the first ding hurts the most...

[ianbarton]

Ugh. After treating my mandolin so well... I put a ding in it. I wish I could say I was doing something cool like some gnarly solo (assuming I were that good to begin with)...but no. I was sitting on my couch and hit my laptop right on the lower point. (glad it was a solid piece of the mandolin) boo!

Anyone have any good stories behind the dings or scratches on their mandolins?

[Michael Weaver]

Heck no, I always sell them after that happens. I did have an ex wife lift my mandolin case when it wasn't latched. I watched in slow motion as the mandolin hit headstock first on the kitchen floor. Broke the heel at the joint....notice I said ex wife. Lesson learned, latch the freaking case.

[jaycat]

[ianbarton]

Heck no, I always sell them after that happens. I did have an ex wife lift my mandolin case when it wasn't latched. I watched in slow motion as the mandolin hit headstock first on the kitchen floor. Broke the heel at the joint....notice I said ex wife. Lesson learned, latch the freaking case.

oh jeez... that's rough!

[JeffD]

Latching the case whenever it is closed is crucial. My four house rules are:

Instrument in the case when not being played.
Case is closed if there is an instrument in it.
Case is latched if it is closed.

No exceptions.

Everyone with whom I live knows this and abides by it. I also have shown everyone how to hold an instrument.

I have had a few dings here and there, on otherwise pristine instruments. Some I don't even know how they got there. My 1923 has some small marks here and there, and I know I put them there because when I got the instrument there was not a single mark visible on the thing.

Recently (at someone else's house) someone put my L&H in the case without latching the case, and when I picked it up it started to fall out and I closed the case on it while it was part way out, resulting in a single focused ding. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. But, its mine, and that person who put it away without latching the case is sufficiently embarrassed to prevent her from making the same mistake. I have made all future musical instruments safe in her hands. I could have wished someone did it before me, but oh well.

[Kowboy]

I have a ding on the face of my fiddle. It is a gift from my son Dougie. Dougie had Downs Syndrome and passed at the age of 9 yrs and 11 months. I wouldn't have that fiddle any other way. Memories!

[ianbarton]

So sorry for your loss! I'm glad you have reminders of him, and I bet he keeps inspiring your playing every time you see that :-)

[haggardphunk]

my gf put the first ding in my newest one. We didnt make love that night.

[Jim Bevan]

Having owned and dinged many a mandolin, I now know it's eventually gonna happen, and, OUCH, ah, there it is, and well, yay, that's over, it finally happened, and now I can relax a little more with my newest love-interest, and start treating the instrument like the old friend I knew was waiting for me.

(But ya, I've had a 30 year-old mint-condition Sobell 10-string in my hands for almost a year, and yes, I'm pretty paranoid, still waiting for it to happen... )

[renoyd]

Using an iPhone while fairly new MT was right below it. Don't ask and don't use/putz with your phone while holding your mando!

[renoyd]

PS, especially if engelmann.

[sunburst]

PM me for information on my "first ding service". For a modest fee, I will install the first ding in your mandolin and save you the heartache of having it happen unexpectedly! Discounts apply if your new mandolin is damaged in shipping to me for "first ding service" because it saves me the trouble.

OK, don't PM me really. Not only do I not have an actual "first ding service", but if I did it would be inappropriate to advertise it here, not to mention it would be against forum policy. It is something I've joked about for years though, accepting money to perform my "first ding service" to ease the anxiety of new instrument owners. It would be worth a lot!

[foldedpath]

Ehhh, they're just battle scars. Signs of a well-loved and often-played instrument, once you've decided it's a keeper and you're going to be playing it for a few years.

I have a tiny ding in the lacquer on the lower bass-side top of my Lebeda F5, now covered by an armrest. It happened when I wasn't careful enough when re-stringing... I dropped the string cutter pliers point first right into the top. Just a tiny spot of a ding (very hard lacquer on this redwood top!), and not a big deal, but it was the first. There is another very small ding in the top that came from somewhere, and I have to tilt the top against the light to see it. No big deal.

After I decided to strip the finish off the back of the neck, nothing else really matters. It's my only mandolin; it's well loved and played almost every day. I can understand how this might be traumatic for someone still in the "catch and release" phase of mandolin buying, but for someone who settles into an instrument for the long haul, it's really not that big a deal Just battle scars. I've got a few of those myself.

