Conference napalm::guitar

            It's mine...  and you're NOT gonna play it! PERIOD!   ;^)
    
    	How many times has it been for you that someone wanted to play your
    guitar, your baby, your (what used to be) bread and butter and then wanted
    to deck the guy for even thinking about it, let alone asking? The story
    in 2100.0 is really bizarre and this guy was really going to the
    extreme by cutting someone hand off, or cutting it really badly or
    whatever. This guy had to be sick! It's just too cRaZy!!!! I get guys
    asking to use my old Fender. My first thought is "like he*l you are
    buddy"! I don't like other people playing my guitars PERIOD! You want
    to play one...  go buy one! Like at a few weddings I've played at
    someone in the wedding party has a brother, or cousin that wants to
    play at the reception for a tune or two. No problem, unless they want
    to play my old Strat! No way Jay, but then you think...  well, the guy
    doesn't appear to be drunk and I'm NOT going to make a big thing about
    this at a wedding (very UNCOOL) so you grit your teeth and let the
    person play it (VERY reluctantly I might add) especially when you tell
    the folks AHEAD of time to bring their own guitar IF they're going to
    sit-in with the band for a song or two. Some do, but some don't and I
    hate being put in that position! Why? How many times has anyone broken
    something that was yours and then said; "I'm really some man...  it
    just broke...  I'm really sorry...." WELL SORRY ISN'T GOING TO FIX MY
    1964 GIBSON EB-3L BASS HEADSTOCK BECAUSE YOU CAN'T WALK AROUND IT...  
    WILL IT?!???!?? HUH???  WELL????  WILL IT?????????
    
    Ok...  ok, I'm better now...  a lousy bass anyway ;^), but do you 
    get my point? Sorry doesn't cut it. If you want to play...  fine, please 
    do...  we'd be very happy to have you sit-in...  really, I just ask 
    one thing...  please bring your own guitar and don't ask to play my
    guitars. It's MINE...  and you're NOT gonna play it!
    
    ;^)'s
    
    			Rock on,
    				Fred
                     

Unless I know the person, they can't play any of my guitars. Even if I
know the person, I might not let them touch it (Being drunk is a sure
sign of not letting the stumbling individual near it). It's different if
I were to damage it, but intolerable if someone else does. Guitars become
your pals after a while & you tend to treat them pretty good when you
know that you are going to need them to help you.

My brother folded up my old Harmony guitar in a folding bed. He said it
wouldn't close, and then after quite a struggle and a loud pop he decided
to look to see if anything was stuck in the mechanisum - sure enough, there
was. The neck snapped off taking a large part of the body around the
neck joint - it was a thick bodied hollow body electric. Not a great guitar,
but one that I played alot. I still have it, but I could never get it back
together again quite the way it was originally. My fault I guess, I slid
it under the bed in it's case. I never thought about the design of the
folding bed - the legs went fully from one side of the bed to the other.
Sure crushed the guitar good tho. This was my older brother. He did say that
he was sorry.....

							Jens

Back in '84 a guy that I had known for a few years and played
with a few times was considering buying a Stratocaster. He came into
the shop that I worked in and asked me if he could borrow mine to
try overnight. I was caught completely off guard and didn't know what
to say. On the one hand, he was a nice enough person and a fine
(full-time) player. On the other hand, the guitar that he was referring
to is a 1965 pre-CBS model that I have owned since it was new and has
NEVER BEEN OUT OF MY POSSESSION! NEVER EVER!

I said (reluctantly, very, very reluctantly) OK. I wasn't in a band
at the time and had no reason to say no except for "Uh, nothin' personal
but I don't trust you."

This was before 'Vintage Strat Mania' had really taken off. Back then
I used to leave the thing on stage during breaks and not even look to
see if it was there until it was time to play again. Needless to say,
I would never do that now, given current conditions in the vintage 
guitar market and the economy.

But, ohhh, the night I spent without it. I'll never do that again. I am 
very attached to this instrument.

