Monkey Steve

a mate of mine was playing lead guitar (OK, it's a guitarist story but the principles are universal) at a large festival last year and didn't have an on-stage tuner. Tuned up before walking on stage into the sunshine, played perfectly happily for the next 45 minutes (and being a lead guitarist wasn't really listening to what anybody else was playing) before walking off stage to be told by the rest of the band "you were a bit out of tune for the whole set". Fortunately it was largely atonal death metal screeching solos so it's not been widely picked up, but the whole set is on YouTube and he can't bare to watch it. This has somewhat changed his attitude to whether or not to check his tuning mid-set

I'm with the OP. Not because I have a particular tuning problem on any of my basses, although I do like a fresh set of strings before a gig and I do hammer the strings so it's sometimes needed. The tuner is the one pedal that comes to every practice and gig, even if i can't bring my whole set up. Possibly it's more of a nervous tick/security blanket - hit the TU3 once the song's finished and make sure everything's still in tune. Not every song - depends on the flow of the gig and whether there's a convenient second or two to have a look, but definitely more than I need to. But I don't think it's an OCD thing per se. Like Conan said, it's not that I need to re-tune, it's making sure that I don't need to re-tune at the point when I have the opportunity to do so. After all, it does not harm and it's far better to make sure I'm in tune before we play a song than fixing the fact that I was out of tune afterwards. One other factor is that depending on the venue I may not be able to properly hear either myself or all of the other instruments - I've played where I couldn't hear any bass beyond a very low thump - so listening for whether I'm in tune or not is not always possible.

I don't think there's a definitive right or wrong here. I'm far more used to playing with mates, or mates of mates in new bands, doing original songs, and the thought of playing stuff I don't like and having no input into what we're doing turns me off completely. For all that i can appreciate what Blue says about it being his job, it's not for me (but I know people who are fine with that- oddly most seem to be drummers who are happy to be counting to four and hitting things and don't seem to much care what everybody else is doing). But I like input and even some healthy friction to drive stuff forward. But the two most healthy bands I've been in were at extreme ends of the spectrum. One was a load of men of a certain age who were all mates (in fact I only knew one of them when i joined, as the guitarist - I'm a pretty average guitarist but was regarded as some musical genius compared to their original one which says a lot about the standard of playing, but the others then became some of my closest mates) playing covers just for the joy of getting out and playing. No hissy fits or tantrums, no talking behind the back of the somewhat limited bass player and singer (it was punk rock, attitude is just as important as tuning, right?) just a really enjoyable experience for all concerned. Gigged as regularly as we wanted for about five years and then life intervened and the band drifted apart. There was in fact one sacking - carried out by me - when the original bass player who had needed to take a break for family reasons wanted to come back, and we'd got a mate of mine in to cover so i just had a very polite chat with him and he completely understood. At the other end, my last band had what probably appeared to outsiders to be a completely toxic working relationship. Everybody said exactly what they thought about everything - didn't like the song, didn't like what somebody else was playing, though the arrangement was poor, and in the case of the two guitarists just telling each other just how awful all of their playing was. Had the band not folded because of the singers addiction problems we'd still be going now - it worked utterly brilliantly because it was all kept to the studio and everybody knew that it was about the music (not that we didn't throw insults about but they were all recognised as being banter) and then we'd go out drinking after practices without the need to go on about band niggles. Threre was far more complaints about band members who didn't come out drinking than there were about playing issues. I'm not saying that there weren't issues (the singer being the largest of them) but there was never any thoughts of getting rid of anybody (again, the singer apart, and in fact we put up with him for much longer than he deserved) We were all of the required standard and valued exactly what everybody else brought to the band.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1493886247' post='3291475'] Have you asked ebay for advice on what to do. I've found them quite helpful in disputes. Have to say i always thought that if you gave them 28days and they didn't collect then you can dispose of it. So that's a bit of a surprise to know you need to keep it for 6yrs. Mmmmm I do like the idea of selling on auction site listing all the faults and then when seller asks for his money he gets the pittance that it was sold for. Dave [/quote] I think there's a bit of a mistaken belief around this stuff based on what on line sellers and courier companies do when they've delivered to the wrong address. they'll typically have blanket insurance to write of these sorts of claims (especially couriers) and for low value items it's really not worth the hassle of arranging any difficult collections or pursuing people for the money. In most cases nobody's going to come knocking on your door five years later expecting to get their stuff back or chasing for the money...but if they do they have you over a barrel

