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People wanting to use your rig

Mantis Tobaggan

Mantis Tobaggan

Sep 9, 2015
6,564
14,647
St. Petersburg, FL
www.westerveltlawfirm.com
#1
The singer in my band does a certain cover act with a group of friends every holloween. Last year they borrowed my rig. Since then, i got a kickass 810 with an svt 7. Ive been playing 22 years and only just got this pro status rig. We share a practice space and my singer called to ask if they could use it for practice last night and mentioned they may need my old rig for their show. My old rig is all the way at my house which is across town and i practice on it. My band has a gig 10/30 and theirs is 10/31. I really dont want anyone using my new rig at all and i really dont feel like hauling my old rig. I also dont want to be a jerk and want to be a nice guy. What do you guys think? I
let them use my nice rig last night, but how would you treat this going forward?
 
#2
Maybe your singer should hire players that actually have what they need to do a gig. I would never (ever) try to join a band without a bass or an amp. It blows my mind that there are players out there who just assume they can just mooch off of someone else's hard earned money that they spent.

Why would you need to play roadie and haul the rig for their gig? Why can't they pick it up and drop it off? If (IF!!!) you decided to let them use the rig it seems only fair that they take care of that end of things.
 
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#5
no way.

Be straight. It is simply too easy with high powered bass heads to damage drivers to loan that equipment out. If a driver fries, dude says "I heard that can crap out on the first note, so I didn't do it, you musta." And you're screwed. You either start a war for reparations or you swallow it.

What's more, how can you trust a dude with all that power when he doesn't have his own rig? No rig means no experience running a bass rig.

no way.
 
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#6
The best way to handle potential situations like this is at the beginning. The bands I play in know up front that I am not in the gear rental business. I make that perfectly clear in the beginning. If you don't pay for the gear, then you don't touch it. Period! I treat their gear with the same respect as well.

Since you are already into this situation, the only proper way to handle it is to talk to your friend face-to-face. Be nice, but firm. Lay out the scenario and ask who is going to be responsible if something happens to your gear. Ask if the person he is borrowing gear for has the funds to replace broken or lost gear.
 
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#9
"Sure you can use it - just give me a CASH deposit for the full cost of the rig plus 15 hours of my time at $50/hr to take care of any damage to the rig"

Hey - he is a singer, not a musician! How do you know that you are going to get your rig back in good shape? Tell them to rent a rig.

Yeah, I may sound harsh but I lost a large Sonor drum kit from being a nice guy and loaning it out - guy disappeared with my kit. Given the sizes and numbers of drums and cymbals it would be about $12k to replace it today! Am I bitter much?

Dan
 
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#10
Sadly, it seems, no one treats someone else's gear well, or even as they treat their own, so I never lend my gear to anyone. They will never replace or repair it if they break something so never is my final word to them.

I am in the house band for a Jam night so others do use my gear but only under strict supervision. I've had beginners through pro's and even people I'd consider friends try to abuse my gear on the jam night so I will step in and turn them down.
 
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#12
No. No. and Hell No.
Gear only gets loaned out to dear, close friends that I trust and who I know will compensate me should any misfortune befall my gear. On top of that, those friends would never ask me to inconvenience myself as if letting them borrow my gear was a privilege.
 
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#14
Mantis Tobaggan said:
I also dont want to be a jerk and want to be a nice guy.
Click to expand...
Mantis Tobaggan said:
I want to be a nice guy and help out
Click to expand...
I think I've identified the problem. There is a difference between being a nice guy and letting yourself be used. Trust me, when you let yourself be used they don't really like you anyway and they definitely don't respect you. ;)
 
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#15
Mantis Tobaggan said:
Yeah it sucks but i may drive the forty minutes to get my amp head out of the practice space ... I want to be a nice guy and help out but i also dont want anything to happen to it.
Click to expand...

I'll share if I'm playing before or after but not if it requires hanging out an extra 4 hours. If I remember correctly your practice rig is nice too. I'd tell it will at least cost food and beer.
 
#17
Our band was opening for another one at a bar gig so the main act asked if they could use my rackmounted SVT. I have no idea what they use as a bass amp otherwise. (This is one of those rediculous bands that pass the bass around to 3 different guitarists depending on the song)

The next day it took me hours to take everything out and clean it since the singer decided it made for a perfect place to put (and spill) his beer. Fortunately, none got into the amp or other components itself.

Never again.
 
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