Afraid to use your nice gear?

[Charlzm]

There's three threads running right now that kinda make me shake my head.
Having a cheapo bass you can leave in the trunk, cheapo amp for rehearsal, and 'not using you number 1 for rehearsal'. And one a few weeks ago- Do you bring a beater to gigs, so as not to put any wear on your #1?

First of all, we are going to spend FAR MORE of our time practising (by a factor of 500/1 perhaps) than we will on stage (unless you're Bob Weir) Is that kinda like having 'good dishes' that are only only for guests that never seem to come?
Bad rehearsal amps. Isn't building a great tone PART of rehearsal?
What is the point of owning professional gear, and then being afraid to take it to a gig?
Doesn't pride of ownership carry over to actually USING your good gear?

I've never heard of a carpenter who is afraid of taking his GOOD hammer to the jobsite,
or a scientist that uses cheap testing gear, saving the good stuff for when they really have cured cancer.

My grandmother put plastic covers on her sofa 'to keep it nice' and sat in an uncomfortable puddle of her own sweat for forty years.

Every single instrument, and piece of gear I've ever owned was bought for the sole purpose of being used. Since a $12K Alembic bass was a mere tree, it was built for one purpose- to be used, and if the situation arises- to be used on stage.

I agree. For years, my main bass in rehearsal and at gigs was a Warwick that today would cost something like $7k to have built. Back then, it was $4k (but I bought it at a hefty employee discount and so it cost me just under $2k).

Still, I played that thing at every show and every rehearsal. I wouldn't let it out of my sight before/after the gig, though!

 

[Deak]

A simple answer... Yes. I know people that have vettes that only drive them 4 months out of the year, and that's when they know that its not going to rain. Some people that have nice things want to keep them nice.

Using your car analogy. I have a couple basses that are pickup trucks, a couple vintage Camaro's, and I've got one very nice 57 Nomad. No Lambo's, Porsches, or Bentleys. If I had them... I wouldn't park them at the local Walmart.

This is the way I see it. I'll be damned if I will take a Porsche to a truck pull. Lots of posturing going on here I don't get, but that's alright by me. I like most everyone here and respect their comments, but this topic leaves me scratching my head as to how many are trying to make the best point of not caring about tempting fate and drunks etc and having their gear trashed. I play all of my basses, keyboards, guitars and other musical instruments and I don't give a squirrels poop if anyone likes or dislikes how I protect my investment. I like to keep it looking good. I don't tempt the devil. Some go out and some will never go out.

 

[eyeballkid]

I ALWAYS use my #1 of everything, or whatever I want to that night.... BUT.... I have had basses I sold because they were so minty and nice that I never wanted to use them live as I was afraid of dinging them up... so I sold them to someone else who could have the displeasure of marking it up. These were never my "go to" basses anyway. Ive been thru a ton of basses, but seem to always stick with one of the same four for the band.

 

[MDBass]

A simple answer... Yes. I know people that have vettes that only drive them 4 months out of the year, and that's when they know that its not going to rain. Some people that have nice things want to keep them nice.

Using your car analogy. I have a couple basses that are pickup trucks, a couple vintage Camaro's, and I've got one very nice 57 Nomad. No Lambo's, Porsches, or Bentleys. If I had them... I wouldn't park them at the local Walmart.

The answer to my analogy is actually "no" in that case: 4 months out of the year is a whole lot more than 10%

No one is "parking the basses" anywhere either, unless you're naive enough to leave your gear entirely unattended at a dive bar: not playing the gear at rehearsal is the equivalent of not using it as your daily driver, but not gigging with the nice gear you bought is the equivalent of taking your beater to race day and leaving your corvette at home.

Zero logical sense in that.

 

[jpTron]

So many people in here saying stuff like "I take my billion dollar bass to every show!!



I just watch it like a hawk before and after every set and I'm good to go!".

Sounds like fun. I'll take my Mex Jazz to shows and enjoy my downtime while not giving too much of a poopie if someone steals a Fender.

But I mean if you don't even rehearse on your "#1" then yeah that's kinda lame.

 

[jamro217]

I use whatever bass I'm in the mood for at a gig. I can usually coax a similar sound out of any of them, so that's not an issue. The way I protect them is to avoid dangerous gigs in the first place. No gigs at clubs that have been the scene of numerous violent outbreaks. No gigs where there are unlimited recreational drugs present. No gigs with endangered species of wild carnivores roaming the stage, etc. I worry more about the ones at home being stolen than I do the ones in plain sight at a Masonic Lodge picnic.

 

[Buzz Allgrin]

#1

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

After jumping into the crowd during a particularly heavy outro riff on my last tour run, I literally threw the bass back up onstage so I could climb up after it instead of running all the way around backstage.

It barely even needed to be tuned up after I strapped it back on

Yep...I slided mine on a floor like a baseball player thinking my case was there in the dark. We had to got off stage ultra fast change over.

