I am so fed-up from other people carelessly demolishing my gear

[Synchro]

I don't lend guitars.

I don’t lend anything.

Reminds me of that great movie A Clear and Present Danger.
Harrison Ford, "How much to buy the helicopter"
Two million dollars.
How about a test flight? Okay, if you leave a deposit.
How much deposit? Two million dollars.

now thats funny ....

Realistic, if you ask me.

 

[Henry]

I have a long back-story of lending my nicest gear to other people and getting it back with blemishes or even worse :

Massively torn tolex on four limited edition white Marshall 4x12, cigarette-burns on a vintage plexi, deep scratches and round marks from beverages on the exotic hardwood cabinet of a Boogie, torn-off feet on a guitar case, massive sweat-smears and corroded strings on my 6119, a broken string on another guitar, a blown transformer on an AC30, lost power-supplys and power-cables, an amp came back to me with exchanged preamp-tubes that were ultracheap etc, etc.
Usually not even an excuse or a offer to repair my stuff. "Thanks, Frank. We threw your gear back into the rehearsal room." One time they even put a 4x12 in front of my rehearsal-room`s door where veryone passing by could have stolen it. Even worse: It was raining that day....

Today I noticed that my porn-de-la-porn Mesa which has (had) a spectacular bright white croco-leather skin has lots of dirty brown scratches and stains. It came from my technician where it had a little service. He obviously tossed it around in his workshop and did not care ruining a like-new amp that was always babied and kept in a flightcase by me.
I won't confront him because otherwise he's an accommodating and competent business partner and I'm afraid he might think I'm petty.
But I am angry beyond belief now.

I think it's ridiculous. His job as a tech is to return the gear in better shape, that's not petty it is his job!

There was a tire place that I used twice. The first time they returned the car with a huge grease stain in the fabric where the inside door handle is. Someone clearly closed the door from inside with grease covered hands. I told them about it at the time and when i went back I reminded them and asked them to be careful. Same exact thing happened again. Good example of how bad online reviews tend to be written than good ones. I left several.

 

[Henry]

Treat others belongings better than your own.
There was a guitarist in a band I was in that'd put his beer bottle/glass on top of my Hammond. Put an ashtray on it as well. He got ticked when I put them on his amp.
Keep your stains and burns on your own gear. My Hammond was worth three or four times what his entire rig was.

My brother lent my sister some equipment for a party at a public park and we (my sister and me, my brother had to leave early) were packing up to take stuff home around the corner, but needed multiple car trips. I said someone should stay behind and watch the stuff. My sister cavalierly says, oh just leave it'll be fine well be back in 10 minutes.

I asked her if she was so confident if she would be willing to replace anything that went missing. She decided to stay and watch the stuff.

 

[Henry]

Related story. I have always had a policy against watching things for strangers in public places. My wife thought it was silly and I should be more helpful. I say that people agree because they don't take it serisly, but I do. We had an experience that justified my policy.

My wife and I are hanging on a beach and a woman comes up and she asks us to watch her surf board while she goes to the bathroom or something. I am about to say no but my wife says yes. I grumble about this old argument between us but the woman says thanks and heads off.

5 minutes later some dude comes up, picks up the surf board and is about to walk off with it. Off course I say hey, leave that there it's not yours. He says it is. We get in an argument and he is upset. I am annoyed that I am even dealing with this with no compensation. A minute later the woman comes running up the sand. She explains she was borrowing the board from him and told him where to pick it up. I was so annoyed and angry.

Needless to say, my wife now agrees with my policy to never watch someone else's stuff.

Although a few months ago a woman left me with someone else's child without asking me! I hate people like that.

 

[ombudsman]

I generally don't lend gear, there have been just a few exceptions over the years. Those shared practice spaces and recording studios are risky, I've had damage and theft from both.

Related : I don't like being asked to let people use gear at shows. If you brought your stuff, you should use it. If you didn't, why are you even there ? I know some of the people who ask this can't afford to replace or repair what I have if they damage something, and my 60 year old original speaker cones don't need to be abused.

If (when) you say no, there's a good chance they'll get an attitude, and bad mouth you to others. You can't win.

 

[Bertotti]

I don't lend guitars.

If I have it with me and someone I know asks I may be inclined to let them try it if they let me try theirs. Not got with it. I had a guy want to play mine but would not let me play his. His response was why would I let some one play my, emphasis on my, guitar. I don’t do that. I looked at him and said exactly. He got po’d. I didn’t care.

 

[wabash slim]

Although a few months ago a woman left me with someone else's child without asking me! I hate people like that.

Child Protective Services (might be called differently in other places) are just a phone call away, as are the police. That child was simply abandoned. You could've been a pedo. Trust no one.