How much do you baby your instruments?

mrkb · August 2023

I won’t even look at mine in case I damage them.

https://youtu.be/P-NgeXl-PPA?si=PAZNzO8-lbecnSVu

OilCityPickups · August 2023

Strat54 said:

Off on a slight tangent it's amusing to see the earlier 'Cunetto' era relics receive post shop faux wear....even if like on this one the seller doesn't admit to it. This never left the Custom Shop like this in 1997....nor with that case either lol.

Looks like it had a run in with both barrels of a shotgun! Never seen genuine wear anything like that ... nasty!

roberty · August 2023

mrkb said:

I won’t even look at mine in case I damage them.

Still got the ol' tagger on it

stickyfiddle · August 2023

roberty said:

mrkb said:

I won’t even look at mine in case I damage them.

Still got the ol' tagger on it

OMG THEY PROBABLY HAVE THE CE & ROHS STICKERS ON THEM…

mrleon83 · August 2023

I don’t baby mine at all, but new strings before every gig and i fettle constantly with setups and tweaks …. However I stopped bringing my Taylor along to gigs after a young lady picked it up and messed about with it while I was in the crowd, thankfully the se hollow piezo has the acoustic stuff covered enough to only bring one guitar ..

JerkMoans · August 2023

Totally. I maintain an adult nursing relationship with them

swiller · August 2023

I baby my eastman sb59. It suckles my man teats most weekends and im very careful playing it. I dinged it every so slightly last year and went into a significant depression for a few weeks. It gets an all over beef dripping wax every i change the strings, which is 2-3 times a day on weekends. It smells and plays like a yorkshire chippy.

roberty · August 2023

stickyfiddle said:

roberty said:

mrkb said:

I won’t even look at mine in case I damage them.

Still got the ol' tagger on it

OMG THEY PROBABLY HAVE THE CE & ROHS STICKERS ON THEM…

Believe it or not I've seen a genuine '59 burst with one of those

Fiftyshadesofjay · August 2023

Always maintain my guitars and keep them in good gigging shape but if you’re playing out regularly it’s completely impossible not to ding them so you just have to accept it.

The one concession I’ve made is with my teaching guitar, which is a cheaper Harley Benton. That thing has picked up more dings and chips in a month of lessons than my other guitars do in a year of gigs.

monquixote · August 2023

Mine all have the absolute crap beaten out of them.

I can't be bothered babying things. Luckily my Les Paul is a maple neck so it doesn't snap when I drop it.

LordBucketHead · August 2023

I lend mine out and I borrow them. If dings occur, life is too short to give a f tbh.

HAL9000 · August 2023

My Tele was a pressie from Mrs9000 and has sentimental value; I look after it. My Strat was bought as a beater and if it gets dinged then so what?

hollywoodrox · August 2023

I usually have one out for playing a lot but some in the cupboard in a case lol. Depends how many & what type I’ve got . Jackson’s will usually be out and a strat or my late uncles Epi Les Paul which I turned into a snake pit tribute . At the moment my daily player is my mim strat

shugz · August 2023

For me they are completely for playing. I've almost worn 2 extra holes out on a (then new) D35 bought in 2019. But it's well setup, frets good and cared for in terms of always cleaned and new strings etc. Same for a lot of the electrics- well, the ones I have left!

No badge of honour though - when I look at the D35 I do feel a sense of shame

But they are just tools really, musical pencils. Kinda had my fill of vintage this, booteek that. Just play and have fun.

H

Smellyfingers · August 2023

I've got 4 acoustics and 1 electric.

In my experience acoustics need more care than electrics. I one dropped a really nice Martin acoustic and it did'nt ever sound the same again. That probably wouldn't happen with a solid body electric

I think it is important to keep them out of direct sunlight and humid or damp weather to keep them in their case and or close the windows - maybe in cold damp weather to switch on the heating.

gusman2x · August 2023

Definitely baby mine. To be fair, I managed 10 years of gigs (not prolific) without getting any dings.

PAL · August 2023

I don't baby my guitars I take care of them because if you want them to play and sound and tune well what is the
point of neglecting them ! If you don't look after your guitars then you will possibly end up with tuning or electrical
issue when you don't need them. The same goes for your amps and pedal and leads etc.
Put it this way if you went for a session or audition and had issues you won't be asked back so it's worth tacking
care of your equipment !

topdog91 · September 2023

I take care of my instruments as much as I can for hopefully obvious reasons. But I also get to the point where I don't take the more expensive axes out to play live, which does make me wonder why I own them. I mean, it's unlikely they'll be worth more in the future. They aren't too exotic, but they're all reasonably hard to get hold of a replacement if something happened.

Brio · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Strat54 said:

Off on a slight tangent it's amusing to see the earlier 'Cunetto' era relics receive post shop faux wear....even if like on this one the seller doesn't admit to it. This never left the Custom Shop like this in 1997....nor with that case either lol.

Looks like it had a run in with both barrels of a shotgun! Never seen genuine wear anything like that ... nasty!

My 97 Relic Strat would just about qualify as Roadworn these days. The only damage it sustained after my buying it back then was the fitting of Seymour Duncan JB Jnr in the Bridge and a Schaller Superswitch to tap it. Both acts reversed later but it has been in storage since 2002 when I moved to the Caribbean for a while, and looks 'probably' like it did when it left the Custom Shop.
I must get my old guitars out of storage and check the values. Although I have boxed and unopened ZX80s, Spectrums and QLs in there too that might beat their prices...

stratman3142 · September 2023

I try to look after mine without going over the top, but it never goes well for me.

I don't need need anyone to relic my guitars, I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself through my own clumsiness.

As I mentioned in another thread, my newest guitar, a shiny AZ2204 Prestige, slipped out of its gig bag and landed on concrete after a rehearsal at the weekend.

I don't mind the scratches so much, but it looks like there might be a hairline crack around the neck socket. I don't remember scratches in that area. But it's rock solid, with zero pitch variation, when I try to wobble the neck. Hopefully it's going to remain OK. There's still plenty of solid wood in that area. Any thoughts? @ICBM ;

https://i.imgur.com/jEGepyx.jpg

menamestom · September 2023

I always take 2 to a gig, one slide and one standard tuning. The one I'm not using just gets lay on the stage if there's space. Taking stands just means more gear and I sit down next to them. They are mainly rattle can nitro or oil finishes so I'm not too worried about them. The exeption is a freshly finished one (like my incoming strat), I'll look after it a bit more until it gets a few dings.

I only do this with F types, my Les Paul Special would need to be played or in the case, but it means I take it to less gigs.

roberty · September 2023

@stratman3142 those side bits of the neck pocket are not structurally important. The pressure is front to back. I dropped one like this in the 90s and later sold it to a friend. As far as I know it's still going strong. I last saw it in 2017

stratman3142 · September 2023

roberty said:

@stratman3142 those side bits of the neck pocket are not structurally important. The pressure is front to back. I dropped one like this in the 90s and later sold it to a friend. As far as I know it's still going strong. I last saw it in 2017

Cool. Not a guitar I'm ever going to sell anyway.

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How much do you baby your instruments?

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