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1493839473' post='3291210'] That's interesting and useful to know. What would be the position were one to (having notified the person first and given them time to arrange collection, of course) dispose of the item, i.e. throw it away? [/quote] If it's within the six years then they can come after you for the cost of the item - it's still theirs. As I say, the only legal option you have if you don't want something taking up space in your house is to sell it for a fair price and when they ask for it to give them the money. If you do anything else with it then you still owe them the money, albeit that they must claim it from you within the six years. The position makes more sense when you're dealing with tenants who have left a load of stuff behind when they move out and the landlord needs to clean out the property, but the same legal position exists for this.

In response to the OP, the legal position is a little complicated. Assuming it's now treated as unsolicited or abandoned goods, the bass still belongs to the seller. You do not have to go out of your way to return it, and you should not incur any costs, but the fact that they haven't arranged for its collection does not mean that it now becomes yours. This only happens after a period of six years and your options for that period are pretty limited. However, you are not expected to be a storage facility for six years so you can sell it, but really only if you no longer want to store it for them. You must write to them telling them what you are going to do and giving a reasonable period for them to arrange collection (minimum of 14 days) if they don't want it to be sold. Having done this you now have a sum of money that belongs to the original seller - it does not become yours for the balance of the six years and if they ask you for the money then you have to hand it over. And before you think of a clever ploy to flog it to a mate for a penny, the seller might reasonably take you to court if you sell it for well below it's market value....that said, a nice, honest listing on a well known auction site highlighting the bass' deficiencies might generate a sale at a reasonable price to somebody you have tipped off. Assuming you don't sell it, you can't do anything to change the condition of the bass - you can't fix it and play it as the seller can ask you for it back in its original condition at any point for the next six years. The stories you hear about telling companies that you're going to leave the mis-delivered items out on the street if the seller/courier doesn't collect it don't hold much legal weight. Puts you in a difficult position. But only really a risk if the seller is going to ask for it back in the next six years. The best outcome is if they tell you that they don't want it, but getting that out of them now seems to be a problem. Good luck

There's a good thread at the moment on the reasons why we've quit bands. But for all that we come across as rational, well balanced individuals who are always in the right and brilliant at playing the bass in the face of terrible band mates...surely most of us will have been binned from a band or two in our time? So, what happened, what had you done to deserve it, and do you have any hard feelings to this day? I'll kick off, but I only have one and I fear it's going to be a bit tame...or at least I hope that far juicier tales will follow. Formed a new band with the singer and drummer from an old band and a new guitarist that the singer knew. Didn't go well. Me and the guitarist just never saw eye to eye. Typical guitarist behaviour - did exactly what he wanted and only what he wanted, seeing the band as being there to support whatever his current musical interests were. He'd joined a band that were intent on doing one thing and saw us as his way to do something completely different. In retrospect it's a shame that we never met him for a chat or to set out what we wanted to do beforehand, just got together in a studio so we were a band before we discovered that we weren't on the same page musically. He was a very good guitarist, but I genuinely think he was somewhere on the autistic spectrum as he didn't interact with people very well. We were playing heavy metal (having come from a thrash band) and he brought us pop/AOR songs, written to conform to his very strictly applied notions of musical theory which he would then try to apply to the songs that the rest of us had written - he once spent half a rehearsal insisting that we could not follow averse ending on an E with a bridge starting on a C because theory told him that we could only play a G after the E if we were playing in that particular scale. Other highlights included bringing in his computer (in the days before laptops - it meant setting up a desktop with a huge monitor) to add brass arrangements to all of our set. Only worked properly once, but guaranteed that he spent half the rehearsals mucking about on his computer - quite often to show us musical arrangements that had nothing to do with the band and in which we (well, certainly me) had no interest. Oh, and completely changing the timing on a bridge riff that I'd written to illustrate his point that it sounded like a riff from Ain't Talkin' Bout Love (it really didn't until he changed it and dropped the second half of the riff that was nowhere near anything in the Van Halen song) and then always played his Van Halen version before arguing that we couldn't play that song because we were ripping off Van Halen. He also hated my tone (being hard and aggressive rather than warm and fat). Really it just illustrated that he liked me and my songs as much as I liked him and his. I'm sure if you asked for his version of events he'd have a similar list of stuff I did that annoyed him...not treating him like the musical genius he believed himself to be being a neat summary. The singer was OK with all of this, but me and the drummer weren't, and I would say what I thought of the terrible songs and awful arrangements at rehearsals. So it wasn't a huge surprise when the singer popped round one evening to tell me that my services were no longer required. And the singer was really good about it - no conflict or confrontation, just a "it's not working is it?" No hard feelings and the singer and drummer are still very good mates. Especially the drummer, who knew nothing about the sacking ahead of time, and when he found out told the rest of them that he was off too. The band never did anything else...which while I was glad to be out and couldn't care less what they did next, does give me a bit of a warm glow if I'm honest. At the time I was a little piqued that the band (well, turns out just the singer) had apparently chosen the guitarist over me, but I'd started another band within a couple of months and that was much more fun. Never saw the guitarist again, but then I'd never met him before the band, and never saw him outside of the rehearsal studio, so that was no great loss. So, there's mine. No sex or drugs, no criticism of my playing abilities, just a classic case of musical differences and the sacking put me out of my obvious misery so no hard feelings either - it was the right thing to do, helped hugely by the singer behaving like a grown up. Now, over to you. I'm hoping for far more entertaining tales...treat it like a confessional - we're not here to judge. We may. however, laugh and point.

