Other bands thinking my gear is theirs.

[john_g]

I think alot of people here are assuming that all bass players are going to know how to use every bass amp responsibly. Adjust some settings to get a good sound for them, etc, but I can tell you from experience that isnt the case. Im guessing these are all originals bands sharing a gig, and probably alot younger than some of us (like me!). These probably arent a bunch of 40 year old TBers with the good sense of what to do...they are nervously trying to get their stuff set up and could easily jack up the volume and bass and do some damage. I provided my gear for backline exactly twice when I was young and one of those times my combo amp was blown because a guy turned up the volume ALOT, then proceeded to start slapping the hell out of the bass until my (only) amp fried. Yeah, what was that guys response..."hey, your amp is a piece of crap, it broke on me!"

I personally wouldnt provide backline if I was the OP.

 

[danosix]

Let me just add, I alway contact the bands before the gig and ask them if they are bringing their own bass amp, if they say no I tell them that they can use my amp but they cannot touch the eq settings on it as I have OCD.
The bassist who came up to me and said to write down everything did not say it in a nice manner, he was commanding me and had already been drinking, sorry if I sound anal to some people but that's just how I am with my equipment.
BTW the amp I'm using is a Ampeg HSVT-CL Heritage.

Yeah, I kinda thought he was being a douche the way you wrote it. That does make a difference. However, it's completely valid to say the other bands CAN'T use the rig use the rig, but you can't let them use it half-way.
For the Record - if I have to use someone else's amp (rarely -usually the other way around) I leave the settings alone except maybe gain to match my bass and I always ASK NICELY (that's for the other guy if he's reading). Also: "other guy", that's TWO instructions: ASK and NICELY.

 

[groovatron]

I was in a band once that hosted a weekly jam on Wednesday night.

Not many bassists came in, so I was mainly thehouse guy for most of the night. If someone did come in though, I made sure that when I left my amp, a Peavey Mark IV, I always punched out the EQ circuit, so the signal was going only through the analog preamp controls.

That way, the signal was not as hot, and NOBODY sounded as good as I did.

Where is my "unlike" button?

 

[Broadbandcorpse]

Why on earth would you do that? Especially if you're OCD? I've played around 2000 gigs in my life, and I never once contacted other bands asking if they were bringing an amp and offering mine. I can't imagine a single valid reason for doing that.

I always contact the bands to ask just to check as I don't want to just bring my DI box and they're stuck if they bring a passive bass as I sometimes use that if it's a small place as I use active basses so I can just plug straight into mine or the venues DI

 

[danosix]

Let me just add, I alway contact the bands before the gig and ask them if they are bringing their own bashat they can use my amp but they cannot touch the eq settings on it as I have OCD.
The bassist who came up to me and said to write down everything did not say it in a nice manner, he was commanding me and had already been drinking, sorry if I sound anal to some people but that's just how I am with my equipment.
BTW the amp I'm using is a Ampeg HSVT-CL Heritage.

I'm going to agree with the others here - don't volunteer your amp. That's the easiest thing. An SVT is a huge investment and I can understand being cautious of it, but if that's the case simply say "NO" to the whole deal. Certainly don't call people just to tell them they can use your amp but not the knobs.
Now, when I show up somewhere and some guy TELLS me he's using my amp and that he's going to need to change my settings, I get a little steamed as I was never consulted and that's just plain rude. I have said no to people TELLING me they are using my rig simply because that ain't cool (also, the guy who I did this too had his own rig and wanted to use mine IN ADDITION which was unnecessary (small room) and he wasn't offering to let me on the "rig of doom" he wanted to recruit my amp into.

 

[Broadbandcorpse]

Yeah, I kinda thought he was being a douche the way you wrote it. That does make a difference. However, it's completely valid to say the other bands CAN'T use the rig use the rig, but you can't let them use it half-way.
For the Record - if I have to use someone else's amp (rarely -usually the other way around) I leave the settings alone except maybe gain to match my bass and I always ASK NICELY (that's for the other guy if he's reading). Also: "other guy", that's TWO instructions: ASK and NICELY.

If I have to use someone else's amp I don't touch it at all as I don't want to mess with they're sound, the only time I will ask to touch the amp is to plug in my pedalboard and only then if the bassist says it's fine and looks at the gear I will be putting throught the amp.

 

[danosix]

I was in a band once that hosted a weekly jam on Wednesday night.

Not many bassists came in, so I was mainly thehouse guy for most of the night. If someone did come in though, I made sure that when I left my amp, a Peavey Mark IV, I always punched out the EQ circuit, so the signal was going only through the analog preamp controls.

That way, the signal was not as hot, and NOBODY sounded as good as I did.

Not cool man. Never sabotage the other acts. Again - you can say "NO" you should not say "Mwa Ha Ha, you will all sound sucky!!!!"

 

[FretNoMore]

If I have to use someone else's amp I don't touch it at all as I don't want to mess with they're sound, the only time I will ask to touch the amp is to plug in my pedalboard and only then if the bassist says it's fine and looks at the gear I will be putting throught the amp.

You're not "messing with their sound" if the settings are recorded before you dial in your sound, and then restored before the other guy starts playing. The knobs are meant to be used.

All agreed with the owner before touching the amp, of course.

