If you are only putting up with the downsides of gigging to keep other bands members happy it's time to move on.
If the diary is already fuller than you'd like I can tell you from experience that the more gigs you do for free the more free gigs you'll pick up and it will snowball until you crack, you then look like the bad guy because you won't play the little festival for the donkey sanctuary!
Had a practice in a new wedding venue yesterday, I honestly think without our ampless in ear setup you'd potentially have to cancel the gig in there!
Awful echo, Little drumkit sounded like it was micd up at Knebworth.
I think my reputation for not playing any gigs for free has finally got around everyone that knows me, I used to get asked loads but haven't for a while now.
All that exposure and opportunity missed, ah well.
As my feedback on this site (and eBay for that matter) shows I'm still an old fashioned gentleman, if I say I'll buy it or sell it then that's what I do.
We've got a shooting ground a mile away, I find the noise really soothing, nothing better than sitting in the garden reading a magazine with a coffee and listening to the irregular pops and bangs.
I've even heard people say clay pigeon shooting is cruel.....
I bet there's a lot of pros using Squire stuff, not necessarily famous players from famous bands as such but pros or there playing, cruise ships, corporate functions, recording sessions, theatres etc etc etc
I like how people always use Fender as an example of how Gibson and Rickenbacker should do business yet Fender have been in massive debt for years, most if not all of my life AFAIK!