bigevilrobot wrote:
I'd play it. But nicely, real nicely.
Agreed. Me now... that's what I'd do. But when I was younger I did just the opposite. About 14 years ago, I bought a great condition 66 P bass and played the crap out of it for about 6 years - on the road, every gig, etc. In fact, I had to tell the guy I bought it from that I wasn't going to play it hard. He didn't want to sell it to a player - he thought it should be with a collector because of its condition. Now I look at the bass and all of the wear on it is me... and that's just fine. I see the wear as the story of my musical past. There are even specific scratches that remind me of the very song we were playing when it happened. Other dings remind me of the great times I had on the road. Would I do it again, same circumstances? The younger me would still say yes. But would I do it if I bought the bass now? No. I'm just at a different place in life. Anyway, the owner can do whatever he likes... it's such an amazing story.