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2K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  SeRcH 
#1 ·
I just posted a reply on one of the other forums in here and it got me thinking...

I LOVE my old FP, I've had it for nearly 10 years, It's like an old friend but.... I tend to batter my guitars at gigs, hit it with my fists, throttle the whammy bar and generally smash it about the place, this of course has resulted in the fact that over the years, the body of the Jem looks like No-Mans land at the Somme. Don't get me wrong, the neck is mint and I don't DELIBERATLY set out to smash it about... You just get caught up in the show atmosphere... Y'Know? I regularly have the guitar (And my RG 7 string) set up and serviced by my local Luthier so it plays and sounds fantastic!

I just wondered if I were the only one who abuses his axe in this way? Don't get me wrong but I feel like a leper in here because you all seem to take care of your guitars like you would a baby, and I don't.

Your thoughts?

Jay
 
#2 ·
i have to say i take care of all my guitars but if they get nicked up or whatever... so be it.
When on stage i dont pound on it but ive been know to really whack the piss outta the tremolo from from wanking the whole body with the arm... alot. and quite severely. the crowd really digs that crap:)

but thats about it.

Pound away!!!
 
#3 ·
I don't play at gigs sadly.. jams, sure, but not gigs.. and my 90HAM is in pretty good condition but certainly has a ding here and there. The guitar gets played.. there's enough 90s out there that I don't worry about committing a crime to an anniversary model ;)

I'd say I take good care of it.. its usually in its case when not being played... pickguard gets scratched but those are easily replaceable. The dings are a different story.

-Alex
 
#4 ·
finally somebody like me

I am just like you when it comes to my jem and Universe or any of my guitars. I play the **** out of them and like you I don't hurt them on purpose but it happens. One time I was playing at a club with another local band (I was filling in for their guitar player) and the crowd was awsome. They were really hoppin and some of them decided it would be cool to come up on stage so I had people spilling beer all over the place and of course my Jem was drenched :) it took awhile to get the beer stench off of it. I also thought it would be cool to throw my guitar to my buddy off stage like Vai does to his guitar techs but my buddy dropped it. It did not break anything but it did receive a few big chips in the paint. My Universe is a complete mess it looks like I drug it behind my car. I have owned it since I was a teenager and it has been to every gig I have played. I actually got Vai to autograph it for me at an in store he was doing and he laughed and asked me what I had done to it. I told him that I just play it alot. He said it was kind of nice to see one that shows that it has been played.
I also had a Jem DNA but I sold it because I liked my Jem VWH better. The DNA had some pretty good scratches and dings in it as well but the buyer did not seem to care I still got close to three grand for it even with the scratches hehehe :)
I also have a Les Paul and Strat that get played hard just about every weekend as well. I just think I have more fun then most people do with their guitars. I have seen so many guys babying their guitars to the point that you can tell they are kind of miserable. I say just play the darn things thats what we bought them for right?
Later
Ed
 
#6 ·
I general whip and throw my axes around like puppets. Thats what happens when you watch Steve Vai video's as a little kid. I once split a neck of a Yamaha guitar throwing it around my back, like Vai. HAHA! Too bad I was to silly to realize that you need lock bolts on your strap to do that. I was like 14 years and old, and I brought it home to my dad....you should have seen his face!! :lol: Lets just say I'm a fool!

My 777vbk is a different story though. To me, it has always been the holy grail of guitars, so when I get a little nick in it, I really feel awful. It just costs so damn much, and it just looks like such a beast when its brand new....the last thing I want to do is screw that up. character or not. 1 tiny knick gives character. The rest are just ugly.
 
#7 ·
There are a few dings and scratches on all of my player guitars, but I don't smash them deliberately.

I occasionally use a technique where I pound the body just above the pickups while holding the guitar by the neck. It makes the guitar resonate and feedback kinda wild. It's done using the soft side of your fist, like when you pound your fist on a table. It looks kinda destructive on stage, but it's never harmed one of my guitars.

Let me modify my first statement a bit. I don't smash them deliberately anymore...

