band borrowed rig and blew cab.

[karlfer]

No help whatsoever, but on the very rare occasion we gig with another band, I have disclaimers typed out. You use my gear, anything goes wrong you pay me £500. Funny they always find somebody else to ponce gear off, instead of me.

[TimR]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1386068056' post='2295160']

You might find the solicitors letter will cost £25 and still not get any response.
[/quote]

Indeed. As I say depends on who you know, how much the speaker is worth, whether the other bass player has a job etc etc.

Me. I'd just buy another speaker and get on with the rest of my life.

[chris_b]

Come on..... there's no court case!

I never lend my gear. End of! It does get used as the backline in a jam, but I regulate the volume and tone. I have got up and turned the volume down mid number before now.

Some jammers just have their ears painted on!

The other part of the OP that stands out to me.... I would never gig with just 1 210! That's not enough, and my rule of thumb is to have more watts in the speakers than I have in the amp.

[Conan]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1386071231' post='2295205']
I would never gig with just 1 210! That's not enough, and my rule of thumb is to have more watts in the speakers than I have in the amp.
[/quote]

That's maybe a bit unfair. The OP has presumably bought his set-up based on how [i]he[/i] uses it. If he wants to have only a small cab, but wants plenty of headroom by running a big amp, surely that's his prerogative? For him, it clearly [i]is[/i] enough.

The problem comes from other people using his gear and 1). Not being familiar with it, 2). Not treating it with respect 3). Not having a clue how to set a decent, audible tone 4). Not giving a monkeys.

[xilddx]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1386071231' post='2295205']
[b]Come on..... there's no court case![/b]

I never lend my gear. End of! It does get used as the backline in a jam, but I regulate the volume and tone. I have got up and turned the volume down mid number before now.

Some jammers just have their ears painted on!

The other part of the OP that stands out to me.... I would never gig with just 1 210! That's not enough, and my rule of thumb is to have more watts in the speakers than I have in the amp.
[/quote]

Course there isn't. On the balance of probability, someone f***ed up, but who? No case at all, no evidence that would stand up in a court from what I can see.

[throwoff]

This is why I dont lend gear.

He should be paying for it.

[tonyquipment]

He'd be wearing it.

And the invoice for the replacement goods will be in the post !

[throwoff]

Just don't lend gear. Ever. Im not sure I would even lend gear to another BCer or a close friend, you just never know, what if the venue electrics are dodgy?

If you cant turn up to a gig with instruments, amps and cables you are not a band.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1386072674' post='2295235']
Just don't lend gear. Ever. Im not sure I would even lend gear to another BCer or a close friend, you just never know, what if the venue electrics are dodgy?

If you cant turn up to a gig with instruments, amps and cables you are not a band.
[/quote]


I remember at the Oast House there was a guy who walked over to Ben Robinson's bass case, took it out and walked onto the stage with it, some people have no boundaries.

[Japhet]

Unfortunately, I think the main clue is right there in the main post. If you lend out a rig where the amp is WAY too powerful for the cab, then you really are asking for trouble.

[Dom in Dorset]

Get a copy of Mel Stein's How to Complain. Full of useful advice and case studies.
The last time I had any reason to take legal action the small claims court cost about £80 to start proceedings and there could be further costs after that.
As a rule don't make any threats you can't (or aren't prepared to)carry out, a solicitor's letter has no legal clout , it is just worded in a way that people find intimidating and shows that you are serious enough to pay for the letter.A full range of legal sounding phrases are outlined in the book. I used it to successfully get damages from a company that destroyed something of mine without spending money on a solicitor.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Dom in Somerset

[chris_b]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1386071557' post='2295214']
....That's maybe a bit unfair. The OP has presumably bought his set-up based on how [i]he[/i] uses it. If he wants to have only a small cab, but wants plenty of headroom by running a big amp, surely that's his prerogative? For him, it clearly [i]is[/i] enough....
[/quote]

But the OP lent his gear, so what's "enough" for him doesn't come into it!

