Taking our babies out and about

[dvscool]

I'm a guitar player 1st, guitar owner 2nd. You play your 1st string lineup on game day.

+1 play it dude...just play it...

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Brings up some thoughts on security. Having a system in place where the gear is never left unattended is key. If you band is big enough to have roadies, damn sure make certain you trust them. If not, having a relative or close friend of the band to sit on the gear when not being played is another way.
Our bassist's brother is a cop and is almost always at our shows helping to carry gear and break down. When the gear is not being used, he's watching it for us. Needless to say, his beer is ALWAYS bought by someone in the band. That and he gets more f---in' tail after our shows than all of us in the band. But then we're all married... he's not.

Oh man so YOU'RE the band with all the band wives!

LOL I can only imagine bringing my gear out to the local dives. I don't have a lot but what I do is priceless to me. Dude I regularly hear of entire trailers full of gear being stolen...storage and rehearsal spaces, and studios, being raided. I don't care what you play, but stealing a working musician's gear is as low as it gets.

[Axegrinder87]

I fucking LOVE that!!!! I want a beater SOOOOOO bad, but I don't want to beat any of mine

Somebody sell me a beater Rhoads!!!

[vector]

Oh man so YOU'RE the band with all the band wives!

LOL I can only imagine bringing my gear out to the local dives. I don't have a lot but what I do is priceless to me. Dude I regularly hear of entire trailers full of gear being stolen...storage and rehearsal spaces, and studios, being raided. I don't care what you play, but stealing a working musician's gear is as low as it gets.

+111111111111.
We had a storage space out in Seattle back in the late 80's early 90's, where we rehearsed. One night, New Years eve 1990, if I recall correctly, I got a call from the other guitarist saying the space had been broken into and we lost a lot of gear. I wasn't making a whole lotta money and I had blown what little I did have on a Charvel Model 3(?), a BC Rich ST III, a Peavey VTM head and cab and some pedals. I fucking loved that gear. Well, it was gone. And the storage contract did not protect against theft or natural disasters. So, I was fucked. To this day, if I ever found the maggots that boosted that gear I'd gladly risk jail time to rip their nuts off and force feed them to the shitbirds...

[1neeto]

that what i used to do untill i snapped my first nice guitar a BCRich neckthru bich in half, granted i had already cracked and repaired the headstock, but not into 2 seperate pieces.

This was my main gigging guitar for MANY years, bought new by me and played to shit, still plays / sounds great. looks cool if your into the whole relic thing, tho this wasnt relic'd it was played to shit within an inch of its life.

Now that's a guitar with some serious mojo!

[markD]

Axegrinder- Guess I'm lined up for disaster. I gig all my high end axes: Charvel CS Star, an uber-rare Les Paul Axcess, an RR1 Bengal and pair of Hamer Cali's, a Limited Edition and an Elite that I had customized by Mike Learn. To be sure, if the venue has a REAL bad rep for violence or shady mofo's, I'll sub in something like the modded RR EX or an LTD Star. Luckily, in 20 years of gigging, I've only dinged one guitar badly.

this would be me as well. i gig everything - not at the same time obviously. luckily, i only play real venues with security and real stages. i have never damaged a guitar by playing it live. they tens to fall over more at home or get bumped in a studio that i am unfamiliar with....

[vector]

this would be me as well. i gig everything - not at the same time obviously. luckily, i only play real venues with security and real stages. i have never damaged a guitar by playing it live. they tens to fall over more at home or get bumped in a studio that i am unfamiliar with....

Yer obviously good enough to be playing real venues and not the shitty small bars & dives my band gigs. Haven't been up on a proper stage since the early 90's. Still hasn't deterred me from gigging the 'spensive axes. However, got a gig coming up at a rough joint that has a stage and a house sound system (which is promising) but has a long history of some bad shit going down. Drunk bikers, pissed off cut-offs, drug deals, cars getting f-ed up in the lot. Think the Double Deuce in RoadHouse before Dalton cleans it up... anyway, we got a May gig there and I'm gonna leave some of the better axes home and bring the stand-in's that night. Either that or I'm gonna sit on my gear whenever we're not playing...with a piece.

[markD]

yeah, that sounds like one where you may want to play the beat up charvel!!! you could always go and get a cheapy squier or an LTD that you take to shit-holes. i have a couple guitars like that...

[vector]

yeah, that sounds like one where you may want to play the beat up charvel!!! you could always go and get a cheapy squier or an LTD that you take to shit-holes. i have a couple guitars like that...

Yeah, I'd like to think the upstanding patrons of such a fine establishment would respect an honest, working-class hard rock and metal act, especially since 3 of the 5 musicians are long time Harley riders and two are firearms owners, that they'd lay off fucking with the gear or swiping it outright. But it doesn't always work like that. Definitely gonna bring the LTD Star, the modded RR Ex, and a modded Hamer Diablo. I'd be pissed if I lost or damaged those but less so compared to losing/damaging the CS Star, the 1 of 3 LP Axcess or the Cali's.

[markD]

yeah, surprisingly people don't really think about the musician...or how much the gear costs. it's all about the beer and getting wasted!! good choice!!

[Axegrinder87]

My problem isn't really about the cost, or investment. It's the fact that I bond with this particular guitar so well, it's an extension of my body. I'm not scared of being out the money I've paid, but scared of losing an arm, so to speak.

[markD]

hmmm, if you are worried about it like that, and cost isn't an issue you just might need to grab a "bum around" guitar for playing live...

[vector]

My problem isn't really about the cost, or investment. It's the fact that I bond with this particular guitar so well, it's an extension of my body. I'm not scared of being out the money I've paid, but scared of losing an arm, so to speak.

Hear that! Boils down to weighing the pro's and cons. Is it worth it to risk harming yer soulguitar? Do you absolutely have to play that one (or 2) in order to nail the song(s) properly? I could see if you were banking your music career or a recording deal on it. But imo, if it's a question of harming my babies, I go with the back ups. I play sloppy live anyway. Doesn't really matter if it's on a 400 dollar beater or a beloved 4,000 dollar custom shop.