Is this proper jam etiquette?

[TheOxRocks]

I should have said "I was told about Kirby that night". I honestly didn't know the guy or his reputation until Saturday. Even another musician I know, who wasn't there but knows Kirby, has said that he goes to these jams because no band will hire him. Nobody seems to want to deal with endless amp-tweaking or attitude.

BTW, he was playing a Rick 4003 which, even after the endless fiddling, still sounded like crap next to my Carvin Icon 4P.

Drama queen? Hardly. "He breaks it, he buys it" is my philosophy. As I'd said earlier, nobody else fiddled with the amp - I didn't have to have this conversation with any of the other bass players who played that night. The one who did want a slight tone adjustment asked me, as the owner of a rather complicated amp head, to do it, and I happily obliged. The other guy was, simply, being a douche IMHO, and I decided not to tolerate it.

BTW, I have already been invited to the next jam. Kirby has not. I guess we know what the score is here.

 

[Fluid Power]

I agree with HDRACER, it's a jam, just play!!! No reason to mess with it.
Not to mention the respect of others.

 

[robd]

Sounds to me like you should not bring your amp to jams....what a bummer of a situation for everyone.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I find that active basses are great for plugging into strange backline. I have a decent amount of tone shaping and I don't necessarily have to mess with the amp's settings.

With that said, I'm as much of a tone freak as the next cat, but the people who play their amp all night rather than their bass or guitar drive me nuts, regardless if I'm performing with them or watching them.

 

[PortlandBass77]

Yep you did well

 

[bottomend!]

I think a 2x10" + 18" sub is excessive for an open mic.

1st response... classic TB.

 

[MegaSwing]

When I play at open mics, I rarely mess with the volume. Anything I do is improve the texture, assuming it isn't already in its sweet spot. No one has EVER told me what not to do to their rig at an open mic. I guess they sense I'm not a hack, and I would never do something a sensible player wouldn't do. But if they didn't want it messed with, I would just deal with that.

It's just an open mic.

However, if it sucked, I'd bring something to use next time. Or just not go back.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

BTW, he was playing a Rick 4003 which, even after the endless fiddling, still sounded like crap next to my Carvin Icon 4P.

Ah, the voice of insecurity right there.

 

[Lou Bottini]

F**k that guy.

 

[David Jayne]

This is when an old GK head is just the thing. Four knobs and some buttons nobody uses. Done and done.

 

[StayLow]

1st response... classic TB.

I thought the joke was obvious. Perhaps it sailed a bit high. No snark intended.

 

[Steve]

Did I do the right thing, or should I have just let him be and reset it when he was finished?

I'm thinking that you don't have the temperament for being the open mic rig guy. Which is fine. I'm not either, That's why I don't do it.

 

[squidtastic]

Sounds like the guy was a knob, but it is a bit excessive to have a "don't touch my settings" rule. That said, if you made it clear to the guy, he could've just thought to himself that you're a d*** without messing with the amp. And maybe someone needs to instruct him how to use the tone settings on his bass. If someone told me not to touch the amp, I'd tweak my bass tone till I got near what I wanted. It's not that complicated.

 

[Anti Manifesto]

I once did a barrel roll live on stage!

 

[fourstringdrums]

Even if it was excessive that you had a "don't touch my settings" rule, the fact that the guy repeatedly didn't honor your request says more about him than it does about you.

 

[hrodbert696]

Drama queen? Hardly. "He breaks it, he buys it" is my philosophy.

Sure. You've got to treat someone else's gear respectfully. But tweaking a knob is not breaking the amp.

Even if it was excessive that you had a "don't touch my settings" rule, the fact that the guy repeatedly didn't honor your request says more about him than it does about you.

I don't doubt that. It sounds like the guy was provoking the OP, no doubt he's a tool. But it's a "just cause I'm wrong, don't make you right" situation as far as I see.

 

[Slevage]

This is when an old GK head is just the thing. Four knobs and some buttons nobody uses. Done and done.

I loved the mid cut button on my old 800 when the need came up for an instant slap setting.

 

[dave_bass5]

Hmm, at first i thought the OP was well within his rights (i guess he was), but then i thought why dictate to someone else how they should sound?
I'd like to hear from the OP just what he was thinking not letting Kirby (or anyone else) adjust an amp he was obviously lending out to different bass players.
Its mine and i can do what i like to it is one valid reason, but surely they must be something behind this attitude or reasoning.

For what its worth i think Kirby acted like a prat, but it seems that is his MO.

 

[hudpucker]

I played an open-mic jam this past Saturday. Provided my bass rig - a Carvin BX1500 with 2x10 and 18 cabinets. There were three other bass players there, and we spent most of the night swapping in and out of the band. No problems anywhere...

... until Kirby showed up about three hours in. Now I'd heard about Kirby - great player, but somewhat on the eccentric side. Likes to mash-up tunes without telling the other players about it. Spends more time fiddling with his amp settings than he does actually playing. I was more than ready for him, though.

I introduced myself as the owner of the bass rig, and politely asked him if he could leave the settings as they were, since the other bass players and I were more than happy with the tone. A non-committal nod from him. When he got up, he spent at least 20 minutes tweaking seemingly every knob on the head. I sat quietly and watched. When he was satisfied, he started playing. I walked over to the amp, waited for him to finish his first song. When he turned (huge s***-eating grin on his face), I held up my cell phone to show him a picture I'd taken earlier in the evening: "These were the settings on my amp before you started monkeying around with it. What you do with your own amp is your business, but what you do with MINE is something else altogether. You can now go back to the mike and sing your second song, during which I'm going to put the amp settings back EXACTLY the way I'd had them, and which I'd asked you not to mess with. Please don't touch the amp again."

He finished his second song, and right away walked over to the amp and started playing with it again. I went over and said to him "I guess nice doesn't work on you", pulled his cord out of my amp and started breaking the amp down. The jam leader asked me not to leave as the jam would've ended at that moment, and I said "this guy doesn't understand a simple request, such as 'don't mess with the amp settings.' I couldn't have explained it in plainer English than I did. Gave him three chances. He's done, or I'm done. Your choice." The jam leader being a friend, he told Kirby to sit down for the night.

Did I do the right thing, or should I have just let him be and reset it when he was finished?

When you provide an amp for public usage it's assumed you understand that the mere settings of the tone stack may be changed.

He definitely egged you on a bit but you're being silly and ultra-anal, IMO.

 

[MegaSwing]

All this is why, as some have intoned, open mic backlines usually feature workhorse, semi-expendable gear. You never know what some idjit is ready to do with those precious knobs, and the nature of the open mic in the first place is "all comers".

Peavey combo, anyone?