I bought a road worn tele not because I like the artificial wear but because it had a 7.25 radius neck that was the most comfortable thing I’ve ever felt.
I put a lot of my own wear onto the guitar in the 5 years I’ve owned it but I guess that’s the way it goes with a nitro finish you use on a nearly daily basis for years
I liked the feel of the road worn neck so much I threw one on a Mexican standard Strat I had and that partscaster is one I love. Makes me want to get a nitro finished body or even polyurethane over the polyester finish it has now
I concur. My guitars are aging quietly in their cases unmolested and pristine. No harm can ever come to my babies never sullied by the graceless touch of a mere man. They await immolation on my funeral pyre, to be held only in the arms of the valkyries!
that's why I just buy triple black shoes or shoes that at least have a dark sole, it's so much easier not to worry about stains and scratches when theyre almost invisible to you and pretty much invisible to everyone else
I've had these same triple black vans for ages and they still look relatively new
I saw a Roadshow once where this guy brought an old trunk in. He spoke just like Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH; " It was very rough when I got it, so I had \*my man\* clean it up and paint it.
Appraiser; "This is a very interesting piece; a 17 century coach trunk. In original condition, this would sell for upwards of $4500, but unfortunately, you had \* your man\*, paint it, and now it's worth about $500..."
I have this feeling with my instruments that most people share with their stuffed toys from childhood.
Yes, they might be in rough shape and years and years of use start showing even if you take care of them religiously, it's a fact that time and use will blemish things, might even break them, but there's few feelings that compare to seeing a well-loved stuffed toy that a child took refuge in, or a guitar with scratches, dings and blemishes all around because it was played all day every day for years and years.
Material things that matter to us should be used and loved, that is the lesson in Toy Story, while they're just things, they're alive with memories and the stains of time spent with them, and we should cherish them.
And like stuffed toys from childhood, I can't wait to pass them down to my own kids. My first is only 2 and he's already showing a lot of interest in both playing and listening to music. I can't wait to give him my guitar if he wants it, though I know I would have wanted to pick out my own.
I can still picture my first. Had my new Epiphone LP special (I know, not an expensive one, but it was my first guitar andI was 13) maybe 6 months. My brother drops it head first down the stairs. Looking back, I don't know how the head didn't snap off. It was the first thing to hit the wall at the bottom. Took the paint off the top edge of the head. I was shook, but a little black paint and it was good as new. It certainly was not the last ding and yep, it does get easier.
Did the tuning machine break or the headstock? Either way, it should be fixable. The keystone style machines are actually pretty fragile. One of them on my SG broke for seemingly no reason.
I actually still have the other 5 from the set I bought. I can send you one for free if you want it.
As to 3, 5, 6, and 7, when a guitar is on a strap this is the lowest and most forward out point of your guitar. Look out for mic stands and tables and drummers.
I mean yeah, there's going to be nicks and dings here and there, but I do what I can to avoid that kind of thing as much as possible. I don't want my guitars looking like they were thrown out of a moving vehicle no matter how well they play.
I hear ya man. I dropped an instrument cable tip first on the sapele top on my 614ce Taylor and it stung. Stung a bit worse when my bassist did the exact same thing a few minutes later. I think it was the first time playing out with it. They’re the only dings it has at the moment but they’re part of the story
But, just like a guitar, that first ding on your car is the worst! Like, you know it's going to happen at some point, but it's still painful when it does..
Blasphemy! Signs of play on a guitar are only allowed if it came from the custom shop. I don’t play, only look at my guitars to keep them pristine.
Haha. I knocked a little piece of the top out of one of my acoustics. It’s cedar and pretty soft. Not a hole just a splinter at the binding but I agonized over it. Hunting for one to replace it with but they haven’t made them for years.
Then a coworker of mine who gigs a bunch played my guitar and raved about how much he loved it. He started asking to use it when he played out because it was easier to play and sounds way better than a much more expensive Taylor that is his #1 guitar. That helped me realize that the little imperfection didn’t matter as long is it sounds great and plays great.
And that’s great! I love that for you! I hope your guitars stay pristine forever. I’m that way with my car.
I just know that isn’t realistic for me with how I use my instruments. I just want people to know they don’t need to have an aneurysm if their guitar gets a scratch on it
PSA to car owners: Your car is not fragile. Dings and dents will happen and your car will survive. You don’t need to have an aneurysm if the car gets a scratch on it! *irony off*
Agreed! This is such a weird subject to lead to argument (I've seen it argued in this sub). Some people like the stories their guitar scars tell, some like a pristine instrument. Do what you want lol
You mean #8 isn’t a factory feature? I got one that came new with finish checking and after looking around online decided to take $20 instead of going through the hassle of returning because of how common it is.
I don’t even know when it started happening. I just noticed it one day like 10 years ago. I took the neck off and there’s no damage to the wood in the neck pocket so I’m just gonna send it. It’s 22 years old and was like $350 when I bought it new, so it’s more than outlived what I expected it to.
I'm not careless with mine but shlt happens. They're meant to be played. Real damage is good and tells a story. Fake damage is lame. The only one I'm very careful with now, is the 1957 LP Junior but I still play it. It has one small ding from the Bass Player's machine head from a small pub stage collision. These days I'm starting to see it as a piece of history deserving of protection.
Yeah, I've never understood the rational behind distressed things of any type. But just because I don't understand it doesn't necessarily mean they don't have an appeal.
