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Do dings and scratches bother you?

I'd love to get one of those distressed Fenders so that I wouldn't think about it much as I play in lot of small bars. We all know what happens there. The problem is the last one I checked out was $3900 which is a bit steep for a beater bass.

never understood why sumone would buy sumone else's beat up crap and actually think that its worth more because of it. they are dopes if you ask me, nothing wrong with the look if you like that sort of crap, but i think one should put the wear on it them selves.
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I've trained myself to keep my bass in a horizontal position when taking it off or putting it on for exactly that reason. I once broke a glass light cover while taking my bass off and a piece of falling glass cut my hand.

I have a big gouge from a falling music stand in one of my basses. Maybe I'll cover it with a band-aid to give it character. I'll tell anyone who asks about it that I don't want it to get infected.

The ceiling in my music room is very low - less than seven feet. There are dents in the ceiling that happened before I trained myself to stay horizontal with guitars and to take the upright on and off the stand in a certain way. Now I don't hit the ceiling very often any more. It's just entropy.
 
never understood why sumone would buy sumone else's beat up crap and actually think that its worth more because of it. they are dopes if you ask me, nothing wrong with the look if you like that sort of crap, but i think one should put the wear on it them selves.
:hiding:

I hear ya' but I've never played a better sounding, better playing bass ever:

http://reverb.com/item/29909-fender...t-wine-burst&gclid=CNmXg-CfmL0CFdBcMgodmAwAcg

That said, I'll stick to my '08 Rick 4003 with about 5 dings in it on most bar gigs for now. She's been baptized under fire and she's been good to me.
 
It definitely affects the resale value, so dings are like knocking little pieces of money off the instrument.

Degraded value bothers me, yes.

amen bro!
Hey, it's my job here to insert common sense into these hippie discussions. ;)

The best part of all is that all these characters who "don't care" about dings will invariably want a deal based on a hard count of them on a bass they're buying. :rollno:

You KNOW it's true! :D
 
It bothers me for maybe a minute at most when it either happens or I first notice, whereupon I mutter some kind of epithet such as "Rats!" or "Poop!" or the like (mostly mad at myself for allowing it to happen than anything else), then I will forget about it and move on.
EDIT: Just wanted to add, some kind of dings and dents are to be expected upon buying a used instrument, so generally, it wouldn't be a major issue. There is, of course a limit, excessive damage would be a deal-breaker for me, no matter how well it sounds or plays, or even if it's a vintage instrument.
 
I try to take good care of my insruments, but time and usage take their toll. I have played over 500 shows in the last 4 years and the inevitable happens - the nick or ding here and there. And on my older instruments there are wear spots. All of my basses look good IMO, even those that are over 40 years old, but all show the signs of a well loved and used instrument. The basses in the photo are 66 and 69 jazz basses and a newer Nordy. They get played and have their scars, and I still try to take good care of them all.
 

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Hey, it's my job here to insert common sense into these hippie discussions. ;)

The best part of all is that all these characters who "don't care" about dings will invariably want a deal based on a hard count of them on a bass they're buying. :rollno:

You KNOW it's true! :D

Pointing out flaws to knock the price down a bit more is just good bargaining sense, isn't it? A beat up bass has "classic looking wear" only if I'm selling it.
 
Yeah, on a brand new sparkling perfect bass, those first scratches and dents are pretty hard to take. Then you realize nothing lasts forever, not even the pyramids, and basses are meant to be played, and this is what happens to things that get played.

The most liberating thing I've ever done is buy used basses that have been beat. Then, I can't see the new dings, and even if I can, who cares? I tend to play a "relic'd" or "distressed" bass with a little more gusto and abandon.
 
It definitely affects the resale value, so dings are like knocking little pieces of money off the instrument.

Degraded value bothers me, yes.

For this reason, I take extreme care with instruments I'm not sure are keepers. Extreme care includes not gigging them much, avoiding shirts with buttons, covering my belt buckle/trouser snap.

I take good care of all of my instruments, but when an instrument is a keeper the inevitable dings and scratches don't bother me. For me a keeper is a player, not a museum piece.

Sure, I might possibly change my mind about a keeper, but my first emphasis isn't ding prevention/resale value protection, it's performance and enjoyment. I protect all basses from serious damage, but won't take extreme measures to keep the keepers pristine. To me the loss of resale value is part of enjoying an instrument. Stressing over the small stuff isn't worth the bother.

To each his own, of course... there's no right or wrong here.