Drummer damaged my bass..

[Rusco]

Hi all, just fishing for some opinion..

Our drummer bashed his high-hat into my Fender American Special P Bass putting a reasonable ding in it near the rear strap button. Now, it’s my most expensive bass (admittedly it’s not ‘that’ expensive compared to a lot on here..) that I’ve kept immaculate for the 3 years I’ve owned it. It was also a present that has great sentimental value.

This was over a week ago and I’m still upset/annoyed by this – partly fueled by said drummers somewhat blasé reaction (e.g. can’t you colour it in ?).

I’m normally mild mannered and it’s been suggested I may be overreacting.

So before I enrol in anger management classes:

Has similar happen to you ?
How would or did you react ?
What would you expect the drummer to say or do ?

Thanks!

[Jakester]

How did it happen?

The hi-hat is a pretty stable thing with a low centre of gravity. If he kicked it over I'd be inclined to take a chunk out of him (speaking as both a bassist and a drummer) but I struggle to see how it could just fall over?

[danbowskill]

"bassist damages drummer"...... Is what the title should say :-D

[EBS_freak]

Whats the finish on your bass? Got a pic of the damage - it may be possible to get a good (=invisible) repair.

Of course, that you can your drummer to pay for.

This is what p1sses me off - it's never you that damages your instrument, some other clown will make sure that they do it for you.

[Old Horse Murphy]

All of my basses that I gig with regularly have a number of nicks in exactly the same place due to cymbals. On small stages or in pubs it seems to be a fact of life and a gigging rite of passage

At least you're out there using it. Embrace the dings; you've earnt them!

[Vinny]

1. Insert said stand into said drummer.

2. Stamp on the pedal until bored.

Job done.

[CamdenRob]

My reaction would depend on how it happened... If it was an accident, I'd be upset but I'd not make an issue of it, accidents do happen and people often feel bad enough about what they have done to someone else's gear. On the other hand, if he did it on purpose or it happened as a result of him messing about and then he proceeded make a joke out of it, I'd be f**king livid...

Edited January 18, 2016 by CamdenRob

[danbowskill]

I have no probs with gig related dings.....I've caused a few to others gear before.but like you I would be very annoyed without an acknowledged "sh*t sorry mate" or a blasé "meh" attitude

[FinnDave]

My US standard P bass has a couple of 'drummer scars', to be honest he was more upset about it than I was. We're still close friends and still playing together, the damage is part of the instrument's, and the band's history now.

[Lozz196]

It seems to me the issue here is more with the drummers attitude than the actual damage itself. It`s annoying if any gear gets damaged by someone, but if they aren`t very apologetic afterwards, well this would probably increase my annoyance somewhat.

[Happy Jack]

The anger fades away soon enough. It was always going to get marked sooner or later, and if you and that drummer work well together musically it's certainly not worth wrecking that relationship.

We live in an age where people pay extra to buy their instruments pre-ruined ...

[Rusco]

Thanks for the replies.

It happened in the studio. Our drummer was banging away relentlessly which kept moving his kit across the room. We (other band members) were discussing things between songs, he kept going and bumped his high hat in to me from behind.

It wasn’t malicious.. perhaps more careless and stupid with attitude. As an ex-drummer a can empathise a bit but I wasn’t expecting him to move his kit nearly 3 feet (it does raise the question of how good his drum mat is on a wood floor) from when I turned around and thought he might have spotted how close he was to me. I do realise how ridiculous that sounds, I guess you had to be there..

Some good suggestions and the title may have been about a drummer extracting a stick from a cavity, but he is bigger than me.

So it seems.. let it go and think it the first step towards a road worn.

[Dad3353]

A hi-hat pedal is not cheap, and my hi-hats cost several hundreds of pounds. I hope the drummer's gear hasn't suffered from this.
No, not a subject for jokes, I suppose, but accidents do happen. Yes, if the bloke was at fault in some way, he should be prepared to put it right, and at the very least express some sort of contrition. An apology, at least, would be expected. If, however, it's 'just one of those things', it's best quickly accepted and forgotten about. There are some very skilled folks out there adept at touching up finishes, so an invisible repair should be easy enough. If not, it's just gained 'relic' value, I suppose. At least it wasn't a Gibson; the headstock would be snapped off by now.

Edit: Having read the above, I'd suggest glueing or sewing pieces of old inner tube to each corner and in the centre of his mat, to prevent slippage of the sort. 3 feet, you say..? Take his hormone pills away; he'll do himself damage with such mis-placed energy. (His nickname is, of course, 'Animal', I trust..?)

Edited January 18, 2016 by Dad3353

[White Cloud]

This unfortunate indeed, but merely adds further proof (if needed) that drummers are completely crazy.

