• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Do you take your valuable basses to gigs?

#41
I once did a concert with a guest violinist who accidentally dropped his $100.000 instrument on a concrete floor in the venue. Totally cracked the thing. Even if you baby your instrument, sh*t does happen in real life. then, if this is THE bass then you'd want to do yourself and the bass the favor of playing it no matter what.

I'd say, just insure extremely well.

(PS: the violin could be repaired-came out to be non-fatal)
 
#44
I've had loads of equipment stolen in the past (63 Jazz, 74 Jazz, FOH rig with Eventide, Avalon, etc gear), so there's no way I bring expensive stuff any more. Almost nobody in the audience can tell the difference in tone between a $300 bass and a $3000 bass, so I don't worry much about it.

My $.02
 
#46
Steveman said:
If the gig is safe enough for your body, it's safe enough for your gear.
Click to expand...

So true. But sometimes the gig isn't the real danger.
My bands studio is in an industrial part of Oakland.
Great neighborhood if you are looking to score cheap drugs or inexpensive companionship.
Really bad neighborhood to have a 2am breakdown and be alone at night walking away from your car carrying and instrument case.
Very high likelihood of getting jacked in the first block or two.
Better to leave the bass in the car. No need to lock it. That wouldn't make much difference. There won't be anything there when you get back anyway and if you don't lock it you might not be needing to replace too many windows.
 
#47
I don't have any super pricey basses, but I do that on purpose.
my basses all get very used...I have released myself from being attached to any instrument, because I know that at any time all of this could disappear in any number of ways. But I also enjoy the fact that should they all vanish in a fire, accident, or crime scene, I could go shopping for more basses !
 
#49
Well, I would, except for the rooms that are running fog juice. Sometimes they put the fogger just a couple of feet away from where my basses sit. That juice comes out liquid and sticky and takes a few seconds to dry into a smoky powder. When it's still wet, it sticks to any smooth surface. My basses ended up covered in a greasy haze.
 
#50
I have some nice basses and sure wouldn't take them anywhere where theres a good potential someone might steal them or anywhere where the environment might damage them. Drops and scuffs an dings are always a potential even in studios and at home so I don't get too hyper about that stuff.
However, if you play in dive bars or in high crime neighborhoods you are really taking chances (not only with your gear but also your life) by bringing theft bait to a gig. I quit the random bar gig scene a long time ago, got tired of looking over my shoulder to see if my gear was still intact every time I loaded in or out or took a break. Can't tell you how many times I've heard band mates and other players talk about the fool that spilled beer all over their amp, or the drunk that fell into the guitar rack and snapped the head off a Gibson, or the band loading out at 2am only to find something missing on the trip back to the van, or the stench of cigarette smoke permanently imbedded in the cab rat fur. Certainly not what I'd want to subject a $15,000 bass to.
 
#51
I've gigged enough to know that there is no such thing as a safe gig. People have had things stolen and broken on the highest level of gigs. It happens.

In my experience, not a lot is guaranteed on gigs, no matter what level you play at. I don't want to be negative, but what we do is pretty special and not very well regulated, no matter how you look at it.

I've retired a bass because it was too important to me. Not on the financial level, but on the emotional level. That bass doesn't gig anymore, because of what I said in the first paragraph.

So sure, I can see the idea of not bringing a bass on a gig because it is worth too much.

Take care!

John
 
#53
I most certainly do. All my gear is insured and my Alembics NEVER leave my sight during a gig. They are either in my hands, on the stand, or in the gig bag strapped to my back. Even while I'm moving gear back and forth.

RoyalOakJune112011-a.jpg

KickAssBarJune82011-e.jpg

KickAssBarJune82011-a.jpg

DickODowJuly2011jlm.jpg

7FCCE27E-D6C6-48A6-AB3F-97458B7B8BFA_zpsmkhzxstm.jpg
 
#54
For a bass that expensive i would get insurance. But yeah no point in buying it if you aren't going to play it. Most expensive bass I've owned was "only" lol around $5,000. I kept it in a nice gigbag and had it on my back like a back pack most of the time. Would wear it to get a drink or something but id take if off and sit at the Merch table while other bands played. it NEVER went in the band trailer. If we rented a van for a long road trip it was in the seat with me. If i drove I'm my car or truck it was in the passenger seat.
 
#57
solderjunkie said:
Simple... keep an eye on your gear. Don't allow an opportunity for your instruments to be stolen. The only way someone can steal mine at a gig is to rob me directly, and they had better be armed.

One good analogy... would you drive your $15,000 car, or leave it in the garage and never take it out? It could be stolen, crashed, scratched, etc...
Click to expand...

The car analogy is good. I do and will keep close guard on my gear. Thanks
 
#58
solderjunkie said:
One good analogy... would you drive your $15,000 car, or leave it in the garage and never take it out? It could be stolen, crashed, scratched, etc...
Click to expand...
Slight flaw, however. A $15,000 bass is very high end. Most basses are probably $2k or less, so we'll say a 7.5x price differential.
A $15,000 car sort of a low estimate of a common car - more akin to your MIM Fenders. So you'd have to apply your 7.5x price differential... so you're more likely looking at the person who owns a $110k+ car for this analogy. ;)
But I get your point :P
 
#59
bass_case said:
Was never too concerned during gigs. More paranoid when loading out, that's when things tend to disappear.
Click to expand...

Roscoe East said:
QFT
Click to expand...

This is, to me at least, the unspoken beauty of a really nice gig bag. There are some who think expensive basses have to be transported in cases. I prefer to transport mine in gig bags because I can strap it to my back like a backpack and keep it with me while I'm loading and unloading the rest of my gear.
 
#60
I've often wondered what I would do. Most of the time I would play the instrument. But just last month I had a panic situation at a gig:

To set the mood, I was playing a well-known punk/metal dive in Asbury Park NJ. I had played there a month before and there was a guy loitering across the street, just watching what cars people pulled instruments in and out of. This venue has very little room in the back, so drummers actually assemble their kits on the sidewalk.

Because of this, I chose to put my basses in the back room rather than in my car after my band's set. But to heighten the tension, I got a call from my guitarist asking if I had seen his multi-guitar stand. It turned out to have been stolen during loadout.

With all this in mind, it's no wonder that I assumed my basses had been stolen :help::crying::help: when I no longer saw them in the back. It turned out that the venue hired a guy to keep an eye on all equipment and they had moved everything to a different area to keep things together and safe, but in my mind I was already mentally calculating my losses and and having that "what's the point?" feeling.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back