Senseless Guitar Deaths

Demon-Dave

This is based on true events, and some of the images may disturb you.

We are all proud guitar owners, but how many of us have had the misfortune of loosing one of our most beloved instruments in a horrid, senseless accident. This is the story of my 1985 Fender Santa Cruz.

In October 2009, I was on my way to work, teaching guitar at the American International School of Johannesburg, where is was involved in a terrible car accident. I was stationary, indicating to turn and got hit from behind at about 100kph! My fender was in the boot:

Here are the pictures of my guitar, I have never been the same since I lost her… ☹

I thought we could all commiserate the loss of our instruments here, together…

slyd

Very, very sad Dave ☹

I think it shows us all the virtues of a good, solid guitar case :-[

IceCreamMan

"My fender was in the boot" teehee

ok ok , that expression tickled.

sorry to hear about the guitar..

I think every guitar destroyed on stage is a senseless guitar death.

Sean

This is a buddy of mine. Apparently the guitar was beyond repair, which led him to do this :?

DaFiz

My Washburn acoustic stood on it's stand in the dining room. I got home from work and the "cleaning lady" had tripped and snapped the head clean off. >☹
Bye Bye Washburn... :'( my replacement Takamine now lives inside her hardcase in the wardrobe. 8)

Bob-Dubery

IceCreamMan wrote: I think every guitar destroyed on stage is a senseless guitar death.

Kalcium

X-rated Bob wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote: I think every guitar destroyed on stage is a senseless guitar death.

I am SO glad the guitar didn't slip out his hand at the end there...

AlanRatcliffe

Early on I lost the 12-string neck of a doubleneck electric to Dunlop Pick Boy strap "locks" and a concrete stage. I might have fixed it if it had happened today, but it was before I knew how to fix such things. On the bright side I did learn a lot turning it into a single neck fretless.

Norman86

Damn!!! Sorry about that!!!

slyd wrote: I think it shows us all the virtues of a good, solid guitar case :-[

I dont think that a solid guitar case would have done anything to protect the guitar, when he was hit at 100km/h!!!
They arent built THAT well!!
Even if he had an aluminium flight case, have a look at that boot!
Oh wait, there is no boot left anymore!!!
I seriously doubt there would still be a guitar either!!

Thats really terrible, and im sure a great great loss!!
But, at least you have your life!!!

And yes, any guitar that gets smashed on stage, even the poor cheapies get my sympathy!!

ActionArnie

Had a buddy who had a neck break on a yamaha 12-string after he put it in its case on the couch but didn't close any of the latches, he forgot and just picked it up and the guitar fell out and somehow the neck snapped after it hit something .... never ever leave your guitar in the case with the lid closed but not latched.

stu

Norman86 wrote: Damn!!! Sorry about that!!!

slyd wrote: I think it shows us all the virtues of a good, solid guitar case :-[
I dont think that a solid guitar case would have done anything to protect the guitar, when he was hit at 100km/h!!!
They arent built THAT well!!
Even if he had an aluminium flight case, have a look at that boot!
Oh wait, there is no boot left anymore!!!
I seriously doubt there would still be a guitar either!!

Thats really terrible, and im sure a great great loss!!
But, at least you have your life!!!

And yes, any guitar that gets smashed on stage, even the poor cheapies get my sympathy!!

+1

But I think in other situations a case would be good. Like if you where to drop your guitar or something.

AlanRatcliffe

I saw a few bad ones while I was repairing as I often had to quote on repairs for insurance:

* A 65 year old acoustic that "burst" from a sudden depressurisation in an aeroplane baggage hold.

* A Takamine in SKB moulded case that had been run over by a forklift. Case was fine once the trim had been straightened. Guitar, not so much...

* An Ovation that had a forklift fork go right through the case (supposedly impossible to do - the forks are hinged, so they move up and away if they hit something point first).

* A Martin D-28 that someone had electrified by cutting holes in the top (through braces) for two humbuckers and four controls and one in the side for the jack socket. When the jack socket punched through the sides he used a pair of 2.5" metal washers to mount it again ...which punched through the side.

* An original Larrivee (as in made by Jean), used for many years as a braai guitar. Fretboard, bridge and half a dozen braces all loose, but happily not a write-off (found and rescued by Sue Lawson).

* Another Takamine that had been taken on a 4X4 club weekend. After a night of some heavy drinking, it was left in the path of the entire club as they roared off to decimate some sand dunes or something the next morning. I was given a cardboard box full of what was basically matchwood and asked to quote on repair.

* Someone once brought in a Taylor he picked up for nothing. The previous owner had somehow nailed it to the wall as a decoration.

Norman86

those poor guitars...
That ex taylor owner should be drawn and quartered as punishment!
Thats what wall hangers are for :-/

Vick

DaFiz wrote: My Washburn acoustic stood on it's stand in the dining room. I got home from work and the "cleaning lady" had tripped and snapped the head clean off. >☹
Bye Bye Washburn... :'( my replacement Takamine now lives inside her hardcase in the wardrobe. 8)

At about 5:30 in the vid, you see this big round black thing on the back of the gretsch...what is that ???

Bob-Dubery

You'd be surprised what can be repaired - assuming of course that you have the means and the will to pay.

Andy McGibbon has some amazing photos of a Taylor belonging to Anton Goosen. SOmebody drove over it and then Andy put it back together again.

Of course you have to weigh things like sentiment and replacement cost against cost of repair.

Vick

Kalcium wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote: I think every guitar destroyed on stage is a senseless guitar death.

I am SO glad the guitar didn't slip out his hand at the end there...

At about 5:30 you see this black thing on the back of the gretsch...what is that ?

Bob-Dubery

Vick wrote:
DaFiz wrote: My Washburn acoustic stood on it's stand in the dining room. I got home from work and the "cleaning lady" had tripped and snapped the head clean off. >☹
Bye Bye Washburn... :'( my replacement Takamine now lives inside her hardcase in the wardrobe. 8)
At about 5:30 in the vid, you see this big round black thing on the back of the gretsch...what is that ???

IIRC those Gretsch's had a protective pad on the back of them to protect against belt buckles and so on.

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote:
Vick wrote:
DaFiz wrote: My Washburn acoustic stood on it's stand in the dining room. I got home from work and the "cleaning lady" had tripped and snapped the head clean off. >☹
Bye Bye Washburn... :'( my replacement Takamine now lives inside her hardcase in the wardrobe. 8)
At about 5:30 in the vid, you see this big round black thing on the back of the gretsch...what is that ???
IIRC those Gretsch's had a protective pad on the back of them to protect against belt buckles and so on.

Demon-Dave

Yeah, I ended up in hospital for about 4 hours with severe whiplash and a bad concussion, some minor cuts and bruises. The scary thing was, the front seat, ended up on the back seat, I had to get out using the back right door.

@Slyd: A hard case wouldn’t have made any difference. The guitar was wedged in like an accordion.

I agree, don’t smash a guitar on stage, it really breaks my heart. Somebody went through a lot of effort to build it. If you are sponsored and get a large quota that you can afford to break them willy-nilly, then hell, sign the thing, and auction it off for a charity or something, but there is no need to waste something that some people would love to own but can never afford.

Bob-Dubery

Demon Dave wrote: I agree, don’t smash a guitar on stage, it really breaks my heart. Somebody went through a lot of effort to build it. If you are sponsored and get a large quota that you can afford to break them willy-nilly, then hell, sign the thing, and auction it off for a charity or something, but there is no need to waste something that some people would love to own but can never afford.

Despite Mr Hiatt's excellent song, I'm wondering how much smashing of guitars actually goes on these days. Indeed, was it ever that common a practice?