Moron puts huge dent in my Johnny A. Make me feel better.

Hey, now it's yours. It is going to happen eventually anyway if you play it out, and guitars are meant to be played out so don't sweat it. I take my Warren Haynes Les Paul and Historic Es-335 to all my gigs. I don't take chances with them but if they get dinged, they get dinged.

 

One day down the road you will play another guitar that doesn't feel right because it DOESN"T have that dig at the 4th fret

Enjoy!

 

I'd be pissed too. I like relics myself and I'm fine with nicks and dings on my guitar that are caused by me...but if some other moron is to blame, wtf! That's like someone denting your car and being fine with it. Have this guy buy you a pedal. If I dinged your guitar I'd offer something.

 

I always shoot to keep everything I own in good shape.... I just can't help it. My Edwards LP is my prized guitar and I dinged the piss out of the corner of the headstock recently and it bummed me out. But I've noticed that I've been playing it all the time now and sounding a lot better because before that I was trying to not use it all the time to keep it looking good and the fret wear low, etc. That thing fits me like no other. If the headstock got snapped I would have it repaired and keep going with it. It's not an expensive Historic LP but for me it is and I'm digging it.

 

What did the idiot say about it? Did he apologize?

 

I love how the fact that it was a cheap guitar pisses you off even more.

Sadly, one more strike against the poor mexican fender strat.

 

Eh don't worry about it. Ever seen the back of Johnny Winter's Firebird neck? That's the kind of thing that happens when you use it. Hopefully each one will have a story, and when you're old it'll look amazing.

 

I totally understand. I let the lead singer in the band I was with play my 335 until I noticed her belt and the indentations on the back of my axe.

Depending on how big the dent is, you may be able to drop-fill some lacquer in there and smooth it out so you can't feel it. You'll probably still see it, but you won't feel it. As always, let a professional do it.

 

Every scar means a story you can retell to your grandkids later...

Heck, I remember getting my first ding on my '74 LP Deluxe - my first REAL guitar I got years ago.

Over time, more and more dents, nicks and scrapes got added to it, including a big chunk behind the neck near the 10th fret. Don't get me wrong, I am very careful with my guitars, and not careless at all...but gigging out does mean they get banged up a bit.

Nowadays, my 8 and 12 year old sons take that same guitar to their guitar lessons. They're careful too, but the 'ding stories' are getting added to every day.

I figure great guitars are meant to get played... the dents,scrapes and bruises on your guitars had better match the ones on YOUR body and soul by the time they bury you IMO...

 

When you're dead, you will be spending eternity doing something far more meaningful than fretting over a mark on a guitar. Or perhaps you won't. Either way, you'll be dead.. and the hideously marred guitar will yet remain for another to enjoy.

Edit: note to self. No Gibsons at blues jams from this moment on. Perhaps my Mexican Strat instead

 

I know how you feel. I lost my balance and fell one night with my beautiful Grosh Set Neck -- dinged it badly in 3-4 different places, including the back of the neck. And I can feel that ding when I play. At least I was the dumbass who did it, rather than someone else, which would probably piss me off much more. At least the damage isn't visible from the front of the guitar, which sounds like it might be the case with yours.

You can either live with it or maybe get a tech to fix it.

And yeah -- the klutz who did that owes you.

 

Want to feel better?
1) Imagine how you'd feel if you DIDN'T intend to keep it, and had to consider resale value, and
2) My ex-wife stole the Olympic white '63 Strat I'd had since I was 17 and burned it.

 

Ouch, man. What a devious, wicked woman.

 

Losing it annoyed me, but not as much as the fact that NOBODY can own it now.
That aside, given the choice of having her and the Strat or neither, it worked out very well...

 

There are dents and there are dents. A dent in the neck that you'll feel on a regular basis is very different than something like belt buckle rash that no one will ever see and doesn't affect playability.

There's nothing you can do about it now that would make any sense but I probably would have lost it and ended up in jail...there's little that's more satisfying, outside of sex, than feeling your fist crush someone's jaw when no other response will do.

Not that I'm recommending that of course, violence never solves anything.

 

I am always somewhat perversely relieved when my guitar or car gets it 1st dent. Then you can relax and just get on playing or driving. No worries.

PJ

 

Just take a few minutes and focus on some of the TRULY AWFUL **** that some people are dealing with in their lives and put your dent in perspective.

This is what I do and I realize that my life really isn't all that bad in the scheme of things.

 

don't get mad, get even

 

I once had a new Gibson J-200, back when they were affordable, it was the only guitar I made payments on. It was perfect and gorgeous, sounded and played like a dream. I eventually sold it as I couldn't bear to take it out of the case as it would get dented eventually.

In the subsequent years I have greatly missed the guitar, and have realized how much delight I missed out on by this mistake of selling it. It would have been dinged up by now, but they would be MY dings, and each would tell a story. It would still sound as good if not better.

So if you are going to keep a guitar, either leave it in its case if you don't want it harmed, or play the living heck out of it and embrace the dings. I guarantee you'll be happier in the end if your dream guitar is well dinged but well played your entire life. Besides, we all know that Gibsons sound better when they are beat up.