 

[BACKLASHBASS]

Always took my #1 amp, but depending on the venue, I may leave the #1 bass depending on whether or not it may need to be used as a weapon at some point during the gig.

 

[Raw N Low]

Some of the blame is on manufacturers. The basses almost resemble high end exotic cars in terms of quality and materials.

I've placed a limit on how much I'm willing to spend on a bass. My instruments need to be be no frills and functional. When your doing stuff like carbon fiber, gold, ebony, dragons teeth, unicorn horn, and elf farts.....

....well you wanna keep them nice.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I wonder if orchestral musicians have 'beaters' they take to the gig. "I just use my $20,000, 10 year old bass and leave the $100,000, 100 year old bass for the important gigs...

For Chicago Symphony gigs, certainly the cheapie bass. For the Cleveland Orchestra, no way!

...No gigs with endangered species of wild carnivores roaming the stage, etc...

Sounds like it could be kinda fun. Pics?

 

[ToneMonkey]

Last Saturday I took a $3,500 acoustic to a camp fire singalong. But yeah, I thought about borrowing a beater from a friend. The friend had such a guitar and would have loaned it (he owns a dozen other outrageous guitars) but counseled me to play my guitar. That’s what it’s for. I’m glad I did. Your mileage may vary.

 

[BEADG63]

I'm with Paula 100%. Every single piece of gear I've ever purchased has been bought with one purpose in mind: use in live performance, and making the performance sound better (to my ears, and hopefully, the audience) and to make it easier on me for transporting, setup, and tear down in the most efficient manner possible. If I want a piece of art, I'll get a piece of art...

 

[TheReceder]

The answer to my analogy is actually "no" in that case: 4 months out of the year is a whole lot more than 10%

No one is "parking the basses" anywhere either, unless you're naive enough to leave your gear entirely unattended at a dive bar: not playing the gear at rehearsal is the equivalent of not using it as your daily driver, but not gigging with the nice gear you bought is the equivalent of taking your beater to race day and leaving your corvette at home.

Zero logical sense in that.

Sometimes the most reasonable logic is lost on those that refuse to hear it.

BTW race day for me is playing in front of 15-20000 people. The wal-mart parking lot is playing at some bar for 50 people. You don't park a lambo at wal-mart.

 

[jamro217]

For Chicago Symphony gigs, certainly the cheapie bass. For the Cleveland Orchestra, no way!

Sounds like it could be kinda fun. Pics?

Pics unavailable because I turned the gig down. (Note to self: "Dear Self, Please file under: "Too Dangerous". Thanks, Self).

 

[zon6c-f]

There's three threads running right now that kinda make me shake my head.
Having a cheapo bass you can leave in the trunk, cheapo amp for rehearsal, and 'not using you number 1 for rehearsal'. And one a few weeks ago- Do you bring a beater to gigs, so as not to put any wear on your #1?

First of all, we are going to spend FAR MORE of our time practising (by a factor of 500/1 perhaps) than we will on stage (unless you're Bob Weir) Is that kinda like having 'good dishes' that are only only for guests that never seem to come?
Bad rehearsal amps. Isn't building a great tone PART of rehearsal?
What is the point of owning professional gear, and then being afraid to take it to a gig?
Doesn't pride of ownership carry over to actually USING your good gear?

I've never heard of a carpenter who is afraid of taking his GOOD hammer to the jobsite,
or a scientist that uses cheap testing gear, saving the good stuff for when they really have cured cancer.

My grandmother put plastic covers on her sofa 'to keep it nice' and sat in an uncomfortable puddle of her own sweat for forty years.

Every single instrument, and piece of gear I've ever owned was bought for the sole purpose of being used. Since a $12K Alembic bass was a mere tree, it was built for one purpose- to be used, and if the situation arises- to be used on stage.

I consider my Zon Sonus 6 to be more worthy than most jams or gigs; however with right gig or jam I’ll gladly use it

Would you drive a Rolls down a gravel road ?....Didn’t think so

I remember in early 1970s being disgusted with myself for exposing my Ric 4001-s to smoke filled jams and gigs but at that time it was my only bass

Now I have enough basses to accommodate the situation

 

[BrianRoweLowNote]

Interesting.
I have expensive stuff to play at gigs and practice at home on.
But...
I’m a fireman. That means 24 hours in a firehouse where often times no one is there. So - yes, there is “down time” in the evening where I can practice as much as I want.
The good stuff doesn’t come to the firehouse. Ever.

 

[Manticore]

My number one bass (of two) is a 9K boutique bass. I take it everywhere. I bought it to play it, not for it to hang on a wall while I play some inferior instrument.

I take my number one to every gig. I usually take either my number two or number three with me to every gig as a spare. They're all Alembics built to be played, so I play them.

 

[devnulljp]

But I don't want to get it scratched...

 

[FirewalZ]

I only buy gear I use...they're just tools, at least that's always been my perspective.