Kit Share - General Opinions?

[Cat Burrito]

I've always been happy to have the offer of my bass amp / cab out there for supporting or headlining bands but recently it's really starting to bother me. My rig would cost over £1100 to replace according to a quick online search. Often (& I'm thinking London gigs here) we travel the furthest only to lend out all my kit to bands who barely acknowledge the loan and on occasions have rested pints on my cab whilst playing. I can't help but feel they wouldn't be so quick to pay repair bills if the worst was to happen. I don't want to be seen as someone who isn't a team player but it's getting to a stage where I'm feeling my kit being lent out is happening far more than I appear to be borrowing other people's kit. I've also sat through a fair few bands just waiting to get gear back which means 2am bedtimes and feeling knackered at work the following morning.

I wouldn't mind so much but when the bands barely acknowledge it I do start to wonder why I bother. I'm not asking them to be down the front throwing all the shapes during our set but a smile and a thank you goes a long way. Hell, I'm not even asking for a pint!

What are your views?

[51m0n]

Over my cold dead body

[BigRedX]

I think it's very much down to the mentality of the bands you are playing with. I've never had a problem with lending my bass rig out to bands supporting us and the bassists in the other bands are always grateful and show it. I'm the same if someone lets me use their amp - I make a point of finding the bass player and thanking them. I've only had issues once and that was down to dodgy power at the venue and absolutely nothing to do with the other bassists using the rig (in fact the problem occurred while I was playing). At all the gigs that we play who is bring what backline is sorted out well in advance. I'd never show up at a gig expecting to use someone else's rig without having previously spoken/emailed them and arranged it first.

What I don't understand is the idea that it's OK to just take your amp and plug it into the cab(s) provided. I've done this once and I will never do it again. I had to buy speakon to jack leads specially for this gig (my speakers are all speakon and TBH I'm not really happy about using jack plugs for speakers with any amp rated over 100W), and the cabs provided were massively inefficient compared with mine so I had to turn my amp much "louder" then I would have to using my cabs to get the same on-stage volume. My attitude now is that I won't plug my amp into unknown speakers and similarly I won't allow anyone to use their amp with my cabs. You can use my whole rig if you ask in advance or bring your own instead.

[pietruszka]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1337252000' post='1657764']
Over my cold dead body
[/quote]

This. Over the last couple of years I have been more and more strict on my gear being used by someone else. And it's a simple case of not trusting other bass players, but not trusting inexperienced bassists.
Some one who is inexperienced won't know how to use the gain correctly, ie the gain isn't the volume knob. And smaller rig is about £1,400.

I did share my rig with the Soul Jazz Orchestra, but then they're professional musicians touring the world. Plus, they politely asked a week before if we wouldn't mind, thanked us, gave us a cd and shared their beers with us.

As a rule of thumb, I don't share, less hassle for everyone if something goes wrong. And anyways, guitarists all bring their rigs, why can't we?




Dan

[MrTaff]

I don't use other peoples gear & I don't let people use mine, I can pretty much guarantee that none of the people who've asked me would replace damaged gear without threats of broken bones & I don't want to be responsible for replacing somebodies £1k rig.

No exceptions.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1337252893' post='1657799']I think it's very much down to the mentality of the bands you are playing with. [/quote]

Amen to that one. I think I've just had a run of bad luck recently but with £1100 worth of kit at stake I wonder if it's a game I want to play

[chris_b]

I'm in a jam night house band so I have to let people use my backline but only under strict supervision. No one plays my bass.

I have banned people before now who abuse my gear and I've turned players down during their set if they are stupid with the volume. Other than that no one touches my gear.

Like it or not I don't share!
[font=Arial][size=2] [/size][/font]

[JTUK]

Not at all keen on the face of it..but if we talk about it then maybe..but unlikely.

For a start, I am not keen on using theirs..so take my own anyway...and if I can, so can they.