On another occasion, I was playing keyboards and a guy came up to the
stage in the middle of a tune and wanted to sit-in. I thought our
bass player knew him and motioned 'OK' to him. (This was back in 1973, BTW)
He picked my ax and began to do a Charles Manson on it. In the time
it took me to jump up and grab it from him, he broke a couple strings.
He only had it on for about 20 seconds!

    I rarely have this problem but when I am asked, unless I am there
    and know the guy... no Chance!
    
    Even when I am there, I ask them to follow a few basic rules....
    which I adhere to my self when playing.
    
    You wanna play it sit down, put on the strap (locks in place).
    
    You wanna get up ? Take the guitar off and put it on it's stand
    and secure it!
    
    Not to difficult....
    
    It's not as if it is a rare guitar ('89 Les Paul Standard Vintage
    Sunburst), but she's mine!
    
    Bob

    I usually don't have a problem with it, unless said asker is a real
    idiot.  Only time I regretted it is when this dude played my les paul.
    He had this silver bracelet on, which he didn't take off, and then
    starts strumming ala Pete Townsend.  Needless to say my poor LP's
    finish wasn't too happy...neither was I.  ;^(

    
    
    Most of the bands I've been in have had a policy against people sitting
    in.  It just seemed easier to say "sorry, band policy" than to have to
    discuss it with everyone who came up.  But, we did let a few up to
    sing, and former band members were always exceptions to the policy.

    Personally, I agree with Larry...there's no way I'd every let a
    stranger from the audience strap on my guitar.  It's not the most
    valuable guitar that ever was, but it is to me.   I'd sooner give him
    the keys to my car.
    
    
    Kevin
      

    All this seems to suggest that it might be worth carrying around a
    hack piece of trash guitar just for this purpose. It could have several
    advantages:
    
    1) You don't have to be impolite or worry about offending anyone.
    
    2) You don't have to worry about getting your own axe damaged.
    
    3) You don't have to sit out while the jerk plays your axe.
    
    4) If the jerk is *bad*, and the guitar is *bad*, maybe he'll get
    discouraged and go away sooner.
    
    5) If the jerk is *good*, maybe he'll get discouraged and go away and
    stop showing you up :-)
    
    - Ram

    What I don't understand is how someone could have the rude *audacity*
    to even approach a band being paid for a gig and ask to sit in!  I
    wouldn't *dream* of asking to sit in with a band, not even a friends
    band!
    
    A band has to rehearse for *hours* to prepare to play a gig, why would
    they want some bozo they don't even know hopping up on stage to join
    them in a song they have no idea whether he knows or not (or worse in a
    song that *they* don't know???
    
    The closest I've ever come to this was with a friend's band who I knew
    did a lot of jamming on tunes.  I didn't do it for myself and I didn't
    explicitly ask that the person be allowed to sit in, I simply mentioned
    to my friend that I knew someone that was an outstanding player in the
    audience and left it at that.  If he'd felt inclined to then ask this
    person to sit in for a song or two, that would have been his perogative
    (he didn't).  I hoped that my approach came off as it was intended.
    
    Greg
         

Back in '73 my band was known to do a lot of jamming. There
was a small group of people that occasionally sat in for a few tunes,
usually at the end of a set. Some of these guys were quite good. One of
them went on to be McCoy Tyner's bassist. It was because some one that
we knew had vouched for this creep that I let him pickup my ax. That
was the first and last time it ever happened. (except for the time that I 
let my friend borrow it overnight. Ugh.)

Actually I can't remember any other occassions where somebody asked
to play my guitar at a gig. If somebody that I knew and respected wanted
to play and it was an appropriate time, I wouldn't say no. I'm not
neurotic about it. I know some great players and as long as they weren't
drunk or something I wouldn't hesitate to let them play my instrument, so
long as it didn't impact our responsibility to perform as expected by
the proprietor that hired us.

