Dents and scratches. How do you take it?

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Mark Stone

For me the first scratch on a new guitar is a gallon container of trauma. ❌❌❌ But after I recover, which takes a couple of days, IDC any more. Remember the Car Guys on NPR? They said that every new car sold should come pre-scratched so the first ding is not so traumatic

My buddy who had a guitar store in Ballard use to tell people buying a new guitar -particularly their first new guitar - that, once they decided to keep it, to turn it over, take their keys and put a very small scratch on the inside corner of the lower bout. After that, the guitar would no longer be "pristine" and they would not stress so much about the next one. He also pointed out that if they did not, then the first doink would inevitably come from their wife or girlfriend, their best friend, or their kids, and that then they would always remember who first scratched their "pristine" guitar.

Heh. Once when I was hanging out at the store, these two guys came in with a new guitar belonging to one of them. The owner laid it on the counter and asked my friend how much to fix this deep, into the wood, scratch on the top. And could it be made to disappear? My friend told him that, yes, it could be drop-filled with lacquer, or with a sliver of wood, but there would probably always be a discoloration. The owner said "that is too bad. it was perfect before." To which his friend put his face in his hand and said with a bit of anguish "Look, I said that I was SORRY!"

[docwatsonfan]

Originally Posted by archerscreek

They don’t bother me at all. In fact I love them. To me visible wear indicates an instrument that inspired an outpouring of artistic emotion. Pristine looking instruments (aka case queens) indicate something that was unable to inspire the player to let it all out and withhold nothing.

Two of my favorite artists, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Bill Monroe, played the snot out of their instruments. At their peak, no one played with more emotion or aggression than those guys. And their instruments showed it. I love that look and style of playing.

As they say in the mandolin world, “Whip that mule!”

Where's the LIKE button

[scotly50]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

I take care of my instruments but I know it's different for some pros. I was recently watching this great video of Bryan Sutton and Billy Strings. Billy was playing his incredible Preston Thompson dread and when the light hits it you can see how gouged the wood is above and below the soundhole. It made me uncomfortable to look at it! But, he's a pro and that's how he makes his living.

Getting the Guitar for free likely eases much of the pain.

[Mark Stone]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

My buddy who had a guitar store in Ballard use to tell people buying a new guitar -particularly their first new guitar - that, once they decided to keep it, to turn it over, take their keys and put a very small scratch on the inside corner of the lower bout. After that, the guitar would no longer be "pristine" and they would not stress so much about the next one. He also pointed out that if they did not, then the first doink would inevitably come from their wife or girlfriend, their best friend, or their kids, and that then they would always remember who first scratched their "pristine" guitar.

Heh. Once when I was hanging out at the store, these two guys came in with a new guitar belonging to one of them. The owner laid it on the counter and asked my friend how much to fix this deep, into the wood, scratch on the top. And could it be made to disappear? My friend told him that, yes, it could be drop-filled with lacquer, or with a sliver of wood, but there would probably always be a discoloration. The owner said "that is too bad. it was perfect before." To which his friend put his face in his hand and said with a bit of anguish "Look, I said that I was SORRY!"

Love it!!!!

[rllink]

I was talking to a friend this afternoon on messenger about this thread and he said that he had a Martin for showin' and a Yamaha for playin'.

[Deliberate1]

To answer the question plainly:
Not well.

David

[Rosewood99]

Depends where it is. Front of the guitar bothers me. I could care less about the back. I won't see the back when I playing nor when its hanging on the wall.

[Tony Burns]

we can only do the best we can when it comes to our guitars with their dings and scratches - nobody's perfect and it sucks when it happens .
but i can honestly say after the first or second scratch ( or dent ) I'm not as afraid as i was when it was perfectly new -
and i believe it made me a better player -not being afraid of the darn thing any more .
The closest thing i can relate this to , is getting the first ding on a new car -
the second one is character !

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by rllink

I was talking to a friend this afternoon on messenger about this thread and he said that he had a Martin for showin' and a Yamaha for playin'.

Sorta misses the point of it all, doesn’t it a bit?

[Steve DeRosa]

When I was taking lessons from a jazz guy as a kid, I was taught that the only places a properly-handled guitar should have fingerprints are the neck and tuners - controls, if it's an electric - and you wipe those off after every playing...

I've played archtops from the Big-Band era that saw extensive use in the trenches: neck finish is worn through to the wood like an old violin along the entire length of the neck (not just the first few frets - a testimony to advanced technique), expected finish checking in most cases, but few if any dings - certainly no buckle rash or pick gouging - and all the tone/volume you could ask for (again, all a function of proper technique/handling)...

There's a clip of a 1679 Stradivarius guitar elsewhere on this forum, that's in better shape than many guitars from 1979 I've seen - and still very playable BTW...

I've worked with orchestral-string players who owned fine, centuries-old instruments, that'll still be in primo shape when some string quartet does their first concert on Mars in a hundred years or so...

Tommy Emmanuel is an admittedly formidable player, who makes extensive use of unconventional techniques (and has an endorsement deal with Maton) - but I strongly doubt he'd be doing the same stunts on an 1850's C.F. Martin Sr. or second-epoch Torres (a claim I'm not too sure I could make about Willie )...

PSA: It's not "mojo" or "vibe," it's damage plain and simple - and that's strictly a matter of attitude...

[BrianovichIV]

I take care of my guitars but when play wear starts to show it’s a badge of honor. The sound hole in my old Martin isn’t a perfect circle anymore and I like it. It shows me that I’ve gotten good use out of it. If I wanted it to remain pristine I’d never play it.

In fact I’ve been a little annoyed with new Martin because I’ve become used to the worn out bridge edges on the old one. The new one feels really sharp on my hand and it’s uncomfortable. I guess I have to keep playing until it wears down again.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Depends where it is. Front of the guitar bothers me. I could care less about the back. I won't see the back when I playing nor when its hanging on the wall.

Nope. Back of the neck is worse...

[Lillis]

After six months,i put my first ding in my GS mini tonight. Banged the lower bout into metal bed frame when i was putting it an A frame stand. Just a small edge ding. I was beginning to think this guitar was invincible. Almost nice to get the first one out of the way. Now if I ding my new Martin I think i will feel differently.

[TBman]

I am really very careful with my guitars.

I keep them away from sharp corners and go in slow motion when I am hanging them on their stand or putting them back in their cases.

Too many times as a young guy in a hurry did I bang the guitar with the top of the case because it wasn't opened all the way, or dinged the guitar on the corner/edge of a desk/table while reaching for something with the guitar on my lap.

Try to always think - gee what could happen if I did this, before doing it.

[donlyn]

Dents and scratches. How do you take it?


Badly. More so, and even if I cause the damage.

Don
.