Scratches, "Dings" and imperfections..

[SimonEdward]

Nope, not the name of mine or some one else's record (as far as I know)

How do we feel when our Bass suffers (?) a "Ding" or scratch or something else happens to it?

Is is worse when we don't realise how it happened, or who dunnit (!) and it took a while to notice..?

Or we just accept it as part and parcel of owning a Bass, and tell ourselves it looks 'road worn' ETC

Has it ever made you think twice about selling a Bass? or tried a DIY job with undesired consequences!

I already knew about one of my "Dings" ~ on the front face too

But there are two others which have been acquired (at some point); found when I was re-stringing and cleaning today: -



("Ding" one)



("Dings" two and three).

[chris_b]

I buy good used basses so the "first knock" syndrome doesn't apply to me.

If you gig then knocks and scrapes will occur. I get very few marks on my basses because I take extra care but they still happen.

[BassApprentice]

For me: it would depend on the price/style of a bass.

An expensive Jazz style bass would take a knock better than an expensive custom bass with no finish, if you see what I mean.

I currently have no basses in my collection that are pristine so I am worry free

[PawelG]

As long as it works, I don't care.

I'm a little different with my bicycle. It hurts when it gets scratched (mainly from being hit with a small rock from the road). When the scratch is already there - doesn't bother me.

[tonyquipment]

[quote name='PawelG' timestamp='1506698601' post='3380529']
As long as it works, I don't care.

I'm a little different with my bicycle. It hurts when it gets scratched (mainly from being hit with a small rock from the road). When the scratch is already there - doesn't bother me.
[/quote]

Same.

The more dings and scratches it has the better. It makes the bass lighter lol

[ratman]

I just put the first ding on my Jap Mustang. I reversed my backside into it on a really cramped stage and it went over into the drums. Under gig lighting I now see a perfect extra dot between the 5th & 7th markers on the side of the neck. That isn't annoying at all, lol.
At the end of the day it's just a guitar. These things happen.

[blue]

Dings and scratches bring in big money as relics.

Blue

Edited September 29, 2017 by blue

[T-Bay]

My go to Thunderbird has a good few marks and dings. I bought it with 99% of them on (amazingly absent from the pics). It doesn't bother me as it means I can just use it without worrying about it. I have come very close recently to buying an EB4, and may well still do, but I would worry about gigging it for fear of damaging it. So I fear it could become a bit of a show princess.

[fretmeister]

1st ding is painful. After that I don't care anymore.

Well, until resale time anyway. But I am suspicious of used perfect basses - why haven't they been played hard?

[thodrik]

Superficial dings to the body are fine, damage to the neck less so. Damage to pick ups, jack sockets, broken bridge, machine heads etc annoy me more.

[TheGreek]

I hate it...but I am quite precious with my gear.

I had a pristine Ritter Cora and a GB Rumour which were both beautiful - both practically lived in their cases - rarely coming out, hardly ever going out. Both were expensive basses.

I do have less expensive basses which I'm less precious about but still don't like them acquiring scars - they always seem to add up to £50 discount when the time comes to sell them.







[size=1][i]....Just noticed this is my 5,000th post[/i][/size]

Edited September 29, 2017 by TheGreek

[Bilbo]

Not something I fret about, if I am honest. As long as the instrument works, the cosmetics are pretty much incidental.

[yorks5stringer]

I have a 5 string Artcore Bass which is distressed as part of the look. I still check it to make sure it does not have any genuine dings...!

[scrumpymike]

Worst thing for me is a single, obvious ding on an otherwise pristine bass.

[Dan Dare]

As the first ding is the painful one, you should give your new bass to the kids to play with. They'll give it a bit of minor distressing and you won't care after that

[radiophonic]

Worst thing for me is the first ding put in it... by someone else. I have what I thought was a 100% perfect USA Standard Jazz Fretless that I wanted to sell, then i noticed a ding on the back when I got it out of the case, just after my nephew left town. Can't prove a thing, but it was the perfection that made the sale worth my while and I'm not happy about it (sound of teeth grinding). My stingray OTOH is evidence of just how hard you have to bash a bass with a poly finish to really damage it. It's 27 years old and although there's a few minor dents (I didn't even own a stand for the first 10 years), It'd never be considered roadworn, let alone a relic. It toppled, through 90 degrees, onto my pedalboard last week and I can't even see a mark where it hit. Dings to the headstock bother me for some reason.

[mikel]

Not bothered. The sound and performance of the bass are the only factors for me. Some people spend extra on a "Road worn" instrument. The have dings and scratches put on by someone in a factory???? Each to there own.

[xgsjx]

My old Vox has one or 2 slight blemishes.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/bGUdZp][/url]

[lojo]

My main 3 basses where brought second hand and already had dings in , so I don't worry too much

[stu_g]

most of my basses have a ding or two.doesnt bother me much,i'd rather they where played.

[bazzbass]

no dings, but my 8 year old Jazz bass is showing wear on the back of the neck finally !!!!!

[gs_triumph]

Dings on the body don't bother me.

A ding on the neck however... (Especially when nobody did it!)

[Mastodon2]

If I buy new or a pristine used instrument and I put a ding on it, I'd be annoyed with myself. If I buy a used instrument with a few marks I tend to be a lot more relaxed with it. I still look after my gear, don't gig and I clean it down after each time it's played, but I don't lose any sleep over marks. They're made to be played.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Lozz196]

I`m careful with my instruments, but if a ding or knock happens, then it`s genuine road-wear/battle-scarring for a gigged instrument. I`ve never minded buying used instruments with wear & tear on them either, playability and sound matter more to me. In fact on a used bass I`m quite happy to see some dings, speaks to me that someone thought the instrument was good enough to gig regularly. I suppose that`s the glass half-full view, the half-empty view being they thought it was a rubbish instrument that didn`t deserve looking after.