Are you implying that the hideous claw looks sort of like a certain manufacturer of uber expensive basses may have had a hand in it? Come on now.
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I put my first ding in my Ritter
- Thread starter knarleybass
- Start date
Mine is very dinged...
haha.
someone needs to start a battlescarred bass club.
Call me a skeptic, but that upper horn wear looks very much sanded to me... IMHO.
.
I had an Elrick 5 with a killer spalted top finish. I got rid of her because I would never take her on a gig or to a rehearsal in fear of the first ding/scratch. She was a real nice player, but I sold her. This is the reason I try to steer clear of "exotic" basses......they would never leave the house because I would be too scared of damaging them. Don't get wrong, I love "high-end" basses. I own a Lakland and an LEJ. Either one of these basses would cost over $2500 to replace or buy new. But I consider them to be a players bass. Even though they are expensive instruments, I don't mind if they get a little dinged up. It is just that after a certain degree of craftsmanship, a bass can become more of a work of art than a bass, if that makes sense.
The thing I hate most about brand new instruments: The Virgin Ding.(using a sharpie WILL STAIN WOOD)
It's all downhill from here, baby!
Enjoy the ride.
It's all downhill from here, baby!
Enjoy the ride.
Bob, thanks for sharing! The first time I took my white Roya 5 to a gig the guitarist almost dropped his Fender amp on it just after I put it in the stand. Must have missed by an inch. I pooped a little that night. I know I have one or two in mine, but I don't go looking for them.
I dinged my Roscoe and sat there shaking my head for about 5 mins. Then i shook my head some more and went to watch tv. Now i have trouble finding where i actually dinged it.
It's also possible to play nice basses out without getting dings. I do it all the time. People act like dings are inevitable.
You know, I take pretty good care of my gear. Except somehow I absentmindedly banged my Skjold P against a table the first time I took it to practice. I've had that bass for over a year now, and its my main player, not a single other ding. Even us careful guys do stupid stuff sometimes.
Here's a pic that Jean himself posted (with no comment) in the "Extreme basses"-thread when we touched upon this topic:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
No doubt. For me, I've found that simply being conscious that I'm either wearing a bass or setting it down somewhere or whatever has helped me avoid dings. It feels pretty dumb to absentmindedly cause damage to an instrument and since I hate that feeling I make a conscious effort not to be so preoccupied that I can't avoid making a dumb mistake*. It's easy enough not to chance stuff IME.
Last time I said this, someone called me God. Like it takes a God-like mentality to not lean a bass against a wall.
*The same holds true when driving a car.
Bit off topic here, but not worth starting a thread just for this one comment 
:
It really makes me laugh (well, sigh, actually) when I read all of these comments about how dings, dints and wear "don't matter" to most people and certainly shouldn't to a serious musician.
Reason: I sold off almost my entire bass collection recently and every one that I sold was in either pristine condition (for the newer ones), or in the case of the 30+ year old vintage ones, they had just a small amount playing wear and no real "damage" to speak of. Each one was sold on eBay, using a "Buy It Now" (only) auction format and each one sold within between 20 minutes and 4 days
.
However, when I recently put my Lake Placid Blue Fender CS '61 P Bass (very rare & very sexy) on eBay, the auctions ran for a full 2 months 
and absolutlely nobody was interested in paying the asking price (which was only 50% of the cost of a new one, BTW ). I did, though, get loads and loads of "questions" from potential buyers, all saying "Can you lower the price because of those dings" ? I did lower the price and guess what - I got another lot of questions from new potential buyers, all asking "Can you lower the price because of those dings" 
.
So, where were the "don't care" brigade when I needed them
!
The bass is not for sale any more (so this is not a plug), but here's what put everybody off owning it (the two marks on the base)...
Would that have stopped you, if you'd really wanted it
? It didn't stop me (the bare patches were there when I bought it) .
(End of hijack)
: It really makes me laugh (well, sigh, actually) when I read all of these comments about how dings, dints and wear "don't matter" to most people and certainly shouldn't to a serious musician.Reason: I sold off almost my entire bass collection recently and every one that I sold was in either pristine condition (for the newer ones), or in the case of the 30+ year old vintage ones, they had just a small amount playing wear and no real "damage" to speak of. Each one was sold on eBay, using a "Buy It Now" (only) auction format and each one sold within between 20 minutes and 4 days
.However, when I recently put my Lake Placid Blue Fender CS '61 P Bass (very rare & very sexy
) on eBay, the auctions ran for a full 2 months and absolutlely nobody was interested in paying the asking price (which was only 50% of the cost of a new one, BTW ). I did, though, get loads and loads of "questions" from potential buyers, all saying "Can you lower the price because of those dings" ? I did lower the price and guess what - I got another lot of questions from new potential buyers, all asking "Can you lower the price because of those dings" .So, where were the "don't care" brigade when I needed them
!The bass is not for sale any more (so this is not a plug
), but here's what put everybody off owning it (the two marks on the base)...Would that have stopped you, if you'd really wanted it
? It didn't stop me (the bare patches were there when I bought it) .(End of hijack
)One ding will lead to another, and another and
In another 20 years, you will hardly notice it....
In another 20 years, you will hardly notice it....
Not that I own any boutique basses, but my Epi Explorer bass suffered a nasty chip on the top back horn. Also has a finish crack around the top bit of the body above the neck. Refinishing it isn't worth the cash for me because it gives it character.
