Paranoid?

You wouldn't be saying that if you just dropped a grand on a fine tuned music machine, and I imagine you'd be a hell of a lot more careful.

 

That's right, go tell them, Anastasia.

 

While I don't own a custom/boutique bass, I've always been in the "just play it" crowd. I figure that dings and scratches are mojo...especially if I'm the one who put em there! My '51 Reissue P just got a nice cymbal ding cause I accidentally ran it into my son's drum set It's cool though - like I said - mojo baby!

 

I compare basses (or any other musical instrument for the matter) to a precission tool; it works great if it's kept in best condition. Meintenance is important, make no mistake about it. Taking care of your musical instrument is mandatory.
Have fun playing it? Sure! Have fun abusing it? Hell no!

 

That has nothing to do with cosmetics. I don't baby my basses much, either, but I do want them to play the best they can. Keeping them adjusted properly doesn't make me a girly-man.

 

+1

IMO you need to keep your bass working mechanically, performing regular maintenance to keep it playing well.

 

Well the thing about the climate change, obviously, the difference between your living room and a bar down the street will be minimal. But let's say a band is on tour, the sudden climate changes will affect the bass, suddenly you're getting a fret buzz and all sorts of nasty things.

You don't even have to go far, I live in the California Bay Area, there are so many micro climates here the difference between cities is so drastic that is never a bad idea to check your setup.

 

Unless it goes from 40 to 100 (which it occasionally does here), that is a bit excessive. The humidity plays a part in messing with your set up.

 

The thing I'm worred about is the body hitting my wall and leaving marks or holes in my drywall or scratches on the body. If I wanted marks on my wall I'd just give my 1 yr old a pen.

 

Solution.


Note Older pic. Elrick has been replaced by a USA Lakland BG PJ, but you get the idea.

 

I baby my basses and i dont see how thrashing them about gives me any extra enjoyment. I haven't put a ding into any of my basses yet, and im not planning to start.

 

When I moved up to a $3,000 bass I decided to go the full nine and get a $30 guitar stand instead of the usual $10 variety.



I'm happy with my decision.

 

My Sadowsky Vintage 4 that I bought new in 2002 ($2800 in 2002) has had all the above mentioned. It's a bass and a tool for making music but I'm not going to tell people how to play and care for their basses that they spent their hard earned money on.

 

I don't see where he says he trashed his basses.

"i have dropped/knocked over/kicked over my bass you name it its probably happened."
I'm pretty sure that was all accidental as it was in my case.

 

I'm reminded of what Victor Wooten once said when I asked him about all the dings in his original Fodera Emperor. He said, "I play the bass. I don't let the bass play me." Which means if you worry about every little ding and scratch to the point of obsession, maybe you're not getting all you can out of your bass when you play it.

 

I've got a SR-5 HH I bought new last year that I never take out of the house cause I'm affraid I'll scratch it. I've got an older SR5-H that's pretty dinged up that take to the bars. I don't know where this puts me in all this. A log of horn players have a nice horn for concert and an old beater for marching band.

 

I keep all of my basses in proper working condition but I am going to hang it on the wall by the neck and not hold back in a live situation when I'm having too much fun. I hate it when I put dings in a bass but it doesn't drive me insane. I'm not a collector, I'm a bass player. But that's no reason to knock someone else for being that way with their stuff.

I have a friend that collects action figures/Matchbox cars etc. I always want to take them out of the packages when I'm at his house (and I'm 34!). He has a hissy anytime I joke about it. Doesn't interest me but it's soley what he spends his extra cash on. More power to him!