Ha Ha, you are hilarious! It's works like a beauty. Probably even better now. I'm all the way up in Canada, so if you want to take a chance a dig threw my garbage, then go ahead. There will be no guitar in there. Dings add character.

First Ding you say....

Dont lose sleep over it. Enjoy your battle scars. I remember my first ding on my MIM Strat in '93. Got a 'blackie' just like EC. A few months later while jamming out at home gravity takes hold and the rear strap button screw decided to eject. That took a nice chunk of paint out of the bottom corner on impact. I'm not sure what wood they were made of in the early '90s but it didn't dent. I freaked out at first too, now its serious MOJO!

I dont have a guitar that doesnt have a scratch or dent except the Strat I got late last year,and when it happens it just wont bother me.

my cp 60 is still without any dings. my '96 lone star i own since 97 have some dings on the body and neck but that don't bother me.

cheers

I've had my Strat since 1972. I have lots of dings, chips and scratches. It's just Mojo. If you play in bars or clubs it's bound to happen sooner or later. Don't lose sleep over it. Look at the new Road Worn guitars. You're already on your way and didn't pay extra for somebody else to do it for you. Congrats!

My girlfriend bought me a Jagmaster for Christmas last year. As I took it downstairs to plug it in, I opened a drawer to grab a cable and I touched it against the the drawer. It wasn't very hard but I noticed a ding. I came upstairs and saw the shipping box had a hole in it in the same spot as my ding.
Good old shipping damage. I took it back and they managed to get most of the ding out. You can kind of see it when it hits the light but I don't care anymore. I think my girlfriend was more worried about it than I was.

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The first one always bothers you. But, as you start playing in bands it will be hard to keep it new. My guitar suffers from years of "belt rash"... not to mention the little chips and cracks in the paint. The rust that forms from your hand resting on the bridge. It don't take long. Eventually, you'll get used to it.

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"...The final truth is, there is no truth..." - (from "Nice n' Neat" by the Boomtown Rats)

It's impossible to truly take advantage of the instrument and never pick up any dings or scratches. The fact that it happened while you were getting a lesson is awesome- you are using it for what it was made for.

I can't even count how many times bass players or other guitarist have bumped their guitars into mine on stage or I have have swung around and smacked a cymbal with the headstock (they are magnetically attracted to one another, I swear!)

If you really play the guitar these things are going to happen and if you try to play the guitar and not ever get a single scratch on it you'll just go crazy. So, take them with pride, my friend.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

Isn't there a saying that "you always remember your first time?" The same is true of that dent/ding/scratch, you'll always remember how it happened. Just hopefully it'll be a good memory like you were having a great gig and when you were turning on the stage you caught a mic stand or something.

Over time they just become part of the guitar, character as it were.

Accept this as gospel! 90% of all the dings on all of my guitars came from drum kits.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

yeah i blame drum kits for many of my dings, i have this ibanez that is beat to all hell, and i love it more than when it was new. ive cracked the the head stock in the same place twice, chunks missing and dings galore

Dude!
No dings or scratches?! You're not playing it right or enough if you don't have a few dings on it!! They're love Bumps!!
My MIM was pristine for about a month until I really started playing it all the time. During a solo at the jam session I collided with the Bass player during one of those eyes closed face scrunched tirades. Nice big ding on the headstock. We were recording with a few mics in the room and I even got my first ding on Tape !!

My worst guitar screw up was my LP copy falling off the stand and landing on one of those old school barbells in the garage. Nice hefty quarter sized dent in the back of the neck around the 12th fret and a nasty jagged scar almost all the way across the body on the backside as it slid down across the screw like end of the barbell bar after initial impact. Graphic ain't it. My jaw dropped open as I watched all this in slow motion from across the room . Can't tell from the front, but it's in the case now because I play Strats and Teles.

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I'm playing my guitar so Tele me something Good!

The barbell probably saved your headstock from breaking off though.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.