Back in 1984, I used my first bonus check from a former employer to buy 2 Kramer USA Pacers. I bought one in Candy Apple Red and the second was Saphire Blue. I babied the blue one to death and I still have it tucked in my closet. The red one was a beater. I used it for everything from impromptu cymbal crashes with the end of the hockey stick peghead, to swatting empty beer cans with the rear of the body from the stage. It got so beat up looking that I bought a swamp ash Strat body and maple neck from Warmoth, rounded up a set of DiMarzios and a white mother-of-toilet seat pickguard, and turned it into a custom fat strat. Since I put so much TLC into building and finishing it, she doesn't get battered anymore.
 
#9 ·
They don't get babied, apart from the necks as I really don't like the neck to feel any less than perfect, so no dings.

But all my guitars apart from the new 2027 (which is getting taken care of currently) have a ding, chip somewhere. A while ago I came to the conclusion that anyguitars I buy need to end up looking cool if they get chipped. I saw the 2027 chipped and liked the look, so it will age well while my BSB just ends up looking more mine as time goes by, more little indentations wear etc :)

For the rest, every chip has some kind of story to it (like the metal ashtray vibrating of my amp and chipping part of the horn on my s-series) and gives character.

These things are meant to be played, and I don't intend on reselling these axes so it doesn't matter too much if they get a bit beat :)

Currently I am starting to think that a P4 would look cool with a bit of wear :)
 
#10 ·
I don't batter my 90th on purpose, but it gets played A LOT. I just love the way it plays and sounds, and I haven't found a guitar I like more, so it goes with me everywhere. Bandpractise, gigs, jamsessions. It stays in its case when its not played, but scratches and dings are begining to show. And that's alright. Guitars are workhorses in my opinion, built to express your creativity. They shouldn't hold you back doing that because they're expensive. I was thinking about buying a DNA but decided not to. The DNA was TOO valuable and collectable to get scratched, so I decided to go for a Les Paul Custom that I KNEW would get the playingtime it deserves.
 
#11 ·
This is a great thread. I'm putting together a list of Jemsite members that I'd never buy a guitar from :lol:

I generally tend to baby my guitars but don't get crazy if I nick one. The BIG problem I have is I'm afraid of playing dead-mint guitars or guitars that are so expensive - especially if it's not mine. Personally, I love the DNA but even if someone gave me one I'm afraid I'd hang it on the wall instead of ever playing it. There's just something relaxing about playing a guitar with a cigarette burn in the headstock....

8)
 
#12 ·
I baby my stuff. Most of my stuff looks virtually unplayed but they are played. I try to keep them in as close to collector's condition as I possibly can while still enjoying the playabilty of them. I don't have a schedule that allows me to make a commitment to playing in a band so I'm not gigging which helps me keep my stuff so clean. I do have guitars that I enjoy playing and don't mind if they get ding's though.

Mike 777 Haug
 
#13 ·
Ive got the in his own words book, about eddie van halen, that guitar world put out. One of the interveiwers was at evh's studio 5150, and they were talking gear, and he was like want to check some of my guitars out? Ive got a photo shoot tonight so Ive got to gather them up. He drug out guitars that would sell for 50,000 easy. lol. He slung em in the back of his pickup truck. no cause, no casually laying them, he threw them en. Clunk CLunk. :)). I still laugh everytime I think of that
 
#14 ·
That sounds to me like pure rich man's decadence... I don't care if it's a $50 or a $50.000 dollar guitar, there's never an excuse to not TRY and treat 'em right. Playing-marks, OK, but just slinging them in your car and throwing them around, to me that means you've got too much money. Same thing goes for players smashing their gear to pieces.... Can't stand that.
 
#15 ·
I agree that your guitar will get chipped of a little scratched, no matter how much you care about it.

The funny thing is that my first guitar, which was an Ibanez GIO :roll: never got chipped, and I didn't care too much about it, never even bought a gig bag for it.
And then, I bought my RG7420, and at the third day, my roomate who was a 16 year old girl, dropped it to the floor, causing a chip about 1 inch long 8O
 
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