This is exactly why Amazon is taking over the planet! Pay them for Prime and you not only get free TV channels but you can schedule your deliveries for exactly when you want them, and if things don't arrive on time they have a complaints dept who will bend over backwards to apologise and promise to make everything better. They're certainly not perfect, but it's complete genius to set up a service that will routinely deliver at weekends or after work.

[quote name='gazzatriumph' timestamp='1493637450' post='3289547'] I've been in three bands over the last six years and there always seems to be one person that pee's me off , I try and do get on with most people but in the end I take so much and leave. I've not been in a band now for six months and to be honest I've not missed it, I thought I would, I just seemed to have lost any drive or enthusiasm to be in another band. Has anyone else gone through this and did the urge to join a band again come back. I'm seriously considering selling my gear but just holding back just in case. I'm 54 by the way. [/quote] I know what you mean, and a drummer mate of mine is going through exactly the same thing at the moment - had to quit a band he loved because of a move for work, thought he would want to get back into something reasonably quickly but is actually enjoying not rehearsing and not playing gigs a couple of times every weekend and instead being able to spend time with the family and go to the pub on a Friday night, so five months later he has no desire to pick up his sticks any time soon. For me there's a line between what starts out as "I'm in a band and isn't it nice to have a break from rehearsals and watch TV on a Thursday night for a change" and rapidly becomes "I now watch TV on a Thursday night, I used to play in a band". But there's a third stage I've never got to which is "I have no interest whatsoever in being in a band" I can only speak personally, in that I've never particularly chased being in a band, which isn't the way everybody's wired. I love doing it and given the choice between watching TV or playing bass in a rehearsal studio I'll take the bass every time. But I don't lose sleep if I'm not in a band. Something turns up eventually, somebody will ask me to play bass in their band, or a chat with some mates will turn into a new band forming. Sometimes it's weeks or months of only playing my bass on the sofa at home, sometimes that might become a couple of years. I do go through periods of thinking "well, what's the point of having all that gear if I'm never going to play it" but that does seem to me to be the last admission that I'm someone who used to play in bands and doesn't want to do it any more. So I'd suggest enjoying your time off, keeping hold of your gear, and keeping an eye out for something that comes up which does interest you enough to get off the sofa, maybe dip your toe into a jam night or something. But that's me, and if you really can't see yourself wanting to play ever again, well, maybe it is time to clear out the spare room

