Natural wear and enjoying your bass

[Twincam]

I feel slightly torn between babying a bass and just enjoying playing and liking natural wear and tear.

Even on older basses with plenty of marks I worry about marking them and I dare say even a factory worn bass I would be the same.
On the other hand I do like seeing a well worn instrument.

This makes me only look for certain basses that resist wear well or/and will look good when worn.

Anyone else think like this?. I really just want to just own any bass and feel comfortable using them fully.

[KingBollock]

If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes an expensive ornament.

Edited January 19, 2016 by KingBollock

[CamdenRob]

I do everything I can to avoid dings and dents in my basses...

Dents, dings, scratches and fading I think add character to a color finish bass, but they don't really do anything for natural wood basses.

Edited January 18, 2016 by CamdenRob

[oldmanrock]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1453123245' post='2956519']
If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes and expensive ornament.
[/quote]

True!

[Lozz196]

I do what I can to avoid any bumps/dings, but if it happens it happens. I`m not that fussed about road-wear, but to me, if I treat an instrument like I don`t care about it, well one day it might fail on me down to my not looking after it, whereas if I`ve looked after it I should get a better run from it.

[Cameronj279]

When I got my first 'high end' bass I babied it for the full time I owned it. Eventually I realised that I bought the thing to play and enjoy.

At the moment I use both of my basses as I would use any cheaper basses. I play them quite hard but onstage I'm not much of a mover so no real issues there other than accidentally hitting things (which I try not to do). I still take as much care of them as I can to avoid these things happening but it's not the end of the world if something does happen.

If my bass gets a dent or a nick in it then it would annoy me for a while but as long as it does the job it's designed for I'm happy.

[ben4343]

I was borderline neurotic about my first (and, actually, only) expensive bass for about 3 months. Then I dropped it, cracked the lacquer, and totally relaxed!!

I still respect it of course, but it was bought to be used and enjoyed; a little accidental damage here and there is not a bad thing in my mind.

[RockfordStone]

i do everything i can to avoid a ding, but once it gets dinged i don't care and let it just accumulate wear

[Musashimonkey]

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1453124536' post='2956538']
i do everything i can to avoid a ding, but once it gets dinged i don't care and let it just accumulate wear
[/quote]

Me too! Try hard to avoid that first ding, but once that's in, plenty more mojo on its way!

[lojo]

My main basses are 2nd hand Fenders, brought with dings in with gigging in mind

I have a bass that wont go to pubs/party gigs, but I use only on safe stages

[ezbass]

I try not too bash my basses and guitars, but not to the point of wrapping the in cotton wool and tip-toeing around with them. KB has it nailed..[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1453123245' post='2956519']
If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes and expensive ornament.
[/quote]

[Twigman]

It doesn't seem to matter how much I 'baby' a bass it still ends up with chips and dings...

I've ceased worrying about it.
Then again I don't play super expensive basses.

[ambient]

I'm careful with mine, not anally so though.

The Modulus Q6 that I sold before Christmas was 16 years old. I'd done dozens of gigs with it, it'd been taken backwards and forwards to uni in London from Birmingham 3 days a week for 3 years. It was in amazing condition though.

I smile when I see adverts stating, "this is a players bass, and has the inevitable wear and tear to prove it". Mine are also "players" instruments, I just maybe look after them a bit better.

[william64]

I always do my best to avoid dings, but sometimes it happens and it can hurt like hell. Some days ago a scredriwer slipped out of my hand and the result is the first tiny ding in my Jazz Bass.

Edited January 18, 2016 by william64

[JellyKnees]

My handmade KGB bass which I've had from new will be 25 this year. It has buckle rash, lots of little dings on the body and the lacquer on the neck has developed some hairline cracks. I guess I could have taken a little more care of it perhaps, but I’ve never damaged it seriously and it has served me extremely well. I bought it to play and play it I have. If I was fussed I suppose could get it refinished but I’ve grown to quite like its battle scarred appearance. Most importantly, it still plays as well as when I got it...

[TheGreek]

Sorry but I'm absolutely anal about trying to preserve my gear and want it all to be as mint as possible. I appreciate that they are for playing which is why I have more than one - this means that most are stored safely leaving only a couple out and at risk.

[Twincam]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1453123245' post='2956519']
If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes and expensive ornament.

Very good and I'm stealing that and will pass it off as my own haha.


[/quote]

[KingBollock]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1453130255' post='2956636']
Sorry but I'm absolutely anal about trying to preserve my gear and want it all to be as mint as possible. I appreciate that they are for playing which is why I have more than one - this means that most are stored safely leaving only a couple out and at risk.
[/quote]
There's nothing wrong with doing your absolute best to look after your gear. In fact I would encourage it, it's a great idea. Just so long as you play it. Mind you, even then, lots of people spend an awful lot of money on things just because they look nice, that have no practical purpose, it is entirely up to the owner whether they want to hang a bass up on a wall and never play it, or whatever. But it is a shame to do that if what you really want to do is play it, to restrict one's self through fear that may well be unfounded if you look after it properly.

[Twincam]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1453130255' post='2956636']
Sorry but I'm absolutely anal about trying to preserve my gear and want it all to be as mint as possible. I appreciate that they are for playing which is why I have more than one - this means that most are stored safely leaving only a couple out and at risk.
[/quote]

Would you reject one of your basses if it got marked up?

[BassTractor]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1453123245' post='2956519']
If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes and expensive ornament.
[/quote]

Is there a worship smiley on this forum? Oh wait, KB detests smilies. LOL (that's shorthand for a yellow circle with three graphical elements inside it: two adjacent small vertical lines near its top and a rotated capital "D" near its bottom)

In all seriousness, I'm really anal about this, but my reason commands my DNA to shut the Hull up.
So I tend to use stuff as normal, and since they are new items that I'm not yet accustomed to, they tend to get an early ding before years of unharmed use.

[ambient]

I'm absolutely paranoid about my new Roscoe. It is mint and I'll be heartbroken if anything happens to it.

[CHW]

My basses are for gigging, which is a form of work, they are work tools, and as such have a degree of knocks and dings that are in line with their workload.

I have a Gibson LP that has been out of the house twice- it's immaculate.

[spongebob]

When I had 'new' basses, I always tried to keep them as nice as possible.

Now both my basses are old/used/vintage, I treat them the same. However, a knock would be now less noticeable given the fact that they've been played for 42 years!

One is more knocked than the other, and that's more the gigging bass. At least all the relic'ing is genuine!

[tauzero]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1453123437' post='2956521']
I do everything I can to avoid dings and dents in my basses...

Dents, dings, scratches and fading I think add character to a color finish bass, but they don't really do anything for natural wood basses.
[/quote]

I'm the same, but I buy natural wood basses rather than painted ones because if they do get small marks, they're not noticeable.

[Muzz]

I think my basses are works of art, and I take good care of them: they don't get buckle rash because I don't wear buckles or sharp crap when I put a bass on, but if they get accidentally dinged, it happens. The first ding's the worst... I guess most of them could be described as 'boutique', but I've never hesitated to take them anywhere to gig, and I never would. I enjoy them, and I don't worry about them.