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Lending Gear and Related Ethics

#41
If your gear is damaged where do you get gear for your next set or gig. You could have a studio session the next day. You could be called short notice for a session studio or live and now you look unprofessional. Now you're borrowing or asking the producer or engineer to use their stuff. You may be using some loaner stuff and not sounding as ideal as you'd like. The guy who hired you for the next gig and the audience are paying for you to bring your best. Your reputation is important. All of this because someone else isn't being responsible.

Ask some carpenters. They will tell you.

I'm mentioning something here that I've noticed. Your amp can't be jacked by another's actions but your cones sure can be different after being used by another musician.
 
#43
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.
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Lol I have to disagree on this... if anyone well known walked into one of MY gigs I'd be the one trying to get them up on stage to jam with us. And I let my friends borrow gear all the time and have never had a problem.
 
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#44
I can understand why people don't want to let others use their gear but to make a blanket statement that anyone who uses it will trash it would offend me if I cared enough. I was taught to take care of my things and take BETTER care of other peoples things. Most of the time an opening act is told to only brings guitars and effects so they don't have a choice anyways. I'm surprised more people haven't had to deal with this because it seems to be the norm in small bars
 
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#45
shawshank72 said:
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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***!!?? Thats messed up!! I would never work with that guy ever again, total BS!! I'm assuming this club owner never told you guys this prior to the gig...WOW!! It'd better have been an awesome gig to put up with that....
 
#46
I'll lend this (even to Paul McCartney!):
SGS2-6FLBass01.jpg
 
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#47
hintz said:
***!!?? Thats messed up!! I would never work with that guy ever again, total BS!! I'm assuming this club owner never told you guys this prior to the gig...WOW!! It'd better have been an awesome gig to put up with that....
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It was a great gig, well paying and good crowd.
For an original band a huge plus.
Wasn't the owners fault, unless you hold it against him the fact he booked them.
 
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#49
I have never had a problem lending gear out. I am not a pro, and I am not dependent on it for a living. I also have extra rigs. I play guitar bass and drums, and have extra rigs for each.
Over twenty years ago, when I played out regularly, it was the same thing. But I have to admit the quality of gear was a lot worse. Sometimes we would have to piece a band worth of gear out of three bands to make it through the night. Guitar amps seemed to have the worst luck... We were all in it together then. Good reliable gear is cheap and easily available these days....
But, if you are a pro, you definitely can say no. And, if anyone has a problem with your decision, they are not a pro. I use my truck for my livelihood, and won't lend it out. I will lend a friend pretty much anything else, but learned to draw a line if it is something I am dependent on. Friends and family are surprised when I say no.
A coworker was in a band and his guitar crapped out on him. We had worked together for five years. I liked the guy, good guitar player, but he was really rough on his gear. We would get together every once in a while and play in a friends garage. He didn't have a stand and would lay his guitar right on the concrete floor when he took a break. Anyway, he asked to borrow a guitar for a gig because his was cutting out(electrical problems). Of course he wanted to borrow one of my nice ones. I bought a Mexican strat at a pawn shop for fifty bucks, I just gave it to him. He was happy, and it probably saved our friendship.....
 
#50
This topic surfaces pretty regularly and I'm always interested to see the wildly varying opinions and experiences. Part of it is age-dependent as my gear and the way I gig now in my mid 50's is certainly different than when I was 19. Part of it is psychology dependent, especially wrt OCD (or more correctly, CDO - the letters should be in alphabetical order).

As for the question, my answer is just as my attorney ex-wife always advised - "it depends." I have been (and still am) house bassist for various jams. In that case, my amp is de facto everyone's amp assuming there are bass players that came for the jam. I can say all I want, but some guys will do what they will do. If they really are out of control I can just walk up and unplug them, and deal with the invariable mini drama that unfolds. Part of the gig. Over the probably 25 years I've been doing those, I can count on one hand the number of guys who really got out of hand.

