I can only imagine (knock on wood... where's my bass)... but this is what it would feel like for me with some shame.... and like I was an abuser.....
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Disaster with my 2008 American Standard Precision
- Thread starter Dave Campbell
- Start date
I can only imagine (knock on wood... where's my bass)... but this is what it would feel like for me with some shame.... and like I was an abuser.....
scottbass
Bass lines like a big, funky giant
Yeah, but Les Pauls have the most fragile headstocks ever made. I swear I have seen a Les Paul headstock snapped off by just looking at it crosseyed...
My point, if there was one, was that it's easier to keep your bass attached to yourself with a gig bag. Kind of hard to zip and unzip in the restroom with a hard case in one hand.
Yeah, if you set it down and walk away from it to the restroom or wherever, hard case or gig bag, won't make a difference to a thief.
Yeah, but Les Pauls have the most fragile headstocks ever made. I swear I have seen a Les Paul headstock snapped off by just looking at it crosseyed...
I just found this rant the other day:
Guitar Repair Las Vegas, Broken Gibson Guitars - Poorly Designed and Overpriced
Good stories! I was reminded of when the music store I worked at became a G&L dealer. They were touting the strength of the 6-bolt neck join by demonstrating that a man could stand on it without damage. Run over by a car and only gets a stress crack in the finish. Just wow. My least smooth personal move was realizing right near the end of a two-hundred mile drive that I'd left my Thunderbird behind. Sinking feeling. Turned around, drove back, and it was still sitting in the room waiting for forgetful me to retrieve it. 
The LEAST durable Fender award IME goes to the lemon that arrived when I ordered my first new one in '73. The headstock was broken off while shipped in a hard case with no mark on the shipping carton. I didn't buy that one...
The LEAST durable Fender award IME goes to the lemon that arrived when I ordered my first new one in '73. The headstock was broken off while shipped in a hard case with no mark on the shipping carton. I didn't buy that one...
I've got a sad story (with a happy ending) about this...
I ran over my Elrick with my Jeep when I was in college. I was in too much of a hurry trying to go somewhere, had a couple of people with me as well. I was throwing some stuff into the back of my Jeep, and left the bass against the left rear tire to move things around to make a little room. Got distracted, forgot to put the bass in the car, pulled out, and ran right over it with the rear tire. It got run over diagonally, across the control cavity and over the neck joint. The control cavity was completely smashed, and the bass was unusable. I was devastated.
But...
I had the bass insured for full unconditional replacement. So, I sent the bass to Rob Elrick (who was very prompt and helpful btw) and he planed off the top, refinished the instrument, installed new electronics, etc., and had it back to me quite quickly. The best part? The estimated cost for the repair turned out to be FAR more than the actual repair cost. So I actually got money out of the deal, which I used to pay off the remainder of the money owed on my amplifier! Plus, I ended up liking the new top soooo much better than the old one. So I win!
There is still a small crack visible along the bottom edge of the body, which will always be there. But there was no neck damage, or anything really that would've trashed the bass completely. So I got very lucky, and the bass definitely has a story...
Before (original instrument):
After (New top, same neck and headstock):
I ran over my Elrick with my Jeep when I was in college. I was in too much of a hurry trying to go somewhere, had a couple of people with me as well. I was throwing some stuff into the back of my Jeep, and left the bass against the left rear tire to move things around to make a little room. Got distracted, forgot to put the bass in the car, pulled out, and ran right over it with the rear tire. It got run over diagonally, across the control cavity and over the neck joint. The control cavity was completely smashed, and the bass was unusable. I was devastated.
But...
I had the bass insured for full unconditional replacement. So, I sent the bass to Rob Elrick (who was very prompt and helpful btw) and he planed off the top, refinished the instrument, installed new electronics, etc., and had it back to me quite quickly. The best part? The estimated cost for the repair turned out to be FAR more than the actual repair cost. So I actually got money out of the deal, which I used to pay off the remainder of the money owed on my amplifier! Plus, I ended up liking the new top soooo much better than the old one. So I win!
There is still a small crack visible along the bottom edge of the body, which will always be there. But there was no neck damage, or anything really that would've trashed the bass completely. So I got very lucky, and the bass definitely has a story...
