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  #31  
Old 11-12-2019, 03:52 PM
menhir menhir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stephenT View Post
Lot's of judgmental opinions in this thread.
I don't know how to express my opinion without it being labeled a judgement.
If that's the case, your opinion of my opinion is judging my judgment.
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Last edited by menhir; 11-12-2019 at 06:19 PM.
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  #32  
Old 11-12-2019, 03:57 PM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Look at that battered guitar... rusty pickup cover, worn edges on the headstock.

John Lennon was such a poseur!



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  #33  
Old 11-12-2019, 03:59 PM
12barBill 12barBill is offline
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I think old beat up guitars are just fine...

https://youtu.be/eboNU1hZN0o
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  #34  
Old 11-12-2019, 04:03 PM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeX View Post
Perceived mojo.
I have read this many times, and find it baffling.

Some people like their stuff neat and some don't care. I get that. I've had rides from people where they had to remove a pile of stuff so I could find the seat, and there was so much crap on the floor I couldn't put my feet down without stepping on some of it. But we got where we were going.

I purchased a used Schilke trumpet on the bay that had about 30 small dents all up and down the bell. The price reflected the condition and it played like a dream - so I sent it out to be plated and all dents removed. It's certainly not difficult to imagine that the former owner could have played just as well with the beat up horn. I get that - he obviously didn't care. But why suggest that gives the instrument more mojo? Seems ridiculous. A few years back I sold a trumpet from the late 60's that I played 4 hours a day - didn't have a dent.

Strumming way past the strings and scratching the finish to heck gives the music more soul? Maybe. Or maybe with a couple of technique lessons you could transmit the same soul without all the excess movement?

In any case, if you like them beat up it's fine with me. It's a choice. Keeping them neat doesn't make the mojo meter go up either.
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  #35  
Old 11-12-2019, 04:10 PM
paymerick paymerick is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman1951 View Post

Strumming way past the strings and scratching the finish to heck gives the music more soul?
I'd argue it's not because it gives more soul to the music, but exposes the soul of the guitar when looked at down the road. Shows some of the story.

Like with my grandfather's old Yamaha from the late 60s. He had an old DeArmond pick-up in there. I believe the last time I tried hooking it up the pick-up wasn't working, so I removed it.

The soundhole on the guitar is only about three inches, so to get the pick-up to fit, he had to notch out just an itty-bit of the soundhole.

So when I pull out the guitar, I don't see a soundhole pick-up, but I know one was there. You can see part of its story.

Some people care about that, others don't, and good for both sides.
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  #36  
Old 11-12-2019, 04:17 PM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DesertTwang View Post
It would be interesting to do a poll sometime about how many of us on this forum go to great lengths to preserve the instruments and spend their time buying, selling, trading and discussing details, as opposed to how many spend their time practicing on the same instruments they got when they were 14, which eventually allowed them to make a living with those beat-up guitars... To me, that is where the cool factor lies...
That's a dichotomy that makes no sense to me.

I don't have the guitar I started on when I was 12, but my Gibson electric has been with me since I was around 19/20. I played 6 nights a week, 5 hours a night with that guitar. It has been my only electric gigging guitar for the past 50 years and if you really want to compare practice hours . . .

It doesn't look brand new, but it could probably pass for 6 months old.

There is no correlation between the condition of an instrument and one's ability to make money using it. Just as there is no correlation between time on the forum and practice hours - at least not for this retired guy with more time than I know what to do with on some days.
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  #37  
Old 11-12-2019, 04:21 PM
rwmct rwmct is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stephenT View Post
Lot's of judgmental opinions in this thread.
That is kind of what opinions are: one person's judgement about something.
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  #38  
Old 11-12-2019, 04:57 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rstaight View Post
When I was in high school band there were a couple of brass players whose instrument was "well patinaed" to be polite.

Back then it was a relative who handed it down. Plus it was what they were used to.

For me anyway it's hard to give up an old tool or instrument. I know how it reacts. I may buy new but I keep the old one because it's perfectly f'd up and has a definite purpose.
I think it has to be all one way or the other. It either has to be like yours or pristine. I hate it when it's in the middle.
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  #39  
Old 11-12-2019, 05:39 PM
donlyn donlyn is offline
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whats the attraction with beat up guitars?

First off, I have purchased a number of instruments used. Most of them in good condition, a few in near mint condition. Near enough to be better than many floor demoes. For the most part, I go to great lengths to keep my instruments in the best possible condition. But I got a couple that were in far less than stellar condition. So maybe it's kind of like adopting a shelter animal?

