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Lending Gear and Related Ethics

F

FreshTrooperXBL

Guest
Jul 24, 2011
172
6
Riverside
#1
Had to lend my amp and cab tonight for a gig. 4 hours before the gig I agreed to lend the amp to a friend's band (well vetted / respectful). Learned on the gig that friends of friends' band was expecting to also borrow the amp. Fine. "Here are the rules / Be careful" speach. Fine, he agrees. Drummer and bass player switch. If could say something I would have otherwise it's "watchful eyes" on this new dude. Now-bassist is respectful ...initially. EQ knob gets cranked and soon after the "unplug the cable / amp roaring / me turn off the amp" thing happens. Can't chew the dude out since the audience is massive, quiet, and 5 feet away. Fix it and get it good enough for their finish. Turn off and set up for our friend's band. Re-vett bassist friend and re-establish ground rules, they agree. Gear seems to be working fine. Bassist friend is respectful. End gig. My drummer tells me he also didn't agree to backline this gig for other band and says he feels like crap for lending his kit. We are both feeling the burn. Lug gear out and go home, thinking about the situation and wanting to check gear (but can't yet since it is 11:30pm).
Questions:

Should I have said "no" to lending my gear to the other band on the spot? Backstory: their from 1.5 hours away, gig was no pay for everyone, no cover fee, they own pretty good gear like us, otherwise respectable mid 20-sumthin's like us, and we turned out to be the only band with amps / drums. Friends' band is also 1.5 hour away and similar situation as us.

Should I have cut their gig short once the drummer-bassist did the "cable out / amp still on" thing?

What are your thoughts in general of "on the spot" lending of amplification?

I lost all my respect for the "other" band and probably most of it for our friends' band. They all said they were grateful for borrowing amps and me troubleshooting my gear, but I feel like the odd man out on this. I nerd out and care for my gear for a reason. I guess I also feel that I'm responsible for my own gear wherever the gig may be and others have never heard of that way of thinking.
 
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#3
I never lend my bass. If Paul McCartney walked in and asked to play it I'd say no. Also I would never lend my gear to any other bands on the night. IMO very few players look after borrowed gear as if it were their own.

I'm in the house band at a jam night so the jammers do play my gear but under total supervision. Anyone abusing the volume gets turned down, even in the middle of a number, and bad transgressions will get them banned. I've even had "friends" misuse my gear so as I'm going to pick up the bill it's my job to control things.
 
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#4
chris_b said:
I never lend my bass. If Paul McCartney walked in and asked to play it I'd say no. Also I would never lend my gear to any other bands on the night. IMO very few players look after borrowed gear as if it were their own.

I'm in the house band at a jam night so the jammers do play my gear but under total supervision. Anyone abusing the volume gets turned down, even in the middle of a number, and bad transgressions will get them banned. I've even had "friends" misuse my gear so as I'm going to pick up the bill it's my job to control things.
Click to expand...
you must be talking about another Paul McCartney who isn't a Knight of the British Empire.
 
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#7
"Hey Sharky , I've got a really important gig tonight. Can I borrow your ampeg?"
"No."
"But it sounds sooo good and this is a really important gig."
"No. If you like the sound so much , go buy one."
"But I can't afford one."
"Then you can't afford to replace mine if something happens to it."
"Aww c'mon man , we've been friends for a long time."
"Yup , and if you want to stay my friend , don't ask to borrow my rig again."

I've been playing music for 50 years now. If someone isn't responsible enough to have their own equipment , they darn sure aren't responsible enough to be able to repair or replace yours if something happens to it. If you loan it out , don't expect to get it back in the same condition it left in. If it comes back broken , don't expect "Mr. I can't afford my own gear" to be financially able to do anything about it and if he subs it out to someone else , don't expect it to be taken care of in any way , shape , or form.

Long story short , don't loan gear (or anything else for that matter) out. The least that will happen is you will get pissed off. The worst that will happen is a broken , unusable piece of equipment will be returned to you and you WILL get stuck making and paying for repairs.
 
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#8
Why would 90 minutes of travel to a gig preclude them from bringing their own amp?

My opinion is that part of being musician is having the tools to perform music.

Never, in 20 years of playing music in bands have I gone to a gig , paid or not, and not brought the equipment required for the gig with me. The Only Exception would be an open Jam , show or Festival where back line was being provided 2 all artists. In which case this would all be arranged well in advance.
 
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#10
I don't lend my gear.
Funny story: Years ago we had a Saturday night headline gig at the Whiskey. Can't remember why, but our drummer couldn't make it. Scrambled to get another drummer (had skills) ready to do that gig. Night of the show new drummer shows up and announces that his drums are locked in his studio. He has no drums with him. He's not joking. His "plan" is to ask opening band drummer if he can use his set after they're done with their set. Our whole show is riding on the opening band drummer's decision twenty minutes before we're scheduled to start. Fortunately that drummer was cool and said yes....for $400. So, while my policy is to never lend gear, I'm glad there are those out there who will.
 
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#13
FreshTrooperXBL said:
Should I have said "no" to lending my gear to the other band on the spot? Backstory: ...
Click to expand...

You can do with your gear what you will at any time. You paid for it, it is yours and you should never feel bad or in position where you cannot do with it what you please. If you have made prior arrangements with someone, then honor all of them. Otherwise you can say "no" right from the get go. The backstory doesn't matter because it's the other band's responsibility to get their gear issues taken care of. That would include making a deposit on renting your equipment. I realize this isn't a professional band setting but a professional attitude here will help a lot in the future. Treat things like this as a business arrangement and not something personal. It's great to have friends in other bands where you share equipment and stuff until things break or get stolen and then it's crickets. If you arrange the risky side of things in advance, no one has to get mad when trouble appears. You've already resolved it.
 
#14
Had this happen last summer.
We setup and soundcheck as the headliner and leave our gear on stage.
Other band takes the stage and the guitarist and bassist start plugging into our gear.
Me and the guitarist look at each other and both head for the stage.
Apparently they were under the impression they could use our gear as thats what they usually do.
Hell no was our response.
Owner of the club comes and backs us up and says off the stage or plug into the PA.
That being said, ive been on multiple band bills and have been asked to use my gear by a fellow bassist interested in trying out something i had. Ive said yes because it was in advance and i knew them.
 
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#19
My rule is simple. Nobody besides my wife (also a musician) touches any of my gear. I prefer people not to help loading my gear in or out of gigs unless band changeover needs to happen fast. Too many folks with sweaty hands who want to twiddle knobs and "slappa da bass" (somebody kill them!) when they pick up instruments that don't belong to them. I'm very OCD and keep my equipment in pristine condition and perfect (for me) setup. "That guy" always wants to adjust straps, change EQ, raise or lower cymbal stands (I'm also a drummer), etc. If I just say no then nobody gets a chance to mess my stuff up.
 
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#20
Gotta go with the majority here, nobody plays my stuff except me. Been playing 40+ years, and so has just about every bass player I know locally. We don't do it. I also stopped going to " jams " several years ago, but on the rare occaision that I do, I bring my own stuff, and take it with me when I'm done. BTW, this is probably the wrong forum to discuss this; should be in Band Management maybe.
 
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