 

[GuyMcee]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but you can just put tape on the amp and write down some settings above your knobs so you know what point to put them back to after someone else uses them.

 

[kbakerde]

Shows I've played we've shared Bass cabs and drum shells. Heads, cymbals, snare sticks etc are always provided by band playing.

 

[M Sterling]

When I was younger, my band opened up for a pretty well known act. I respected their bass player a good bit. We agreed to use the provided back line bass amp. They checked first, and when it was our turn, I started working on the knobs to get a sound that worked for me. The bass player came up and was a complete douche about changing his settings. I smiled and continued tweaking. He got pretty upset and tattled to the sound engineers, who just smiled at him like a spoiled toddler and walked away.

This wasn't even his amp, so imagine what he would've been like in his gear. Anyway, don't back line your amp if you don't want people using it. And yes, reasonable adjustments constitute use.

 

[jamro217]

I played a gig at a church once, and after our set one of the staff there decided he was the MC, plugged a boombox into my PA and started turning every dial on the panel. By the time I made my way back to the stage, the damage had been done. He was so close to the mic he sounded like a snorting buffalo, and then it started to feedback. When I attempted to fix the problem, he asked my what I was doing, as if it was his rig and I was some interloper. Finally, we got to next set and did a quicky sound check. I was livid, the sound wasn't right, and it was an awful gig. To add to the horror, a few weeks afterward, someone announced they saw me on tv. The worst gig in years preserved on video with me scowling. Great.

 

[NOLA Bass]

I thought the guy asking about your settings was cool. If you don't want it changed at all (within reason that they aren't blowing the thing up by being stupid), then you aren't the sharing type. The other option is to offer your cab and tell them to put their own head on top. It will save setup time of moving cabs. Otherwise, don't share I guess.

 

[gard0300]

My rig sometimes gets used by a opening band. I usually set their gain input level. Give them guidelines on maximum volume that I don't want them to go past. Outside of that, I'm pretty easy. One thing, I don't tolerate is drinks anywhere near my head. I will jump their butts pretty quick on that one.

 

[Slevage]

I was wondering if any of you have ran into this and what your response was.

I was playing a gig the other night and I had my backline set up and it was agreed since we were the headlining slot that the other two band's bassists would use my amp, it get's to sound check and my band does a sound check and then the next band gets up to do a line check and that goes through with no hitch, the final band (which opened up the show) get's on and the bassist says to me "come on stage and write down your settings so I can change it to mine" so I said "you're not touching my amp, just plug your pedal board in and line check" and he starts ranting at me and the sound guy puts him in his place so the bassist just storms out.

I have had a couple of bands say to me that they are changing the settings on my amp, it's completely wrong for someone to do that.

Any of you guys had a similar experience?

It's a non issue with me--- I know my gear well enough to get "my sound" in less than 30 seconds and tweak as I go if necessary.

I've used shared back line and everyone moves the settings to their liking and instrument. There's a huge difference in instruments (even in my own collection)--- active vs passive, piezo on my EUB.

 

[MoeTown1986]

If you're going to let someone use your amp, let them use it 100%. I'd imagine you know your settings. So, why can't they use their settings? You can easily change it back to the way you had it. That's why knobs move.

 

[BIG97BEN]

If the guy was told before hand that he wouldn't be able to, and then drunkenly tried to bully the OP into letting him do it (as the OPs follow up post made it seem) I would agree with the OP. I, myself, don't run into this at all ever because on the one side I never back lineed my stuff when I was healthy enough to carry it. Now when I play it is almost always through someone else's amp and I have a pedal board set up to get my sounds. So on the other side, I am always super polite and gracious that someone let me use their equipment, and if anything would just ask if I can flatten then EQ and put it back when I'm done. If that wouldn't work, I have a DI to go to the front and that has my sound. Either way everyone is happy. Always be prepared and polite, it's much easier in the blood pressure and knuckles that way.

 

[Happynoj]

OP posts strong opinion - most folks disagree - OP disappears from their own thread...there should be a name for this phenomenon.

Or the one where OP posts a story/opinion, everyone disagrees, OP comes back and adds additional details that suddenly make their side of the story seem much more reasonable...

 

[ggunn]

I was wondering if any of you have ran into this and what your response was.

I was playing a gig the other night and I had my backline set up and it was agreed since we were the headlining slot that the other two band's bassists would use my amp, it get's to sound check and my band does a sound check and then the next band gets up to do a line check and that goes through with no hitch, the final band (which opened up the show) get's on and the bassist says to me "come on stage and write down your settings so I can change it to mine" so I said "you're not touching my amp, just plug your pedal board in and line check" and he starts ranting at me and the sound guy puts him in his place so the bassist just storms out.

I have had a couple of bands say to me that they are changing the settings on my amp, it's completely wrong for someone to do that.

Any of you guys had a similar experience?

Sorry, but I disagree. It's a lot to expect to offer up the use of your amp and not allow the other bassist to set the controls so that he sounds right for his band. If it's your amp you should be able to dial in your settings in a few seconds no matter how they get changed.

 

[Double E]

I guess that if I was told not to mess with the backline equipment settings, I would just honor that request and not freak out. If my specific sound was that critical to the performance, I would just bring my own gear and not have to worry about it.