Of course I would always watch for buckles, bracelets, etc. Also I find
that other peoples body acids (or something) deadens my strings real 
quick. I can use a set of strings for months and months, but when somebody 
else picks up my guitar I can hear the difference the next day. A week
or so ago I was playing and my kids came in to annoy me (as they often
do whenever I indulge myself in anything). I let them strum away
while I fretted the strings. (it was an obscene noise) The next day
my high E string was *DEAD*. Body acid?

BTW, none of the people that I have in mind are metal or punk types. (no 
offense to anyone intended) More blues, jazz and fusion. If I hung out in
other circles, I might not be so generous.

re:0

I laughed when ya told me this on the phone


Thursday, laughed again when I read it..


What a loon...

By the way Scotty, did you call that store up here in New-hampsha' ?

    I don't mind someone playing my guitar as long as I'm there.Once my mum
    let one of her friends loose on my old Epiphone and when I came back
    the whammy arm had been broken in the body,leaving a sharp piece of ex-
    whammy poking out,scratching arms.My new guitar was being used by a
    friends girlfriend and when she was finished she just put the sucker on
    the floor without any support for the neck.So I picked it up and put it
    lovingly in it's case and 10 minutes later she had done the same
    thing.....!
    
                     makes ya seeth!!
    
                            STAYNZ

    re.12
    
    Yep, that one got away....darn. The guy said he let it go for $895-
    par for the course. 
    
    Maybe next-time!

   << Yep, that one got away....darn. The guy said he let it go for $895-
   << par for the course. 

Dern the luck..  


by the way, I've reconsidered selling my LE420...

Now if I can just get to the music store that's got it up
for consignment, before someone else rolls along and buys it.

    
    
    		I have only let one person play my "main" guitar in
    	the past and that was Greg House. I felt pretty confident that
    	he knew what he was doing. I doubt if I would let just anyone 
    	handle my guitar like, a friend of a friend or some such thing.
    	I would have to know the person pretty well.
    		I have had this policy since a friend of mine got some
    	real nice buckle scratches on the back of his new PRS custom
    	letting some dude try it out!
    		
    
    	DonH
    
    

>    		I have only let one person play my "main" guitar in
>    	the past and that was Greg House. 
    
    I feel pretty honored!  8^)
    
    Seriously, it sounded good and I enjoyed playing it too!  I appreciated
    the demo, it helped with the decision I was considering on buying one a
    lot.
    
>        I felt pretty confident that he knew what he was doing.
    
    Guess I dispelled that thought pretty quickly, huh?   ;^)
    
    At least I didn't hurt your guitar (maybe hurt your ears a bit though).
        
    Greg

    Greg plays everyone's guitar ;-)  Not as bad as he says though.
    
    Mike

    I'll let anyone play my guitars cos after about 5 seconds they will 
    realise that I play the right way round.
    
    Like Hendrix :-)
    
    Rob.

    To anyone who plays GB gigs, this topic must be a real sore point.
    I can't even count the number of times someone has asked (and some
    even demanded) to come up and play (hey, man, I used to play in a band,
    let me play your Steinberger --- WRONG!!). The worst situation is when
    the groom and his buddy's used to be in a garage band in high school
    and everyone starts egging them on tho get up a play a few tunes.
    It's very tough to say no without looking like an a$$hole in front of
    a few hundred people (this just happened to me again recently). I don't
    have anything against someone sitting in with their own instrument.
    They can even play all night as long as I still get paid. But asking
    to use my bass is only slightly less than asking to use my wife (I sure
    hope my wife doesn't read this ;^).
    
    /Bill
    

    re: .20 (KNox) and Fred Abatelli
    
    Fred (who's in the same GB band as me)
    
    Y'know, it occurs to me that perhaps it would be a good idea to specify
    this in our contract: Sit-ins are welcome but must bring their own
    guitars.
    
    I have no problem with people playing my keys, but I don't like people
    playing my guitars.
    
