Letting a random guy sit in using YOUR guitar: Yes or No ? POLL

[chulaivet1966]

I didn't read every response.

If I knew the musician and he wasn't filled with libation....I would not mind and probably enjoy the short break.

A random, unknown person....likely not without a healthy deposit for any possible damage to axe and emotional stress. <grin here>

Carry on....

[jlindseyjr]

Years ago, a friend of my dad's was teaching me some bluegrass. I was playing a Yamaha acoustic and he was playing mandolin. He says 'Be right back.' He comes back and says 'It will sound better if you play this,' and hands me his Martin D28. Talk about getting nervous real quick.

[Mjark]

I let someone I didn't know from Adam play my Telecaster yesterday. He was very impressed. I also let a him and some friends use my amp. You just have to use common sense I guess.

['56Teleman]

I'd be embarrassed to have someone else ask someone I've never met if I could use his/her gear. I don't care to let others play my gear either.

[Arbiter]

No strangers. Folks I know? Usually.

[elicross]

I think the key is "random guy you've never met." You have no idea how this guy treats a guitar; you've never seen the condition his guitars are in; you don't know if he's the kind of guy who treats other people's stuff with the same care he lavishes on his own gear...or if he's the other kind of guy.

So you say no, and you don't feel bad about it. Let the guy keep a guitar in his trunk in case he's asked to sit in.

Better yet...let your lead singer lug a guitar around for any random dude he wants to ask to sit in.

Or you could just say "Well, sure -- can I sleep with your wife?"

[jackal]

Originally Posted by DrumBob

No way is some stranger playing my guitar. If I know the person, no problem.

I get a kick out of idiots who go up to our harp player and say, "Hey man, can I play your harp?"

He should reply by asking him, "Hey man, can I screw your girlfriend?"

To my knowledge, he never has.

I always tell folks that sharing a harp is like sharing a toothbrush. I don't swap spit with strangers.

[cosmiccowboy]

No ... you ain't usin' my stuff, and no... you ain't sittin' in!

Just sayin'

[sacizob]

Originally Posted by cosmiccowboy

No ... you ain't usin' my stuff, and no... you ain't sittin' in!

Just sayin'

+1 ---- besides if someone plays my guitar, what am I going to do?

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by cosmiccowboy

No ... you ain't usin' my stuff, and no... you ain't sittin' in!

Just sayin'

Yep, that's my answer when somebody asks when my band is playing. However, in that particular band, I don't usually call the shots, unless they are about using my stuff...

[fezz parka]

The majority of the time, I gig my SX guitars. As long as they don't set 'em on fire, I don't give a rip what they do to them. I can replace 'em for a Benjamin.

[DonB52]

If I don't know you, don't even ask! It is way too hard to replace a 1980 Vintage Telecaster.

[WaylonFan76]

I had brought two guitars to this gig: my #1 hot-rodded AVRI 52 ( Duncan and Duff pups, full Glendale hardware upgrade ), so no-go on that one, and the AVRI 57 Strat that my wife gave me as a wedding present. So, no. I think the lead singer knows my stance on that subject now, even though I clearly remember having that discussion with him a few years back. His first band as a teenager featured Tab Benoit as the lead guitar player and he still lives in the area. I remember telling him "If Tab shows up and wants to play my guitar, sure, anybody else, no."

[getbent]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

At the risk of veering off topic : The jam vs gig thing is obvious to me too. In that particular band, the lead singer is famous for letting random strangers "sing" . We've had embarrassing instances when a random woman says she wants to sing, say, "Silver Wings" and proceeds to do her perfect American Idol bad audition impression, and you're stuck playing the rest of the tune hoping nobody walks in the door at that time and thinks she's part of the band.
In my band, I will bring you on stage only if a. I know you b. I know you can sing and c. I know you know the words to the song and can bring something to the table on it. I've had to learn, from experiences in that band mentioned above, to say "Sorry, we don't do sit-ins" with the biggest smile I can muster.
Now back on topic.

just before christmas, we played a gig at a bar we hadn't played out out of town, pretty far out of town...

It wasn't a huge crowd and we'd gotten the gig in a circuitous manner, so we were anxious to be good and get along with everyone (and they were paying more than usual)

anyway, this really ugly old guy is just HAMMERED in the bar... but, he is friends with everyone and.. he has a HOT wife.. and he is dancing every dance with every pretty girl there (and a couple of ugly ones too) after the second set he approaches me and says, "I asked the other guys if maybe I could sing with you guys and they all said you are the one who decides... can I?" He is also the loudest cheerleader for us and showers me with compliments about the band our playing etc...

I smile and say, "What do you want to sing?" he says, "i'm mostly a blues singer, but I can sing anything."

I let him. He came up and did milkcow blues and while he wasn't a great singer, he was a great showman, he knew how to direct a band and we did a bunch of choruses on it and the crowd went berserk...

What happened next was pretty amazing... it was a tall stage and very small.

He tripped on a cable and tumbled through the monitors AND the mains stage left and faceplanted on the dance floor... OUT. I mean OUT.

The crowd is horrified and the mains tumble right behind him. I'm both worried and laughing my rear off... oh man!

one of our guys jumps off stage and helps him..... and his wife runs up.. he's bleeding a bit.. she helps him to the car and then comes back and gives us his card, apologizes for him being so drunk etc.. and says, "if anything is broken we will pay"

I go into his restaurant the next day for breakfast and he is there, much worse for the wear and tear, but very nice and he asks me "how'd I do?"

I ate for free, he told me to come anytime and eat for free and he loved that I said he was a great showman.

one of the benefits of gigging and playing bars (for me) is the characters you meet, the weird things that happen, and the times that don't go as planned.

Rules, like Jere says... are pretty limiting.. if you don't have to have them.. take them away.

[Tim Armstrong]

For myself, I've always kinda felt it was bad form to ask to sit in with a band that I don't know well (and frankly I don't usually ask my good friends, either!). With others, I try to deal with this kind of thing on a case-by-case basis. If it's a drunk who comes up while we're playing, no way. If it's a drunk, period, it's no thanks.

If the guy asks me during the break, and is respectful, friendly, seems to know what he's talking about, and it's cool with the rest of the band, I might say yes. I'm less likely to be happy about it if he approaches one of my bandmates about playing MY gear, and am more likely then to say no.

But I reserve the right to say yes whenever I feel like it!

Tim

[joaopazguitar]

"Naah... I don't think so..."

If he wants to play he must bring his own axe I wouldn't ask to be in that situation either!

I cherish my guitars more than my tooth brush and I don't share that too!
(I know I know )

[BigD]

I don't pass my wife around either.

[WaylonFan76]

Yep, as I said before, if you're in the mood to jam, bring your own. JMO

[fezz parka]

Borrowing a guitar ain't like banging yer wife.

[BigD]

It is if you only have one.