We have a few festivals lined up and the load in is crucial..but even then I can get set-up on stage and be ready to go in way under 15...IF the crew are sorted with sound checks. I know the keys and Drums will be the time factor anyway.

[Fat Rich]

Anyone who doesn't want to carry a bass amp to a gig should learn to play their basslines on a tuba.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Fat Rich

[thumbo]

I'll share my amp and cab, no worries. It's just an amp.

[Kraken]

I have my Cab and a spare Head that anyone can use, by my Amp is My amp and unless I know them or believe they are trustworthy then there is no chance of them using it.

a lot of the time I offer my cab and spare head on the basis that when we play I get to use my own rig, and even my spare head isn't a terrible one.

aside from my selfish reason, I do this mainly to help out some of the promoters that we play with, these guys do bend over backwards to help us (I'm not saying all promoters do, but I believe that there is another thread on that) so if we are on the bill and it helps out in a venue where there isn't really space to store 4 bands worth of kit then I don't mind (which is a great song by the Band 'Drain STH')

Edited May 18, 2012 by Kraken

[Stacker]

Whoops! Thought this included instruments. As for a rig, still not keen on it.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Stacker

[bartelby]

If it's an out of town band and they ask far enough in advance i.e. not 20 mins before they go on, I'll take my old bulletproof Peavey head and Laney cab for them to use and take by better rig for me.
If it's a local band they can sod off and bring their own gear.

[thisnameistaken]

If a band I know ask to borrow my gear and I know their bassist is going to treat it like my gear and not his gear, and they don't make a habit of it, then that's fine.

If a band I don't know, or don't like, or a 'promoter' asks to borrow my gear then I'll probably say no. Unless they want to give me a deposit for the full value of it first.

[neepheid]

As long as no drinks go on it and there's no monkey business I don't mind sharing my rig. The cab is stupidly overrated for the head so there's no danger of blowing stuff up. I haven't had a problem with people taking the mick, on the whole they've been most grateful and it's all handshakes and "thanks very much". Sometimes I've even got compliments about my rig, sometimes you get to geek out a bit with someone. I don't get precious about settings, I know what I like and it's easy enough to put it back.

I'd prefer it was discussed beforehand. It's not difficult in this day and age.

It's the easiest way to have a gig run smoothly. If you're on last then it just makes sense. One time, I even helped out the touring band we were supporting. Their rig gave up the ghost and their backup was pretty laughable, so I just let them use mine. Gig goes ahead a lot better than it otherwise would have. Drinks all round.

No-one gets to play my basses though, I couldn't care less if it means the band can't play. I would be happy to sell someone a set of strings or a battery if that sorted it out.

[Matt P]

i usually bring my spare head for this kind of thing, plenty of room on the cab for both of them (SWR headlite for me and Ashdown superfly for them) and it takes seconds to swap them over, i don't mind lending cabs either, but they're not fancy or expensive and this will change when i can afford the barefaced cabs to replace them.
I have been known to lend my whole rig and bass but that was a church worship event and i knew the guys well, they didn't touch any of the settings and i got a chance to check out roughly how loud i was in the room.

[Doctor J]

I generally don't mind if it's someone I know and/or trust. The format over here is frequently that the support bands will use the headline band's cabs with their own heads so you see both sides of the coin. Respect someone else's gear the same way you'd respect your own and you'll never have trouble. At one gig though the support band's amp failed during their soundcheck so I let the guy use my (very new and rather expensive) Fryette head. After the gig I didn't even get a thank you out of him, which soured the whole thing. Still, we were playing with another band I knew personally and their guitarist was having head trouble, I loaned him the Fryette and he was very gracious and thankful - and I got to hear what it sounded like properly out front

[Bigjas]

I would only let someone I know borrow my gear. I'm affraid there are too many people that do not respect other peoples gear and would they pay for repairs if it were to break whilst they were using it? Reading through this thread, some people have said that they didn't even get a thank you for letting them borrow amps etc, how rude!! what has it all come to when a simple 'thank you' is too much trouble?

