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What should i do?

bassnug47

bassnug47

Oct 7, 2007
209
1
Birmingham AL
Disclosures
life is good, Dead is better
#1
today, i was at a jazz gig. we were having a good time playing some nice standards, just passing solos around the combo. i was playing my warwick fretless, and there was a Double bassist present as well, we were taking turns on songs. I let the other bassist play my Wick' on the song Some SKunk Funk (awesome song, to bad it was his turn to play:crying: ) whilst i was playing congas (it was really fun:D), the bassist took a solo, and started a wierd little slap thing that sounded somewhat ****** with that particular song... well, he did this wierd really really heavy chord slide and i heard a loud clank, and turned to find that he had broken my D and G sring.

no big deal right...... WRONG! these were my fairly new ( bout 2 weeks old) TI jazz flats (60 dollar strings!). i am tight on cash at the moment, should i make him buy me a new set?

They were not a dud set, he just pretty much ripped them out really agressivley.
 
#4
+1 to the above responses.

However, be polite about it if he doesn't pay up. That way when you play the next show with him you can "accidentally" knock over his DB when he's not paying attention (or just slash his tires or call up his girlfriend when he's not there and say you're calling from an A.I.D.S. testing facility and need to speak to him about something very important).
 
#6
Or plant drugs in his double bass and anonymously tip-off the police. Make sure to become penpals with his cellmate. Get his cellmate to constantly make the guards suspicious enough to cavity search the ess-oh-bee. Seduce his wife while he is incarcerated. Mail him pictures. At Christmas. Be sure to tell him his kids call you "daddy" now...and so does his wife. When he is released from prison, meet him at the gate, tell him, "reciprocity is a bitch!" and kick him in the yambag. Pee on him. Have his former wife pee on him. Invite the guards to pee on him. Put the video on Youtube. Email him the link. Then, bill him for one set of strings.
 
#8
Smurf-o-Deth said:
Or plant drugs in his double bass and anonymously tip-off the police. Make sure to become penpals with his cellmate. Get his cellmate to constantly make the guards suspicious enough to cavity search the ess-oh-bee. Seduce his wife while he is incarcerated. Mail him pictures. At Christmas. Be sure to tell him his kids call you "daddy" now...and so does his wife. When he is released from prison, meet him at the gate, tell him, "reciprocity is a bitch!" and kick him in the yambag. Pee on him. Have his former wife pee on him. Invite the guards to pee on him. Put the video on Youtube. Email him the link. Then, bill him for one set of strings.
Click to expand...

Aaaaaaaaannnnddddd


/thread.
 
#9
Smurf-o-Deth said:
Or plant drugs in his double bass and anonymously tip-off the police. Make sure to become penpals with his cellmate. Get his cellmate to constantly make the guards suspicious enough to cavity search the ess-oh-bee. Seduce his wife while he is incarcerated. Mail him pictures. At Christmas. Be sure to tell him his kids call you "daddy" now...and so does his wife. When he is released from prison, meet him at the gate, tell him, "reciprocity is a bitch!" and kick him in the yambag. Pee on him. Have his former wife pee on him. Invite the guards to pee on him. Put the video on Youtube. Email him the link. Then, bill him for one set of strings.
Click to expand...

That is pretty sound advice, I think.
 
#11
Dude broke your stuff, plain and simple.

Any respectable bassist would have, at the very least, not thrashed your bass and broken your strings in the first place. Failing that, they should've approached you, apologized for it and offered to pay for them (an entire set). I mean realistically, if the set had been on for very long, the remaining strings will likely sound very different from the new ones and that just won't do. I might see it as an opportunity to teach someone a lesson. If the chap was any bright at all, he'd have already been treating your baby gingerly and if he was real smart he'd of realized what strings he was playing on and not been quite so abusive. Still, people never cease to amaze me with their infinite stupidity so I try not to give them an inch to start with.

Before I let people play one of my instruments I make sure that they understand and agree to my conditions. I don't have to do this very often anymore because I'm no longer a house bassist for a jam session. Back then, I'd bring a sturdy 4-banger for bassists to use since I wasn't entirely comfortable with them playing my 5 or 6 string and most of them preferred a 4 anyway. Certainly, folks that I trust or know to be of good character, are welcome to play anything they like, still acknowledging the rules, but I can't stand the random jerk that comes and demolishes an instrument to show off to his friends or for his own amusement. That sort of absent-minded abuse is too-often dismissed and I don't put up with it.

Most of my gigs these days consist of several bands playing one hour sets throughout the night. Nobody really shares equipment, save for the house gear of course. Everyone brings their own instruments, their own cables, etc. We don't often have rhythm section players sit in so there's not much of that though those that do sit in are trustworthy and wouldn't hesitate to pay for a string or a set had they broken one or several. Regardless of whether the person is a total stranger or trusted friend, they should take full responsibility for their actions and reimburse you fully not only for the two strings broken but also possibly for a whole new set. That's up to you. I don't see why you should have to be overly-nice about it. Something along the lines of, "I'll bet you didn't realize how expensive those strings were, did you?" Maybe you should teach him a lesson?

Who slaps on flats these days anyways? :eyebrow:
I know someone's gonna say they do it all the time and it sounds great but I'm just sayin'. Not the greatest noise on the earth. What's that funny quote from Tony Levin's book Beyond The Bass Clef? "It also sounded something like the movement of furniture, which He hadn't even created yet, and He was not so pleased. And He spoke to the man, saying "Don't do that!" :p
 
#12
Well, I'll take slapped flats over rounds any day of the week, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm amazed the guy didn't offer to replace the string(s) immediately. any chance at letting him off disappeared completely at that point, AFAIC. A jerk-off who breaks someones kit and doesn't offer to make amends should have to pay on principle alone.

Ask him politely how much a TI string would cost for his DB, and then explain you are asking because you use the same brand and the price isn't far off, and you really can't afford to replace it right now. If he doesn't offer then just flat out tell him you want the cash, no discussion.
 
#15
One string, any brand can have a bad egg in the basket.

TWO strings at the same time? He is a moron who should have bent over backwards apologizing for being so hard on your axe.


Ask for the money, be polite, be firm, and don't take no for an answer. This was not a $20 set of boomers he broke.

If he disagrees, this is a player you don't need to associate with, and you should take every opportunity to tell evey musician in town
 
#19
I've never broke a string on a bass while playing, so if he broke two that was some serious bass abuse. Remarkable if he really doesn't realize he owes you a new set.

Tell him (or sms him) the strings were new and what you paid for them. Then tell him you can't use the bass with two missing strings... Maybe he gets the hint. If not, never let him your bass again and tell every musician you know "he's a bass abuser - borrow your instruments to him at your own risk".

IMO, you should ask him to buy a whole set. Then he perhaps gets that he can't be that abusive to other peoples' instruments.
 

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