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Thread: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

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    Default Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Thursday night our fiddler turned abruptly and put a significant dent in my otherwise original, > $10+ Grand Mandolin.

    F@$#%@!!!!

    Still trying to shake this off.

    All my other instruments, no problem. This one is my Ne Plus Ultra instrument -- I hope it will still be played by my great grandchildren.

    How do others here cope with a friend's 1/4 second human error . . . which leaves permanent "reminder" an YOUR Very Valuable instrument?

  2. #2

    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Oh get over it. People the world over are dying in wars and of hunger and horrible diseases, and you're obsessing over a dent in a bit of wood.

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    First time my mandolin got dinged I took it back to the luthier who built it and had him touch it up. But he said to me, "Things like this are going to happen. You can be careful, but the more you play out with it the less likely it'll stay pristine." Or words to that effect. Now it carries a few minor character marks and I've stopped worrying about them.
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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Players with mint instruments are called newbies. Those with dinged instruments are called seasoned professionals.

    Therefore, you should consider changing your Cafe name.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Registered User Jeff Budz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Quote Originally Posted by newby View Post
    Thursday night our fiddler turned abruptly and put a significant dent in my otherwise original, > $10+ Grand Mandolin.
    You are going to get dents and dings if you leave the house with it or if you use it in any way. I recommend that you lock it away in a safe never to be seen or played.

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    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Yup. If you really, really, really don't want to run the risk of dings (or worse) keep it at home in a case and don't play it. Fact is, stuff happens... mic stands are a regular culprit. Even in the house things can happen. Nothing is risk free. If it is a really rough gig where the risk of damage is predictably high, use a second "beater" instrument... otherwise, just move on and accept that even with the best of intentions and in good situations: accidents happen.

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    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    You could have done it yourself, in which case you'd blame yourself forever. Let it pass...
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    mandolinist, Mixt Company D C Blood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    So, Blueron...why are you bothering to follow Mandolin Cafe, instead of campaigning for world peace?
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    Registered User Douglas McMullin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Can't one do both?

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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Quote Originally Posted by D C Blood View Post
    So, Blueron...why are you bothering to follow Mandolin Cafe, instead of campaigning for world peace?
    Save the personal digs for elsewhere, please.

    As most of the other comments above point out, it's a musical instrument that will show wear and tear if it is used. A ding will not prevent the guy's grand-kids playing it, and in any case, he can surely afford to get the ding touched up by a professional.

    If it happened to me, I'd be upset (with myself for standing too close to the fiddler), but worse things happen, and I'd get over it.

    rm

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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Quote Originally Posted by blueron View Post
    I'd be upset (with myself for standing too close to the fiddler)
    I'd be, too, with myself - for spending so much for an instrument that I now knew to be destined to get more dings in the future.

    There is a real aesthetic value in visual beauty, and there is a real aesthetic value in acoustic performance, but it seems that in this unfair world there is no way to combine both in the same object. For a similar reason, I drive an ugly old car instead of the glittering limousine I really dream of.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    If you play in a band setting you are prone to get dings from musicians running into each other. You have several people all in a limited space focusing on the performance and not always each other. These things happen. It does not matter how amateur or professional you may be, these things happen. Now that the first one has happened, you will be much less uptight if it happens again.
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Oh get over it. People the world over are dying in wars and of hunger and horrible diseases, and you're obsessing over a dent in a bit of wood.
    I think that was a fairly personal dig, and I had the same reaction as DC Blood.

    Newby, I hate that happened; you have my sympathy. On the bright side, you do have a Phoenix Ne Plus Ultra, and that has to be one fine mandolin. I have an Ultra to which I am emotionally attached far more than I should be (especially given wars and famine and stuff). If somebody put a sizeable scar on it, I would have some difficulty letting it slide, despite my rational mind's knowing that it is just an object. After a brief period in which I had determined that I would use my Ultra for all purposes, knowing that some dings were going to be inevitable, my over the top babying of it convinced me that I had to have another instrument for gigging and jams.

    Maybe Rolfe can do something about the damage.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    That is why most of my instruments are old beat up ones that happen to sound fantastic. I do, of course, have some ones I bought new but I can't remember the first or the tenth ding. As others have noted, you can probably have that ding repaired and probably invisibly but then what happens with the 2nd thru 5th, 6th, 7th, etc. Unless you are planning to sell it in the very near future, it will prob make little difference in the value of your instrument and certainly none whatsoever in the tonal quality that yours produces.

    Remember... the first ding is the worst.
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    I fully understand and I would be upset also, but you have to erase it from your mind and go on!

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    Registered User Kevin K's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Now worth more distressed, probably sounds a little better too....
    "Can I have a little more talent in the monitors please?"

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    its a very very long song Jim's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    I was thinking Jihad against fiddlers everywhere but this seems like a peace loving crowd. Anybody know if this is how the whole problem with b*%$& players started?
    Jim Richmond

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    Registered User Tom C's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Unless it was a drunken mistake -or somebody you do not like, I would not make them feel any worse about doing it. Once, while sitting in my car in a parking space, somebody pulled in next to me and opened their door into my car. I was a bit ticked and they said "sorry, it was an accident". I was still ticked and said "no, it was carelessness, accidents can't be avoided".


    Weird. I can;t get rid of that double "about". It's not in my text when I edit.

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    Registered User Dan Margolis's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Well, when you get a first big ding on a really nice instrument it's only natural to be upset for awhile, wars, hunger, and tragedy aside. You'll get over the ding, but you'll always know that it's there.
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    Destroyer of Mandolins
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    I could be worse. You could be me.
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    Registered User Perry's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Not having read anything but the subject I say SO WHAT!!

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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim2723 View Post
    I could be worse. You could be me.
    Interesting quote!

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    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    On the rare occasion that I've owned something new, I find the first ding or scratch to be a relief.
    Now you can stop worrying about it and just enjoy playing it!
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

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    Destroyer of Mandolins
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Quote Originally Posted by John Rosett View Post
    On the rare occasion that I've owned something new, I find the first ding or scratch to be a relief.
    Now you can stop worrying about it and just enjoy playing it!
    I had an uncle who sold Cadillac cars. Every year he had the newest model and would drive it home for the neighbors to admire. He would go into the house and return with a bottle of beer and a ball-peen hammer. He'd whack a dent into the car and drink the beer. That took care of the dreaded first dent and he could relax.
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    Registered User Laird's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fiddler in Band DINGED my BEST mandolin . .. !

    Wow, that's a pricey mandolin! Is the OP really a newbie? I'm used to seeing folks starting with something that cost a couple hundred dollars. I didn't realize that some folks actually started out at the high end! Interesting to imagine.

    Anyhow, a less expensive instrument would make the grief of the first ding a lot less painful--and that ding is inevitable if you're going to be playing out. I've never owned a new car yet, but I imagine I'll be pretty nervous about its first ding. Heck, I guess I'll just try to keep my '93 Subaru running as long as I can.

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