Unless I totally misunderstand the meaning of the first sentence, your response was totally inappropriate.
Here is the sentence I am referring to:
''I drove an hour to get to the rehearsal to work on material for your gig carrying the upright bass."
If it's the guitar players gig, you don't really have a say in the quality IMHO.
It sounds like you have basically committed blind to a gig that does not meet your expectations. Since time has already been invested in a rehearsal, I suggest going through with the service unless serious damage will occur to your reputation, which is highly doubtful.
If the guitarist agrees, you could try to bow out gracefully if someone else can cover the gig. But generally the expectation is you make an effort to find the sub...so you will be asking someone else to clean up a situation you perceive as a mess, which would be sort of a deuce
move.
I have done sub work for some of my peers where musicianship and/or the situation turned out to be something I really did not want to deal with. But as a professional I did my best to get through the service.
I subbed on one gig where the guy showed up after the scheduled down beat and expected me to help unload and setup his gear (PA and keys) because he was handicapped. He also expected me hang out and help him tear down and load after the gig. The pay was about $50 and musicianship was pretty low (IMHO). Let's be clear, the audience did not notice or care about the quality of our playing, but it was not enjoyable for me, so this was a personal matter.
To make matters worse, he wanted to call all of the shots on solos; basically meaning he only sent stuff my way that he did not want to play, and the tunes I normally solo on he refused to offer. I am used to working with people who make eye contact, so you can accept or reject the solo...and it happens on every tune. If we are playing a super fast bop tune, chances are I will nod it off, unless I have really put in the time to work it up.
He was disappointed and upset that I didn't play ever solo he tried to send my way, and I was
and frustrated with his crappy time and leadership style, but I remained courteous, got through the gig, and helped him load his gear even though he really seemed to be screwing around and going about it as slowly as he could.
I told the guy who asked me to cover the gig, never again. Unfortunately, this came off reflecting poorly on me, but probably not as bad as it would have if I had done what I felt like doing, which was leaving in the middle of the gig.
Actually I have felt like that on several sub gigs I have done. There are lots of working bands that perform at a really low quality level. The don't play well, but they know a lot of material, and they work cheap so they get lot's of work. Not my thing. I am more into situations where the expectation is to prepare and play well, rather than be able to pull a bunch of rabbits out of my rear end. So I guess I don't have the right skills or attitude for this class of work.
For context, both of the players who asked me to sub for them were far better than I was, and they were happy with the jobs they asked me to sub on. So I guess the problem was really me.
My advice is be a bit more careful about the jobs you take; make sure they meet your expectations before you make a commitment.
