I'm not gonna share my bass I think it's good to be courteous (did I mention this guy was bigger then me?) when answering. My amp I'll share cause I understand time constraints and maybe with the loading and unloading of stuff somewhere I'll be spread lugging mine and be able to use there's. But The bass is your bass. You wanna sound your best why would you use something foreign?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Hey man, Can I borrow your cord?
- Thread starter chris griffiths
- Start date
A few years ago I was asked if the groom at a wedding we were playing could sit in with the band. Since the groom was a good friend of some of my band members, I said it would be okay. You should have the look on his face when I offered him my 42" scale, 5 string,fretless electric upright bass. I did have a fretted 4 with me but wanted to teach him a lesson. teee hee!
I loan out cords, but that's about it. I'm a little paranoid after seeing many, many disasters and don't want to try and collect thousands of dollars from some idiot who broke something(s) of mine.
There is an Einstein for ya!
I would lend out my equipment if I knew the guy, if not, then no f'ng way.
As for the drunk thing, it is a fine line. I feel much more comfortable on stage and play better if I am slightly inebriated. If I am totally straight I feel very self concious on stage and because of that my playing is much more eratic and choppy. Its hard to feel the groove when your worrying about how you sound. Now the trick is not to go over the line. Luckily that hasnt happened yet, and fingers crossed that it never will.
Vegaas
There are only a very select few people I will allow to borrow any of my gear in a pinch, Funkster being one of them. If I don't know you, you are pretty much SOL. I don't like being put in that position at all and I don't understand how anyone would show at a gig without their gear assuming that they can just use my gear. Sorry Pal! That's just plain stupid IMHO. Of course I can say no in a very polite manner. 
one time i dropped my dads geetar- grounded for 5 weeks. Consequently, people have to use force to play my bass unless they are a better bassist than me, aka john entwistle, rest in peace, or people of that caliber.
I did a gig at a small bar in Oklahoma and the bar owner was a guitarist (like that never happens...). Well, his bass player shows up and he wants to sit in with our drummer and play. Does the bassist have a bass? Why NO. So, I let him play my Fender Jazz V.
Me-"It's a 5-string"
Drunk bassist-"No problem. What is the other string named?"
Me-"Umm, that's a B-string. Remeber that..."
Drunk-"No problem..."
Then proceeds to play EVERYTHING a 4th lower...What a buffoon....
I'm with ChaosGwar, I will let some idiot play my bass if I can put his wife through some playing....
Me-"It's a 5-string"
Drunk bassist-"No problem. What is the other string named?"
Me-"Umm, that's a B-string. Remeber that..."
Drunk-"No problem..."
Then proceeds to play EVERYTHING a 4th lower...What a buffoon....
I'm with ChaosGwar, I will let some idiot play my bass if I can put his wife through some playing....
The fact that someone could forget their own bass is kinda frightening. I'll let most anyone play my Samick, cuz that's my back-up bass that I got used for like $200 (Canadian), but its got some dings already, some caused by me... but nobody (well maybe my girlfriend if she wants to give it a whirl) is getting their hands on my Washburn... that is my pride and joy...until I can afford a T-Bird... which isn't happening anytime soon...
I let some people use my cord, no biggie, i get them for $15 down at the local music shop. A pedal too every once in a while, but my bass is where i draw the line.
I love this post.
NOBODY is borrowing my amp unless I'm there to haul it and hook it up. It took me too long to get it to let someone screw it up for me. No one takes care of my gear like I do.
I once let a friend use my beat up jazz for a few weeks...nice new strings come back with rust on them. I love the guy, but no one gets my bass ever again.
(by the way, I got my jazz by trading a Pentium 90 computer for it a few years back...you gotta think long term. I throw away Pentium 90s now)
NOBODY is borrowing my amp unless I'm there to haul it and hook it up. It took me too long to get it to let someone screw it up for me. No one takes care of my gear like I do.
I once let a friend use my beat up jazz for a few weeks...nice new strings come back with rust on them. I love the guy, but no one gets my bass ever again.
