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THE worst (bass related) feeling in the world


warwickhunt
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A few years ago when I played g**tar in a blues band we used to rehearse in a pub in Cambridge.
I got home late and tired after a good sesh and natter in the carpark. On unloading the car about 11:30pm I noticed with a feeling of shock quickly followed by nausea the Fender Lonestar Strat luxury guitar case shaped space on the backseat of my car. :)
I'd put it down while chatting and left it in the carpark in the dark and driven off.
Quickly phoned the pub and after a few rings, which felt like an hour the barman said
" Hi Mike,Yep it's here".
Oh boy was I worried and very relieved to pick it up the next day.

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[quote name='Delberthot' post='968558' date='Sep 26 2010, 05:10 PM']i remember doing a gig in Tain, up the north of Scotland. To get into the gig, you had to go down some steep steps into the cellar.

I rmember seeing my guitarist falling into the cellar - with my brand new Trace 4x10" in hand to break his fall.


Luckily there was hardly a mark on the cab.[/quote]

Good thing it didn't land on top of him! That Trace Elliot 4x10" cab I've sold sounds amazing but it feels as though it's lined with lead!

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The one time i let our singer load my bass in the van he left it propped up against the side door and forgot about it.
When the van (long wheel based LDV high-top, fully loaded with 4 blokes in) set off it slipped under the wheels and made an nice crunching/scraping sound


The case was badly damaged but the bass (my old Streamer) was fine, not a single scratch. Would definitely buy a cheap Thomann ABS case again!

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[quote name='lemmywinks' post='970525' date='Sep 28 2010, 11:50 AM']The one time i let our singer load my bass in the van he left it propped up against the side door and forgot about it.
When the van (long wheel based LDV high-top, fully loaded with 4 blokes in) set off it slipped under the wheels and made an nice crunching/scraping sound


The case was badly damaged but the bass (my old Streamer) was fine, not a single scratch. Would definitely buy a cheap Thomann ABS case again![/quote]

I can see that case from where I'm sitting right now :)

It still does a very nice job, and from most angles you can't even tell.

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[quote name='maxrossell' post='970534' date='Sep 28 2010, 11:56 AM']I can see that case from where I'm sitting right now :)

It still does a very nice job, and from most angles you can't even tell.[/quote]


Aye, still works fine too! I seriously expected to be greeted with a very poorly Warwick when i opened it up but the case took all the punishment and still remained usable.

I think our singer was just as worried as me as he knew my Warwick was in there and it was his fault

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I once hoisted my lovely "chocolate thunder" Aguilar DB cabs a little bit too casually into the car and tweaked my back, then on unloading at the venue I promptly pushed it one step too far and totally did my back in.

I played the gig sitting down as I couldnt stand, and had to leave the load out to the rest of the band as I needed to make a fast escape to bed/painkillers. Got my stuff back the next day and they had managed to break the catch on my rackcase and then drag the afforementioned broken catch across the top of my cab ripping the tolex in the process. Happy, I wasn't.

I moved the cabs on quite quickly as everytime I looked at the damage I relived the horror. I never managed to repair the catch either and had to chuck a very expensive rack case.

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The worst feeling I had was:

Worst:Turn up at the gig, plug in my DB750 flick the switch and it kills the power to the whole club. Everything in darkness, no music, no bar... just an uncomfortable silence.

Best: Noone knew it was me that blew the electricity, and I just kept quiet. Dodged that bullet.

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Lucky escape Joe :)

Back in 1987, my band played a Thursday night gig at the old Majestic club in Reading. After the gig, everything -- drums, backline, instruments, the lot -- got loaded into the van to go back to the lockup ready for our Saturday night at the Red Lion in Brentford (RIP).
Saturday night... the van arrives at the Lion, and we start piling everything out. Drums, backline, keys, guitar, ba...
hold on...
where's my Wal?

Not in the van.
Frantic phone calls... it's not in the lockup... it's not at home... not even at my mate's house...
In desperation I call a mate who I knew was coming to the gig, and asked him to go to the Majestic and see if it was there. In the mean time, I rushed over to Tempo Soundhouse in Hanwell, where resident diamond geezer Lawrie Keys was kind enough to lend me a bass after I gave him my sob story. Rushed back to the Lion... call from Simon... relax, the bass is at the Majestic. The club's manager found it in its case, left behind after the Thursday gig, and locked it away safely.
Simon screams down the M4, arrives with smoking tyres 5 mins before we go on, and reunites me with my baby.
From then on, it always came home with me.

Coincidentally, that was the night I met my ex-wife.

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I was booked to do an Odyssey gig at the Indigo2, supporting Sister Sledge so i thought...

"As this is such a high profile gig, I'll take more than 1 axe, just in case I plug the Stingray in and nothing happens. I don't wanna look like a tool!"

So I packed the Overwater too, just in case....

