professional of the guy to even ask you to leave your bass ,
and i'd be willing to bet he wouldn't do what you did , if the circumstances were reversed ...

i hope you get your bass and equipment back in good condition .
good luck !!

peace ...

[godofthunder59]

I would never leave my rig, I might let someone I knew and trusted use it while I was there, I NEVER let someone else play my basses. Reminds me of a outdoor festival I did a few years back. The band going on before us was setting up, the bass player leans his bass in a open case on the fence and the wind blows it over the bass tumbles out and hits the pavement, leaving numerous scratches and a couple of chunks out of his boutique bass. Now on to sound check, he lines up 3-5 beers on the top of his brand spank'n new huge SWR rig about half way through a song the beers spill and short out his rig, desperate he asks me if he can use mine, believe me I said no way If he doesn't take care of his own gear he sure as hell won't take care of mine.

[smogg]

I never let anyone use any of my gear ever! You went well above and beyond. Hope those guys really appreciate how generous you are.