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Should I Lend out my Rig?
- Thread starter jmattbassplaya
- Start date
Well think of it like this. if your drummer says they are "professionals" then if any accidents occur they will be professional about it and fix it. its your call but its not like you are handing it to some stranger in a back alley, your drummer knows the guy. i don't mean to be offensive at all I'm just saying help a fellow bass player out if it seems reasonable.
Considering the lip he was giving me over the phone he wasn`t even mad at all...
I don`t get this guy sometimes...Their bassist ended up renting an Ampeg combo and everything turned out fine. We actually ended up playing a kegger with them (awkward) but it was cool. The band members didn`t seem to care about the amp situation (edit - they didn`t seem to care, but none of the members even talked to me during this whole 3 hour period except for the drummer) and their drummer genuinely was a nice guy when I talked to him. On top of that, they also were genuinely very good players.
That said, do I feel any remorse for not lending out my gear? Well at first I did, but then I found out that they had spent all their gig earnings on drugs and beer and didn`t even have money to get home so throughout their set they were asking for donations for gas money... Nice... So yeah, not really the kind of people I`d want in possession of my gear without me around.
But if anything good came from this situation it`s that I got to hear a really good band play and I now have some good ideas as to how to make our band sound tighter.
Don't feel bad. These knuckleheads were very dangerous. You escaped without loss, but the story could have ended very differently.
Helping fellow musicians is all great, but the people you help have to be worthy of the help. People who get on the road without a gear plan, and people who need donations to get home because they blew their wad on beer and drugs - are Not worthy of help.
If your musical circle is going to continue to have you running into knuckleheads like that, then you need another musical circle.
Helping fellow musicians is all great, but the people you help have to be worthy of the help. People who get on the road without a gear plan, and people who need donations to get home because they blew their wad on beer and drugs - are Not worthy of help.
If your musical circle is going to continue to have you running into knuckleheads like that, then you need another musical circle.
You know, I used to be very laissez faire about the whole "borrow the bass rig" thing.
I'm a cool dude, pretty chill, etc. But one night, I let the bassist from the band who was opening up for us borrow my Ashdown rig. The douchebag got drunk and/or high, cranked up the output (master) to ten, apparently thinking it was the input, and apparently thinking it was a "tube head" kind of deal and that he could get some nice overdrive.
I walked back in from taking a smoke to see him standing on our drummer's kick drum (did not go over well) and, basically, blowing up my rig. Harsh words were spoken and a Blur vs Oasis rift of biblical proportions erupted.
One blown speaker and a strange buzz in the 12-band eq later...the rig, honestly, was never the same.
So: opener for North Mississippi All-Stars, Geddy Lee, Marcus Miller, I don't care who's on the bill...use ur own damn rig. I'm tearing my **** down and putting it in the truck.
I'm just sayin.
I'm a cool dude, pretty chill, etc. But one night, I let the bassist from the band who was opening up for us borrow my Ashdown rig. The douchebag got drunk and/or high, cranked up the output (master) to ten, apparently thinking it was the input, and apparently thinking it was a "tube head" kind of deal and that he could get some nice overdrive.
I walked back in from taking a smoke to see him standing on our drummer's kick drum (did not go over well) and, basically, blowing up my rig. Harsh words were spoken and a Blur vs Oasis rift of biblical proportions erupted.
One blown speaker and a strange buzz in the 12-band eq later...the rig, honestly, was never the same.
So: opener for North Mississippi All-Stars, Geddy Lee, Marcus Miller, I don't care who's on the bill...use ur own damn rig. I'm tearing my **** down and putting it in the truck.
I'm just sayin.
Jmattbassplaya,
I have an idea for you to teach your guitar player an important lesson.
Next time you are at a gig think of an excuse to borrow the guitar player's car keys. You have to get something out of his car or whatever. Then move his car out of site.
Come back in and try to avoid the guitar player. Hopefully he will be busy setting up and forget that he lent you the keys. When he does go out to his car he will be shocked that the car is gone. When he asks you about the car tell him that you lent it to a friend and he should be back in an hour or so.
After the guitar player gets done screaming at you. Hand him the keys, tell him the car is around the corner.....and tell him "Now you know how it feels to have other people lend your stuff out without your permission!"
I have an idea for you to teach your guitar player an important lesson.
Next time you are at a gig think of an excuse to borrow the guitar player's car keys. You have to get something out of his car or whatever. Then move his car out of site.
Come back in and try to avoid the guitar player. Hopefully he will be busy setting up and forget that he lent you the keys. When he does go out to his car he will be shocked that the car is gone. When he asks you about the car tell him that you lent it to a friend and he should be back in an hour or so.
After the guitar player gets done screaming at you. Hand him the keys, tell him the car is around the corner.....and tell him "Now you know how it feels to have other people lend your stuff out without your permission!"
For a long time I was the only guy in the area who had Ampeg gear, and a local club owner who booked touring national rock acts would call me and ask to use my gear for backline. The last time he asked was a few years ago for Quiet Riot. I always told him ABSOLUTELY NOT, but he would keep calling anyway.
If it was for a local guy who I know personally or is a buddy, I have no problem helping them out in a pinch. But if I don't know you - No way!
If it was for a local guy who I know personally or is a buddy, I have no problem helping them out in a pinch. But if I don't know you - No way!
Now you know why the bassist doesn't have an amp. The "Mooch" hypothesis is confirmed.
Yes it is.
But honestly, I don`t know how they could of spent (supposedly) almost $1,000 in one day and still not have anything left over for gas... It seems like they just wanted to squeeze every dollar they could out of everyone.
Worse yet, the guy borrowing the rig gets to see her boobies, not you.. cause you know they're popping out at some point. Its Drunken Stumbling Chick trademark....ah yes... the drunken stumbling chick holding a beer AND a smoke in one hand, and a gooey hot wing in the other... as she fumbles into, and drools on your amp stack, smearing hot sauce on your rig in the process, saying... "****, these wings are spicey!".
Not a pretty picture
Randy
So now you know why they didn't have sufficient gear and/or transportation to get their gear to the gig.
They have the right idea, reinvesting your earnings into the band is certainly a splendid idea. I do think they may need to reprioritize what specific things they invest in. Priorities may be out of whack.
Hopefully they saved some of the beer for the drive home.
Also consider maybe they didn't really spend all the gig money on beer and drugs, they're just using the as an excuse to beg for money from the crowd. Doesn't change the situation, either they're irresponsible, or dishonest, both excellent reasons to not let them use your gear.
Looks like you did the right thing.
Randy
No.
I lend out my gear to bass players I know and who have enough money to pay for repairs or a replacement if it comes back damaged, or doesn't come back at all.
I've let other bass players use my rig at multi-band shows where I'm playing a set, as long as I don't have to split right after my set.
I lend out my gear to bass players I know and who have enough money to pay for repairs or a replacement if it comes back damaged, or doesn't come back at all.
I've let other bass players use my rig at multi-band shows where I'm playing a set, as long as I don't have to split right after my set.
Good point.
However, I'm sure the other band's bass player would be more than willing to borrow someone else's rig to replace jmattbassplaya's if it was damaged while he was borrowing it....
Randy
It's funny: The longest a band had lasted for me before my current main band started was seven months. This band has been together for almost 17 years. My "other band" "breaks up" periodically, but we've been together for almost six years.
So many people resist getting older, it's been a Godsend for me.
KO