Comes to Mid afternoon soundcheck and I pull the Stingray out of the bag only to find the strings lying flat against the board. Tight, but dead flat against the frets. A quick check of the nut and bridge shows no problems but when I turned it over I saw a big split right through the neck about halfway along!!!

Now I love my Overwater and it sounded great but I spent the whole gig gently mourning my EX Stingray.....

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[quote name='woodster' post='970690' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:10 PM'].... but when I turned it over I saw a big split right through the neck about halfway along!!!

Now I love my Overwater and it sounded great but I spent the whole gig gently mourning my EX Stingray.....[/quote]

What was the split from? Surely the Sisters weren't living up to their name?!?

Dan

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How I acquired someone else's bass... (and got it back to him)

We'd just finished a gig in Sunderland. I got all my gear off the stage and placed it in front of the stage. It was an upstairs venue and it was my turn to drive the Transit, so the rest of the band and the venue staff said that they'd bring my gear down whilst I was getting the van. I made a point of telling everyone that all my gear was off the stage. The van was eventually loaded and off we went.

Twelve hours later, we were driving to our next gig in Barrow, when our guitarist got a call from the guy who ran the Sunderland venue. His bass had been in a Fender gigbag at the back of the stage, but it wasn't there anymore. He wasn't accusing us of stealing it, but one of his staff had admitted to taking a bass off the stage and taking it down to our van.

We stopped at the next service station, checked that back of the van, and there it was. His gigbag was identical to one of mine, so it hadn't looked out of place and it had ended up in the van. So we went straight back to Sunderland to return it to it's rightful owner!

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all my bass gear stolen from work warehouse (and unnofficial practise room) 10 years ago.

it stopped me playing for a long time. (thank the lord. i hear you cry..)

the twats i was working for were responsible (i found out later)

but inspires me to piss people off with even more aggression and noise these days.

x


incidentally it was anger that got me into music in the first place..

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1. Years ago I had my first decent P Bass copy nicked when I was down the pub. Never saw it again.

2. Loaded up the smallish PA in the boot of my maestro and shut the hatch door down on the corner of one of the cabs. Broke the window and had to use a blanket to try & cover the gap for the gig. Ended up buying a second hand hatch, respraying it and fititng it all by myself.

3. Left a small powered monitor (1 of a pair) on the pavement outside our flat. When we realised it was gone.

4. Left our duo gear setup in dodgy Southampton pub early. Went home, came back to find no guitars. Luckily the landlord hid them from the locals. Started playing and realised some clown had unplugged the monitors.

5. Left my Stingray in it's case in the driveway of our friends house where we once rehersed. Saw it as we drove out, stopped, got out and loaded into the car. Heart attack narrowly averted!

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About 5 years ago, After driving from essex to plymouth for a function at an army base, after finding that we had no food provided for the band, we left the base in search of a food establishment.
After 2 attempts to get seated in pub restaurants (no drinks consumed!) we decided to head for the 'Muckdonalds' drive through.
The pub we were leaving had a long walk around to the carpark to get back to the van or,as i thought, a quick leap over the 3' high beer garden fence into the car park.
I went to leap first, caught my foot on the fence, crashed down sideways on my right elbow in the car park...
Wondering why i had something pointing out of my arm i quickly realised the pain i was in, thankfully the royal plymouth hospital was close by & after checking into A & E discovered that i had shattered my elbow & broken my arm in 4 places.
Needless to say i didn't make the gig that night!

Breaking my arm was bad enough but i was more concerned about making sure my gear was packed up & returned to essex whilst i stayed at plymouth hospital...

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[quote name='DanOwens' post='970717' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:34 PM']What was the split from? Surely the Sisters weren't living up to their name?!?

Dan[/quote]

Had a 'tip off' that one of the stage crew fell over it but i couldn't get anyone to admit it......

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='968264' date='Sep 26 2010, 11:53 AM']I normally carry all my own gear to gigs in my car but we were doing a big charity bash last night and we had a van. Collected at 5.30 and we had to rearrange some of the gear already in the van to get in the PA equipment stored at mine. All packed off we go to the gig where we arrive to find loads of people milling about inc' three bands (we all know each other) helping each other carry in various equipment... excellent camaraderie!

As the PA belongs to me I end up setting most of it up myself before I turn to set my gear up; where's my bass? :lol:

AAAARGH! 'Where the cufk is my BASS' Much searching turns up nothing; 13 guitar cases double checked to see if one is mine, van searched... panic ensues (on my part) and I'm frantically phoning home to ask if my bass is sitting on the drive, not there. My bass is nowhere to be found, utter devastation on my part and much self chastisement for being so cuffin lax and letting other people take charge of my gear (which I NEVER usually do). Then... phone call from the Mrs, it's in the garage down beside some shelving, someone obviously moved my bass to one side when we were loading the lights and PA.

It's unlikely that you can know how bad that feels unless it's happened to you before!

Any similar experiences?[/quote]

Very scarey story john it wasnt red by any chance :)

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