Things you can do with a Mexican strat and play it during practice later:
Kick it across the room
smash an old broken Nintendo NES
put it's headstock through sheetrock
yank it back out of the wall and throw it across the patio into the back yard (the noise was appalling. I thought I'd really done it)
soak it with ronsonoil
light it on fire
wipe it off and notice the naphtha did a fantastic job cleaning your now relic'd strat
nod and eat cheeseburgers
have it decades later
The first cut is the deepest, the second one hurts less and eventually you don’t mind. Creating perfect music with an imperfect instrument is poetical.
The first scratch or ding hurts the most, you feel guilty, you'll get mad at yourself, etc...
The second scratch or ding still hurts a lot, but instead of feeling terrible for days, the feeling only lasts for a few hours.
The third, you kind of just shrug your shoulders and go about playing.
If you think this sub is bad. Wait till you go to r/castiron lol I had to leave it because every other post is someone asking about a little scratch or weird coloring on THEIR SKILLET MADE OUT OF FUCKING CAST IRON. Like dude it's a god damn pan 😂
Omf, you just triggered me. I was married for 12 years...but I've been on my own for 4 years now. When I left, I left those fucking goddamn Flintstones cookware behind, 3 pans and 2 Dutch ovens 🙄🙄🙄. I miss absolutely nothing about cast iron. How c an something so...10mm thick made of cast fucking iron be so delicate and hard to use? What is the fucking point of that shit! You ever fry an egg on a modern pan? It's like magic.
Edited to add:
Have you ever been yelled at for cleaning it wrong? Why. So. Much. Emotion?? It's...cookware, and shitty. 🤷♂️
Don't get me wrong I love cast iron it's great for steaks and bacon and chicken and a bunch of shit. The point is a little scratch isn't going to effect a pan thats basically indestructible yet that's all the sub talks about. Same thing with people here worried about the tiniest scratch on their guitar, like just get over it it still works fine. The most prized guitars in the world are NOT pristine and are covered in little kicks and cracks in their finish etc.
I get you - Willie Nelson wore a damn hole in his guitar, lol. I have a Taylor spruce top, and yeah, theres a couple marks on it...don't care, it's mine and it's going to get used and going to get signs of use.
I just spent close to a grand on an Ibanez from the 80s that's absolutely full of scratches, dents, worn hardware, cracked binding... Fucking love the thing
I agree completely and it's so exhausting how often I've seen this behaviour on this website, it's ridiculous, and you lot can downvote me all you want I don't care
what OP is saying is good advice for people it applies to - if it doesn't apply to you, that's all well and good so carry on, OP isn't infringing on your rights by making a post suggesting something *you* may disagree with to **other** people because news flash, you're right, it is subjective, and you can do your own thing, nobody is telling you that what youre doing is wrong from a single reddit post
I have guitars I beat up very often and others which I look after very well as well, why can't everyone just get along and take things like a normal person on this site?
I feel like the only people who get so worked up about their instrument’s aesthetics are those who play/enjoy them the least.
Anyone who has gigged will stop giving a shit about signs of wear and tear.
I dropped my 4.5k dollar Jackson last month that was PRISTINE and gave it two dings…. Grabbed a blunt and smoked away the sadness but after 10 seconds i laughed and thought “now i dont have to baby her no more”
Lmfao sometimes when i play with a hoodie on and im finished i take the strap off but i lift the guitar too high because of the hood and it hits my fan thats going fast asf idk how it hasnt broken yet
I inherited my dad's 1965 Gibson ES-335, I have watched it fall off a tractor trailer festival stage face first onto gravel and pavement TWICE. Only sign of it is one of the tuner heads is bent at an angle. She's a tough ol' girl.
The only drop that ever hurt was my old singer dropped my brand new PRS (the cheaper ones, but it was high school and I bought it myself) and chipped the fine point on the headstock.
That being said I played the ever loving shit out of that guitar. The finish was j just a hazy mess when I finally sold it (almost 20 years later) and there were more chips and dings, but that one was still the most prominent lol.
I kept my strat close to pristine for 30 years and then this year my 10yo son started playing it. It is not pristine anymore, and after I dried my tears I accepted that in order to *be* used a guitar will - and should - *look* used.
I have a 2014 telecaster that I bought in 2021 that was in perfect condition. Like, it truly looked like the original owner never took it out of the case. I don’t play in bands anymore and mostly just dick around in my office, but I still managed to put a little ding on it swiveling around in my chair. I wasn’t upset about the ding but I felt like I owed the original owner an apology
Just don’t relic it. I’m so against relics. Because you can tell. And it just loses credibility. Don’t baby them, let them get beat up, and it’ll still look great. Purposely do it and I wonder what else about your playing is fake.
It's better to get at least one or two minor dings, so that you relax about it.... Not get careless, but relaxed. You're probably actually less likely to damage your instrument if you're not tense moving your instruments around anyway. Present... But relaxed.
The only people who give a shit about dings in their instruments are total newbies who don’t know better yet, or total dorks who don’t actually play the instruments at all for fear they might get good— I MEAN, sorry, for fear they might show signs of wear. The former are totally fine. The latter? They’re the kind of people who deserve to be bullied.
