every lining, silver cloud.

[Cup]

I've mentioned before that i've recently bought

a new ampeg svt and a new 4003. The band i'm in have just been booked for our second gig, great i

know, but as usual there's a problem . There's 4 other bands on that night, we're 4th on. I've just been informed that because of the tight shceduling of the line up, it is of course not possible for each band to have their own gear. Now

i don't know any of the other bassists playing this night, and i've just been informed that as my amp seems to be the best, i should bring mine along for everyone to use....i'm a little uncomfortable abouit this....advice please. ohh

and is this normal? i also feel i should add that

the club we're playing at is a totally well ran and organised venue...umm i'm not to sure why i actually did add that.

 

thanx cupmcmali. he smiles and gives her a orange and red gerbera.

[space-player]

I hate that... I would rather play through someones crap rig than let some hack I don't know play the rig that took me two years to buy. I don't want to be a tool, but I didn't work overtime to buy a community rig.

 

The bottom line is it's your investment, if you're not comfortable with people using it don't let them.

[Bill C from Nashvegas]

I was asked to supply my rig for a jam a few years ago. I set it up, had it sounding pretty good....then went away for a few mintues for a bite to eat. When I came back the other bass player had plugged some crappy looking compressor in, with cords that had electrical tape on them at several places, and he had turned all the knobs. He then proceeded to tell me 1) that my rig must've had a bad cabinet or bad transistor cause it sounded bad, and 2) I needed to set all my knobs the way he had them. I almost took my gear and left right then and there, but it was for a charity event and I felt I had to stay. Anyhow, I unplugged his crap, set the knobs back, turned the volume up and shook the rafters for a minute or so. I just said, "hmmm, seems to work just fine".

[ikestr]

My vote given the background about the gig would be NO. Deep do-do happens when players you dont know use your stuff. It would be a different story if you knew the players and were comfortable with them playing and respecting your gear. But in this situation NO, dont do it. Trust me, you will avoid a ton of heartache.

 

ikestr

[Jason Hoyt]

I hate that. I didn't starve and eat ramen noodles for a year, just so joe-bob dipshit, and his band of merry mensch's can go and feel (for a brief moment), what its like to have nice gear. This is before he cranks my SVT4Pro to hear 1600 watts bridged/mono,blowing my cabinet to shit. Screw that. Tell the club its busted, and in the mail-on the way to the manufacturer. ...

[g.]

4 bands in one night tells the story.

[jeremy c]

I brought my amp to a gig once and then was told that it was a jam session and they would use my amp (which at the time was a Yamaha pre-amp, Crown power amp, Boogie 1X15 cabinet).

 

Someone sat in and plugged in some kind of Peavey bass synth and blew the speaker.

 

The bandleader gave me $80 to replace the speakers (money which he was going to pay the rest of the band). Everybody was totally pissed off.

 

It ended up costing $120 to recone the speaker.

 

I never played with that band again, even though I had enjoyed the music.

 

Another gig that I played had a "house amp"..they said I didn't need to bring one. It turned out to be a Fender Bassman with the original 2x12 cabinet. Sounded nice at low volumes but it couldn't keep up with the band.

 

I always bring my own gear now and if someone wants to sit in, I ask them if they brought their gear. No one ever asks the sax player, "can I borrow your tenor and sit in?"

[Jason Hoyt]

I actually feel worse for drummers... Its almost expected that they share a setup... Oh, and Cupmcali, it doesn't matter how professional the venue is, you can never count on the next player to respect your gear as much as you do... All it takes is one moron to take all the hard work you have invested and turn it into a pile of smokin' rubble...

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

I would say no and mention to the club that the other players could go direct. Everytime I've played, I've always been direct and then the amp. Any soundman worth his asking price should have no problem. That way, you can save your back and just bring your bass.

[Wickerman]

Man. I'd just be honest and say it's a brand new rig and you're not comfortable having strangers play it. See if someone else could bring something or if you have to bring your rig make sure you have a witnessed verbal agreement with the other bass players "You break it, you pay for it."

[dcr]

A verbal agreement will be worth the air it was spoken in. If you do it, which I would not (notice a theme here?), I'd get an agreement in writing.

 

Picking up on bassape's remark--what's the deal with drum kits? Why the heck is it that every doofus & his eight-year-old kid thinks it's "probably just fine" if they bang on the cymbals or the toms, without asking? Church pianos & all drum kits seem to cry out to these people, "Yes, that's right, I AM here for you!!" Some cymbals cost as much as some guitars...definitely not cool.

[Tom Capasso]

I played a multi-band charity event. Most of us work together, though there were bands from the outside. A guy in one band had a new SWR WM15 that all but one band used. This was agreed upon up front (I'm sure the company would have reimbursed if it broke). Everything was fine (thankfully), but I wondered how much he sweat that night...

 

I wouldn't do it. Let somebody else loan their rig. Or set yours up behind/alongside and use it (pull the fuse or something to insure that no one else "tries it out"). I'd rather sound questionable/low for a gig than have my rig shattered. I've allowed others to use my rig if I know and trust them, especially if I'm there to watch - no funny boxes, no cranking...

 

Tom

[g.]

Since I'm using an effects unit in the loop that bewilders the average Bass Neanderthal (no offense to Cro Magnons either), I simply switch to a fairly generic patch for such occasions with some steep compression there to tame any attempts at ridiculous input levels, and look at the guy's bass and set the preamp pre and post gains accordingly. My power amp will limit if it hits the wall, and my cab will take it.

