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"No, you may not use my amp."

#23
Weird. If anything, I've had folks offer me the use of their rig and I decline. I'm sure they're just trying to make life easy for me, to ensure a smooth transition between bands, and I appreciate that but my head and cab are a large part of my tone, dammit!!

Of course, maybe it's because they see that little bitty Markbass head and have never heard of Low Down Sound so they feel sorry for me?...
 
#24
Played a show in some punk club in Iowa a few years ago. First band goes on and by the end of their third song their bass player has managed to break multiple strings on his two basses because he decided to play excessively aggressive to hear himself instead of turning his amp up. Also because it was "punk" to do so it seems.

He comes up to me and asks if he can borrow my bass, I had to decline because my bass was still buried under drum equipment in the van (true). He then gets pissy and storms off.

I honestly don't understand people sometimes. :hmm:
 
#26
Lowbrow said:
To help relieve the burden on all - and to save changeover time - the members of the bands on a given bill would often work out an arrangement like you bring drums, we'll bring bass amp, you can use my cab but bring your own head, we'll bring everything and split the van fee, etc.

This worked out to the benefit of all. BUT the key is in communicating BEFORE the gig rather than ambushing other bandmembers. The communication also helped create an inter-band dialogue that worked to make everyone act responsibly with one another's gear. I can say I never had a problem.
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+1.

If we knew the other bands we were playing with at a given show, we'd always work out something ahead of time to make it easier on everyone.
 
#27
There are two people that I will loan/allow to use my gear. One because her husband is the area amp/instrument repairman,and she lets me rock her gear/vintage basses anytime I want,and the other because he'd give me his shirt in a snowstorm if I asked. Everyone else can buy their own,friends or not!
 
#28
My three "lending" stories:

#1 - A very good friend of mine Joe Potts who was an awesome bass player toasted his amp and was about to go on a month or so tour in the Northeast. He called me up: "I hate to ask but could I use your GK head for a month or so while we are on this tour?" - Being a stand up guy and he has helped me with some car stuff as we were both mechanics at the time, I said sure and offered my cabinet as well. He just needed the head. Since I was playing guitar and not much bass at the time, I let him use it for a while longer in hopes he got a new amp soon. Weeks turned into months which turned into years. After a while, life happened. He got married, moved to a new house (still local) but we lost touch here and there and I haven't spoken to him in about 7 years or so. Its been about 15 years since I loaned him the amp. I don't think I am getting the amp back. Life lesson 1 - if you loan it, make sure you get it back or get something in exchange until it is returned.

#2 - I was in another band filling in as their bassest while the full time guy was in college. I had a 4 channel 100w Crate PA head with Community speakers on stands. Since they didn't have a PA we used mine. I played on an off with them and moved onto another band. They borrowed the PA a few times for a month or two at a time. I get a phone call that said "Your amp is F'd up come pick it up". I told them since they had it, they have to pay for the repair. They said "No way, you bought a junk PA" - Yes, Crates may have not been the high end equipement but I never had a problem (I owned 4 other Crate amps). I got the amp head back and there were screws missing and it looked like someone was messing around inside. Apparently they wired some other speaker wire to the leads and hooked them up to house speakers. Wrong wattage and Ohms. $89 later I had the amp fixed and billed them. It took weeks to get the money but that killed the friendship. Life Lesson 2 - Make sure they know if they break it, they fix it.

#3 - I played at this hole called Faces in Keansburg NJ and my band was on third to last. My buddys band played last. They were a couple songs from the end and my bud's jack craps out on his bass and it was cracking or not playing at all (broken wire). He asked if I had my bass still in the back room. The problem was I played left and right handed and used the lefty bass that night. Since we jammed all the time and I knew how to play his songs, plus they did a cover of Skulls from Misfits and Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop, I just played the rest of his gig for him. That was an awesome show.
 
#33
The answer is simple - rent out your back line gear to other bands cash in advance of the performance. Just tell them that you don't loan gear but would be happy to rent you the use of my amps for a nominal fee. I rent out time in my rehearsal studio to other bands which includes a PA and backline amps all the time. It's a win win for everyone - the other bands have a nice place to practice and don't have to load gear. I get some loose change in my pocket to help pay for upgraded equipment and maintenance costs. If the other bands don't want to pitch in a few bucks to help your transportation cost, time you spent loading gear in and out and initial gear expenses then politely tell them sorry - you can't borrow my gear. Most reasonable folks would be happy to throw you a few dollars especially if they showed up at a gig with no gear.
 
#35
When I was gigging more frequently I did have to use other people's amps quite often, as I was getting around with public transport and simply could not get my hulking great lump of a combo to the venues. Nowadays I have a DI box in my pedalboard, so I can go ampless if I really need to. On the few gigs that I did have my amp, I let the other bass players use it.
 
#37
Pacman said:
One thing I love about Tokyo, all the clubs have their own gear. And it's always in great shape.
Click to expand...

I can't understand this about some places. They have tens of thousands of dollars (maybe more?) invested in a big PA, but can't afford to keep a cheap bass amp around? For the places where your amp is basically just a monitor, a Peavey TNT would be good enough and is basically bulletproof.
 

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