Before (original instrument):
After (New top, same neck and headstock):
I once dropped my first bass, an 84 Fender P, down a flight of concrete stairs in an apartment complex. This unintended experiment with gravity added a few dings to the finish, of course, but as far as DAMAGE goes, it didn't even knock it out of tune. I should never have sold that bass. 
JoshuaTSP said:
Same. McDonald parking lot. Sedan meets foot. Hurt for a couple days, but I was fine.
Also, so much love for Fender quality, but no love for the SX that stood up to the same abuse? Props to SX.
Except for some transients due to the stiffness of the tire, it is pretty much 35psi
Good story, and great that the bass came out largely unaffected - that classic Fender indestructibility.
The '61 P bass I posted about a while back saw a similar scenario: man and woman have a late-night post-gig fight outside NYC nightclub during load out. Woman yells 'F-you!' and hails a cab, angry man throws bass (in old hard case) at woman, bass/case hits the street, moving cab runs over instrument. Outcome: case demolished, bass fine.
The '61 P bass I posted about a while back saw a similar scenario: man and woman have a late-night post-gig fight outside NYC nightclub during load out. Woman yells 'F-you!' and hails a cab, angry man throws bass (in old hard case) at woman, bass/case hits the street, moving cab runs over instrument. Outcome: case demolished, bass fine.
gnjpowell
Inactive
- Nov 12, 2010
- 562
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- Bass & guitar tech, FOH sound, backline rentals
Perimeter check. Yep! Always do one. Leaving a campsite. Or the beach. Or a practice. Or a gig. Got everything? I think so.... pretty sure... I go back again anyhows for a perimeter check. Car loaded? Got everything in? Think so... Before buckling that seat-belt, get back out of the car, walk all the way around for a - perimeter check. Found something more than one time.....
I've done the same but not quiet as bad. I left my brand new MIA Jazz in my buddys driveway. Got home a half an hour later, unpack and no baby. Called my buddy and yes there she was still sitting in his driveway. Needless to say it has never happened again. That was a scary night to be sure.
Thanks for the comments folks!
I had another experience about 10 years ago, another close call but in a different way.
After having given up music for a number of years and selling off all my stuff I finally got back in and found a smoking deal on a 90's LPB MIM Jazz for $200 in a pawn shop. I was so broke at the time I made $20 payments on it whenever I could and for another $20 they threw in a gig bag.
I played the hell out of that thing, I couldn't believe how amazing the feel was - years earlier I'd had a '65 Jazz and an 80's MIJ Jazz, and the Mexi feel was pretty close to the '65.
Late one night I came home from a jam session - no amp or cord bag, etc - just the bass in the back of my pickup truck.
The next morning I get up to go to work, and I'm climbing into my truck when what do I see...? My bass still sitting in the back.
I lived in East Vancouver in a fairly sketchy neighbourhood. Just how on earth that thing was still sitting there through the night still boggles my mind. You know how it is in certain places - car glass lining the streets, theft was commonplace.
Yep, that was a lucky moment. Sold that bass a few years later to pay for a Geddy Lee Jazz (which I don't own anymore either)... still regret selling that MIM Jazz.
I had another experience about 10 years ago, another close call but in a different way.
After having given up music for a number of years and selling off all my stuff I finally got back in and found a smoking deal on a 90's LPB MIM Jazz for $200 in a pawn shop. I was so broke at the time I made $20 payments on it whenever I could and for another $20 they threw in a gig bag.
I played the hell out of that thing, I couldn't believe how amazing the feel was - years earlier I'd had a '65 Jazz and an 80's MIJ Jazz, and the Mexi feel was pretty close to the '65.
Late one night I came home from a jam session - no amp or cord bag, etc - just the bass in the back of my pickup truck.
The next morning I get up to go to work, and I'm climbing into my truck when what do I see...? My bass still sitting in the back.
I lived in East Vancouver in a fairly sketchy neighbourhood. Just how on earth that thing was still sitting there through the night still boggles my mind. You know how it is in certain places - car glass lining the streets, theft was commonplace.
Yep, that was a lucky moment. Sold that bass a few years later to pay for a Geddy Lee Jazz (which I don't own anymore either)... still regret selling that MIM Jazz.
