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

[Munjibunga]

If someone asks, I size them up (judge them, if you will), and make a decision. If he seems like a fairly professional person and convinces me he knows what he's doing, then yeah, he gets to play through my rig. I wouldn't let anyone play any of my boutique basses, with the exception of James East, who played my Drozd. The Fenders, maybe. First indication of impending damage to anything, and I'm on stage correcting the situation.

Now, if he's a she, no problem.

 

[JonathanD]

100s of times without a single issue.

 

[derridiandrift]

I don't let anyone play my basses unless I know them. For strangers, or friends of a band-mate, it's a flat NO if they ask. I do let people use my amp at multi-band club gigs because I've never had an amp that needs to be pushed to its limits in that setting. But if someone really thinks they need to crank my SVT, they can go right ahead.

It's funny to watch the reaction of the bands whose bass player doesn't own gear. When they finally get a chance to actually hear their bass player, sometimes they like it, sometimes they don't. It's happened more than once that a bass player using my rig has been told they need to put in some time learning songs

 

[PinkFloydDan]

I had a guy ask me once if he could use my SVT CL rig and I just plain out refused. I felt slightly bad, but when the lead singer tells me his tube amp is busted there's no way I was going to let him, let alone anyone, use it.

Too much risk in using someone else's tube amp.

 

[Chris_315]

in an attempt to be famous my band thought it would be a good idea to put 'all your egss in one basket' and give it literally one shot. so we flew from australia to boston for the then NEMO festival where the promoters had told us 'important industry reps' would see us play live. so we only took our instruments on the plane and with no way to know who was playing that night we just rocked up and asked the previous band if we could use their amps and drumkit. they were pretty cool with our story and let us. the bass amp was an svt vr 8x10 rig which i didnt care for, the drum kit was welded in position so the layout was akward for the drummer and the guitar players strap button broke mid song on his 'emperador' and fell to the floor. The 'important rep' was in the limo and made it late to the gig, missing our set. we spent a lot of money on that one gig back in 01 and reports from the audience were that we sucked. the city of Boston was a better memory of the time and we watched a band called 'buck dewey big band' in (or near) one of those blue man group clubs.
great times.

 

[DrSmaggs]

I've let other bassists use my rig when we're all playing a show together. Always a good time and no negative situations to report.

 

[bamabass]

when I was gigging more, I let other players use my rig, but I always knew them and would typically plan it ahead of time. Basses are a No No, except for one guy. He and I both play laklands and if he is at a gig, i usually get him to sit in a tune or two. He does the same for me. The only exception is if I am only out with my fretless....most people will not ask if they know you only have a fretless....lol

 

[maxiegrant]

I have the reverse ban -- I DO NOT like to use another bassist's rig. They often have it set in such a way that is totally incompatible with my sound. I have to fiddle for a bit to get it to work and it's never what I want. So I will drag my own **** hundreds of miles to use it.

However, I have never had someone ask to use my bass. I might let someone use my Squier Jazz Reissue but my 73 Ricky is off limits. I doubt anyone would enjoy playing my basses anyway as I like the action set high and the volume lower because I hit the strings pretty hard. Most other players who have picked up my rig just to try it usually ask if I've turned the volume down.

 

[muddycreek]

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.

Most of the point in rig sharing is that a multi-band show doesn't have the down time of switching stuff out- if I were the soundman or promoter, I'd say 'bring what you want, just make sure it stays there through all three first bands.'

If you get a fairly high powered and robust cabinet, though, you could always have your Backline head up there for the other guys and switch the speaker cable out. If your new head's in a rack, just put it on top or below the Backline and put the front cover on it. That way, you can set it to whatever you want and know it'll be that way when you play, and all you'll have to switch is a speaker cable and an instrument cable.

 

[melodicly]

Now, if he's a she, no problem.

Ain't it funny how that works?

She's the only one I've ever let play my bass and I didn't think twice about it. I do know her though and how bad ass she is.

 

[Josh Pelican]

I definitely don't like letting people borrow my gear. I was playing in a deathcore band last year and a crust band asked to my rig. I only said yes because I knew the guys. I don't like letting people use my gear, and I certainly don't let anyone touch my basses. When people even borrow cables, I'm on them as soon as they start walking off the stage. Gear loves to go missing in this city.

I never ask bands if I can use their gear, either. At one point I had a head, but didn't have a cabinet. A band I was in kept asking me to borrow the band's cabinet, but I had them ask for me. I've played shows with very small stages that had several or six Ampeg 810s on them. I still loaded mine onto the stage.

I had when that happens, though. Of course, since two or three bands were touring, they had their **** on stage first. There was almost no room for my gear and I was playing first. The most annoying thing is when they cramp their stuff onto a tiny stage so the local bands can't put theirs up. Some bands won't even bring their gear out until they're going on stage.

 

[Billy3000]

I don't have a problem with other bassists using my rig, but I always help them set it up and make sure that if they're playing an active bass I press the -15db button in. One time, a guy using my rig for some reason turned the decibel cut off cause he didn't think he was loud enough with it pressed, I jumped up on stage in the middle of their song and pressed it again cause it sounded like my speakers were going to explode. Now I give anyone using my rig a tutorial before they use it.

I don't mind other bassists using my cab, that happens at most shows actually. One time a guy wanted to use his head into my cab, and his head only had bannana plug outs, and he didn't have a proper speaker cable, it was some rigged together banana plug to patch cable to "speaker cable" thing. I say "speaker cable" in quotation marks because it was as thin as my ipod headphone wires, and it was seriously like 3 cables rigged together. I told him he couldn't use it and he had to use my head and not change my settings if he wanted to use my cab.

 

[loopee]

Simple, go to your neighbourhood music store and rent a rig. Preferably the one you would like to buy, that way you get to hear it in a gig setting before you spend your money on it......

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.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Most gigs I play are 4 or 5 bands, or more. So it's. Pretty much required that each band get their gear on/off the stage during their set. The eception are traveling international acts. But they often pair up with a stateside band for their tour.

I used to get crazy dirty looks when I borrowed cabs from other bassists. 20 years ago there were not a lot of other bassists that used distortion. I had some guys flip out because they thought the distortion would blow their cabs.

 

[bazzanderson]

When I hear "oh the whole bass, guitar and drums will be house back-lined" I now ALWAYS bring my modest rig (GK 1001RBII and GenzBenz Neo 212). I have never played a house back-lined bass rig that was worth a damn and I've been burnt twice showing up for a decent sized gig/stage with a tiny bass combo amp. The other time was an outside gig with a GK800 and a no name 212 that literally blew on my 1st note....couldn't get a replacement while the band was playing so I walked off stage and watched the band play without bass.

As far as loaning my rig out....I've done it in the past without any issues BUT it's a huge pet peeve of mine. A bassist showing up for a gig unprepared is not acceptable in any way because I would never do that. If you know you need a bass rig for an upcoming gig go and rent one...plain and simple. Now if a bassist was on stage and started experiencing technical problems then I would most likely load my rig on stage for him but that would be THE only time I'd volunteer it.

We did play a gig a few years ago with a Boston punk band. The guys in the band were pretty cool but the bassist went on tour WITHOUT a bass rig. I guess he just expected to borrow one at every show they played. Who does that?! I let him borrow mine and everything worked out well and he sounded great but I was still floored at the mind-set of going on tour without a bass rig.