In my experience, no one treats other peoples gear as well as they treat their own, and many players don't even treat their own gear well. If you're lending gear then you have to have to have a "bomb proof" rig, and IMO that rig wasn't.

I'm sorry for the OP but I think he's got to chalk this up to experience, and either get a more robust rig or never lend his gear.

[Conan]

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1386072901' post='2295239']
Unfortunately, I think the main clue is right there in the main post. If you lend out a rig where the amp is WAY too powerful for the cab, then you really are asking for trouble.
[/quote]

Yeah. Easy to say in hindsight, but true. That set-up may be perfect for the OP, but some people will always just turn an amp up loud - especially if they are used to cheaper gear.

[Conan]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1386073326' post='2295246']
But the OP lent his gear, so what's "enough" for him doesn't come into it!
[/quote]

Agreed - and alluded to in the post above.

[Dom in Dorset]

The case I was involved in hinged on "duty of care" basically if a company (and I presume private individual) has your property in their care they should provide basic care of that property - even if they issue a "we take no responsibility for loss or damage" warning.
Might be worth reading this :[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_of_care_in_English_law"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_of_care_in_English_law[/url]

[UglyDog]

I agree with several of the folks above.[list]
[*]There's no legal leg to stand on, taking it to small claims would be a waste of the OP's money.
[*]However, the onus is definitely on the borrower to stump up, especially as the only reason he wanted to use the OP's rig was through sheer can't-be-arsedness.
[*]So, make contact with the borrower and/or his band by whatever channel(s) available, outline what's happened and ask for a contribution (adding "of course, if you hadn't fecked off straight after your set we would have been able to sort this out on the night").
[*]If the borrower won't contribute and the band won't help, take to whatever social media you choose and let the world know what lazy tightar$ed kit-manglers he and his band are. Do it properly and no-one will share a bill with them again.
[/list]
[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1386072794' post='2295238']
I remember at the Oast House there was a guy who walked over to Ben Robinson's bass case, took it out and walked onto the stage with it, some people have no boundaries.
[/quote]
I sincerely hope Ben Robinson followed the guy onto the stage, repossessed his bass and gave said guy an anglo-saxon-vernacular-based précis of his character, behaviour and parentage. I'd have bitten his ankle and p*ssed on his shoes, but then that's what dogs do.

Now will someone please throw this bloody stick for me? I've been waiting for days for one of you buggers to notice.

[Count Bassy]

The problem with some of these situations is that you can never be sure that it wasn't on the point of failing anyway, or whether it was specific overload that caused the problems. You may think it was a specific case of abuse, the other bloke may claim, and believe, that it was "obviously" on its last legs anyway.

Particularly relevant with cymbals, which is why drummers always (or should) take their own breakables. A cymbal can look absolutely fine and yet be be work hardened to the point imminent failure. If you lend a cymbal to someone and it cracks can you really blame the borrower?

I know that cymbals are not necessarily a good comparison because by their nature they will always break eventually, whereas (I guess) a speaker could go on indefinitely.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Count Bassy

[karlfer]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1386071231' post='2295205']
C

Some jammers just have their ears painted on!

[/quote]

[jazzyvee]

I'm not in the habit of lending my gear, except a tuner, to anyone even at sessions where there are multiple bands playing. It's a firm but polite. "No, i don't allow use of my gear". The story here brings the wisdom of this policy home. Maybe on solution is to bring a DI- box and let them use that into the PA instead.

Jazzyvee

Edited December 3, 2013 by jazzyvee

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1386072674' post='2295235']
If you cant turn up to a gig with instruments, amps and cables you are not a band.
[/quote]

Thing is, in many gigging scenarios gear sharing is expected and, often, necessary. The trick is just to make sure that everyone 1) knows in advance of the gig that gear will be shared and 2) is on the same page when it comes to how that gear should be treated and used.

I deeply sympathise with the OP but I personally wouldn't have leant out an amp that had too much power for the cab. Just too risky.

