Letting others borrow equipment

rogue_drummer

Gold Member
What's your thinking on letting others borrow your equipment?

For instance, a friend I met through a mutial friend borrowed a snare drum from me last week for a recording session he's doing. He's a fine guitar player and singer trying to kick start his music again.

He needed just the snare for some brush work he is doing on several of his songs, so I let him borrow a '76 Ludwig Acrolite with new, coated heads.

Not that I don't trust him, I do, but accidents happen and stuff gets stolen, so the Acrolite was the easiest to replace, plus it had pretty new heads and I wanted to lend a hand since he's a buddy.

Any horror stories out there about lending out equipment? Last year I backlined a kit for a friend who was doing a charity event for Hurricane Sandy victims and it went fine. People respected the kit.

Just curious.
 
I have worked too hard to get what I have and I simply do not have the resources to replace or fix stolen or broken gear or equipment. So therefore, I don't let people use or borrow my stuff.

Even when I lend out a ball point pen, do I rarely get it back.
 
I learned a long time ago to never let my kit out of my site. I baclike it all the time at gigs, but I stay there till the end. I lost due to a falling out, a16 and 18 inch roto tom set ( might have been 14 and 16). Years ago I had them and lent them to a close drummer friend. things happened and I never got them back.
 
I learned a long time ago to never let my kit out of my site. I baclike it all the time at gigs, but I stay there till the end. I lost due to a falling out, a16 and 18 inch roto tom set ( might have been 14 and 16). Years ago I had them and lent them to a close drummer friend. things happened and I never got them back.

Yeah, then Mary stole your other roto toms!!
 
haha I had two kits put together one blue, one brown and 5 rotos. three on the left and two over the top of the two floor toms. it was 14 pieces of mayhem!!
 
I had one bad experience with lending out gear.

I had a very nice Ludwig late 20's vintage NOB universal snare 4x14,that I lent to a guy I knew for years.

He calls me up and says it was stolen out of his car.I follow my instincts,so I went to his house to look at the car,and there was NO damage what so ever.

His response was....I guess I didn't lock the doors( let me interject here,that I have no compassion for people that leave valuables,in a car...in plain view,later to have them stolen.While I agree nobody should break into your car,there are those who would disagree,which is why you always remove valueables from a car.)

I told him he was a liar,and also told him where to go,and how to get there.

A few weeks later,I notice his band playing at a local bar,and went to see if he was dumb enough to be using my snare.

He was that dumb.I practally rip it off the stand,in the middle of their tune,and march out of there.

No apology,just "please,I need it just for tonight to finish the gig".The look on my face was his answer.

I understand,the band fired him that same evening.Karma.

So,after that little chain of events.I haven't let anyone borrow anything....but it's not beyond possibility that I would again.

Steve B
 
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Nope, I don't lend out equipment, and I don't let people play my set period. No discussion, don't let anyone sit in for a song, or any of that BS either.
 
What's the best that can happen when you loan gear? You get it back. There's no upside to lending gear. Bad idea. Don't do it.

Love your story Steve. Yeah, he was that dumb lol.
 
Drums: Absolutely not.
Cymbals: Absolutely not.
Hardware: Very big maybe.
 
It's a tough call. I would personally loan stuff to people who I knew would be in a position to replace it if something happened. And in a festival back-line situation I would be renting. I have to love you to loan something without caring about it.
 
No, sorry cant do that. If I was going to loan it out I would just give it away. Too many bad experiences in this category.
 
I've lent/rented gear to a drummer or two on a few occasions with no problems, but I don't make a habit of it. I've got some kits on "permanent" loan with family and close, adult friends, but it's gear that I could lose and not be too devastated about. That is, none of it is from my immediate working arsenal of drums, cymbals or hardware.

Bermuda
 
Another solid no here. No way, nohow, not gonna happen. Too many bad experiences. Luckily, my kit is weird enough that nobody _wants_ any part of it... (;-)
 
What's the best that can happen when you loan gear? You get it back. There's no upside to lending gear. Bad idea. Don't do it.
What about karma or whatever you want to call it? You might need to borrow something later on...
Having said that, I have only loaned gear to people I know will treat it properly and are in a position to make it right if a problem occurs.
 
It's bad Karma to loan gear out lol.
 
Two experiences to speak of:

A guitar player friend and I went to a 'surf jam' (for surf/instrumental rock) down in Leucadia in 2004 or so. I don't remember how (if I was volunteered to do it or if I volunteered it myself) but I ended up having to supply the kit. I could see myself rationalizing it as: if I were going to be one of the few drummers, it'd be nice to at least have my own equipment, set up my way, and not have to deal with some crappy provided kit.. I was super apprehensive, but it worked out fine. There were only a few drummers there, most guys were guitar players of course. One older asian guy was pounding the hell out of my stuff (thought the floor tom leg brackets would give out), but nothing went wrong. It was a 60's/70's early Yamaha kit. =)

The other experience is awful and I regret it 100%. Earlier, in 2003/04, the same guitarist as above and I were in search of a bass player for our surf band. One guy we were talking to (*sigh*, I feel so stupid even admitting the story) came over and he didn't have a bass, so he would use my Squier P-bass Special (I had it for a few years and barely used it, it was just for fun) and a little practice amp. So I thought, I'm a nice guy, I'll let him borrow it for the weekend until he gets his (I forgot his reason for not having one), so he can learn our songs and maybe join us. As you can guess, I never saw the bass or the guy ever again. It wasn't even a high-quality bass, it was budget!!! I felt so gullible. Initially, I emailed him a few times about it, asking for it back as planned. Of course the first couple emails were apologetic for the situation and looked like he intended to return it. Then after a while, it was the guy's 'girlfriend' replying saying he had been in Canada on business and he'd get back to me, and that's basically the last I heard about it. I'm honestly not 100% positive he intended to steal it, but he probably did, based on his lack of any effort at all to return it. The email address went inactive some time later. Scummy, man. I don't understand how you can look someone in the face and borrow something on good faith and use that trust against someone. And not feel guilt over it. I know I couldn't do that if I tried.

I'd let my brothers or some friend I've trusted for years maybe borrow something if they needed it. But never a stranger, never again.
 
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Like a dope, I loaned my custom made set of Eames drums out in like 1983 to a drummer colleague of mine. I went to visit him at his gig so I could hear my drums being played by the most awesome drummer I knew. Long story short, he had a CINDERBLOCK resting on the beautiful inside finish of my custom made drums! (I had them built like a bass drum concert tom because at the time, I could never foresee the need for any other bass drum sound lol) But the CINDERBLOCK was holding a pillow up against the head! I freaked out!.

I mean the set was returned and I didn't lose anything but Geez!
 
What about karma or whatever you want to call it? You might need to borrow something later on.

I will add that I've never asked to borrow gear. As a full time working musician, I make sure I have everything I need. It's my job and goes with the territory. Not saying that someone else isn't entitled to ask, but it would be weird coming from another pro, and I wouldn't lend anything to someone who's not.

Bermuda
 
I will add that I've never asked to borrow gear. As a full time working musician, I make sure I have everything I need. It's my job and goes with the territory. Not saying that someone else isn't entitled to ask, but it would be weird coming from another pro, and I wouldn't lend anything to someone who's not.

Bermuda

So I can't just come by and take a whack at your Luddy's, huh?

Bummer.
 
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