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Does it hurt you when you scratch, bruise or dent it?

casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
edited April 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
I've been playing my new baby a lot since I got it, and I've managed to scratch it already :(

Now this is a 1978 acoustic full of dents, bruises and scratches - cause it has lived. But this new scratch I gave it is pretty visible and I feel pretty sad because of it. Though I'm sure I won't even notice it anymore in a couple of days and just consider it an 'extra' to the character it already has.

But for now I'm sad.

But what I wanted to know: are there easy ways to clean up/restore your finish? Mine is cherry red.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • the unseenthe unseen Posts: 372
    fender and meguiars teamed up for some different polishes.....

    the swirl and haze remover is supposed to remove light scratches and pick marks.
  • kigcatkigcat Posts: 298
    yeah i got a set of the meguiars polishes for my strat and they sure do make her look purdy and classy :)
    I'm not saying stupidity should be a capital offence, but what say we take the safety labels off everything and let nature run it's course?
  • dontgimmenolipdontgimmenolip Posts: 198
    I am the opposite. I view every scratch and dent as a badge of honour.
    - Justin

    You think the Slayer tour is out, or what?

    "Finally! I get to save the earth with deadly lasers instead of deadly slide shows." -- Al Gore.
  • Dirty_FrankDirty_Frank Posts: 957
    At first yeah, but eventually....

    My Les Paul is full of dents, scratches and dings. It's a player, not a looker. :)
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    I think it's cool when they have some battlescars on them, BUT....

    My buddy was playing my acoustic a few weeks ago and put like 3 or 4 scratches on while strumming, right above the strings!! I was so pissed, it doesn't have a finish on it so if you scratch it it's visible.

    I wouldn't care, but I didn't even get to put them on it...everytime I look down while strumming I see them, it kinda pissed me off.

    If anyone's gunna scratch my guitar it's gunn be me !! ;)
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
    dontgimmenolip wrote:
    I view every scratch and dent as a badge of honour.

    Haha, yeah, I'm sure I will in a couple of weeks. It's just that this baby has an amazing cherry finish, and this scratch chipped some of the paint ,hence the visibility. But having the paint redone is probably a lot of money spend over nothing, really.

    Oh well, battlescar it is, my first on a guitar full of them. I should be proud :o
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    half my guitars are pretty beat. my fenders and my main acoustic look like hell.

    I was choked when i took a nick out of the neck of my SG though. I baby my gibsons and my new acoustic and bass. the neck on the SG makes me feel ill.

    I have some of that meguars stuff. got it with my bass though I haven't used it yet. not sure it's made for the type of finish on that guild.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    I try to be as careful as possible, but stuff is bound to happen. I have that Meguires stuff too, works pretty well. Not sure if it would help out on my SG. I did use the fretboard polish on it because it looked pretty dry when I got it.

    I look at it this way, if Mike has no problem with the way his 59 Strat looks, then its all good in the name of rocking.
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    moster78 wrote:

    I look at it this way, if Mike has no problem with the way his 59 Strat looks, then its all good in the name of rocking.

    Well put brother :)
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • dontgimmenolipdontgimmenolip Posts: 198
    pearlwax wrote:
    Haha, yeah, I'm sure I will in a couple of weeks. It's just that this baby has an amazing cherry finish, and this scratch chipped some of the paint ,hence the visibility. But having the paint redone is probably a lot of money spend over nothing, really.

    Oh well, battlescar it is, my first on a guitar full of them. I should be proud :o

    Oh hell, I got a handful of nice dings on my PRS Custom 22, the first was on the binding around the top. I nearly shit myself at first, but then I was like "wow, it looks like I actually play this thing."
    - Justin

    You think the Slayer tour is out, or what?

    "Finally! I get to save the earth with deadly lasers instead of deadly slide shows." -- Al Gore.
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    I would see it like this: keep a guitar (or guitars) for playing and beating with those "badges of honor" and another guitar or two that are simply for class, beauty and perfection. I've got a Hohner acoustic (kinda beat around the edges) and a sky blue strat. Both have minor scratches and I figure that although yeah I should take care of them, they're MY guitars. Later on I'll worry about getting a pure American strat exactly the way I want it and THAT one will be the one kept on display and such.
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • prytocorduroyprytocorduroy Posts: 4,355
    I have a couple basses and all of them have scratches and dents. My first bass is missing the volume knob so it looks ultra ghetto. Most of the damage is my fault because I'm not careful when moving it and bump into walls and stuff all the time and often play them while I drink (which leads to even more carelessness). I'm pissed at the time it happens and a few days after, but then I think, does it sound any worse than before? No. So I don't care about the scratches and crap after the first few days. Plus if it bothers me that much I'll just put a sticker over the dent.
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    I scratched my acoustic a little bit by picking and hitting a music stand. I'm overly protective of my gear, any scratches and I'm upset for a while.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • Banana-RamaBanana-Rama Posts: 108
    My acoustic yes....my electric not at all.
    "If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend" - STP

