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Lending Gear and Related Ethics

#81
No one is ever like you when it comes to your gear. So unless you have a doppelgänger right by you asking if they can borrow your gear (which is highly unlikely) don't do it!
Been burned too many times on this..
I'll even share this example. I sold a fellow bass player a nice 400 watt head. Then a friendship ensued or so I thought, but he decides to loan out this very same amp to a fellow player. Common you know what happens next..I get a phone call asking me if I knew what smoke coming out of his amp means? Go figure.? Then he proceeds to tell me ( not ask ) that we have to figure a way to get his amp fixed!
You buy it, you break it, your problem.
Result: friendship over and out..
The end.
 
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#84
I've let James East play my basses a couple times - that's pretty much it. I've also let an open mic use my amp and cab, but I watched it like a hawk and made the decision, a priori, that the instant something happened I didn't like, I'd be on stage making it right. I didn't have any issues, though.

But generally speaking, if you're not a respected semi-pro, then no. (James is a pro - he's Nathan's bass player on tour).
 
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#85
Never lend gear. Was done over by an obnoxious bellend in the 80s. Killed a cab with his amp, refused to pay for the recone. His amp (terrible NZ brand) was later proven to have a severe fault in the poweramp. Made a point of never having anything to do with him again.
 
#86
Rapisme said:
No one is ever like you when it comes to your gear. So unless you have a doppelgänger right by you asking if they can borrow your gear (which is highly unlikely) don't do it!
Been burned too many times on this..
I'll even share this example. I sold a fellow bass player a nice 400 watt head. Then a friendship ensued or so I thought, but he decides to loan out this very same amp to a fellow player. Common you know what happens next..I get a phone call asking me if I knew what smoke coming out of his amp means? Go figure.? Then he proceeds to tell me ( not ask ) that we have to figure a way to get his amp fixed!
You buy it, you break it, your problem.
Result: friendship over and out..
The end.
Click to expand...
Hey, no problem: "Well, I hear Audio Design is good on amp repairs. You could give them a try."
 
#87
kat888 said:
Never lend gear. Was done over by an obnoxious bellend in the 80s. Killed a cab with his amp, refused to pay for the recone. His amp (terrible NZ brand) was later proven to have a severe fault in the poweramp. Made a point of never having anything to do with him again.
Click to expand...
"Bellend" - Never heard that before, but I love it. Let's see if it sticks.
 
#94
I really don't understand the issue here. You agreed to lend your equipment to people you didn't know (a friends band, and friends of a friends band) before the gig. Too late after the fact to be asking these questions imo. Lots of these kinds of threads here (some with much worse endings...) and I always post the same - I never lend my gear out, ever. And the only people on this earth that I would actually trust with my gear anyway happen to be the kind of people that would never ask me in the first place. :)
 
#96
I would much rather lend a bass than an amp. I dont own a bass thats any where close to expensive to repair or replace than my amp.

That being said, I have some friends that I would lend anything I own to.
 
#97
Nobody touches my gear unless I know and trust them.

I once lent an amp out to a "friend" who was in dire need. He wouldn't return it. When I eventually got it back it was in parts with missing knobs. He wanted to see what I did to it. That taught me a lesson. You have to learn to recognize who is a real friend and who isn't.
 
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#98
FreshTrooperXBL said:
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.
Click to expand...

Look, this topic pops up here ALL THE TIME...and the correct answer is always the same: You are under no obligation, ethical or otherwise, to loan your gear to anyone, at any time, for any reason EVER. Hence, there is no universally-acknowledged set of guidelines for how to manage such a situation - because it is 100% up to you.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. You've already seen the kind of thing that could so easily go wrong, anytime the gear is out of your possession and/or out of your direct control, even for a moment. This time you apparently got through it without incurring any serious damage to your gear. You got lucky. This time. Next time? Maybe not - if there's even to be a next time. :eyebrow:

MM
 
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#100
Snappy has the right idea.

s-l300 (1).jpg
 
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