Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Dings - Do they bother you?

#7

Dings shmings!

Dings and dents are part of playing your instrument. If you are buying an instrument to collect and keep in museum condition, then put it away in a perfectly humidified environment and forget you own it cause that is the only way it will never get dinged. If you bought the instrument to play, ignore the dings. That does not meant you have to pull it out when you need an oar for canoeing through white water. :astonished:

Some folks are harder on their instruments than others. Some folks sweat the small things and some folks just play their instrumentā€¦

I purchased a new Recording King RD-316 last year for playing bluegrass. At this point, it has more dings and dents on it than all of my other 23 guitar combined. Play like you mean it, I always say.

#8

A ding will bother me when it initially happens but I get over it pretty quick. I know it hurts a little more when the guitar is new but its gonna happen sooner or later. I wouldnā€™t consider getting any repair work done unless it was a deep scratch or a gouge that was very noticeable.

My best guitarā€¦doesnā€™t bother me at all.

#9

I donā€™t even think twice about dinging a ā€œplayingā€ instrument. Folks I jam with do cringe when I pick up their guitar though as I tend to bang on them pretty hard.

If I would worry about scratching and dinging an instrument I would have never purchased it in the first place.

It is not about how purdy the guitar is! Itā€™s kind of like owning a fast car; you gotta blow the engine a few times otherwise you should have purchased a Prius!

#10

I have a true story that relates to this topic.

Many years ago (18+), I went with one of my students to help them purchase a graduation gift (nice guitar) that their parents were paying for. We went to a local acoustic guitar store and after playing lots of Martins, Collings, and Taylors, she decided on a moderately priced Martin (I believe it was a 16 series OM). Anyway, we immediately took it back to my studio where I did a complete setup including fret level and dress. After I was done, it played amazing and she was very happy. After playing it for about 45 minutes at my studio, she went to place the guitar back in itā€™s case and in the process of setting it in the case, the top of the case dropped onto the top of the guitar and put 4 nasty dings on the top of the instrument (the brass latch bounced against the top). She was stunned (as was I) and began to cry. I calmed her down and told her that now she didnā€™t need to worry about dinging up her guitar, she was free to play it with freedom from fear.

I felt terrible for her, but in the end, an acoustic guitar is just pieces of wood with some metal strings attached. It can make amazing music int he right hands, but it is just a piece of wood with strings. Play it, enjoy it, donā€™t lose sleep over it.

#11

ā€” Begin quote from "fiddlewood"

might keep them as a reminder to handle the instrument carefully.

ā€” End quote

Good one fiddlewood. Or you could put a couple more dings in it to remind you to handle the instrument VERY, VERY carefully. :laughing:

#12

On a more serious level,ā€¦ dings happen.

#13

A KGMā€¦ :laughing: that is hilarious dude!

When I was not so good financially at one time back in the day I had to sell off all my instruments and ended up with a beginner grade guitar. Didnā€™t have a case or anything. I was playing regularly with some friends and used to drag it by the neck across the gravel parking lot at the place we played as a kind of an expression of my opinion on the instrument. I have to admit The instrument improved vastly and fastly in sound. It sure looked like crap after a couple months but it gained a lot in sound, probably form the big vibrations and from getting rid of some of the thick finish it had.

I would not recommend this procedure just thought Iā€™d share a story from back in the day.

#14

I did that with a girlfriend after my divorce. She got to looking pretty rough too. So I traded her in.

#15

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

#16

Back in my college days, my lone instrument was a old Epiphone guitar. One day a group of us decided to head out to a local waterfall to waste an afternoon. Weā€™re hanging out strumming guitars and generally having a good time when I leaned my guitar up against a tree for a couple of minutes while I was doing something else. I hear a couple of gasps, and when I turn around I see my guitar tumbling down over the side of the waterfall. The wind had blown it right over. (I know, I knowā€¦ it was pretty boneheaded to leave it so close to the egde, but I was young and foolish.)

I hiked down and retreived it. It had a pretty big hole knocked through the back and another smaller one through the soundboard, but other than that it survived. Being a college student I had no resources to fix or replace it, so I played it all through college. Now thatā€™s a ding!

#17

As long as the ding isnā€™t in the neck I donā€™t care. If someone is selling a used guitar and itā€™s in mint condition, especially if they advertise tthat the guitar hhas only been played a few times, itā€™s probably unplayable or stolen.

#18

Thank you so much everyone for your input!