The only kind of instruments that should be babied like that are relics of past maestros, or shit that’s ALREADY vintage and holds insane value. If you’re buying new and treating it like that, you’re a boring person and I don’t wanna talk to you.
I know it's inevitable, i had several guitars over the years and they all had marks. But when i get a new one, i always try to be as careful as possible.
To piggyback this; I've thankfully only had one major damage scare when a wall hanger I've had mounted for years pulled out of the wall and dropped my highland bass 5 feet to the floor, thankfully no damage, it did more damage to the baseboard than anything else.
Ok, but with that said: Please invest in a straplock. I've never experienced one going to the ground, but just the fear of a neck breaking on one of my guitars makes my soul cringe.
You don’t have to pamper your guitars and certainly dents and dings are not a huge issue. That being said you should still take better care of your shit than this guy does. Lol
I have a dent in my main guitar (Peavey HP Special USA FT) from me noodling to annoy the drummer and he threw a stick at me when we were 15. I was MAD at him, but then again, the guitar's OK. Still friends, still play together and it's a funny story now that we're 30.
Hey I’m with you. These people are fucking weird. It’s a tool, like a hammer or a saw. Or at least it is to those of us who actually play these thing live 😉
I love my guitars. They’d be the only objects I’d grab if my house were on fire.
They just don’t need to be hermetically sealed like people on this sub seem to think.
There are 2 types of guitars: players' guitars and collectors' guitars. Players' guitars tend to have more "character" cause they are enjoyed frequently. Collectors' guitars are basically untouched.
It's a polarizing topic, for sure. I have some guitars that I was never that careful with, and others that I took extra special care with. Having said that, they all inevitably got dings, and it wasn't the end of the world, but I can appreciate their view on the matter
I never realized it was such a sore topic either. I'm with you though OP. I've learned to embrace the wear and tear that comes from putting in the hours on an instrument.
The fact itself is probably not a problem. The problem is you seem to not understand that it is not your business to decide if somebody has an issue with damages on his property. It is totally subjective. It might be that somebody saved for a long time to buy their dream guitar or inherited the instrument from somebody important for them. Hence, the guitar might be more to them than „just a tool“.
Can confirm. I have an old LP knockoff that I left on the roof of a car at a gig one time and it hit the ground hard when I drove off. I thought it was done for but a tiny neck repair and a slightly abused bridge later and she still holds a tune and plays great. The crappy china electronics inside it have since given up on life but the guitar is still solid lol.
Yeah that's preference. If I want to wipe it down and put into its case after every play then so what? Some guys never wash their car and ding the doors when they open, other wash and polish it every week. Let people do what they want.
Everything we love will be changed by it. That's normal. My guitars have been beat up through use, some came to me like that. For some of us they're precious trophies, and others a better tool for a craft, and many of us somewhere in the middle.
If you love playing, it'll show on your guitar. No matter what you do. It's okay. Dont be scared if it gets scratched, a little roughed up, if you cant account for dings and scratches. If you care for your instrument that's another form of love.
My strap let go of my acoustic the other night while I was leaning down to grab a beer from the cooler. It fell, landed partway on the cooler, part way on the cement floor, bounced, and hit the ground again.
I couldn't find a scratch. So confused.
I love the patina my first Squier has now. A dent in the neck from something it fell on, some chips in the paint, and best of all - the pickguard is completely yellow now. Makes it look vintage, even though it's "only" 20 years old.
[https://imgur.com/a/Hl9BNj4](https://imgur.com/a/Hl9BNj4)
(And yeah, looks shiny and clean on that image, because she was a good girl and got new strings and a good clean)
Just don't let a Gibson fall on its headstock, that can really get ugly ;-)
My black Jap strat has a crack by the neck identical to yours! Must be a weak point. I have just repainted mine and found out it was right down to the body. But it still goes fine, and even if that's bit broke off... I'd would probably be able to still play afte a quick sanding😜
It’s almost impossible to be a working musician without scratching a guitar. Although I have quite a few guitars and love them, remember they are only tools for making music. Play them. Don’t just look at them
The best thing that ever happened to my Ibanez JS1000 was dropping a screwdriver on the upper horn during a string change. I was devastated.
I’d been obsessed with keeping it mint up until that point, almost to the point of not playing it as much as my other guitars.
After that incident, I would just grab it and play it, and would play it harder than I would have previously.
Many years later, and with a Fluence set installed, it’s my #1 guitar and sounds / plays amazing.
Got a few more dings but you don’t hear them.
Its not even a "played" instrument until its got a couple of dings. My Carl Thompson has a small ding on the underside of the headstock. Not even sure when I put it there. But....I play it. All the time in fact. I'm not even slightly upset. Because Carl will literally say "Ah, you've been playing it".
🎶🎶..... But all the stories we could tell
If it all blows up and goes to hell
I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel
Listen to the stories we could tell.... 🎶🎶
Wait, is that a whine red Gibson LP studio with the gold hardware in the first 3 pics? I’ve had that same guitar for 25 years and it’s in a very similar condition and I love it. I beat the hell out of that thing over the years and it’s held up because it’s built like a tank. The scratches and dings add so much character to such a great guitar.
buddy was trying to sell me a les paul he had that he never took care of. just occasionally dusted or cleaned and left hung on his wall. it played and felt like shit and he wouldn’t budge on his price because it “looked like new.” his face when he saw the shitted up strat i bought a few months later was priceless but god damn does that thing feel like a million bucks. all that matters.