    So Fred - you CANT play my Steve Morse Model anymore.  ;-)  ;-) ;-)

    There are a select few that I let play my guitars - if it means I come
    across as an a$$hole, so be it.  I'll never forget when a buddy of mine
    had just bought a Randy Rhodes Jackson and a friend of his (a
    construction worker type ...) wanted to play it.  The guy had just got
    of work and was FILTHY !  Butch was a "good guy" and let the guy play
    it, dirty clothes (read:  dried mud), dirty hands, etc.  Well, when the
    guy sat down you could almost hear the crud digging into the brand
    spanking new white finish !  It almost made me sick and it wasn't even
    my axe.  Butch eventually buffed all the scratches out (couldn't see
    'em from the front, but it's the principle ...).
    
    Both my guitars have custom-made belt buckle scratches, but I put 'em
    there.  Ther major divot (strat only) I did NOT do .... and it still
    burns me.
    Scary
    

    Drummers are always good for knocking over guitars and such...
    
    :)

RE : Comment on GB musicians..

Yes, it happens alot in the local clubs...

I've had all kinds,, if someone is'nt falling over drunk, sometimes
I'll let em...  No always rigth away,. but out of all the times I've
been asked,, I've only let it happen once or twice.

I remember the night I first brought my new strat to a job.. Some guy
who litterally looked like he just crawled out from under someones
porch, wanted to play my strat..  By the end of the night, he'd been up
countless times, to the point where I started putting my guitars
in their cases after every set (I had four of them up there.. what
a job..)  the other guys started doing the same thing when they saw
how relentless ths guy was..   

He actually started to get mad at me cuz I refused to let him play.. 
I got all kinds of stories from him that night...

telling me he played with Tina Turner, toured with Marshall Tucker,
new all the guys in 38 Special.. He says to me "I'm Nation WIDE!"

I almost laughed in his face..

Instead, I says, "Buddy, you could be Jeff Becks brother, and I wouldn't let
you near my guitars. now F*** OFF"  I finally had to ask one of the 
boucners to get him off my back...  

some people.....  Humans and them don't mix..

    ...we was doing a GB gig when some lady with blue hair asked me
    if little Penelope could do couple tunes on my keyboards.
    
    I reluctantly let her. My fear wasn't that she'd ruin the keyboards,
    I was afraid her smokin' version of "3 Blind Mice" would cause the
    band to replace me!
    
    :^)
    
    Edd

<<I was afraid her smokin' version of "3 Blind Mice" would cause the
<<band to replace me!
  

Which we did immediately..  now answer my last mail message you toad.  

    Since I got my Martin HD28 new in 1989, only I have played it, except
    on about two very brief occassions.
    
    I agree with what someone said earlier about body acid....I dont mind
    my sweat on the strings, I just dont like other people's there.
    
    I dont know if it is true about electrics but I have a theory that a
    guitar plays in like a clutch on a car. In other words, the way you
    drive determines how the clutch feels; the way you play determines the
    response out of your guitar.
    
    My theory leads me to wonder how much of a buzz anyone would actually
    get from playing my guitar for a few minutes, because you really need
    to play it for much longer to be completely hooked so you cant put it
    down. But that aint gonna happen is it?? 
    
    I have a simple message that I give anyone who might be minding my
    guitar in its case, whether open or shut - "If anyone touches that -
    maim them"
    
    andy

    re: -1
    
    Ohfercrissakes, the damn thing is a guitar not a crucifix or some
    religious artifact. Lighten up Andy. I agree that you paid for the
    sumbitch and you got the right to treat it however you want. But
    have mercy on those of us who are unsuspecticing of your devotion to
    keeping your intrument from unclean hands. 
    
    Now I'd like to think that I
    wouldn't pick up someones guitar without checking with him. But I'd
    also like to think that the answer would be a polite refusal if the
    owner were so inclined, perhaps something like "would you forgive me if
    asked you not to?" I would think it silly, but I'd *respect* the owners
    wishes. After all I'm not a kid, I'm not a slobbering drunk, I've been
    playing for 25 years. And it could happen that I would ask you (were I
    to meet you). I don't own a Martin. I wonder what it is that makes 'em
    worth the money they get for 'em. I wonder what they play like. Well
    yeah, I could just get my nasty ass down to my friendly local dealer
    and find out, but I'd like to think that another guitar player wouldn't
    have me maimed for tryin his.
    
