Homage to the beater

[melandy]

A recent thread on installing a strap button got me thinking about beaters.

 

Fender gets a lot of bad press here, but they do (or did, at least) make a good beater. Mine (a Gemini III dread) has been abused due to ignorance for 15 years or so. Doesn't quite fit in the case (abnormally long headstock... really should be in a 12 string case), humidity cluelessness, left in the case while player took a hiatus for a few years, taken camping (in what turned out to be extreme heat and humidity with nowhere to hide), and probably a bunch of other atrocities I am forgetting. Not a warm and fuzzy life for an acoustic git.

 

It just had its second setup last year since I've owned it (first one since I bought it), and still plays fine. It needs some fretwork on 3 or 4 of the lower frets (they're getting plateau-shaped), and one of the tuning machines is getting a little uhh... "crunchy" for lack of a better term, but otherwise no real maintenance issues. It's not a great git, and is not at all what I would shop for now, but plenty fine for a beater.

 

When the frontman for our band is over to hang out, that's the one he reaches for to play every time. He says it's because he only plays black guitars, and he likes the sustain. I think it's because he knows it's my beater and is afraid of dinging up Martie.

 

The use of a beater can allow us to make mods to a guitar that we would not normally consider, or take a guitar places that we either wouldn't take more expensive ones, or that would cause a lot of stress if we did.

 

What about the rest of y'all? Beaters... love 'em or hate 'em?

 

-A

[Stackabones]

One player's beater is another's bliss.

[Scott Fonseca]

I love beaters! It's nice having a guitar that you can take whereever without having to worry abut it! I think most people in this forum has at least one. And if memory serves me correctly, baba always goes BACK to his Yammie beater.

[Scott Fonseca]

One player's beater is another's bliss.

 

+1 well said, a beater isn't necessarily a bad guitar

[Samilyn]

I love having a beater. Everyone needs a "no worries" git.

[missedmyexit]

+1 well said, a beater isn't nesseccarily a bad guitar

 

I think for a lot of people the beater if the guitar most played because you don't mind having it out in the open.

[outdoorgb]

Beater fan here...Found a buget Yamaha (arn't they all?) on craigslist. Even felt good about adjusting the bridge myself. This is the guitar that can be taken anywhere...haven't showered with it yet but the day is young!

 

Have a cousin who wants to start playing. Might have to part with it. Back to Craigslist for more shopping.

[alahen]

This is the guitar that can be taken anywhere...haven't showered with it yet but the day is young!

 

You might need a dehumidifier with you.

[bsman]

To a certain extent, ALL of my guitars are beaters! I never, ever buy a brand new guitar unless it's NOS. This has two benefits: first, they're cheaper, and second, somebody else has to take the psychic hit of the first ding...

[Simon76]

This is exactly the market that Ovation needs to start catering to.

They could dominate the beater world with just a few changes.

[Samilyn]

 

This is exactly the market that Ovation needs to start catering to. They could dominate the beater world with just a few changes.

 

 

Like getting rid of the bowl back, for starters. Slippery critters, those Ovations.

[garthman]

 

Like getting rid of the bowl back, for starters. Slippery critters, those Ovations.

 

 

They are not as slippery as my critter - and Ovations make damn good weapons of self defence!

[OldGuitarPlayer]

My acoustic "beater". It's a 1989 Sigma/Martin DM2:

 

 

My electric "beater". I'ts a 1970's Univox Strat copy:

 

 

The $150 all laminate Sigma actually gets used a lot for "open mic" type of gigs and I use a Fishman NeoD sound hole pup in it it actually plays and sounds quite nice.

 

The Univox Strat I paid $89 for at the used music store and it's stock and sounds and plays just like a Strat is supposed to. It is made of very heavy plywood and I will never part with it. I have used it on countless rock gigs and country rock/folk gigs. It's more than paid for itself.

[Samilyn]

 

They are not as slippery as my critter - and Ovations make damn good weapons of self defence!

 

 

+1

 

Don't insult the sweet little critter by comparing him to an Ovation. The critter is by far the more attractive of the two!

[T.B.]

 

Like getting rid of the bowl back, for starters. Slippery critters, those Ovations.

 

 

I was at a shop trying to play an Ovation, and it kept slipping off my thigh, it didn't help that I had on some jeans that were a tad tight. The store owner was throwing me dirty looks like, "Yeah, sweetie if you drop it you bought it".

 

In Praise Of The Beater: Four seconds of silence please.

 

Trina

[dhoenisch]

I had a Squier dread, and once I learned how to play it, I learned to hate it. This thing was bright, but quiet, and absolutely NO bass.

I'm a bluegrass musician, so bass is a must. My little 3/4 sized laminated Harmony with 11's has more bass than that dread did. My new "beater" is my 1969 Harmony Stella H942 that I just rebuilt. I put beater in quotes because this guitar has already been beaten on, and is still playing today, at least, by my sister. Anyhow, once I get her back, this will definately be the one I bring out and stuff, while I leave my Martin at home, for the most part. Beaters, I love 'em. I also love beater cars as well.

 

Dan

[Stackabones]

 

The man bent over his guitar,

A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.

 

They said, "You have a blue guitar,

You do not play things as they are."

 

The man replied, "Things as they are

Are changed upon the blue guitar."