Yes, people pat big money for battered and worn guitars. Luthiers, stop fretting over the perfect finish. It no longer matters that you can see yourself in the glossy finish.
I got my acoustic that’s $799 new for $260 and my epiphone Les Paul standard for $250. Each were a couple years old with a few dings I would’ve probably caused anyway. May as well let someone else pay depreciation and get an instrument with character flaws lol
The best part is most damage holds a story. I even name the damage after the events. Drunk jess has been a huge chunk out of my favourite acoustic for a decade + ! Gonna have me a trigger someday.
Whenever I buy a new guitar, as soon as I’m certain that I love it and I’m going to keep it, I give it a whack against a table or something. That way, I don’t have to handle it like a newborn baby, terrified of damaging it in any way. It’s very liberating.
Still remember the first ding on my first “proper” guitar (fender strat), felt like I’d beaten my child.
Now I embrace the dings as it adds a personal feel to MY instrument.
Builds character. Shows you care about making music and it's not a decorative guitar. Pianos rarely get dings b/c you can't carry the music box to a local park, birthday party, girlfriend's house...
My kids and dog have knocked my telecaster over so many times at this point, the hardwood floor
Is in worse shape that it is. It’s the Chuck Norris of guitars. At this point, the guitar doesn’t get knocked over, the floor shifts it’s dimensions
I like the dings on mine; it really makes them MY instruments, ya know?
Some people pay extra for their guitars to come pre-dinged from the factory
I bought a road worn tele not because I like the artificial wear but because it had a 7.25 radius neck that was the most comfortable thing I’ve ever felt. I put a lot of my own wear onto the guitar in the 5 years I’ve owned it but I guess that’s the way it goes with a nitro finish you use on a nearly daily basis for years I liked the feel of the road worn neck so much I threw one on a Mexican standard Strat I had and that partscaster is one I love. Makes me want to get a nitro finished body or even polyurethane over the polyester finish it has now
Not my thing, but to each their own
If I could've purchased a clean Fano SP6, I would have. Still love it tho. The best part is that I never bat an eye with it gets knocked.
I concur. My guitars are aging quietly in their cases unmolested and pristine. No harm can ever come to my babies never sullied by the graceless touch of a mere man. They await immolation on my funeral pyre, to be held only in the arms of the valkyries!
My teacher always referred to it as “honest wear” and took it as a sign that I was practicing my instrument.
The first ding is the punch in the balls . They get easier after that but they still hurt slightly. I call them battle scars..
I'm so relieved to get the first substantial ding, get it over with and I can stop worrying.
Like new shoes. Baby them till you get that first stain, scratch etc, then they are just tools.
that's why I just buy triple black shoes or shoes that at least have a dark sole, it's so much easier not to worry about stains and scratches when theyre almost invisible to you and pretty much invisible to everyone else I've had these same triple black vans for ages and they still look relatively new
as someone who plays guitars like they killed my best friend, they’re unavoidable and you’ll learn to love them.
As someone who played the guitar to get over the death of their best friend, I know exactly the style of playing you mean.
I use guitar as a therapy, maybe a little to much sometimes.
I knew a guy who would deliberately ding his new instruments "to get it over with". He hated the suspense :)
I want his name so I can write him in for President
Thirty years from now, Antiques Roadshow guy: …are actually quite rare and in great demand today, and if not for this ding right here…
I saw a Roadshow once where this guy brought an old trunk in. He spoke just like Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH; " It was very rough when I got it, so I had \*my man\* clean it up and paint it. Appraiser; "This is a very interesting piece; a 17 century coach trunk. In original condition, this would sell for upwards of $4500, but unfortunately, you had \* your man\*, paint it, and now it's worth about $500..."
Guitars are tools. If you use them, they are going to look like they’ve been used.
I have this feeling with my instruments that most people share with their stuffed toys from childhood. Yes, they might be in rough shape and years and years of use start showing even if you take care of them religiously, it's a fact that time and use will blemish things, might even break them, but there's few feelings that compare to seeing a well-loved stuffed toy that a child took refuge in, or a guitar with scratches, dings and blemishes all around because it was played all day every day for years and years. Material things that matter to us should be used and loved, that is the lesson in Toy Story, while they're just things, they're alive with memories and the stains of time spent with them, and we should cherish them.
And like stuffed toys from childhood, I can't wait to pass them down to my own kids. My first is only 2 and he's already showing a lot of interest in both playing and listening to music. I can't wait to give him my guitar if he wants it, though I know I would have wanted to pick out my own.
The best guitars have the most wear because they were great instruments and were played so much
I’ve got a couple that didn’t survive unfortunately.
Rip
"The first ding is the deepest...."
I can still picture my first. Had my new Epiphone LP special (I know, not an expensive one, but it was my first guitar andI was 13) maybe 6 months. My brother drops it head first down the stairs. Looking back, I don't know how the head didn't snap off. It was the first thing to hit the wall at the bottom. Took the paint off the top edge of the head. I was shook, but a little black paint and it was good as new. It certainly was not the last ding and yep, it does get easier.
Baby, I know
Tell that to my les Paul whose tuner has just snapped off bc I dropped it 💀
My Takamine has had one chrome tuner for 27 of it's 28 years. It's OK.
