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The first ding....

Wolfenstein666

Wolfenstein666

Dec 19, 2014
2,326
4,794
#1
I was sitting in my chair late last night, nursing a beer, watching That 70's show and quietly laughing to myself. The room was dimly lit creating a certain ambiance. I glanced over at my four babies (as I often do) and the light was just right, reflecting off the upper horn of my Rickenbacker 4003...and that's when I saw it. Just a little tiny ding, right by the binding. It almost looks like someone shot it with a BB gun, its about a centimeter in diameter, perfectly indented but not cracking or breaking the clear coat. Just a little indent.

And I have NO idea how it got there. I grabbed an American Standard P bass earlier in the week so I haven't been playing the Ricky much, I don't remember the ding being there and I certainly don't remember hitting the horn on anything.

Sad day. Just gotta live with it now!
 
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#7
Wolfenstein666 said:
And I have NO idea how it got there. I grabbed an American Standard P bass earlier in the week so I haven't been playing the Ricky much, I don't remember the ding being there and I certainly don't remember hitting the horn on anything.
Click to expand...
It's quite possible that the Ric dinged itself out of jealousy. In any case, what did the police say?
 
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#15
The first ding is always the worst, especially with nice basses. I used to have a desk with a slide-out keyboard shelf and the right corner was a little sharp (metal sliders). I was playing my Kingman at my desk and I looked down and noticed a couple of small scratches on the face by the bottom of the bass! I was really upset as the Kingman is one of my favorite basses. I had tried keeping it in pristine condition but now I get just a little upset at the scratch. The body has some gloss over it and you can see where it was scratched, as opposed to just a scratch in the wood. I hope it will go away over time and maybe I'll rub it down a bit but it won't be the same.

Now my P-Basses? The amount of dings and dents on those things from hitting low ceilings, mic stands, amps, and anything in the way of the long neck add character for me haha
 
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#18
Something about a Ric makes dings more painful. I don't know what it is. A P needs to be battered or it's just not a P. A Thunderbird can have dings and scratches, and mine do. A Ric needs to be all perfect for some reason. I don't know why. When I had one, I treated it like it was made of glass. It wasn't and I wore some holes in the finish over the binding from playing it, but that didn't change how I treated it. The P? I haven't dragged it behind a truck through standing water yet, but I don't think that would bother it or me very much.

Funny thing about 'em is that the P has this big, deep, mellow tone, strung with old flats. It looks like the feral animal that it is, but it has this sweet, soothing voice. I keep it on a leash, since it gets loose and beats up microphones, guitars, singers, and just about anything else it can get its hands on. I caught it sneaking into the neighbors' house to terrorize their stereo once. I'm pretty sure it steals the keyboard's lunch money, but I haven't caught it red handed yet. Don't let that sweet voice fool you. It's a baaaaaaaad bass.

The Ric had a dainty look and was fastidious about its grooming. It would take hours to get up and get out of the house. It would monopolize the bathroom and demand coffee with just the right amount of cream. But it had a snarling, aggressive voice that should have come from a personality like the P instead of the Ric. So, go figure.

The 'Birds have their own personality which I won't get into here since we are talking about dings on Rics.
 
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#19
Gaolee said:
Something about a Ric makes dings more painful. I don't know what it is. A P needs to be battered or it's just not a P. A Thunderbird can have dings and scratches, and mine do. A Ric needs to be all perfect for some reason. I don't know why. When I had one, I treated it like it was made of glass. It wasn't and I wore some holes in the finish over the binding from playing it, but that didn't change how I treated it. The P? I haven't dragged it behind a truck through standing water yet, but I don't think that would bother it or me very much.

Funny thing about 'em is that the P has this big, deep, mellow tone, strung with old flats. It looks like the feral animal that it is, but it has this sweet, soothing voice. I keep it on a leash, since it gets loose and beats up microphones, guitars, singers, and just about anything else it can get its hands on. I caught it sneaking into the neighbors' house to terrorize their stereo once. I'm pretty sure it steals the keyboard's lunch money, but I haven't caught it red handed yet. Don't let that sweet voice fool you. It's a baaaaaaaad bass.

The Ric had a dainty look and was fastidious about its grooming. It would take hours to get up and get out of the house. It would monopolize the bathroom and demand coffee with just the right amount of cream. But it had a snarling, aggressive voice that should have come from a personality like the P instead of the Ric. So, go figure.

The 'Birds have their own personality which I won't get into here since we are talking about dings on Rics.
Click to expand...

I agree. Something about a ding in the Ricky just makes you grit your teeth...like you're putting ketchup on a steak or something.
 
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