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Guest bands using your rig....any stories?

#21
lowfreq33 said:
I let a guy use my amp once, and he smashed his bass at the end of the set. It was still plugged in to my SWR head, which got yanked off the cab. I was about to get hostile, but before I could his bandmates did it for me. Apparently they had another gig the next night, and that was the only bass he owned.

The head ended up being fine.
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idiot, alot of kids around here would love to have a bass to play of their own, i know its part of the show but just think its a waste
 
#26
Only once and never again. My lead singer wanted a friend, "a real pro" to sing a song with us once. Turns out he wants to also play my bass while he sings. I reluctantly agreed becuase my lead singer vouched for him. I've never seen my bass and rig take so much abuse before and will never see it take that much again. He cranked the gains up to the point of painful distortion. His touch was like a gorilla - I swear I had to fix the setup after he was done. He completely killed the vibe we had going. He basically tried to play lead guitar with my bass to "Sympathy For the Devil". All I can say is "NEVER AGAIN"!
 
#27
I'm playing in the host band for a jam in a couple of weeks - I'll bring my amp and leave it on stage, but I'll be there and I won't hesitate to get up there is someone starts jacking around with it. I'll let them know that I will help with any adjustments - none of which should be needed. I know the setting of this jam, and it's moderate volume and no extreme behavior - so the risk is less than it would be in a gig setting.
 
#31
I did ... one time, I let someone use my amp .... at the bequest of the bar owner ...he said that his brother in-law was a responsible player ...the careless idiot knocked over my Combo 300 ... and tried to blame me for not making sure the amp was stable ... the owner bitched slaped his brother in-law when he started to complain about the crappy stuff people were using, later I learned he never owned an amp .... luckly the bar owner paid for the repair, and we never saw that guy in his bar again ... so ... never, ever will I let someone use my stuff ...
 
#34
sweetcharlie454 said:
During my last gig, the bassists of a guest band asked me to use my rig, so I quickly said "yea man, go for it".....edited for brevity
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I think this comes down to respect. I have allowed people to play through my rig many times however I watch them carefully. Anyone who treats equipment with respect I have no problem with. If someone is disrespectful to my stuff it gets turned off. I personally have never experienced a problem but have heard of many who have. At the end of the day it's your equipment bought with and maintained on your hard earned money. If you don't like what is happening step in and stop it.

Paul
 
#35
My bands manager tells all bands we play with that they can share my cab but head is a no-no. Over the years I've had so many bass players in other bands practically on their knees begging to use my amp with promises of treating it with care and then just before they play cranking it up the point of meltdown I just have to be strict and say no to all now.

One of my pet hates is people turning up to gigs with no equipment and expecting someone to bail them out.

I will always remember playing with a band who turned up with no amps or cabs (guitar or bass), no cymbals, no snare, no bass drum pedal but tons of attitude, great way to get on friendly terms with other local bands.

I could rant on this subject all night so I think its time to stop typing....................:cool:
 
#38
I played in a band that hosted jam and open mike night's every tues., for 2 years. Since we were the hosting band, we would have to let other people play through our rigs. I used an SWR workingman 15. Man, I can't begin to tell you all the stories of guy's that would think it was ok to swipe all the knobs to10! It got to the point when they would plug in I would stand close to see if they needed anything out of my rig to help with their sound. I got lucky I guess cause it never cost me a driver or any work. Those workingman series sure are tough little combo's!
 
#39
In probably 20 years of gigging at multi band events I've never had a problem. I've supplied the bass rig or I've used what's there. Just lately I've been using the supplied rig rather than my own, in fact it's been expected that I should use it almost to the point of being discouraged from using my own.

At the last gig the other band's bassist borrowed my bass for their set cos his own had croaked. I've never experienced anyone treating my gear with anything other than respect and I've always done the same.
 
#40
sweetcharlie454 said:
During my last gig, the bassists of a guest band asked me to use my rig, so I quickly said "yea man, go for it".....I wound up eating those words as I sat painfully in the audience as he cranked my GK's way harder than they ever should have gone...than I discovered that he had his "active" bass all the way up without the db cut on, it sounded horribe, tired of seeing the clip light constantly flash, i ran up in the middle of thier set and turned him down, he was pissed, i just don't get it. I will be more hesitant next time someone asks to use my stuff.

Does anyone have similar stories, if not what do you think of this one......thanks guys
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Assuming your equipment wasn't damaged during this incident, you should consider yourself fortunate to have learned your lesson without having to pay through the nose for it.

Too many players don't even have respect for their own gear. Don't expect them to have any respect for yours... :rollno:

MM
 

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