 

The player will get all he needs and then some, so unless I see grubby hands all over the gear I will sometimes let my rig be used if it's a good-paying gig. But with four bands, I wonder if they could afford what I want.

[Jason Hoyt]

After reading the "greenboy interviews", I feel a bit Cro-magnon...

[g.]

An issue that scares me worse - and is fairly common here in the wilds of Montana where people may have bands for parties at their remote summer homes in the mountains or whatever: is power going to be supplied with generator? If so, they can be mighty flakey as regards voltage regulation. Non-musicians don't realize the damage this can do so they always minimize the problems their generators may exhibit.

 

So I always bring a Tripplite Line Stabilizer to for the bass rig and whatever else will fit the Stabilizer's capacity. These puppies have tapped transformers that keep the voltage constant as well as good surge/spike protection. Surge protectors alone will not do the job! Though good ones get put on everything that the Line Stabilizer can't cover. Juice Goose and Furman also make comparable products.

 

These things are rather heavy and bulky too - big transformers.

[The Bear Jew]

Sharing gear with other bands is extremely common in the indie/original/underground music scene. So are shows with as many as eight other bands.... We just did a seven-band bill this past weekend. I don't generally like sharing gear for the same reasons that everyone else here already mentioned, but sometimes it's a necessity in order to speed things along. Personally, I'd much rather bring my gear and let a few other folks use it than use someone else's dubious rig.

 

Here's how I handle the situation:

I talk to the person/people who is going to use my rig. I find out what they need. I help them get a sound with my stuff. It doesn't usually take long -- it's a nice rig. I allow no external effects -- no compressors or any other crap that might create a wacky or overly hot signal. If they can't get the sounds they want with my rig and preamp, guess what? They can play acoustically. I set them up and hook up their volume. My bass rig is PLENTY loud (500 watts), so being audible is never a problem. I give them a short lecture ("You break it, I kill you,") and then I set them off on their way. They're usually very appreciative, and we take a little more cash from the door as compensation for bringing gear for others to use. I seriously recommend this.

 

We've also learned from experience that lending out guitar and drum gear is a bad idea. We don't do it often, and when we do, we limit it to cabinets (and we check impedance, wattage, etc, before we agree to that) and basic shells and hardware for drums (no cymbals, pedals or snare!). We also get extra cash to replace any potentially damaged drum heads.

 

Lending microphones... EWWW. It's like borrowing someone else's jock strap. And it sometimes smells that way, too.

 

I've shared my bass rig with SO many different bands, it's kind of fun to look back and think about that. Some of them have videos on MTV now. Some of them are dead.

[nameisinuse]

Greenboy, you're from Montana?????

I used to live in Forsyth, where are you at???

[g.]

hey nameisinuse,

 

I'm in between Kalispell and Glacier Park. In the country, big valley with mountains all around. I had considered Missoula for some of the near-urban experiences (kaffe kulture) but there's so many college kids there that it's harder to get the gigs that pay. Well, that and I wanted to get away from traffic and radical eco-nuts. But sometimes I wish I would have, because I'd have more to draw from for musicians with varied interests.

 

...I went through Forsythe when doing a grand blue highways tour of Montana getting down to Toungue River and then Bighorn Canyon. Another time it was heading for Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Sorry I really can't remember it. To me most towns were just gas stations and grocery stores to fuel the extended campathon - though I sometimes drove or walked streets that promised historical time travel moods : }

[BenLoy]

What happened to JeremyC is really not cool. They probably knew that if they asked anyone beforehand to bring an amp for everyone to use that they would say no...so they confront you with the situation which then forces you to either comply or say no and be looked at as a "jerk"... Jeez...

 

Seriously, if they expect everyone to use one amp, they should provide it. Otherwise, they need to ask people beforehand. That's it.

[Wickerman]

Originally posted by dcr:

A verbal agreement will be worth the air it was spoken in. If you do it, which I would not (notice a theme here?), I'd get an agreement in writing.

A verbal contract is legally binding. Witnessed by someone like a club owner (or other non-partial) the person has no room to squirm.

[scottatvcu]

Dittos to CMDN- same thing goes here in Richmond with the Indie/Alt rock scene. Most people's gear is such crap among us non-pros, I haven't met anyone who worried too much about letting someone use gear (with firm understandings about how to treat yer equipment). But if I had a sweet new Ampeg, I wouldn't share unless I was holding the punk's car keys...

 

Hey Greenboy- Any chance you played at the Dew Drop Inn or that bar in Kalispell with peanut shells covering the floor in the summer of 93? 'Might have seen you at some point.

 

For cocky, gullible brass players: "If you can sound the horn, you get a free pitcher!"

[g.]

scottatvcu,

 

The Dew Drop Inn: Because it's on the old bypassed highway and not the main route, has been devalued as a band venue. They only have bands there when it has been rented out for wedding receptions or private parties, which is very seldom. The rustic "trapline" roadhouses that are biggies - especially during Glacier Park tourist season - are Packer's Roost, The Deerlick, and sometimes the South Fork Inn. I've played often at the first two and enjoy the hell out of the packer's Roost patrons, and the local and upscale bikers that congregate there during riding season.

 

The club you refer to in Kalispell has incredible pizza and is called Moose's. It still has sawdust and peanut shells on the floor and strategically placed spittoons, but has has become a sports bar - and to my knowledge has never had a band since I moved here in the late fall of '93. Fortunately a couple of Kalispell clubs have expanded to take up the slack and have great dance floors and stages.