    Before you reply and tell me to f___ off, let me just say that one of
    my personal philosophies about life is we humans just make everything much
    more difficult than it need be. At the risk of sounding my age, the
    world would be a little closer to John Lennons vision in "Imagine" if
    we'd just lighten up a bit. And when you consider this comes from a guy
    who generally regards Imagine and "flower power" and all that as so much 
    bullsh!t
      
    "sakman"  

    re: <<< Note 2100.28 by MR4DEC::SAKELARIS >>>
    
    Well said.  I also have an HD28 that I take very (SET FACE/SERIOUS)
    seriously, but since I don't hang out with many members of the Manson
    Family, or people who sweat diesel fuel, I've been able to (1) trust
    others with my instruments, and (2) keep them in fine condition. As
    stated previously, these things are GUITARS...
    
    Charlie

    As a side note, I think guitars are only a piece of wood, and
    if they can't be dropped, why own em?  ;^)
    

    
    	I find this note very amusing.  I've had guys just about pull 
    	an axe outta my hands to try it out w/o asking!  I plan to 
    	growl at 'em next time (no teeth showin' tho').

    I love my guits...And I really don't car if someone plays mine.
    Geez, it's not like they are irreplaceable or anything.
    
    This philosphy goes for my motorcycles too.  Hey, if you wanna
    ride it, no problem...But you drop it, you own it.  Simple.
    If I bounced someone elses guitar on the floor and hurt it,
    I'd replace it.  Simple.
    
    jc

    Personally, I don't generally mind if people I know want to play my
    guitars (heck, I might learn something from them!) and I'll even loan
    them to people from time to time.  
    
    It does make me nervous, however, if someone I don't know wants to play
    one of my guitars, especially at a gig.  I don't think I'd want someone
    to spontaneously ask to sit in at a gig, I think that's very rude.  If
    we want someone to sit in, we'll ask them.
    
    re: Buck
    
>    As a side note, I think guitars are only a piece of wood, and
>    if they can't be dropped, why own em?  ;^)
    
    That's not exactly what I remember you saying when your yellow Ibanez
    got hit with the mike stand awhile back...
    
    re: Coop
    
    You asked to play *my* new Ibanez not three days ago, not 10 minutes
    after I had it outta the BOX!  (No, I didn't mind)
    
    Greg

	If I can't afford to lose it I can't afford to own it. I like
	modestly priced, rugged and replacable instruments. Yes, every
	one of my guitars is *special* to me, but I don't hesitate to
	lend them to good friends.

	...but drunken morons that want to pose with your guitar in a club
	should be shot - don't forget to put in your sonic II's before
	pulling the trigger.

        <<< Note 2100.32 by GSRC::COOPER "Major MIDI Rack Puke (tm)" >>>

>    If I bounced someone elses guitar on the floor and hurt it,
>    I'd replace it.  Simple.
>    
>    jc

     Easier said than done.

								Jens

    How about amps/rigs?   To me it isn't nearly as  critical.  In fact  I
    still have fond memories of  playing  thru  Coop's rack.
    
    Mike

    RE: gh/yellow Ibanez
    
    I minded cuz I had someone coming over the next day to BUY it.
    
    AND, I wasn't even PLAYING it...it was in the stand when that DRUNK
    assaulted it with a mic stand!  ;^(
    
    Buck, who had to drop $100 to move it afterwards (and it was in MINT
    condition)

    Yo Greg !!
    