Only ever actually quit two bands. Most usually whither for some reason. #1 was a sneaky/cowardly way of not sacking the guitarist (who's band it was). Genuine musical differences more than anything else - we didn't hate the guitarist, although we did get to the point where it felt like we didn't like him very much as he was continually being obstructive and controlling. The rest of the band wanted to do one thing and the guitarist just flat refused to go in that direction. So I quit ahead the last gig we had booked, played that and said goodbye...the guitarist was apparently very keen to replace me with someone he knew and a little surprised to find that the singer and drummer told him not to bother as they were off too, and oh, look, the singer knows a new guitarist who wants to do something with the rest of us... #2 - the lead guitarist. Just a massive *word that will be objected to by the swear filter* Standard lead guitarist passive/aggressive monstrous ego behaviour for some months peaked when we'd recorded a demo, paid extra for the engineer to mix it to our liking, and then he wouldn't agree to get it copied up so that we could send it out and get some gigs, on the basis that he'd got the Pro Tools tracks and had been re-recording some parts and we should have the decency to wait for him to finish his remix which had already taken about a month. Replying to a group e-mail I told him what I thought of his plan, and got an abusive reply on a Friday afternoon about how nobody appreciated everything he did for the band and we all took him for granted. Brilliant stuff, just a prolonged whine showing how completely unaware he was that we were all fed up with him and his behaviour and didn't really rate him very highly as a lead guitarist (he was OK for a covers band playing pubs, as long as we stuck to songs that he could manage). Fortunately I was in another band that I much preferred playing originals with far better guitarists so i sent a very short reply on the Monday morning telling him to look for another bass player because I wouldn't ever be playing with him again as had long since ceased to be any fun whatsoever (and despite it being mine and the drummer's band). When I hit Send I was unaware that he'd played a gig that weekend with another band he was in with the same drummer, where he'd tried to blame the drummer for a mistake that he (the guitarist) had made in missing an intro queue. The drummer then told him very forcefully how he would never be playing in any band with him ever again because he was such a *word that will be objected to by the swear filter* so by the time I quit the guitarist had already been sacked from both bands. Probably. The sacking/quitting sort of overlapped and there was no point resolving exactly what came first. My band never played again and the other one fulfilled the last two bookings they had with a dep and then they gave up too.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1493399313' post='3288115'] With regard to the OPs phase 90, I can't remember the last time I heard a phaser used on bass anyway. Get rid and get something useful , I say! [/quote] I think you may have fundamentally misunderstood the point of the thread

First band I ever joined was Johnny & The Damp Proof Membrane - apparently this is something to do with the building trade, as half the band had been to a college specialising in surveying/architecture/etc. Next band was SFB. Never got an explanation of what that was about. A couple after that, the names of which i don't remember, before forming Exploding Monkey (my favourite band name of all that I've been in as you may be able to tell from my user name). The guitarist suggested calling ourselves "Bulldog Eating Custard" (you may need to google that joke - sometimes it's "bulldog eating mayonnaise") and I replied "you want to call us "the C#nts"? what not call ourselves "Monkey @rse W#nk Death"? meaning that we're clearly not choosing that. This became a running thread and the name we definitely weren't calling ourselves expanded on a daily basis until it became Bizarre Exploding Monkey @rse W#nk Death. Which the guitarist really liked. I still objected, but "Exploding Monkey" was very good so we settled on that. Next up, I wanted to call a band God's B#lls, but google told us that it had been done. Many times. So how about God's C#ck? Everybody liked it except the lead guitarist (not the one from the previous band, obviously) but someone came up with the idea of Gallus Dei, which is the latin for God's Rooster...closest we could get and we know what "rooster" really means. Spent ages trying to find a name for my last band that everybody liked. Eventually settled on Critical Mass, named after the Dark Star beer, and got as far as printing up some demo CDs with that name on it before it sank in that there are about three hundred other bands called Critical Mass so we'd carry on but keep an eye out for a better name. One night in the pub one of the guitarists is telling us a story about how when he was a teenager his quite groovy Mum came with him to see one of his favourite death metal bands (that she also liked), and ahead of the gig their enormously fat drummer was sat next to his Mum at the bar, trying to chat her up. he spots the drummer and on the one hand is thinking that he can't let the drummer get away with it - his Dad won't be pleased, and he doesn't want this disgusting looking man treating him Mum like a groupie...but on the other hand, it is the drummer from his favourite band so maybe if he sleeps with his Mum he'll get to go backstage and meet the rest of the band! We all fall about laughing, and one of us pipes up "Frank, you are the worst son on the planet" and suddenly a lightbulb goes on in our heads - we became Bad Son. Just joined a new band called Big Twin. Apparently it's something to do with motorbikes. Not my choice.