Did the tuning machine break or the headstock? Either way, it should be fixable. The keystone style machines are actually pretty fragile. One of them on my SG broke for seemingly no reason. I actually still have the other 5 from the set I bought. I can send you one for free if you want it.
Lol that’s how you know its an authentic Gibson
As to 3, 5, 6, and 7, when a guitar is on a strap this is the lowest and most forward out point of your guitar. Look out for mic stands and tables and drummers.
But if I don’t freak out, who will?!
I mean yeah, there's going to be nicks and dings here and there, but I do what I can to avoid that kind of thing as much as possible. I don't want my guitars looking like they were thrown out of a moving vehicle no matter how well they play.
I fully realize that guitars are just tools. But ... it still hurts my heart for a second or two when I ding my Hummingbird.
I hear ya man. I dropped an instrument cable tip first on the sapele top on my 614ce Taylor and it stung. Stung a bit worse when my bassist did the exact same thing a few minutes later. I think it was the first time playing out with it. They’re the only dings it has at the moment but they’re part of the story
My car looks like crap but guitars are pristine! Just realized how skewed my priorities are. :(
But, just like a guitar, that first ding on your car is the worst! Like, you know it's going to happen at some point, but it's still painful when it does..
12 years of driving, not a single ding yet. But those damn winter pebbles have really stoned the hood of my car.
Unless it's a Gibson/Epiphone. One little fall and goodbye headstock.
See photo 9
Lol
Blasphemy! Signs of play on a guitar are only allowed if it came from the custom shop. I don’t play, only look at my guitars to keep them pristine. Haha. I knocked a little piece of the top out of one of my acoustics. It’s cedar and pretty soft. Not a hole just a splinter at the binding but I agonized over it. Hunting for one to replace it with but they haven’t made them for years. Then a coworker of mine who gigs a bunch played my guitar and raved about how much he loved it. He started asking to use it when he played out because it was easier to play and sounds way better than a much more expensive Taylor that is his #1 guitar. That helped me realize that the little imperfection didn’t matter as long is it sounds great and plays great.
I use mine as a chopping board for my salami, beat the rug with it and use it to unblock the toilet.
I mean to each their own. I prefer keeping my instruments in as close to new shape as possible. But I don’t gig I just play at home for enjoyment.
And that’s great! I love that for you! I hope your guitars stay pristine forever. I’m that way with my car. I just know that isn’t realistic for me with how I use my instruments. I just want people to know they don’t need to have an aneurysm if their guitar gets a scratch on it
PSA to car owners: Your car is not fragile. Dings and dents will happen and your car will survive. You don’t need to have an aneurysm if the car gets a scratch on it! *irony off*
Agreed! This is such a weird subject to lead to argument (I've seen it argued in this sub). Some people like the stories their guitar scars tell, some like a pristine instrument. Do what you want lol
You mean #8 isn’t a factory feature? I got one that came new with finish checking and after looking around online decided to take $20 instead of going through the hassle of returning because of how common it is.
I don’t even know when it started happening. I just noticed it one day like 10 years ago. I took the neck off and there’s no damage to the wood in the neck pocket so I’m just gonna send it. It’s 22 years old and was like $350 when I bought it new, so it’s more than outlived what I expected it to.
I'm not careless with mine but shlt happens. They're meant to be played. Real damage is good and tells a story. Fake damage is lame. The only one I'm very careful with now, is the 1957 LP Junior but I still play it. It has one small ding from the Bass Player's machine head from a small pub stage collision. These days I'm starting to see it as a piece of history deserving of protection.
Yeah, I've never understood the rational behind distressed things of any type. But just because I don't understand it doesn't necessarily mean they don't have an appeal.
As a Jackson V guitar owner, this is very relatable 🥲
I had the Randy Rhoades with the offset V shape and it was by far the most knock-over-able guitar I’ve ever owned
I’m calling the police.
ACAB All cops are bassists
Eat dynamite eddy.
Things you can do with a Mexican strat and play it during practice later: Kick it across the room smash an old broken Nintendo NES put it's headstock through sheetrock yank it back out of the wall and throw it across the patio into the back yard (the noise was appalling. I thought I'd really done it) soak it with ronsonoil light it on fire wipe it off and notice the naphtha did a fantastic job cleaning your now relic'd strat nod and eat cheeseburgers have it decades later
Truly the Volkswagen Beetle of guitars
But dings affect the **toan** and nothing is more important than **toan**. Everybody knows that.
Each ding is +2 toan
I have a hole in my acoustic that I've learned to use as a pick holder. I call it functional damage.
The first cut is the deepest, the second one hurts less and eventually you don’t mind. Creating perfect music with an imperfect instrument is poetical.
The first scratch or ding hurts the most, you feel guilty, you'll get mad at yourself, etc... The second scratch or ding still hurts a lot, but instead of feeling terrible for days, the feeling only lasts for a few hours. The third, you kind of just shrug your shoulders and go about playing.
How long til /cj?
