Ever afraid of forgetting your gear?

[juancaminos]

I have a certain way to pack my vehicle and I try to keep my gig gear together in my music room. Those two things give me a visual help. Before I drive away I look thru what I packed first the bass and what I need for that. Then the vocal stuff and what's used there. When leaving a gig I also do an idiot check or two. I don't really like help because it's harder to keep track of what's been loaded out

 

[steveinohio]

Gig long enough and you will probably lose something. For me it was a brand new Geddy Lee that my girlfriend had gifted me. Left outside of the trailer. Never got it back. We also lost a bass drum pedal. That’s all in the 21 years we have been together. Pretty lucky.

 

[sleddogn]

we were on a 3 week tour of midwest, was checking out of motel, accidentally left telecaster in case and one suitcase sitting in lobby. We made it a couple hrs down road before realizing. After a panic phone call, the tele and suitcase were saved by employee and on way back home we stopped and got our stuff. We had to divide clothing between us to make up for lost stuff....would never happen this way today, it would be on ebay before be were 10 miles down road, lol

 

[ThudThudThud]

Having spent a lot of my teens both gigging myself, and being a roadie/tech with other bands, I developed a methodology with gear (load in/out order, place for everything and everything in its place, piece counts etc.), and adopting the "idiot check" where there are at least two sweeps/scans for any left gear (stage/backstage/dressing rooms/hospitality).
The shocked look on one [now quite notable] guitarist's face as I arrived at the van with his irreplaceable vintage gold-top Les Paul in hand was eye opening. He'd left it under a bench in the dressing room.
Being methodical is paramount. Otherwise other musicians 'win' free gear.

 

[bigjames]

In all my years of playing, I have only "lost" one thing that I can think of...my band at the time booked a studio to record some tunes. I brought in two basses, some pedals, and a low profile Hercules bass stand. 6 or so hours later we wrapped and I packed up. Drove home and loaded everything back into the house. A few days later I had a small gig. Packed the car and...wait...where is my bass stand. I realized I left it in the studio. Someone else then walked away with it.

 

[Jogobass]

What I need to take is the stuff for my bass. Never had a mistake with that.

And the bass of course. lol

 

[Aussie Player]

I have never forgotten gear.
My greatest fear is someone trying to steal it.

 

[Fynn]

Leaving behind gear is a terrible thought, but even worse are losing one's wallet or keys. I've never left behind gear, but having lost both wallet and keys on separate occasions, the ripple impact on one's life can be nightmarish.

That's why I have them always in my pockets and every couple minutes I do the occasional pat down of my pockets to check if everything is still there. But I do that everywhere I go and not just on gigs

 

[Fynn]

I’ve left a bass at one gig and got it back, but no I don’t really worry about leaving gear. I do worry about OTHER people taking my stands, mics, etc… cuz that does happen.

Other people as in other musicians, or just random people stealing?

 

[Fynn]

Make a list, check it twice, gonna put the people who steal from me under the ice…


In all seriousness, I make a list and check off everything. Also, I have a rather specific way I fit my gear into either of our vehicles. Overkill? Not in my mind.

I also have a list, but I still get that weird anxiety

 

[Fynn]

They make medication for this.

Maybe one day if it gets really out of hand heh

 

[Fynn]

A friend of mine use to number his cases in large white numbers. 1-5, do a count before closing the trunk. Good security also when there are several bands on the venue.

That's a good idea. Might do that too

 

[misterCRUSH]

I'm much more paranoid about something being stolen. Recently I have been to a few gigs on my own and can't really rely on the guitarist to watch my bass, so I take it everywhere, even to the bathroom.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Not quite sure if this is the correct forum for such a topic, but let's say I tried to find the correct one.


I probably fall into the category of people who get more anxious about little things than the average, but I've been wondering if others here can relate.

I've been playing gigs for a while now and have actively tried to keep my setup simple and compact. I bring my bass in a hardcase with the necessary cables and such, a pedalboard in a nice rugged flightcase, a monitor, a stand for my bass, a stand for my ipad and said ipad of course. Within the bass case are a couple of other helpful things like a screwdriver, spare batteries, spare strings and such.

So I know that I arrived with 6 things and that's what I'll have to take back home again. However, I just cannot shake the feeling that I will eventually just forget something. That goes up to the point where I sit in the car counting my 6 things over and over again.

It would be actually pretty difficult to forget something, because we have some guys who will take our PA system and bring that to a warehouse after each gig. So if I were to actually leave something behind, they would probably take it with them and tell me afterwards. Still, it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Just imagining how I forget like a powercord, or even worse, something like my pedals.

Have you ever actually forgotten something at a venue and were unable to get it back?

I once left my amp in the middle of the street on a trolley. Hint: drink reduces ability to remember you are pulling a trolley with an amp.

 

[jdh3000]

Not quite sure if this is the correct forum for such a topic, but let's say I tried to find the correct one.


I probably fall into the category of people who get more anxious about little things than the average, but I've been wondering if others here can relate.

I've been playing gigs for a while now and have actively tried to keep my setup simple and compact. I bring my bass in a hardcase with the necessary cables and such, a pedalboard in a nice rugged flightcase, a monitor, a stand for my bass, a stand for my ipad and said ipad of course. Within the bass case are a couple of other helpful things like a screwdriver, spare batteries, spare strings and such.

So I know that I arrived with 6 things and that's what I'll have to take back home again. However, I just cannot shake the feeling that I will eventually just forget something. That goes up to the point where I sit in the car counting my 6 things over and over again.

It would be actually pretty difficult to forget something, because we have some guys who will take our PA system and bring that to a warehouse after each gig. So if I were to actually leave something behind, they would probably take it with them and tell me afterwards. Still, it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Just imagining how I forget like a powercord, or even worse, something like my pedals.

Have you ever actually forgotten something at a venue and were unable to get it back?

I have a checklist I go over before leaving home and leaving a gig....and yet I still fear that...

 

[silvertone]

Only users lose drugs......

 

[Drucifer]

https://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Ma...&dplnkId=43e466e3-7e7d-46d9-8833-01235f7b5b8b

 

[Spidey2112]

From the venue...

... to home.

Mine, all mine... and no one else's. Take that forgetful memory!

 

[Blue Moose]

I am the world's undisputed king of losing stuff. Heck, I once lost my car for three days. Not to mention scores of pedals, cables, tuners, etc at gigs. Recently, I've started wrapping bright, lime green duct tape around every cable, stand, etc that belongs to me. I didn't lose anything Saturday night, so something's working.

 

[rtslinger]

Yup I have done that. Early part of 2004 I had just got into playing live again, luckily it was a local gig and I could drive home and grab it.
I was loading the car and had taken my amp out and put it off to the side to make room for other stuff and I never put it back in the car!
Thankfully it was in the bottom part of the driveway so no one could see it, but it was freezing out and I was working fast to get it loaded and in the warm car.
after that only mostly guitar stands and tuners left behind