yes, excellent. My background is three pieces but my last band in theory had two guitarists, but one of them wasn't always available for gigs. Which me and the other guitarist much preferred - he got to play all the solos and I got to be a bit more expansive rather than just underpinning the rhythm melodies in the solos. But for probably 60% of the set I didn't need to do very much different, and I have to say i really enjoyed the challenge of solving the issue for the other 40%.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1493382735' post='3287946'] My brain. [/quote] I'm not sure if that's self deprecating in telling us that you don't use your brain, or showing off that your brain is genuine musical equipment

Bit of a Friday afternoon thread to lighten the mood and show what complete idiots we all are (happy to go first). I'm putting together a new pedalboard ahead of my gigging life taking an anticipated up turn, and despite the fact that I typically don't use much beyond a tuner and, depending on the available amps, an amp simulator, I've had to get a bigger board to accommodate everything I have in my set up. Some of them are nice toys that may get used but I could live without (like an envelope filter - that'll probably get stripped out if it's not needed), some are tools that have a specific job (like the delay, eq, and a boost to even out the output levels of different basses) but one I'm never without is a very old MXR Phase 90. Great pedal - a really old one that only works off a battery and has no LED. And to my dismay it has completely packed up (and with no LED or power jack it's tricky to work out what's up). So I'm looking into whether I get it replaced or repaired, and ooh, look at that shiny new Phase 95... But for all of my worrying about how I am going to live without this if I have to send it to get repaired, I can't remember the last time I actually used it playing the bass. In fact the last time it was switched on in anger was probably playing guitar in a band about five years ago. But the set up won't be complete without it. I'm convincing myself that it's better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it, ignoring the fact that I will certainly know in advance of playing any shows whether it will be needed or not. So the little orange pedal (or it's little orange replacement) will no doubt be dragged around with me despite me having no use for it. So that's mine. What do you insist on having in your set up that you know you won't ever actually switch on? I don't mean spares like a second/third/seventeenth bass that you bring along just in case something breaks, or lucky gonks, etc - genuine musical equipment please.

I seem to recall from a conversation with the landlord of a pub that was we'll know for live music who also had a complaining neighbour, he was ok with the authorities as long as he could demonstrate that he had made reasonable adjustments and wasn't taking the Mick. So curfews were strictly enforced and he had some baffles made to put over the windows when bands were on. His local authority were pretty much on his side and made it very clear to the nimby that he had to provide evidence to show that the rules were being broken, not just ring up to complain that there was loud music again. Not that it wasn't a pain in the backside for the landlord, but he benefitted hugely from a sympathetic ear at the council. I'd suggest a sensible conversation with the authorities to agree guidelines. Though it reminds me of when i used to have a season ticket at Chelsea and one week the programme had a rant from the chairman about the plans to extend the ground being held up due to objections from a local resident that this would lead to large crowds in the area on matchdays!

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1491570212' post='3274039'] What's the big deal with post counts ..or am I missing something ? Surely the opinion of someone with three posts is as valid as someone with three thousand ? [/quote] More of an issue when buying and selling - someone who's just signed up and is listing something for sale/offering to buy something may not seem as trustworthy as a regular who's been around for years if, say, it's going to be a PayPal transaction or a dispatch by post only. Doesn't mean they're a wrong 'un in itself, but it adds to the picture if other stuff doesn't add up. Bit like the "no bidders with zero feedback" you sometimes see on eBay.

I've had a few variations on these over the years. My first serious girlfriend I met because she was the friend of the wife of the guitarist in a band i joined. She came to all my gigs, and most rehearsals, because she had a car and I've never learned to drive (so I now owe about three decades worth of lifts) but she really enjoyed it - it was a bit of a night out with the other WAGs who were our social crowd at the time. And we went to a lot of gigs and clubs anyway. At a gig very early in our relationship she stood back and giggled when a girl tried to chat me up and I just squirmed awkwardly. Top girl. I've also had the jealous girlfriend who didn't want to let me out of her sight. In fact she seemed far more interested in being with somebody who was in the band that she was actually interested in the music. Which is weird because it wasn't like that particular band was any more than a pub covers band. Mind you, she was a bit unhinged, convinced that any girl I spoke to, or even any in my vicinity, was after me. She once got very annoyed with me when the band did a charity thing at Dingwalls where we had to go and set up the gear for everybody else to use the night before the gig and then take our turn soundchecking, purely because she felt that she had somehow lost out having to stay at home on her own when I'd been hanging out with my mates and having a great time (in practice I'd been sitting around for several hours doing nothing and getting very bored). I've even had the clingy wannabe groupies (get me!) who come to all the band's gigs more to see me than the band. Bit scary. I suspect that a lot of usually getting the other half along is simply to do with not having a particularly onerous gig schedule at the time - maybe one a month, and quite long periods where I'm not in a band or not playing gigs. I have mates who are much busier and they simply don't expect their wives to come along unless they really want to, especially if it involves a lot of travelling, and they usually try to let them make separate arrangements so that they just show up to see the band play, rather than coming along for loads in and soundcheck, etc. The ones that religiously turn up for every gig for bands that play a couple of times a week tend to get something of a Yoko reputation...perhaps that's something for a different thread. Back to the OP, the general public's perception is probably a bit skewed, that like girlfriend #2, there's some glamour in being "with the band" when actually it's mostly sitting around doing very little.

