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

[aaronwhite1786]

I would always show up with everything i needed, so barring any accidents or gear breaking en route, i would be ready.
And if i did play through someone else's gear, i wouldn't dare mess with their settings.
It's just bad manners.

 

[TwinBass]

In the late 90's I loaned my speaker cabs to a band that was playing at the county fair. When I got my rig back, all four of the 10" speakers had been blown. The band was super apologetic and offered to replace the speakers. However, due to the lack of immediately available replacement speakers, and my band's gigging schedule, replacing the speakers didn't happen. Instead they bought me a new 4x10 cab.

I wish I could remember the band so I could give them their due credit. All I remember was that they were a band that was popular in the 80s.

 

[rok51]

Over the years I have been fairly liberal with other bassists using my rig. Never the ones who lay a lame excuse such as "it's a hassle to move my rig"...but for the sake of keeping the show going in a multi band setting...I've loaned full rigs out to people I know for their gigs and never had an issue...I find I just have to use the 'radar' to tell who is serious and who is a flake...flakes can take a hike...all told, over the years, things have worked out extremely well...those without gear were happy to have access to some, and showed restraint and respect while using my gear...I always prefer to bring a rig to a show as the 'promised backlines' have a way of being...uh...less than they were described...understand that I am not in the league of those who can demand rider fulfillment...I'm just a 'duffer' that enjoys playing bass...

kim

 

[iCombs]

It only gets left there i I am there, and then, you better not touch the knobs.

Are there amps being manufactured that have ratcheting knobs? Like...you turn them up and you can't turn them back down?

I've seen this a bunch and though I don't dick with other guys settings when I'm on a loaner rig...I certainly don't care if someone changes some stuff on mine (and tell them so)...I mean...more of my tone comes from my hands than the amp...and I know about where the knobs belong so I can always turn them back...

 

[azureblue]

and covered all the knobs with a single piece of duck tape. I set the pre on about 9:00 O'C and the master at a level that worked well in the venue. When anybody wanted to sit in, I told them to not touch the duck tape...

 

[Myth_103]

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.

That guy would have been dead even if my amp was fine. :scowl:

 

[Cutty]

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

I let a guy in another band use my gear a few years ago,he blew the speakers and of course didn't want to know!!i never do it anymore,i don't care what the situation is,i don't borrow gear,and i don't lend it,period!

 

[KramerBassFan]

That is why, on the 100w superbass i built, it is going to have a KEY on the MAINS SWITCH.

If i don't have the key, you can't even turn the DAMN THING ON.

No worries about shorting the speaker cable, or maxing out the EQ, if i'm not supervising, its not being USED.

 

[flapbass]

I've loaned friends stuff before: but only under the premise and promise "You break, You buy!" and have not had a problem. But the random stranger asking for to borrow my stuff: "Ummm.... I'm gonna be mean here and say no, but thanks for asking." No explainations, no reasons, no excuses, no exceptions. I've seen and heard too many horror stories of guys loaning gear out to random people and whoops! it gets messed up and they don't have the cash or concept to even offer to repair or replace it. Besides, its just bad form not to be prepared for a gig. On the other hand I have played shows where it was agreed prior to the show that all bands would be using the same (someone else's) backline. Thats different and it doesn't involve me loaning my stuff out to strangers.

 

[Edword]

Seems that I'm always playing other peoples' rigs at jams and walk-on gigs rather than them playing mine. I've just plugged in and played, never touching their amp settings. Haven't had a single problem. Still, the most I'd do for someone who wanted to use my amp is to offer them the use of my DI.

My main rig is the kind that people would love to get their hands on and "push the envelope" of, and I'm not willing to give them the chance. If I was to play in a prearranged situation in which others were supposed to use my amp, I'd bring one of my older ones that I'm not too worried about and let them have at it.

 

[js1]

Had another bassist share my rig. Was good to be able to walk around the room and hear how it blended.

Also made me pretty well give up on pedals. The other guy had 4 different pedals that he switched on/off constantly, and I'll be dammed if I could hear a difference in the context of the full mix.

js

 

[Calaverasgrande]

even worse, but not bass related. I used to run a small sound reinforcement company. One day I was late getting home to meet up with the client I was doing a gig with that day. My housemates knew them so they let them go ahead and load out the PA.
I get home, look in the garage, uh what?
I figure out the fella had grabbed the stuff before Igot there ( I was about 15 minutes late). But they forgot the speaker cables.
SO I grab those and get on down to the spot.
Some idiots are already plugging stuff in and going "check check", with a kick mic.
I can see from the front of the space they have it cockeyed.
I holler in my best "command voice" get your ****** hands off my PA!"
They had plugged the inserts of the input channels into the effect sends and then cranked every knob until they got some faint scratchy signal.
First rule of audio, if its not making a sound with the volume at 2 its not gonna get any better on 10!
2nd rule, if you dont know what you are doing,dont mess with stuff you cant afford to replace!
Luckily nothing was busted. The venue owner thanked me for the great sound. He was worried when his friends made the PA sound so bad before I showed up.
I told him if he NEVER let his friends mess with my PA again and we can repeat the good parts many times over.