 

And they said then, "But play, you must,

A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,

 

A tune upon the blue guitar

Of things exactly as they are."

 

--

The Man With The Blue Guitar

, Wallace Stevens

[Michael Martin]

 

This is the guitar that can be taken anywhere...haven't showered with it yet but the day is young!

 

I actually do shower with my beater--good way to humidify it during the dry Iowa winters, as it's the guitar that is left out for E-Z access. I mean, it's not actually in the shower enclosure itself, but propped in the corner of the bathroom while the room gets all steamy.

 

My beater is a Fender as well--an MIJ F-10 bought at a pawnshop for $55 (They were asking a whopping $65). I love it dearly, and play it every day. It also travels with me wherever I go, in its crappy glorified-cardboard case.

[Samilyn]

I was at a shop trying to play an Ovation, and it kept slipping off my thigh, it didn't help that I had on some jeans that were a tad tight. The store owner was throwing me dirty looks like, "Yeah, sweetie if you drop it you bought it". In Praise Of The Beater: Four seconds of silence please. Trina

 

LOL. It'd be my rotten luck I'd do just that and be stuck with an unusual-but-expensive salad server.

[babablowfish]

 

I love beaters! It's nice having a guitar that you can take whereever without having to worry abut it! I think most people in this forum has at least one. And if memory serves me correctly, baba always goes BACK to his Yammie beater.

 

 

 

Egad! People actually read what I post? It is true though. My beater sits right at my desk and that is where I write songs. When I go to the beach or other dicey locations it is the beater that goes with me. I would say that I play my Yamaha FG401 beater about 10 times as much as the others. With the brass pins it has acceptablet tone and sustain but nowhere near what I get out of the Parkwood or even the Yamaha FG-340. Sometimes durability and freedom from worrying about damaging the precious git outweighs tone.

[Harmonycat]

 

One player's beater is another's bliss.

 

 

Do you like

My six string beater?

 

I really like it,

Yes I Do.

I like cause

It smells like glue.

 

Would you play it

here or there?

 

I would play it

here or there.

I would play it

anywhere.

I really like my six string beater

It is my favorite new girl meeter!

 

Would I play it

in a house?

Would I play it

when I'm soused?

 

I will play it

in a house.

I will play it

when I

[happy-man]

I really like having a beater. I especially like having one that sounds good and plays well. My beater used to be a laminate pawn shop Tak, and I thought I liked it ok till I took it to an open mic and heard it loud and clear (cringe). That one was stolen and I grabbed a pawnshop Washburn D100. It was ok, but intonation wasn't good up the neck and bass didn't have much sustain. I had stumbled upon the Yahama F-335 and decided I would sell the Washburn and get one. Then I found the Yamaha FG700S and really wanted it - the problem being that I'd have a hard time considering it a beater. But I had $100 saved and figured if I sold the Washburn I could get one.

 

... (I'm rambling) ... Then I stumbled onto my Simon & Patrick parlor for $200. I sold the Washburn and got it. But then I was without a beater for a while. I like the parlor, but I really missed having a beater. So I watched craigslist and eBay for a

 

Scott O

[babablowfish]

 

Do you like My six string beater?   I really like it, Yes I Do. I like cause It smells like glue.   Would you play it here or there?   I would play it here or there. I would play it anywhere. I really like my six string beater It is my favorite new girl meeter!   Would I play it in a house? Would I play it when I'm soused?   I will play it in a house. I will play it when I

[fred zappelin]

 

A recent thread on installing a strap button got me thinking about beaters. Fender gets a lot of bad press here, but they do (or did, at least) make a good beater. Mine (a Gemini III dread) has been abused due to ignorance for 15 years or so. Doesn't quite fit in the case (abnormally long headstock... really should be in a 12 string case), humidity cluelessness, left in the case while player took a hiatus for a few years, taken camping (in what turned out to be extreme heat and humidity with nowhere to hide), and probably a bunch of other atrocities I am forgetting. Not a warm and fuzzy life for an acoustic git. It just had its second setup last year since I've owned it (first one since I bought it), and still plays fine. It needs some fretwork on 3 or 4 of the lower frets (they're getting plateau-shaped), and one of the tuning machines is getting a little uhh... "crunchy" for lack of a better term, but otherwise no real maintenance issues. It's not a great git, and is not at all what I would shop for now, but plenty fine for a beater. When the frontman for our band is over to hang out, that's the one he reaches for to play every time. He says it's because he only plays black guitars, and he likes the sustain. I think it's because he knows it's my beater and is afraid of dinging up Martie. The use of a beater can allow us to make mods to a guitar that we would not normally consider, or take a guitar places that we either wouldn't take more expensive ones, or that would cause a lot of stress if we did. What about the rest of y'all? Beaters... love 'em or hate 'em? -A

 

 

 

 

Great Post !

My only acoustic is a 9 yr old WashburnD-10s beater that has been on 6 camping trips,

9 times to the beach,

left out on the porch all night long,

rained on,

fallen too many times,

beaten by young kids,

scratched & dinged,

twanged & banged,

sanded,

left too close to a radiator (by my dear wife),

and brutalized by my playing.

I still play it daily as it is my one and only acoustic but won`t be for long as I am very close to buying a brandy new all solid wood git real soon. Anyways here she is on my lap in the Adirondack State Park in NY. Note the missing pickguard !