Very clean '72 Jazz

[Pilgrim]

You do see sax players remove the lacquer from their horns to get that old look .

No intentional dents or scrapes, though.

[ilan]

You don't find violin or brass players letting their instruments get scratched and dented, or letting the finish be ruined

Not only do they let that happen, but when they have a new violin made for them it's artificially aged - what we call relic. Good violin makers do it in a way that is almost indistinguishable from a 200-300 years old violin. I have never seen in an orchestra a shiny violin. Structural issues like cracks are of course fixed, but no one will remove scratches and dents.

[Alanko]

Is the fact that pao ferro is lighter in color something most people care about? It's not something I even notice, other than if it's a bit dry.

I think people increasingly think that all '60s Fenders came with glossily burnished dark-to-black rosewood fretboards.





Hmmmm....

[Pilgrim]

Not only do they let that happen, but when they have a new violin made for them it's artificially aged - what we call relic. Good violin makers do it in a way that is almost indistinguishable from a 200-300 years old violin. I have never seen in an orchestra a shiny violin. Structural issues like cracks are of course fixed, but no one will remove scratches and dents.

Do they have large chunks of finish missing, dirty fingerprints on the wood, and scratches from fingernails? 

[Dave W]

Do they have large chunks of finish missing, dirty fingerprints on the wood, and scratches from fingernails?

Bingo!

Removing lacquer from a horn or making a violin finish look aged is a far, far cry from making your bass or guitar look like it's been dragged 5 miles down a gravel road and through a pile of cow dung.

[ilan]

Do they have large chunks of finish missing, dirty fingerprints on the wood, and scratches from fingernails?

Fingerprints are wiped off, but missing finish and scratches from fingernails? any 50+ years old upright will have them. Especially those used for jazz, there's an area in the front near the fingerboard overhang where they all show deep signs of RH thumb fingernail anchored nearby.

I'm attaching 2 pics I just took of my upright. This is considered normal wear. It's a 61 years old European fully-carved bass and I take very good care of it. Clean and very well set up, it never leaves the house without its thick padded gig-bag, always wiped thoroughly right after a gig or rehearsal. But uprights don't have opaque paint on them, so from the audience you wouldn't notice the scratches and dings.

[Pilgrim]

Nice bass, Ilan! It looks well loved and well used.

I think my point is that there is normal wear and tear when an instrument of any kind is used on a regular basis, but it doesn't extend to outright damage.  If damage does occur, it should be repaired.  But defining "normal wear and tear" and "damage" is extremely difficult.

[ilan]

Case in point, Billy Sheehan's "The Wife". Mods aside, the bass has lost most of its 3TS finish just being played aggressively. You can see pics of it from the Talas days on, gradually losing more and more paint. When did it shift from wear to damage, hard to say.