Packing it in.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Paul_C]

I stopped playing a couple of years ago because I'd become tired of what I was doing musically - sold off most of my gigging gear (apart from the bass) because there was no point in keeping it around - three months later I was asked to play bass in a very different band and had to buy up a whole new gigging rig

So I'd agree that if there are particular parts of your set up that you would consider essential for any gigging situation, and that you'd make the effort to buy again should a new project come up, then hang on to those and then decide what to do with what ever's left.

Give it six months and then look at things again.

[waynepunkdude]

Lend me your 400+ for a few years and see if you miss it.

[BassJase]

"I love the onstage bit, but the long, lonely, yet over populated days, randomly timed petrol station meals, daily plops in broken and filthy venue/petrol station bogs, over saturation with booze (my fault, I know) and the cumulative effects of late nights, early mornings, unfamiliar sleeping locations and extra insomnia (on top of the usual) due to the left over adrenaline from the only good bit of the day start to really get to me about a week and a half in. Not to mention that same joke which gets told three or four times a day. Why do they do it?!"

This sounds like every tour I've ever done, and sounds like the same complaint of every person I've talked to who've also toured a bit.
If this is just too much to deal with, and I know how rough and bloody uncomfortable it can get, then touring isn't for you.
I slept in the stairwell of a tourbus for 3 weeks in January of 2007, and slept on top of the amps in the back of a tranny for over a week in July 2006. Plus all the other crappy short-stints here and there which were nothing short of damned-awful.
It really aint pretty, especially with very sparodic shower facilities and eating crap food.

[umph]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='896973' date='Jul 16 2010, 11:17 PM']You have no concept of "ages"!

Wish I was either 20 or had a Mesa 400+...[/quote]
i'm 21 and had 3 mesa 400+'s and a strat 400 and no real job. gotta be cunning with yo gear

[risingson]

I'm a similar age to you also (I'm 21). I was in the same position to you a few months ago, I had a place in Uni to do history and was torn between packing it all in and selling my gear, or carrying on playing. I decided to carry on, because I knew I wouldn't have been happy not carrying on playing music, a.) because it's what I'm good at, and b.) because you literally only get one shot at our age to do what we want to do. 20/21 means you've got your whole career ahead of you. As it stands we've got a lot of work to get where we want to be but we've got enough contacts to play just about anywhere in Europe and Scandinavia.

Keep your gear, pretend it's unsellable. You don't want to find out a few months down the line you've made the wrong choice and have to sort out your entire rig again. If you decide to carry on then make sure everything is on your terms, and don't stress about it. You've got a long time to decide what you want to do yet. Being a working musician playing your own stuff means taking a big gamble but if it's what you want to do then it's definitely one worth taking.

Edited July 17, 2010 by liamcapleton

[risingson]

Oh yeh, one thing I have learnt from touring is how lonely you can get which is ironic considering how many people you're usually surrounded with. You need to have something to occupy your time doing when you're not playing, whether it be writing, exercising (that's a really good thing to be doing), practicing, etc. otherwise time becomes a long, drawn out affair. The biggest mistake is drinking, which becomes so easy to do when you have free time. It depresses you and sets you up badly for the whole tour. It's much better when you tour with people that you wholeheartedly trust as well. Arguing amongst each other is commonplace but usually a few deep breaths and you'll realise what you were arguing about was pointless anyway.

Good luck with your decision

[Marvin]

Sorry to hear the band tour wasn't a good experience, and I mean that genuinely. I bought your band's album (yes, I bought it not downloaded it for free off some ropey website) and absolutely love it. I really liked the tone of your bass on that recording and the playing's OK .
If you need the money then you might not have a choice. However, from what I heard you don't lack ability and would be a shame to give up altogether. I'd try and keep as much as you can and especially the gear you most covet.
All the best mate.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

[quote name='ElCapitan' post='897075' date='Jul 17 2010, 08:37 AM']Sounds like you need a prostitute.[/quote]

[Metalmoore]

If i were you i wouldnt sell a thing for at least a year in case you find that you change your mind and if you find you dont after a year i would cut my collection down to my favourite bass(es) and get a good practice rig so you can keep playing in the house.

PS: never read the above posts so chances are this has been said many a time before, but its my 2p

[thisnameistaken]

Actually when I was... 23 I think, I sold all my gear and packed it in after a band ended where I'd been gigging 5 nights a week and touring most of the time. It hadn't been a bad experience but my situation changed, I had to move quite a long way and I ended up in a place where I didn't know any musicians, starting from scratch again. After seeing the local music scene I decided not to bother.

But I picked it up again a few years later. I don't think the break did me any harm. But to be honest I probably wouldn't have sold my last bass (it was a Warwick Corvette Proline 6-string, white maple body, bart soapbars, serial #000014) if I hadn't had to sell it to appease the tax man. I think it went for £300 to Len at Superbuy in Wakefield. Good times...

[TheButler]

I knew i could count on BC to make me look at things with a bit more rationality. Thank you all very much.

Right:

Tour was just dire mainly because two members were just obnoxious, and had a domestic on-going for the duration. Their behaviour towards other people and their music, as well as just having a generally stinking attitude. The worst of it all was they seemed to be quite ignorant of any of this - despite us going as far as telling them straight.

The plus side was that i've had the experience of playing venues i'd never thought i'd play. We've supported bigger bands, like MONO and also supported some amazing bands from Sweden, Italy and the US. I loved that aspect. Not to mention i made some good connections with people, with one in particular being the label owner. I have actually talked to her about this situation - she said that i should focus on my studying and use music to alleviate any stress and just have fun. At the same time i was to work on getting an EP together with another couple of guys to give to her. She still messages me about it, wanting progress updates and stuff. This is encouraging

The only reason i wanted to sell gear was to invest the money, because it seemed sensible. I should've said i have a considerable sum that i was just going to ''add on to''. However, i've since been advised, by more than just you chaps on here, to keep my gear because it is 'safer' than a bank/investment fund anyway. Not to mention i get to [b]keep[/b] my gear. Whats more, i've been told that investing some more money in another bass would also be an option. I always did fancy a 60's Jazz bass, or Gibson EB-2?

I really must thank you all again for screwing my head on straight. I think its time for me to lose all the supplementary 'techno' crap, like my Ableton controllers and plethora of MIDI stuff, and keep what has become sentimentally and financially quite important to me

Cheers
Jamie

[BassBunny]

Jamie, I went through something similar about 12 months ago. Got a bit cheesed off with playing and didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Band issues didn't help either.
I was thinking of jacking it in, but sense prevailed. What it did do was give me a reality check and I got rid of all the gear I didn't really use or had bought on a whim.
Result was a healthy GAS fund nad everything I kept is now used as i seem to have got involved in 4 different bands.