A few years ago, there was one was sitting on a shop stand looking forlorn and lonely. But it caught my eye. Then I played it a bit. Barely, because it needed work. But there was something about it. Seemed structurally sound, so I got it (cheap), took it to another place which I trust, and with new nut, saddle, some fret work, a new set of strings . . . boy am I happy with it now. Even bought a brand new manufacturer's case for it. So even though it does have some noticeable wear, it also sounds and plays real well. The guitar I'm talking about is my Epiphone EJ-200. It's now dependable enough to use playing out. Most obvious wear is on the pickguard, the design having been worn almost completely off over half the pickguard surface. I amuse myself with the thought that it just displays it's character and street cred.

Don
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Last edited by donlyn; 11-12-2019 at 05:46 PM.
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  #40  
Old 11-12-2019, 06:28 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
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I banged it on the door!
I dropped it on the floor!
But I couldn't tell if it scratched or dinged...
Because it already had so many more!






BluesKing777.

Last edited by BluesKing777; 11-12-2019 at 08:39 PM.
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  #41  
Old 11-12-2019, 06:32 PM
Joe Beamish Joe Beamish is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitartanzon View Post
Recently went to a concert of two guys from nashville, Runaway Home,
which I enjoyed very much and highly recommend you check out.

But one guitar played looked like a younger Willy Nelson Trigger,,,,pretty beat up and very used....It was his first guitar he got when 14 years old,

so is there a “cool factor” in playing these old war horses or just a lifelong love affair with 1 instrument.
It's possible that there's no special "cool factor", and that the beat-up looking guitars were just really, really good guitars.

We could flip this around. Is there a prejudice against older guitars with mileage?
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  #42  
Old 11-12-2019, 06:42 PM
foxo foxo is offline
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I let my friend use my guitar at a gig I came to support her at for a few songs, when I got home my jaw dropped when I saw this. She must have been wearing a sharp belt or something. I did notice the guitar kept slipping as the strap was too long for her, didn’t think anything of it at the time.



Thankfully I quite like natural wear and tear (although that much damage in less than two hours took a bit of getting used to), if you gig with it especially in pubs it’s pretty inevitable. I accidentally bashed the side on a table tonight, no biggie.

The artificially worn ones are daft though. They usually go way over the top. The Martin Streetmaster version of my guitar looks ridiculous, nothing looks that worn even well played 1930s 17 series.
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Last edited by foxo; 11-12-2019 at 06:53 PM.
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  #43  
Old 11-12-2019, 07:04 PM
Slothead56 Slothead56 is offline
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Unless I missed it, it’s hard to believe that no one has specifically mentioned The Pre-War Guitar Company. If I was more talented I could reference/link to a very recent thread that spoke to the really good sound that these guitars have...and also that they have the unique distinction of coming as beat up as you want. Would I buy one? No. But I have learned to love the ding, scratch and dent. (I’m a little dinged, scratched and dented myself now that I think of it!)

Yes, some guys are trying to be cool. Others just play and play and play a great sounding guitar until the wheels fall off. It’s all guitar, and it’s all good.
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  #44  
Old 11-12-2019, 07:05 PM
zoopeda zoopeda is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitartanzon View Post
Recently went to a concert of two guys from nashville, Runaway Home,
which I enjoyed very much and highly recommend you check out.

But one guitar played looked like a younger Willy Nelson Trigger,,,,pretty beat up and very used....It was his first guitar he got when 14 years old,

so is there a “cool factor” in playing these old war horses or just a lifelong love affair with 1 instrument.
Same reason there's an attraction for beat-up anything. Why do some people like shiny new stuff and others like old vintage worn-in? Some people bleach the crap out of everything, and some people go camping and make sour kraut. Some people wear the same jeans they had in college, others buy a whole new wardrobe every year. Some drive Lexus, some drive Saab. Different strokes.
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  #45  
Old 11-12-2019, 08:09 PM
semolinapilcher semolinapilcher is offline
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Years ago my thinking was that a worn brand-name guitar meant:
- discount
- somebody obviously enjoyed it, so it was less likely to be a lemon
- reduced pressure to “walk on rice paper” (leave no trace of my usage)

In truth another factor was:
- it would make ME look more experienced

Nowadays those benefits have shrunk but still remain somewhat.

I’ll buy a beat-up guitar if I like it, but the price has to be right. My recent 1973 Guild F-48 is a great example of this. My new Martin terz was(is) not.
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