Jas

[joeystrange]

I don't mind letting people use my cab but not my head. That's way easier to break than the cab.
It does get annoying when people don't even thank you for letting them use it though. I used it for the second half of an all-dayer a few weeks ago and out of the 8 bands that used it only two of them thanked me. And they were friends anyway.

I agree with the OP too... A lot of London bands are terrible. They just get on the tube with their guitar and expect to use all your gear that you've brought to their doorstep from 150 miles away. Then they get told, ever so kindly, to f*** right off.

[Dave Vader]

I blame promoters/management. I have recently been turning up to multi-band gigs where I've been told it's an in-house rig, or a share, and at no point has anybody pointed out who's rig it is I am using. So no thank yous, and I am sorry for that, I am nice to rigs though, don't even move the knobs much.
Thanks to the guy from Saturday Sun on Tuesday night though, your orange rig was lovely, sound engineer didn't point you out to me though.

[Monckyman]

I`ve seen to many knobheads beg the use of an amp and then proceed to thrash it because they`re clueless to be happy letting someone do that to any of my stuff.
I get that stuff breaks, and transport can be a problem, but I use my kit to earn, and putting that at risk would need explaining to those who rely on my income.

[mushers]

i would not want to use some one elses gear. what if it breaks through no fault of my own ? it can happen
i dont have an expensive set up but still £500 if your earning money playing you buy ya own, i dont even use the amps in the rehersal rooms i lug my gear down there in the van meaning i get to pick the guys and their gear up too so no beer for me

Edit of course if a pal comes over he would be welcome to plug in maybe even play my bass

Edited May 18, 2012 by mushers

[pietruszka]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1337331719' post='1658138']
I blame promoters/management. I have recently been turning up to multi-band gigs where I've been told it's an in-house rig, or a share, and at no point has anybody pointed out who's rig it is I am using. So no thank yous, and I am sorry for that, I am nice to rigs though, don't even move the knobs much.
Thanks to the guy from Saturday Sun on Tuesday night though, your orange rig was lovely, sound engineer didn't point you out to me though.
[/quote]
Yep, and that's kind of the problem, how many times I've turned up and been told "oh you've brought an amp, right everyome will use that". No I don't think so.

I'd also like to add that I have used another bass chatters rig, I'm sorry I don't know your name and it was very kind of him to let me use it.



Dan

[ThomBassmonkey]

My gear's sturdy enough to take what's thrown at it. At a jam night recently that my band was running (in a small local pub, acoustic style thing), I actually left my bass and amp there when I went home so they could continue to jam with them. I got everything back in the same condition it was when I left.

With gigs, if I get contacted before the gig, then I'll lend out my stuff usually. It's not a big deal, I have insurance and my gear's sturdy and if they ask before hand, I can lay out the rules for them (which is pretty much don't put anything on the amp and don't touch anything apart from the mute switch, I'll be there in sound check if anything needs changing).

If a band arrives at a gig then asks me to use my amp, I'll say no 100% of the time. Even my cheaper rig would cost around £1500 and people like the look of it because it's a stack. If they can't be bothered to spend 2 minutes asking me to use my gear before the gig then they obviously have no respect for my gear so they can't use it.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1337329812' post='1658076']
As long as no drinks go on it and there's no monkey business I don't mind sharing my rig. The cab is stupidly overrated for the head so there's no danger of blowing stuff up. I haven't had a problem with people taking the mick, on the whole they've been most grateful and it's all handshakes and "thanks very much". Sometimes I've even got compliments about my rig, sometimes you get to geek out a bit with someone. I don't get precious about settings, I know what I like and it's easy enough to put it back.
[/quote]

This is very much my experience and the majority of bands we play with a punk/psychobilly who have a pretty "energetic" on-stage presence. Never had any trouble. Smiles and handshakes all round.

It makes me wonder what kinds of bands those of you with horror stories are playing with.