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The first ding....

#43
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.
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I bought my first new Ric in 2008, a Jetglo 4003. The black gloss was like a mirror and I did my best to keep it that way. But I played it. And gigged it. By the end of that first year I gave up, the high gloss was dull, the surface scratches were many, and despite my care the occasional bump that left its mark was unavoidable.

Now I just get to play it and enjoy it. Very liberating. :)
 
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#44
That's why I got this, dings who cares...
 

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#45
Wolfenstein666 said:
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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Ya have kids? If so therein lies the answer you have been seeking
 
#48
Man, I dinged my prized SB-2 when a heavy socket fell off a socket wrench and bounced off my bridge, then onto the finish, leaving two dings.

I was using the socket wrench to tighten down the pots after I added a tone knob to the bass (these basses don't come with tone knobs, just two volumes).

I was sick for a month afterwards. Now I am kinda excepting it, but it takes awhile! I guess the next time I won't worry too much.

I've purchased used basses with dings and it doesn't bother me. It's only when it happens to those mint instruments. I think everyone just gets a little upset about the first couple damage or wear marks, but after a few years the disappointment wears off.
 
#49
I wasn't kidding about the drop-fill laquer thing, it works like a charm on most small dings. Here's a couple different techniques:






If it makes you feel any better, my tale of woe:
A couple years after the floor crawling episode, college band gig, the drummer playing over-zealous solo. Wham! He bounces the stick off the drum and loses it, it hits my Jetglo dead center between A & D strings, right next to the bridge pup. Perfect drum-stick tip sized ding, with spider-web like radial cracking all around. I nearly wept. Guitarists girfriend gives me a cheap plastic diamond from her childhood "wedding ring" with George Harrison, which I proceed to glue into the dent. Looks horrible, bits of adhered fingertip skin, hair, the works, all glued in place. I eventually covered it with a chrome trophy plate, everybody thought it was a third pickup. Win! Alas, I sold it. If anybody out there has a 79' Jetglo with a trophy plate engraved with the word "YOW!", I want it back!
 
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#50
I had my brand new Sadowsky for about a month when it fell out of my lap onto a concrete floor at a session gig. it cracked the finish really bad near the output jack. I was almost physically ill and had to leave the studio. Even though I don't have that bass anymore I still feel sick thinking about it.

My Jazz bass has a lot of the little round dents you describe in weird places... Maybe I'll blame the kids.
 
#51
squish said:
I had my brand new Sadowsky for about a month when it fell out of my lap onto a concrete floor at a session gig. it cracked the finish really bad near the output jack. I was almost physically ill and had to leave the studio. Even though I don't have that bass anymore I still feel sick thinking about it.

My Jazz bass has a lot of the little round dents you describe in weird places... Maybe I'll blame the kids.
Click to expand...
Blaming the Kids.. always an option!
 
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#52
You ever seen a 40 or 50yr old guitar w/o a ding, scratch or dent? I'm talking mint condition? Well, I have and probably lots of other people too. But I do wonder how was this done? Was it ever played? Was somebody trying to hide it? maybe stolen? Did somebody purchase it and died before they could play it and the family kept it locked up for memories? Did grandpa try to hide it from grandma? I've ask a few times and nobody/seller really knows and I've never talk to an original owner. This thread made me think about how such things are possible.
 
#53
btmpancake said:
You ever seen a 40 or 50yr old guitar w/o a ding, scratch or dent? I'm talking mint condition? Well, I have and probably lots of other people too. But I do wonder how was this done? Was it ever played? Was somebody trying to hide it? maybe stolen? Did somebody purchase it and died before they could play it and the family kept it locked up for memories? Did grandpa try to hide it from grandma? I've ask a few times and nobody/seller really knows and I've never talk to an original owner. This thread made me think about how such things are possible.
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Most likely a closet queen.
 
#54
I dinged my (new to me, but in mint condition when I purchased it) Spector Forte 5. I was taking off my AKG Quincy Jones headphones and I dinged the area right where the top of the neck meets the headstock. It's just a small 1/2" scratch but I notice it every time I pick up the bass. Ah well, first world problems as they say.
 
#55
btmpancake said:
You ever seen a 40 or 50yr old guitar w/o a ding, scratch or dent? I'm talking mint condition? Well, I have and probably lots of other people too. But I do wonder how was this done? Was it ever played? Was somebody trying to hide it? maybe stolen? Did somebody purchase it and died before they could play it and the family kept it locked up for memories? Did grandpa try to hide it from grandma? I've ask a few times and nobody/seller really knows and I've never talk to an original owner. This thread made me think about how such things are possible.
Click to expand...

Most likely a guitar or bass that was bought, played once or twice then stuffed under a bed or closet for decades only to be forgotten until a house cleaning/clearing/renovation or the owner's death.

Although I will say that my Alembic Elan 5 is 21 years old an looks pristine. That said, it was refinished back in 2003, so I guess it doesn't really count.
 
#56
japhy4529 said:
Most likely a guitar or bass that was bought, played once or twice then stuffed under a bed or closet for decades only to be forgotten until a house cleaning/clearing/renovation or the owner's death.

Although I will say that my Alembic Elan 5 is 21 years old an looks pristine. That said, it was refinished back in 2003, so I guess it doesn't really count.
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It would if nobody knows if its not original.
 
#57
I managed to keep my Ric pristine for a year and a half playing it regularly. Then one day at practice I stood too close to the drummer's broken cymbal, and when he hit it the sharp edge kicked up into the neck. Luckily it isn't visible from the front, but I had a hard time concentrating on practice after that. Eventually I'll just get the whole bass refinished. The first ding is the worst, but the second one really isn't much better.
 
#58
Wolfenstein666 said:
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!
Click to expand...


Love your avatar. The Necromancer is still one of my favorite songs. Off topic I know, but us Caress of Steel freaks need to stick together.
 
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