Price a repair by a decent luthier and then inform said crazy drummer that you can indeed have it coloured in ...and hand him the bill. Simple.

Any refusal should result in your foot mysteriously ending up through his bass drum skin.

[Doctor J]

Get over it. These things happen. It was an accident with a guy who hits things with sticks. While not advocating needless destruction, there is something a little sad about instruments years old without any kind of battle scars or signs of life experience. It's a bit of wood you use to express yourself with. Play the crap out of it and stop worrying about it looking like it should still be in a shop.

[JTUK]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1453135648' post='2956729']
My reaction would depend on how it happened... If it was an accident, I'd be upset but I'd not make an issue of it, accidents do happen and people often feel bad enough about what they have done to someone else's gear. On the other hand, if he did it on purpose or it happened as a result of him messing about and then he proceeded make a joke out of it, I'd be f**king livid...
[/quote]

Kind of this... accidents happen, but if he fails to see that you value something and doesn't care or hasn't aplogised,
then I'd not forget.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1453138014' post='2956766']
It seems to me the issue here is more with the drummers attitude than the actual damage itself. It`s annoying if any gear gets damaged by someone, but if they aren`t very apologetic afterwards, well this would probably increase my annoyance somewhat.
[/quote]

This.

[BottomE]

[quote name='Rusco' timestamp='1453141099' post='2956800']
Thanks for the replies.

It happened in the studio. Our drummer was banging away relentlessly which kept moving his kit across the room. We (other band members) were discussing things between songs,
[/quote]
This would deserve a cucumber up the Khyber Pass more than the ding in the bass.

[therealting]

I would probably be just as mad as you, but I have a better drummer story... during a rehearsal, a drummer decided it would be really funny to crash his cymbal as loud as possible by my ear while I was setting up my pedalboard, triggering tinnitus that hasn't stopped in the ten years since and will probably bug me for the rest of my life even if I sell all my basses.

[bobbytodd]

once way back when I was poor id saved for ages for a bc rich beast.it arrived on the same day as one of our gigs so I took it still in the cardboard box.at the end of the gig our frontman took off his guitar and smacked it right into the top point taking a huge chunk of paint off.when I kicked off he said well what did you expect its massive.still makes me mad 10 years on

[Rusco]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1453141136' post='2956801']
Edit: Having read the above, I'd suggest glueing or sewing pieces of old inner tube to each corner and in the centre of his mat, to prevent slippage of the sort. 3 feet, you say..? Take his hormone pills away; he'll do himself damage with such mis-placed energy. (His nickname is, of course, 'Animal', I trust..?)
[/quote]

That is a good suggestion I will pass it on to him, thanks.
He was a Military PT instructor and bashes his drum kit in a 'was a Military PT instructor' kind of way.

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1453152606' post='2956961']
I would probably be just as mad as you, but I have a better drummer story... during a rehearsal, a drummer decided it would be really funny to crash his cymbal as loud as possible by my ear while I was setting up my pedalboard, triggering tinnitus that hasn't stopped in the ten years since and will probably bug me for the rest of my life even if I sell all my basses.
[/quote]

What an unbelievably stupid thing to even think of doing. I hope it does clear up for you in time.

[gjones]

Given an infinite number of years and an infinite number of gigs, eventually (unless you keep it in a case under your bed forever) you will get a ding in your lovely bass. It just so happened to be the drummer that dinged it and not you.

Feel grateful that it was your bass and not your car that got dinged. My guitarist drove his Chelsea tractor into the side of my VW Polo the other day. Luckily it is 14 years old and a bit 'roadworn'. But I had to take a deep breath and be philosophical about it.

[HazBeen]

Next time bring a cucumber and a pot of vasaline to the studio, tell him the next damage he causes to your bass is punishable with cucumber.......

[HazBeen]

I had a PA stand fall on my Stingray (years ago), with the safety pin that fixes the height digging into the back of the body. I'd had it for a week. Gutted, but 10 years of use later it wasn't the only ding....

[Doctor J]

Speaking of damaged Stingrays, I picked this up a few years ago from a lad who explained that he had upset his then missus who had taken it out on his bass. Doesn't look too bad from the front...



but it looks like she tried a Simonon special from the back. She also scratched "Thank you!" into what was left of the paint on the back. I didn't ask what she was so thanful for



It's a great player though and the neck survived intact, so no real harm done. I've thought about having it refinished but it brings a smile to my face thinkong about what the guy did to get that reaction. It's part of the charm of that instrument, now. There isn't another Stingray quite like it.

To be honest, I find it quit funny that a drummer could travel three feet across a floor by drumming alone to damage your bass. It's a story for a few laughs over a beer in the future.