#19

Talking about ā€œback in the dayā€, I have an** anti-ding** story. The first higher end acoustic guitar I got was a Taylor 310. It was the most that I ever spent on a guitar at that time. I took extra good care of it. After I played it, I carefully wiped it down. Washed my hands before I played it. I was very reluctant to bring it anywhere or to let other people play it.
One day, a great Austin Texas singer/song writer named Danny Schimdt (very good fingerpicker as well) came to town and I had the pleasure of meeting him and being his opening act. We started talking about guitars and I showed him my Taylor 310. I told him that it was a nice guitar, but I wasnā€™t too pleased with its voicing. Coincidentally, it turned out that he had the same guitar but it was a little earlier model. He told me to try out his guitar because he finally found a brand of strings that fit the guitarā€™s voice well and that I might like them on mine also. He opened up his guitar case and while it was a Taylor 310, the top of it looked like a worn out bar countertop. The finish was completely fogged up and underneath that haze was wood that was many shades darker then mine. It almost looked like the top of the guitar was made out of weather worn saddle leatherā€¦ and thatā€™s not even including the dings. I donā€™t know how many smoke filled bars that guitar was played in, but I know that it played gigs all over the US, and even made it out to Europe a couple times.
Anyways, when I returned my gaze to my pristine, mama boy of a guitar, I was very embarrassedā€¦ and felt shame.

#20

Dings give it character.

#21

Put the first ding in the top of mine this evening. I felt terrible, and itā€™s not even an expensive model. It doesnā€™t appear that the finish was cracked, so Iā€™m hoping for the best. I guess itā€™s like a firearm. You can buy a ā€œgun safe queen,ā€ or buy one that youā€™re going to shoot. Still, I switched to stainless handguns years ago because I got tired of having to deal with holster wear on the blued ones.

#22

ā€œThe first cut is the deepestā€ā€¦ sorry to hear about the maiden ding. I did something similar not too long ago. Earlier in this post, I mentioned a guitar I have that doesnā€™t get out of the house, because I donā€™t want to mess it up. A few weeks ago, I dropped a phone onto itā€™s side and put a pretty good one on it. Itā€™s not huge, but itā€™s noticeable. I got mad for a little bit, and then kind of like Docā€™s story, I thought, well I donā€™t ever again have to worry about putting the first ding in it. I may repair the ding, but so far, I have just left it. If you use a guitar, itā€™s going to happen. It doesnā€™t make me happy about it, but itā€™s part of playing guitar. Again, sorry for the ding. If you feel worse than you think you should about dinging it, you are not alone.

Someone posted a picture of Willie and Triggerā€¦ I have a hunch that the signature hole in trigger was intentionally ā€œrelic-ed.ā€ If I remember correctly, the N-20 is a 1969 (or he received it in 1969 anyway). A while back I did some searching and found that hole in some pictures pretty close to when he first got it. The ā€œstoryā€ is that decades of use did it, but I am skeptical. Obviously, in the 43 years, it has taken a bunch of unintentional dings, but I am wondering about the early days. Anyone have any scoop on it?

#23

ā€” Begin quote from "CameronK"

Hi everyone! I know this is a pretty weird topic, but I have a question for all of you. I just bought 2012 D-18 about 4 months ago, and it already has a couple minor finish dings on the side, and a couple small headstock dings. If you were me, would you take it to a luthier and have them repaired? Or should I just live with them? I know over time guitars get dinged up and it adds ā€˜mojoā€™, but I feel like this guitar is too new for a couple of dings. Thanks in advance everyone.

  • Cameron

ā€” End quote

I have a new or used Martin DCPA4 now but I was twirling my keys on my finger one day and yep they came off and hit the guitar , I had to look three times before I saw the ding but it was there and not very noticeable and it made me a tad bit more careful but things happen deal with it accept it and play the dinged instrument . I have accumulated a few more as time went by and they are not real noticeable I donā€™t worry about it it is mine and I can live with a few dings as long as it plays well and sounds good who cares. I also have a 1989 Takemine that has some noticeable dings but she still sounds great and plays well. Waxed up she shines like new money and has turned that shade of darker that comes with age and is more better looking than when I bought the guitar. More better is country for ultimate very good looking ect.LOL

#24

Guitars are kind of like automobiles. A good work truck might cost me as much as a sports car, but I know that itā€™s going to get dinged because itā€™s my work truck and the utility of it is what is most important to me. On the other hand, if I had a vintage Chevy pick-up of similar value, Iā€™d be devastated by a ding because itā€™s value to me would be as a collectorā€™s item.

Currently, I only own work guitars, so I accept a few dings. Maybe someday Iā€™ll manage to acquire a collectorā€™s guitar that Iā€™ll polish more than I play.

Iā€™ll add some evidence for the Trigger mystery. Hereā€™s Willie with the guitar in the early years. There appears to be only minimal damage under his right ring finger, but pictures from the late 70ā€™s show the hole to be almost as big as it is now. Whatever caused the hole to open up must have happened in the first 5 years or so.

[attachment=0]trigger.jpg[/attachment]

#25

If that is indeed Trigger, thatā€™s as clean as I have seen it. The mystery continues. My guess is that it is an intentional hole to start, but I probably already stated that.

I did an image search for Trigger. Lotā€™s of fans out there. Trigger has itā€™s own shirts, bumper stickers, even tatoos. I have a 1970 N-20 (the year after Trigger). Itā€™s in excellent shape, but I bet I could increase the value of it by relic-ing it and selling it to a Trigger fan.

#26

You should get Willie to sign your N-20.