[Frank Russell]

I have to be more careful now, with two boys under 3 years old. The only instrument I never worried about was my Republic Reso tenor, unless it fell on my older one. He's at the age where he wants to strum everything, which is cool, but sometimes he wants to strum with Legos or a stick. My newest mandolin is a 33 year old Givens which thankfully came with some crazing and a few dings, so I'm not too freaky about it yet. When the new Old Wave comes, I may hang it from the ceiling like a canoe. I've watched a BRW fall out of a rectangular case that had a crappy latch, in slow motion, above a cement driveway. Thankfully, the lid fell open at a right angle, and the mando stopped right on the edge of the lid. Still gives me the willies, even though I sold it long ago. Frank

[Astro]

my gf put the first ding in my newest one. We didnt make love that night.

It cant sing if it aint got no ding.

I am careful but not obsessive and I expect some superficial dings. But I'm not happy about them.

Haggard, your grand father is a kinky old goat.

[edandjudy3946]

nope - I bought one of Ken Ratcliff's max distressed Silverangels so if it gets dinged it gets better - lol.

[GKWilson]

I was walking behind a banjo player. He stopped dead in his tracks and spun around.
Putting a nice ding on the face of my mandolin.
I had heard rumors, but I found out that day for myself.
You can't trust banjo players.
Gary

[Bertram Henze]

Uhit my laptop right on the lower point.

I hope the laptop survived

Years ago, I was foolishly trying to tighten the trussrod screw on my Fylde OM and with a TOCK the trussrod broke. The builder offered to do the repair for free + shipping costs and after three weeks of painful OMnesia I got it back as good as new. When I look closely today, I can see where they had cut out part of the fretboard for salvaging the broken trussrod and closed it again.
Tought me a lot about the dos and don'ts of trussrods.

[Petrus]

I don't know if deliberate smashing counts (maybe this should go in the "worse misuse" thread, lol) but I did smash an old Kay or Lyra that I had bought off eBay for $50. The body was already sort of coming apart, it wouldn't stay in tune for heck, and I got so frustrated one night I smashed it into the corner of a formica counter. It took several good swings to really come apart! And that was the end of that one. After I calmed down I managed to salvage the tailpiece, tuners and neck and sold them separately and basically got my $50 back. Don't try this at home kids!

[Dagger Gordon]

I like dings.

My son Donald was travelling in the States and picked up a Yamaha guitar for the trip.
Someone dropped hot bar-b-q tongs on the top. It actually looks pretty interesting. Hot symmetrical dings!

Hey, the guitar was bought for parties and having fun. So long as it still works I'm not too bothered.

[mandroid]

One I heard was about this Guy's Dad, owned the Cadillac dealership.

soon as he would bring a new car home for his own use , He would pour himself a Glass of Whisky

take out a hammer and put a dent in. saying , 'There, thats out of the way' ..

[Ivan Kelsall]

It's not happened yet as i mostly play at home,but, it might happen sometime & i'll be mortified !. My recently purchased 'used' Ellis "A" style came with a variety of small 'dings',including a couple that are like 2 sharp indents side by side. I don't mind the 'dings' at all,but the previous owner chose to screw a bass guitar strap pin into the lower neck = totally un-forgiveable,
Ivan

[Jim Bevan]

Pete Langdell (of Rigel) told me that if one of his mandolins returns to him in perfect condition, he's a little disappointed.

"Well-cared for" and "Well-loved" mean quite different things, in the classifieds.

[Tavy]

I hope the laptop survived

Years ago, I was foolishly trying to tighten the trussrod screw on my Fylde OM and with a TOCK the trussrod broke. The builder offered to do the repair for free + shipping costs and after three weeks of painful OMnesia I got it back as good as new. When I look closely today, I can see where they had cut out part of the fretboard for salvaging the broken trussrod and closed it again.
Tought me a lot about the dos and don'ts of trussrods.

Man you were lucky - that's a lot more than a ding, and a hard repair to do - the fact that they put the thing in there would have helped - normally it's complete fretboard removal and then hope you can dig the thing out....

[Ron McMillan]

This thread goes to the top of a very, very short list. 'Threads I expected to be really boring but which I found very entertaining'