If my band is on the bill with other bands, I'm not going to expect to loan my gear. A lot of places that do showcase gigs insist you use their backline so it is a non-issue. For other places, sometimes you stack gear with early load-in, other times you're doing the "stop talking to the girl and get your crap off the stage, I need to bring mine up" dance. In the former, it will be evident if someone is expecting to borrow gear. For the latter - I'm usually not sticking around so I'm not going to leave my gear up. Depends on the scene and what else is going on. Thankfully these days we're either the only band playing, or we're doing a set then I'm doing a quick tear down and leaving (anti-social evidently).

If another player is in a spot, I might loan depending on the situation and the vibe. Stuff happens, and I've been helped by the kindness of other musicians in the past. But if I'm not feeling it, I'm not doing it. These days I usually don't have to borrow anything as I've typically got backups for everything but I'm able to do that - not everyone can.

As for my bass, I have let some people check them out (though not borrow for a gig) - even the Fodera. Totally depends on the situation. I will say that the unlined fretless 5s get very few requests :D
 
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#52
It's all about assessing benefit vs. risk. It almost never benefits a bass player to loan gear and always carries risk.

I leave a bass rig at one of the clubs I play at a lot. Every bassist that comes through there uses it. Benefit: I don't have to haul a rig and set-up every time I play there. Risk: none. The owner of the club pays for new output tubes and service and takes total responsibility for my gear.

Would I loan my gear to bands at a no-pay show? That didn't bring there own gear? Probably because they don't have any? No. Why would anyone, ever? I wouldn't be there to begin with anyway.
 
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#53
I can see this being a really big issue for pros and even amateur band members (as far as letting people use you stuff while you are there - you can just say no to an outright loan of anything you own). I can see there is pressure and sometimes necessity to share on stage. Sadly, many people were raised by wolves and have no manners, like treating things that are not yours better than you would your own stuff, even if rented. Then there is ignorance/stupidity, which may have been why OP's stuff got a jolt from unplugging hot. Probably not by the whole story, but that guy might do the same to his own. In life experiences, I try to keep in mind that everyone is stupid in their own special way.
 
#54
I've been lending (and sometimes borrowing, back in the leaner days) for 50 years now, including setting up back-lines for blues jams and small fests, etc. So far I'm the only one who's actually broken any of my gear. I only can recall one episode - where a sit-in guy's finger started bleeding all over the bass - where I wish I hadn't. I have a couple basses on loan even now. ...it has its own rewards, at least in my value system. Now vinyl records, that's another story!
 
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#56
My band hosted a jam for a few months and our backline was used. Most people were respectful of the gear. One jam a guy I knew wanted to play with a buddy(bass player). He vouched that the guy was pro and knew what he was doing. I agreed and up they went. I noticed when they got ready to play that the bass player was having some sort of trouble. He called me to the stage and said "I can't seem to get any volume from this amp. I told him it was on MUTE. I pointed to the button that was lit up. He pushed and it just so happened the goof had the amp DIMED. My fault for letting this "Pro" use it in the first place. It never happened again because I stopped hosting the jam. The speakers were never the same. Tweeter was toast. Lesson learned.
 
#58
DonBorelli said:
You guys are a touchy bunch.
I lend gear all the time and the few times I've had to borrow gear, people have been very helpful and nice.
If your gear doesn't suck, it won't just blow up because some other guy plugs into it. Jeezes...
Just my opinion...
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I like your generosity. I like to share things, too, but have too many experiences where the lent thing came back dirty or damaged, and the other party was just oblivious. No malice, no carelessness, just different ideas or mistakes that anyone could make.
 
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#60
We regularly share our amps and kit minus cymbals, And we often use other bands gear. Never had anyone ask to borrow our guitars, yet. I think the stringed instruments are more personal.

Usually we get in touch with others before hand to arrange this, and it has worked swimmingly in the past. I got to play thru some interesting configurations that sounded killer :bassist: or they'll often help us unload, etc.
 
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