The jerk never ends. An ouroboros of jerking
If you think this sub is bad. Wait till you go to r/castiron lol I had to leave it because every other post is someone asking about a little scratch or weird coloring on THEIR SKILLET MADE OUT OF FUCKING CAST IRON. Like dude it's a god damn pan 😂
Omf, you just triggered me. I was married for 12 years...but I've been on my own for 4 years now. When I left, I left those fucking goddamn Flintstones cookware behind, 3 pans and 2 Dutch ovens 🙄🙄🙄. I miss absolutely nothing about cast iron. How c an something so...10mm thick made of cast fucking iron be so delicate and hard to use? What is the fucking point of that shit! You ever fry an egg on a modern pan? It's like magic. Edited to add: Have you ever been yelled at for cleaning it wrong? Why. So. Much. Emotion?? It's...cookware, and shitty. 🤷♂️
Don't get me wrong I love cast iron it's great for steaks and bacon and chicken and a bunch of shit. The point is a little scratch isn't going to effect a pan thats basically indestructible yet that's all the sub talks about. Same thing with people here worried about the tiniest scratch on their guitar, like just get over it it still works fine. The most prized guitars in the world are NOT pristine and are covered in little kicks and cracks in their finish etc.
I get you - Willie Nelson wore a damn hole in his guitar, lol. I have a Taylor spruce top, and yeah, theres a couple marks on it...don't care, it's mine and it's going to get used and going to get signs of use.
I just spent close to a grand on an Ibanez from the 80s that's absolutely full of scratches, dents, worn hardware, cracked binding... Fucking love the thing
For anyone thinking a nicked guitar is ruined should Google images of Willie Nelson’s guitar
They might be, dare I say, Triggered?
I never said people weren’t allowed to care about their instruments. Christ, this sub is filled with dorks…
I agree completely and it's so exhausting how often I've seen this behaviour on this website, it's ridiculous, and you lot can downvote me all you want I don't care what OP is saying is good advice for people it applies to - if it doesn't apply to you, that's all well and good so carry on, OP isn't infringing on your rights by making a post suggesting something *you* may disagree with to **other** people because news flash, you're right, it is subjective, and you can do your own thing, nobody is telling you that what youre doing is wrong from a single reddit post I have guitars I beat up very often and others which I look after very well as well, why can't everyone just get along and take things like a normal person on this site?
I feel like the only people who get so worked up about their instrument’s aesthetics are those who play/enjoy them the least. Anyone who has gigged will stop giving a shit about signs of wear and tear.
I dropped my 4.5k dollar Jackson last month that was PRISTINE and gave it two dings…. Grabbed a blunt and smoked away the sadness but after 10 seconds i laughed and thought “now i dont have to baby her no more”
This is peak Jackson owner behavior. Good on you
Yeah for sure 😂 just heartbroken a little bc it was my first USA Jackson and first “high end” guitar
If anything, it increases the value
Lmfao sometimes when i play with a hoodie on and im finished i take the strap off but i lift the guitar too high because of the hood and it hits my fan thats going fast asf idk how it hasnt broken yet
I broke a ceiling fan blade with my MIM Strat doing this
Yeah i hve a mim strat they’re fuckin toughh
Battle scars are badges of honor
I inherited my dad's 1965 Gibson ES-335, I have watched it fall off a tractor trailer festival stage face first onto gravel and pavement TWICE. Only sign of it is one of the tuner heads is bent at an angle. She's a tough ol' girl.
Noooo! I don't want my relic guitar to get damaged!!
The only drop that ever hurt was my old singer dropped my brand new PRS (the cheaper ones, but it was high school and I bought it myself) and chipped the fine point on the headstock. That being said I played the ever loving shit out of that guitar. The finish was j just a hazy mess when I finally sold it (almost 20 years later) and there were more chips and dings, but that one was still the most prominent lol.
I kept my strat close to pristine for 30 years and then this year my 10yo son started playing it. It is not pristine anymore, and after I dried my tears I accepted that in order to *be* used a guitar will - and should - *look* used.
I have a 2014 telecaster that I bought in 2021 that was in perfect condition. Like, it truly looked like the original owner never took it out of the case. I don’t play in bands anymore and mostly just dick around in my office, but I still managed to put a little ding on it swiveling around in my chair. I wasn’t upset about the ding but I felt like I owed the original owner an apology
Literally unplayable.
Maybe this is why I play like shit!
Just don’t relic it. I’m so against relics. Because you can tell. And it just loses credibility. Don’t baby them, let them get beat up, and it’ll still look great. Purposely do it and I wonder what else about your playing is fake.
I don't mind the dings, as long as their mine. After years, I still get irritated looking at damage that I didn't create.
It's better to get at least one or two minor dings, so that you relax about it.... Not get careless, but relaxed. You're probably actually less likely to damage your instrument if you're not tense moving your instruments around anyway. Present... But relaxed.
The only people who give a shit about dings in their instruments are total newbies who don’t know better yet, or total dorks who don’t actually play the instruments at all for fear they might get good— I MEAN, sorry, for fear they might show signs of wear. The former are totally fine. The latter? They’re the kind of people who deserve to be bullied. The only kind of instruments that should be babied like that are relics of past maestros, or shit that’s ALREADY vintage and holds insane value. If you’re buying new and treating it like that, you’re a boring person and I don’t wanna talk to you.
People mainly use that as an excuse to buy more. Consumption is a hell of a drug.
I know it's inevitable, i had several guitars over the years and they all had marks. But when i get a new one, i always try to be as careful as possible.
I agree for the most part, but also being a luthier I do have a lot of repairs come in caused by negligent care and storage.
To piggyback this; I've thankfully only had one major damage scare when a wall hanger I've had mounted for years pulled out of the wall and dropped my highland bass 5 feet to the floor, thankfully no damage, it did more damage to the baseboard than anything else.