(by the way, I got my jazz by trading a Pentium 90 computer for it a few years back...you gotta think long term. I throw away Pentium 90s now)
hey , i havent got much equipment because im only 14 and just have a part time job , but wen i do get things i keep em safe , and wen i do get my rig , sorry but nonones using it acept people i trust , id rather keep my rig safe and well looked after then let someone use it and not aprectiate that i borrow it them , i fink wen my dad gets his carlsbrough tc60 bass amp (piggyback) down from the loft ill save my money and get a speaker , its just i look after my equipment - mics ,stands,bass,pedals,leads etc , i mean it is your money its the stuff you want to buy cuz u love playing in bands etc , you shudnt be pushed into borrowing things cuz the big fat bass dudes bigger and fatter than you , or that hes more experienced
Cannot count how many times this has happened in the past:
"Dude, nice amp! Do you think I could use it when we play our set?"
"Well, it's nice but it's a bit underpowered. I can let you use it if I can set up your gains after you tweak the tone, and you agree not to turn up past the points I set."
"Aww dude, I promise not to touch any of the knobs. It sounds great now."
If I had a dollar for every time I watched my amp go into major clipping after the guy proceeded to turn up the amp - usually happened about the third song. Like clockwork.
These days I never let anyone use my rig for a whole set. I do get occasionally roped into playing in the house band for an open mic night, where I play whenever the person sitting in needs a bassist. I let guest bassists borrow my amp but never my bass, and I still have to run up on stage between songs and twist a gain knob back to where the clip light settles back to an intermittent blink. Happens every time, even though at 400w I'm not nearly as underpowered as I used to be...
"Dude, nice amp! Do you think I could use it when we play our set?"
"Well, it's nice but it's a bit underpowered. I can let you use it if I can set up your gains after you tweak the tone, and you agree not to turn up past the points I set."
"Aww dude, I promise not to touch any of the knobs. It sounds great now."
If I had a dollar for every time I watched my amp go into major clipping after the guy proceeded to turn up the amp - usually happened about the third song. Like clockwork.
These days I never let anyone use my rig for a whole set. I do get occasionally roped into playing in the house band for an open mic night, where I play whenever the person sitting in needs a bassist. I let guest bassists borrow my amp but never my bass, and I still have to run up on stage between songs and twist a gain knob back to where the clip light settles back to an intermittent blink. Happens every time, even though at 400w I'm not nearly as underpowered as I used to be...
Wonder why we haven't had many posts from THOSE that want to borrow our gear all the time...
think about it....
think about it....
Hategear
Workin' hard at hardly workin'.
I would be very suspicious of any "musician" who told me he'd just driven over an hour to get to a gig, only to find that he'd forgotten his rig at home. You forget picks, you forget cords, maybe you forget a strap once-in-a-while, but what kind of mental midget forgets his whole rig? I mean, what the eff, people? And why is it that when someone gets too much alcohol into their system and someone in their immediate vicinity has an instrument, they assume they can play it? Like the T-shirt says: "Instant A****le, Just Add Alcohol."
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't let anyone play my bass or play through my rig unless I knew them really, really, REALLY well (like, in the Biblical sense).
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't let anyone play my bass or play through my rig unless I knew them really, really, REALLY well (like, in the Biblical sense).
The first (and last) time I let someone borrow my bass....
He was a friend and somehow managed to drop it on a CONCRETE floor (the thing had strap-locks, never figured out how he managed that...). God the horrid sound it made....
The jack got shoved into the bass, breaking the jack-plate. No other damage besides that, I almost punched him tho....
He paid for the repairs.
He was a friend and somehow managed to drop it on a CONCRETE floor (the thing had strap-locks, never figured out how he managed that...). God the horrid sound it made....
The jack got shoved into the bass, breaking the jack-plate. No other damage besides that, I almost punched him tho....
He paid for the repairs.
i only get heckled by drunks. And they always stand next to the PA....so i signal to the clubs soundguy to "give em a bash" and he turns my signal right up...at which point i hit the most terribly high patch on my pedal, and snap back the G. Generates feedback that could kill a skunk.
needless to say me and the standards soundman have a common disliking for the annoying drunkards.
needless to say me and the standards soundman have a common disliking for the annoying drunkards.