As for what can be done now, I'd politely contact the band and hope they do the right thing. Failing that, I'd maybe publicise something via social media (although not making a massive deal out of it) and then chalk it up to experience.

[goblin]

I'm another one in the don't lend gear camp. It gets used for jams, but again, I regulate the volume and control of the amp. Before now I've completely taped over the controls! If I'm in a situation where a band does want to use it (which I have been before), if they ask, fine, but I want a £50 deposit. If everything's fine after, they get it back and no harm done. If not, well they can go figure. It's amazing how quick their own gear can turn up! It may make me look like a bell end, but I certainly can't afford to replace anything.

I had someone assume the other day that I was going to lend him my G&L at the next jam, cheeky sod! Can't be arsed taking his Stingray with him (he never does take his own bass to jams from what I've heard), with the Warwick I wasn't too fussed, with the L2.5k though... nope. Not a chance.

[Conan]

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1386074888' post='2295288']I'd have bitten his ankle and p*ssed on his shoes, but then that's what dogs do.[/quote]


You are an example to us all.

[TimR]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1386073191' post='2295241']
Get a copy of Mel Stein's How to Complain. Full of useful advice and case studies.
The last time I had any reason to take legal action the small claims court cost about £80 to start proceedings and there could be further costs after that.
As a rule don't make any threats you can't (or aren't prepared to)carry out, a solicitor's letter has no legal clout , it is just worded in a way that people find intimidating and shows that you are serious enough to pay for the letter.A full range of legal sounding phrases are outlined in the book. I used it to successfully get damages from a company that destroyed something of mine without spending money on a solicitor.
[/quote]

Precisely. And the OP hasn't even had a friendly chat with the other Bass player yet. Which should be his first course of action before starting a thread on a forum where everything gets blown out of proportion.

[throwoff]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1386072794' post='2295238']
I remember at the Oast House there was a guy who walked over to Ben Robinson's bass case, took it out and walked onto the stage with it, some people have no boundaries.
[/quote]

ahahahahah

Thats brilliant.

[Dingus]

[quote name='roonjuice' timestamp='1386035271' post='2294949']
My gig last night:-
The band before us asked to borrow my bass amp.
I obliged as the chap was supposedly a sound engineer and i am easy going
i explained that the head was massively overrated for the 2x10, (GB9.0 at 4ohms)
i then found out he just didnt want to lug his TE rig up the stairs (after i said he could use my rig......)
he thrashed it then the band didn't even stick around to watch us.

what would u guys do?
r
[/quote]

I am furious on your behalf. The old adage that " no good deed goes unpunished" springs to mind immidiately.

Yes, with the balance of hindsight, if you were going to be generous enough to let the guy use your rig and the head is overpowered for the cab then you should have strictly overseen the levels this chap was using, but that can be easier said than done in reality, and hindsight is a wonderful thing anyway , as we all know.

Did the guy know he had blown your cab when he left? That is one very pertinent question . If he did know, maybe that's why they left so abruptly, and if that is the case then it doesn't bode well for getting this lad to act responsibly and pay for the damage. In reality, you can try tracking him down and ask him to pay, but you will be relying on his sense of decency rather than any right to legal redress. A small claims court procedure or getting a soloicitor involved may well end up being more trouble than it is worth, unfortunately.

I [u]never[/u] lend gear out , and if people ever ask me I enjoy telling them "no". If they say I am an unpleasant person because of that, I agree with them .When I have done gigs where there is a shared backline by neccessity , I make a big point of treating the shared amp with respect . I behave that way borne out of bitter experience, because on one of my first ever gigs I blew someone else's bass amp by accident by using my active electronics a bit to liberally ( it was the 1980's) . Needless to say, I paid for the repair job, and learnt a lesson.

I am very sorry to say that, unless this bloke his some integrity to him , in reality you may well find yourself having to foot the bill and put it down to experience .

Edited December 3, 2013 by Dingus