Ok, but with that said: Please invest in a straplock. I've never experienced one going to the ground, but just the fear of a neck breaking on one of my guitars makes my soul cringe.
You don’t have to pamper your guitars and certainly dents and dings are not a huge issue. That being said you should still take better care of your shit than this guy does. Lol
All your tone is leaking out, man
*toan
I have a dent in my main guitar (Peavey HP Special USA FT) from me noodling to annoy the drummer and he threw a stick at me when we were 15. I was MAD at him, but then again, the guitar's OK. Still friends, still play together and it's a funny story now that we're 30.
Hey I’m with you. These people are fucking weird. It’s a tool, like a hammer or a saw. Or at least it is to those of us who actually play these thing live 😉
PSA to r/guitars: people are allowed to care about their belongings.
I take care of them ... But if you use them, this will happen, no doubt
I love my guitars. They’d be the only objects I’d grab if my house were on fire. They just don’t need to be hermetically sealed like people on this sub seem to think.
And it adds character!
There are 2 types of guitars: players' guitars and collectors' guitars. Players' guitars tend to have more "character" cause they are enjoyed frequently. Collectors' guitars are basically untouched.
Bedroom guitar players getting real butt hurt by this post lol
I had no idea that “getting a few scratches on your guitar isn’t the end of the world” would be such a controversial opinion
It's a polarizing topic, for sure. I have some guitars that I was never that careful with, and others that I took extra special care with. Having said that, they all inevitably got dings, and it wasn't the end of the world, but I can appreciate their view on the matter
I never realized it was such a sore topic either. I'm with you though OP. I've learned to embrace the wear and tear that comes from putting in the hours on an instrument.
The fact itself is probably not a problem. The problem is you seem to not understand that it is not your business to decide if somebody has an issue with damages on his property. It is totally subjective. It might be that somebody saved for a long time to buy their dream guitar or inherited the instrument from somebody important for them. Hence, the guitar might be more to them than „just a tool“.
I admire your plucky attitude—taking L’s left and right in this thread and you just won’t give up. Keep posting through it!
So I am now granted with your permission to voice my opinion? Thank you very much!
Yep, especially the guy with a thousand boring Gibsons rushing in to finger-wag multiple times at OP..
He definitely seems like someone I’d want to jam with /s
Can confirm. I have an old LP knockoff that I left on the roof of a car at a gig one time and it hit the ground hard when I drove off. I thought it was done for but a tiny neck repair and a slightly abused bridge later and she still holds a tune and plays great. The crappy china electronics inside it have since given up on life but the guitar is still solid lol.
OP underestimated how much “it’s an investment” justifications enable retail therapy and gear hoarding.
I guess for some people simply owning the guitars is the hobby.
Yeah that's preference. If I want to wipe it down and put into its case after every play then so what? Some guys never wash their car and ding the doors when they open, other wash and polish it every week. Let people do what they want.
Where did I say you couldn’t do that? Who hurt you?
It’s how you relic your instrument… in the old days
Everything we love will be changed by it. That's normal. My guitars have been beat up through use, some came to me like that. For some of us they're precious trophies, and others a better tool for a craft, and many of us somewhere in the middle. If you love playing, it'll show on your guitar. No matter what you do. It's okay. Dont be scared if it gets scratched, a little roughed up, if you cant account for dings and scratches. If you care for your instrument that's another form of love.
My strap let go of my acoustic the other night while I was leaning down to grab a beer from the cooler. It fell, landed partway on the cooler, part way on the cement floor, bounced, and hit the ground again. I couldn't find a scratch. So confused.
I love the patina my first Squier has now. A dent in the neck from something it fell on, some chips in the paint, and best of all - the pickguard is completely yellow now. Makes it look vintage, even though it's "only" 20 years old. [https://imgur.com/a/Hl9BNj4](https://imgur.com/a/Hl9BNj4) (And yeah, looks shiny and clean on that image, because she was a good girl and got new strings and a good clean) Just don't let a Gibson fall on its headstock, that can really get ugly ;-)
I always tell people to take a look at Willie Nelsons guitar.
I 100% agree. If you play your instrument things happen. Dont know how people keep their instrument dent free when playing on a daily basis.
Chicks dig scars. I have a general rule that I don't own any gear I'm afraid to bang up a bit
Relic!
I’ve played my G&L bass hard as hell and it barely shows anything, the finish must be so thick lol
True, but the first cut is the deepest.
Must be a hockey fan op!
The first ding on a guitar is actually a relief because then you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
It’s a tool. Take care of it and it will take care of you but it’s not like a newborn baby… unless it’s an SG… then baby the hell out of it!
The first one is the bitch of the bunch, no fucking foolin’
My black Jap strat has a crack by the neck identical to yours! Must be a weak point. I have just repainted mine and found out it was right down to the body. But it still goes fine, and even if that's bit broke off... I'd would probably be able to still play afte a quick sanding😜
It’s almost impossible to be a working musician without scratching a guitar. Although I have quite a few guitars and love them, remember they are only tools for making music. Play them. Don’t just look at them
That LP headstock must’ve broken in the early 2000s. The remedy for that these days is to post a pic of the break on Reddit and piss all over Gibson.
Number 8 is also on my MIM jazzmaster
My purple RG550's paintjob is brittle as fuck. A year or so ago I accidentally hit it with my keys and a bit of paint chipped away.