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1491250831' post='3271630'] His first suggestion was "Tank" He said there is nothing wishy washy about that name .......But there is a band with that name I think . His second was "The Wranglers" & "No More Zeroes" [/quote] I love Tank! First couple of albums are highly recommended, especially if you like Motorhead. There are currently two different versions of Tank in operation - one with the original singer/bass player (Algy Ward) and one with all the people that have been recruited by Algy over the years before he decided that he'd had enough and was leaving the band...before then deciding that he wasn't quite done yet and should call his new band (effectively a solo effort) "Tank", what with it being his band after all... Probably best to stay out of the middle of that one,

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1491235796' post='3271449'] +1 For anything multiband I'll take audible and useable over anything else. [/quote] Thanks for the encouragement! For me it boils down to one key point that a lot of bands/band members forget - what you can hear on stage doesn't matter beyond hitting queues and staying in tune. So let the soundman get on with mixing it out front and stop wasting everybody's time fannying about over what it sounds like on stage

kind of depends on whether it's better than the others you can think of - if you have to explain to people why it's not a terrible name because Jet suggested it, well, most people aren't going to ask, they're going to think you've got a terrible name. Plus, does he genuinely think it's a great name or was he drunk/feeling mischievous at the time? (though given your location you're begging to be called The Gosport Stranglers, surely)

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1491167920' post='3271021'] It would only bother me if I wanted the up to date version, and was getting the previous, as in passing off the 2012 as the new Professional series. As long as that`s not the case then whatever it was always going to be at least 6 months old, if not more (tho 5 years is a tad strange, tho stock movement etc is a strange one anyway, not always first in first out with some companies). [/quote] This. Was it sold as new in the "2016/17 model" sense? In which case you might reasonably have a case to go back to the shop. But if it was sold as new in the "you're the first person to own it" sense then I don't think anybody's done anything wrong here.

I've had the "must use the backline, that's my sound!" beaten out of me, mainly from playing a load of small-ish venues round London where bringing backline is not an easy option. Even if there is an amp on stage, what's happening out front is taken from a DI before the signal gets to the amp, so I've moved to a Tech 21 pedal and get "my sound" from that. then it's up to the venue/soundman whether they want to use the (usually cheap and tatty) amp they've provided for monitoring, or just give some bass through the PA monitors. I'm also fairly relaxed about how much i can hear on stage - as long as I can make out what the bass is doing well enough to hear if I'm out of tune/hitting the wrong note that's all I need for a gig. I have a real bugbear about band members/other bands who spend an absolute age getting the soundman to make a series of minor tweaks so that they get the exact mix that they want...usually the guitarist. Priority for me is that the singer can hear enough to stay in tune and the drummer can hear enough to follow their queues. Once that's done I'll take whatever level of bass they can give me. I was going to add a line about making sure i can hear enough of the guitars to follow my queues...but you can always hear the feckin' guitars, whether you want to or not.

[quote name='Downdown' timestamp='1489164706' post='3254910'] Fair enough. Maybe next time you change home insurers, just don't tell them you gig at all and only use your gear at home as a hobby. Any claim arising in the home would then be covered and just don't tell them about anything that happens outside the home [/quote] I think you'll find that this is insurance fraud Seriously, it's not about where the gear is when it's stolen, it's about whether the insurer regards it as professional tools. They may have suspicions that your £3k Ampeg rig wasn't for home use only