when i first use it live. I clean and treat my basses fairly good, but I've never taken my belt off to play. The scratches are part of the fun and I don't plan on selling my basses.
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How long until you start scratching your bass
- Thread starter Panda Licker
- Start date
Because, statistically speaking, you possess cognitive resources that the average block of wood can only dream about?
That would be "how," not "why."
Sooooo...you're saying that instead of
"I think, therefore I am careful,"
it's actually
"I think, therefore I'll bash up my bass because it doesn't."
- Mar 11, 2005
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- Employee - Basscentre Melbourne
+1
I try to be careful but my basses get used a fair bit and they go in a gig bag so wear is inevitable
Over the course of many years of playing a gigging instruments will get a ding here and there, but i never let my guard down even after the 1st ding. My basses are my tools as many have said ... but i TAKE CARE of my tools. Some people also like the USED RELIC look, visual mojo. For those players scratches, dings and scuffs are worn like badges of honor and if that's what you're into more power to you. My mojo comes through my playing ... i like my basses to look brand new and respected even though they're well played. I've been gigging professionally since before many of you were born ... my basses ARE my work tools ... not decorations for my music room. BUT when i put them on stands in my music room they look beautiful!
I take care of them, but it's inevitable accidents happen. I have a few dings in the headstock and on the back of the neck, why just yesterday imy bass slid off it's stand into a bell lyre (Why I was with a bell lyre player is another thread entirely! 
) and put a good dent into the neck.
) and put a good dent into the neck.
+1.
I forgot and wore a studded belt for a 5 hour gig in the summer and it completely ruined the back of my bass though. Luckily I was playing my 90's $200 eBay special MIM P and not one of my better basses. I don't recommed belt on bass contact in any way!
My basses all look well played up close. My Geddy Lee Jazz is only 9 months old and it is getting pretty scratched from use. I am not banging my headstocks into cymbals or dropping/throwing my basses, but they do get "relic-ed" with use!
- Feb 2, 2001
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I don't start scratching it. I play it like I would normally play any bass. If it gets scratched or dinged, oh well, that's what tools are for. 
I hope nobody got the idea by my first post that I meant "When do you' start scratching your bass on purpose for looks?"
It was more, how long until it happens by accident?
It was more, how long until it happens by accident?
- Feb 2, 2001
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Here's my take on it all.
We should all have that one guitar or bass, that's absolutely awesome, and we treat it like an infant.
Then we should have our workhorse, the instrument we always reach to for recording or practicing. Those should definitely show the signs of years and years of love poured into them, some belt buckle rash, maybe a ding or two, but cosmetically sound and clean.
Then we should have our stage instruments. The ones that "can" get lost or stolen at a gig, or beat up and abused from the wear and tear of the road. The cigarette burns under the bottom tuning peg, the huge beer bottle dent by the bridge, the wiggly input jack, the chips and gouges where your pick scrapes at the body, the sweat stains and finger gunk at the frets.... those instruments ARE rock n roll. Those instruments separate the men from the boys.
Or in Dis' case, the Ladies from the emo kids dressing like girls. LOL
We should all have that one guitar or bass, that's absolutely awesome, and we treat it like an infant.
Then we should have our workhorse, the instrument we always reach to for recording or practicing. Those should definitely show the signs of years and years of love poured into them, some belt buckle rash, maybe a ding or two, but cosmetically sound and clean.
Then we should have our stage instruments. The ones that "can" get lost or stolen at a gig, or beat up and abused from the wear and tear of the road. The cigarette burns under the bottom tuning peg, the huge beer bottle dent by the bridge, the wiggly input jack, the chips and gouges where your pick scrapes at the body, the sweat stains and finger gunk at the frets.... those instruments ARE rock n roll. Those instruments separate the men from the boys.
Or in Dis' case, the Ladies from the emo kids dressing like girls. LOL
This isn't aimed at you or anyone else in particular, but I fail to see why "go" and "show" necessarily preclude one another. I've owned basses for twenty years that have been played regularly in all sorts of situations and aside from a small amount of inevitable fret or fretless fingerboard wear, they look essentially brand new with perhaps one or two tiny, unnoticeable scratches.
What's so difficult about playing an instrument without destroying it in the process?
Dude, if you think a little ding here or scuff there means your instrument is destroyed, I pity you.
My point is that I feel life is too short to worry about normal playing wear. I'm not going to wear a diaper over my belt buckle. I'm not going to panic in cramped conditions where I barely have room to move around. I'm not going to play with a dainty touch out of fear that a fingernail might brush up against my bass.
I'm careful with my instruments... none of them looks abused. But I gig every weekend, and I'm not going to let ding paranoia ruin the enjoyment of my hobby.
Ive only had used basses so they come scratched
I agree. When I get my customized Prima Artist, things will be different.
Only a couple of days. We have to get to know eachother before we start playing rough
Nice.
I light all my basses on fire within the first few hours.
It helps get rid of that new bass case smell.
It helps get rid of that new bass case smell.
usually first thing in the morning...just as soon as I get out of bed....oh wait. You said Bass.
Never mind
Never mind
i used to baby them forever. part of my ocd. it would take a good couple of months before i would get anything noticeable. with my p-bass it was like, 5 days and i got a small dent. after that i stopped caring about it, because no matter what i do it is going to get marks.
Dude, if you think a little ding here or scuff there means your instrument is destroyed, I pity you.
My point is that I feel life is too short to worry about normal playing wear. I'm not going to wear a diaper over my belt buckle. I'm not going to panic in cramped conditions where I barely have room to move around. I'm not going to play with a dainty touch out of fear that a fingernail might brush up against my bass.
I'm careful with my instruments... none of them looks abused. But I gig every weekend, and I'm not going to let ding paranoia ruin the enjoyment of my hobby.
"Dude," pity away, but I'm pretty much in the same boat; regular jobs with stages that can occasionally get crowded with gear, horn sections, and BRVs, etc., but I don't consider "playing wear" inevitable (aside from roundwound wear on a fretless board, and even that can be kept to a bare minimum with good technique). I don't think a bass with a few small digs or scratches has been destroyed, but a few of the trainwrecks that pass for "mojo'd" around here come pretty damn close, to say nothing for the juvenile poseur practice of intentionally trashing a bass; i.e., so-called "relicing."
Chewing up the finish with a belt buckle is downright careless, IMO, and easily avoided, but it all depends on your priorities. I derive satisfaction from playing and admiring the aesthetics of a fine handmade instrument. There's absolutely no reason to be sloppy or disrespectful just because I'm standing on a stage, however crowded it may be. A little common sense (no paranoia or panic required, thank you), an awareness of the playing environment, and good technique have kept my instruments damage-free for decades, and they deserve nothing less.
Sure, instruments are tools, but I don't pound nails with a fragile, delicately-finished musical instrument, and I don't play music on a hammer, so it stands to reason that I'd bestow the appropriate amount of care on each depending on its intended purpose.