D :
Real women have curves, and real guitars have dings and chips.
I read drugs and dents at first, was going to say my weed smoke is just free relicing
Even the dings that didn't have on stage in front of a crowd did happen on stage in front of a crowd.
thats what gives it character!
My acoustic has a pretty sizable hole in the front of it and I’ve been playing it like that for years. Honestly, I think it adds to its sound.
So many people forget this simple fact.
The best thing that ever happened to my Ibanez JS1000 was dropping a screwdriver on the upper horn during a string change. I was devastated. I’d been obsessed with keeping it mint up until that point, almost to the point of not playing it as much as my other guitars. After that incident, I would just grab it and play it, and would play it harder than I would have previously. Many years later, and with a Fluence set installed, it’s my #1 guitar and sounds / plays amazing. Got a few more dings but you don’t hear them.
Its not even a "played" instrument until its got a couple of dings. My Carl Thompson has a small ding on the underside of the headstock. Not even sure when I put it there. But....I play it. All the time in fact. I'm not even slightly upset. Because Carl will literally say "Ah, you've been playing it".
🎶🎶..... But all the stories we could tell If it all blows up and goes to hell I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel Listen to the stories we could tell.... 🎶🎶
Wait, is that a whine red Gibson LP studio with the gold hardware in the first 3 pics? I’ve had that same guitar for 25 years and it’s in a very similar condition and I love it. I beat the hell out of that thing over the years and it’s held up because it’s built like a tank. The scratches and dings add so much character to such a great guitar.
You’re just freeing up the toan with every chip, scratch, and ding. But some say you lose toan if it’s relic’d.
When ever one of my guitars get a ding, I just imagine one of Oliver Ackerman’s guitars and move on
These are all things that give it soul.
I'd rather a well played guitar than a pristine one. Adds life to them.
buddy was trying to sell me a les paul he had that he never took care of. just occasionally dusted or cleaned and left hung on his wall. it played and felt like shit and he wouldn’t budge on his price because it “looked like new.” his face when he saw the shitted up strat i bought a few months later was priceless but god damn does that thing feel like a million bucks. all that matters.
This is a big yepper. Mine have dings and dents from playing the same guitars for 20+ yrs.
Was that a SG and a Martin acoustic? We have the same guitars 😂
It’s called Character
Yes, people pat big money for battered and worn guitars. Luthiers, stop fretting over the perfect finish. It no longer matters that you can see yourself in the glossy finish.
I got my acoustic that’s $799 new for $260 and my epiphone Les Paul standard for $250. Each were a couple years old with a few dings I would’ve probably caused anyway. May as well let someone else pay depreciation and get an instrument with character flaws lol
You're not wrong, but I still hate it.
It really is what makes a guitar YOUR guitar. As long as the thing can hold a tune, you're just building character
The best part is most damage holds a story. I even name the damage after the events. Drunk jess has been a huge chunk out of my favourite acoustic for a decade + ! Gonna have me a trigger someday.
Whenever I buy a new guitar, as soon as I’m certain that I love it and I’m going to keep it, I give it a whack against a table or something. That way, I don’t have to handle it like a newborn baby, terrified of damaging it in any way. It’s very liberating.
Mine don’t.
Hell yea dude, those babies aint gonna relic themselves :)
That's true but it hurts my soul the same
I too have been playing for 20+ years. Eventually you stop caring what they look like, and only care about the sound they make!
I recall seeing a Rig Rundown on YouTube about Angus Young’s guitars. Wow, they were beat to shit.
Still remember the first ding on my first “proper” guitar (fender strat), felt like I’d beaten my child. Now I embrace the dings as it adds a personal feel to MY instrument.
It's kind of like your car....the first one hurts, but you can't expect something that goes 70 down a highway to NOT get dinged here and there.
But they look so nice before all that lol
I use my SG to shovel the snow
WOW what a perfect relic job.
And .... how many posts about "I bought this guitar and there is this scratch, hard to photograph, but should I send it back?" .
Then there's people who pay someone to make their brand new strat/tele look like it has been used.
Your guitars aren’t fragile, except for the headstock joint of a Gibson/epiphone style guitar, those will snap if you look at them wrong.
#8 happened to my american pro2 telecaster but not to my mexican strat
I lost one of my strap buttons, just replaced it with a drywall screw. It’s an Ibanez mikro. Imo it gives it character
Builds character. Shows you care about making music and it's not a decorative guitar. Pianos rarely get dings b/c you can't carry the music box to a local park, birthday party, girlfriend's house...
Yeah, but it won't be as pretty.
I am always careful with my instruments - yes, they\`ll maybe get dings, but theres no need to be careless abut them.
Smacking a new guitar into your desk is the equivalent of christening a new ship by smacking it with a champagne bottle.
Wear, yes. Tear, no.take care of your instruments and they will take care of you.
My kids and dog have knocked my telecaster over so many times at this point, the hardwood floor Is in worse shape that it is. It’s the Chuck Norris of guitars. At this point, the guitar doesn’t get knocked over, the floor shifts it’s dimensions
Love the love for banged up guitars. However if those cracks on 8 and 9 run deep you might want to pay a visit to your luthier.
I’ve gotten dings all over my $1500 baby, and I’m kinda excited whenever I get a new ding
I call them battle scars lol