    "Frugality without creativity is deprivation." - Amy Dacyczyn

    Proud Supporter of the CAROLINA HURRICANES. GO CANES GO!!!
  • BeavBeav Posts: 223
    Don't sweat it! Scratches and dents add character! That's what I tell myself to feel better about it anyway. My red Gibson SG standard has a nice gash on the bottom edge from a cymbal flying of its stand from being hit too hard by my spastic drummer friend. I almost cried.
    "Sooner or later you'll bare your teeth"
    www.myspace.com/volinic
    www.myspace.com/zane26 (band)
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    No matter how careful I am I usually put on mark on any of my new toys with in the first week. I had a streak going where two straight basses and a guitar head stock bumped the ceiling and left a little dry wall mark. Basement has a low ceiling.

    The big one was the first week I had my '62 reissue jazz bass and I was at rehearsal and leaned over to adjust a pedal and the bass rubs up against a cymbal stand, so I have this long scratch across the finish of it. Have been able to polish most of it out. But I know its still there.

    Its the breaks, I like normal wear and tear look just not dumbs marks like mine have sustained.
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
    Well, I cleaned it up a bit. I bought me some mahogany varnish to carefully touch up the teeny small parts of the scratch where I lost some paint. The dent is still there, of course, but because the color is fixed you can't spot it from a distance anymore. I guess I should polish it as well, but I might just skip that part, cause I'd have to polish the whole top, and polishing requires some serious elbow grease, so I've read..

    So I'm cool: the colour is fixed, but my first 'signature/battlescar/badge of honour' on the guitar remains.
  • Pat HPat H Posts: 101
    the only one of my guitars that I'm extra careful with is my main acoustic, but that is because of the sentimental value, and the fact that it is over 60 years old, and handed down to me by my grandpa (the reason it is my main guitar and not stored away is because he gave it to me because he wanted the person who was going to have it to play it alot, and I havent let him down). Of course it has some scratches on it, but none are mine.

    My other guitars are banged up pretty good, but it is part of playing. you are going to get scratches, especially on an electric guitar.
  • harrisonmerwinharrisonmerwin Posts: 766
    lets just say my main strat is well ont he way to making the late rory gallagher seem like a nurse to his strat.
    2005.09.04
    2005.09.05

    "how many people did die from that?...did P.Diddy kill them?" - Eddie Vedder 2006.02.19
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,291
    I try to keep my acoustic in good shape. It's a cheapy but I still try to take care of it. It's got a few scratches (on the back, and by the pick gaurd) but I figure it's just normal wear and tear.
    As they say..."shit happens".
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    I fell on my Sigma twelve string, stone cold sober, one morning walkng up and tripping over a pothole along the road. My guitar was only in a soft case. I cracked three ribs. It was days before I could bring myself to open the case and take a look at what I thought would be devastating damage. Yet the guitar was completely unharmed! Phew.

    I bought a hard case for it, the following week.
  • dirtyfrank71dirtyfrank71 Posts: 108
    I Was Really protective of my new kit At First And Then After A Few Times Of Our Singer Flying Thru It...ahh...i Learned To Love The Dents.
  • Dirty_FrankDirty_Frank Posts: 957
    I once owned one of these ugly suckers:

    http://images.misupply.com/products/full/Parker/p40.jpg

    45 minutes into owning it, the strap button came out and chipped off the top quarter of the headstock. :(
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    Dirty_Frank wrote:
    I once owned one of these ugly suckers:

    http://images.misupply.com/products/full/Parker/p40.jpg

    45 minutes into owning it, the strap button came out and chipped off the top quarter of the headstock. :(

    That is an ugly sucker! The chip probably improved its looks.
  • Lost_ClayLost_Clay Posts: 1,085
    dontgimmenolip wrote:
    I am the opposite. I view every scratch and dent as a badge of honour.

    hell yeah, i'm crazy enough to say it may even make it sound better too
    "ah fuck it get in trouble"

    06/29/03 09/22/05 09/24/05 09/25/05 05/09/06 05/10/06
  • PearlJam134PearlJam134 Posts: 66
    Just remember, theres always someone with it beat up worse then you.

    http://www.hootpage.com/flow/watt-winter_solstice_2002.jpg
    Mike Watt BTW
    PearlJam134.gif
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