    Bad memory dude !!! I didn't *ask* to play it, I just snarfed it
    outta yer hands !!!  :)
    
    jc

    
    Well what d'ya know? I have been reading this topic thinking huh? You
    guys get people coming up to ya and asking to play your guitars???
    Why are they in there? If I go to listen to a band then thats what I
    expect to do....if I wanted to play I would have stayed at home!!!!
    	Anyway I met a guitarist (Pete) on Friday at the local boozer
    who was there with a band and this guy really burned!!!! Not in the
    style I am keen on (he was more EVH than Gilmour) but he was real
    quick! We were chatting about his guitars etc, asked me how come I knew 
    so much about his stuff and I explained that I was learning to
    play...........so he came up later in the evening and said look you
    can't play my Jackson coz it cost too much money...then he showed
    me this gorgeous Les Paul and said this is my backup, I can go plug it
    in and you can come and have a go with us if you fancy.
    
    What a great way to keep people from playing your guitars...offer them
    the chance to embarress thenselves in front of loads of people!!!!!
    
    Seriously I turned the guy down coz I had been drinking and my playing
    goes out of the window when I hit the bottle...but....they are back in
    5 weeks time, I have to learn the rythm to Sultans of Swing...and then
    I get a chance to jam with them!!! In the pub!!!
    
    
    Sorry for rambling but this is the first time someone has asked!!!!
    Really freaked me out......nice to know that there are people out
    there who say 'Ok so you don't know much but you know a few chords
    and your keen so come and have a go!"
    
    J.

    Nice for someone to offer you a chance to play such a 'cheap'
    guitar as a Gibson !  Gawd !
    jc

 
   << AND, I wasn't even PLAYING it...it was in the stand when that DRUNK
   << assaulted it with a mic stand!  ;^(
    

Ooooohhhh do I know this feeling...

Twas a frigid night, in March of 79.. I'd just gotten my Ibanez (Nutbuster)
MC400...  It wasn't two days old.. and I'll tell ya, was I in love..  Anyhow,
I'm up in Gardner playing at club, (Ric's Saloon as a matter of fact)
and don't some 400lb. walrus doing a:

	'Pelvic ritual dance, complete with  flailing  arm routine'

smack Wayne's (the other guitarist) mike stand...

The mike hit Wayne in the mouth, bounced off, and took a nasty Quater size
bite out of my guitar...  Took it right down to the wood.. OUCH!

I looked at Wayne, blood all over his face, he looked at my axe and
said, "hey man the lip will heal..."   I was so pissed off I could
barley play thru the night...  Now, 12 years later, I can still remember
her face, cuz when she did it, she looked right at me, and if looks
could kill, there would have been murder in Gardner that night.  Man was
I torched.

I fixed it up a bit the next day so it wasn't so bad, but it still sucked,,
a few years later though, I had Rich MAcduff work on it, and today, only I
know it happened, and I have to  look REAL hard to see where it *WAS*...  

Moral of the story..  wood is fixable.  Drag when it happens though.

    It happened once on a gig that I let a person up on stage to just try
    to "sing" a tune. This dude sang like a billy-goat would sound getting
    a tonsil-ectomy without anesthesia....WHEW!!! At any rate he was drunk
    and lost his balance, fell backward against my amp and my guitar went
    dead. Fortunately it was only a broken cable jack but this guy did sus-
    tain some broken skin after I took him outside and asked him to come up
    with the money for it and also an apology and he refused on both re-
    quests. These were the "bad old days" for me but I certainly can ap-
    preciate the logic, and common sense in not letting anyone play your
    instrument. To those who say,"I drop it I'll replace it", I say that
    they simply have no idea or concept of the fact that there are guitars
    that cannot be replaced....especially one that has been the musician's
    instument since the beginning of time.....BE SERIOUS!!!!!
    
           Suffice to say I"d have to absolutely know the person is a very
    responsible and caring and accomplished performer before I would let
    him touch my guitar...and even then I'd be holding my breath.
    
    Bill Louvat
                                     
    it", I say to those that they have no idea

    
    Hey Dandrea, remember that time we were at a jam at Al's and
    this guy (William) asked to borrow your brand new strat?
    Steve's casual, so he says "sure".  Well about half way into
    this song this guy starts doing some bending.  Well, the "bending"
    is actually this dude bending the strat's neck backwards against 
    his own body!  The look on Steve's face almost made me a spray 	
    my beer!  Damn funny.  
    
    -pat