 

[butchblack]

I hit a lot of jams so by default I use a lot of other people's amps. Some I know well enough to change the amp settings if need be. In all cases I'm respectful of their equipment. As far as letting others use my equipment it's on a case by case basis. If I know you and know you're respectful no problem. If I don't know you and you seem cool I usually will. If you seem to be high or drunk, no way, same if you come across as an arrogant SOB. In all my years I've only had one incident, a dust cover on a speaker. The guy, who I knew, paid for the repair.

 

[CPplaysBASS]

I've used other people's gear and had other played through mine. I've been lucky so far and actually look forward to hearing how things sound from out front. I know my settings and it's not that big a deal for me to adjust them back.

Just two stories to share ...

My band headlined a 5-band bill in which my amp was used. My band played fourth to get the prime time. Third song into our set, my amp shut down and of course I was pissed. The audience still heard lots of bass front of house since I was also going into the board but I couldn't hear myself at all. Turns out that my amp has an auto shut-off circuit when it overheats ... it overheated because it was an indoor show with a low ceiling and scorching hot flood lights .... and I left the fan on "low". If we were the third band to play, I would have been fine! lol

After that, same amp, a pretty amazing player played through my rig. The next day I just plugged in and right away realized it sounded better than ever ... and I always loved the sound before. I then noticed all my settings were changed for the better, and his settings then become my new settings.

 

[suraj]

Im quite intrigued by the gig scenario in the US. Here in India, the gig itself provides the kit, the rigs and the PA..and mostly dont let you use your own rig. So a bass and a pedalboard is all to carry for me at least. Others are good with just a bass..

How inconvinient is it to unload and load the stage as the band changes, or is the stage/venue big enough to fit all rigs..??

 

[1n3]

In my experience, amp sharing is common. It's done all the time at jams and multi-band events. But my scenes are lower volume, where bass rigs are almost never pushed to their limits.

The last foreign amp I plugged into was a mint Acoustic 370 (ridiculous overkill for a low-volume jam). Bass was at full boost, treble was full cut. Yes, I changed it. No apologies.

 

[aledeville]

My question still remains. What did you do after some guy abused your gear?

 

[DanNowhere]

I'm pondering this very situation myself for an upcoming gig this summer. I get to play with a fairly big name artist for a one-off gig, and it just so happens I'm ready to upgrade my rig, but haven't just yet. There are two opening bands travelling in from out of town, and I offered to let them use my rig since they won't be able to bring their own stuff.

I'm considering some fairly high-end stuff, possibly Orange/Ampeg/Mesa (still shopping around), but I don't know if I relish the idea of two strange bands on my new high-end rig. I could bring up my backup rig (GK Backline 600 w/ a 4 x 10) for them, and switch it out after they're done, since I'm not as worried about what happens to that one, but I just have a car with a hatchback, so it would require two 150 mile round-trips to get all the stuff there, most likely.

edit to add: I am the king of run-on sentences.

 

[countrybass007]

Many years ago we were warming up at the Indianapolis State Fair for a well-known country act. We brought our amps with us, but the venue said we couldn't use them, and had to use the stage set-up. Then, the band leader of the name act walks up and says, "they can use their own amps, but only if they let us use them too." We did, and they did. We used all Mesa Boogie gear at that time, and everybody wanted to play through them. It worked out fine.

 

[Rocky]

I have been the house bassist at blues jams before so I have to let others use my amp. I really never had a problem with it except for a few knuckleheads that would over crank the pre amp, or just play way to loud, but I would keep an eye on them and adjust the amp if they were abusing it. Now when I go to a jam I am totally respectful of the equipment being used, and I very rarely have had anyone not let me adjust the amp. I try to make a mental note of their settings, and I put it back when I am done. However, I NEVER let anyone play my bass, nor do I ask to use another players bass. If you can't show up with your own bass your outta luck, and to me its like asking to screw my GF which is not happening if I have anything to say about it.