Crack Line

[trikim]

Hello everyone.
This is a question for Tom or someone who has had this issue; I am not sure if it's a problem yet. Last night while performing my weekly ritual of cleaning my guitars I notice a crack on my Drop Top 04-29-06P. It looks like a "hair line" crack about 1" long located on the body righ where the neck bolts on to the neck. So if you had the guitar on an upright position the crack would be on the "top end" of the body and not the sides where the neck/body joint. The crack is very thin and it starts at the "inside" of the body and makes it's way "out." Is it just the lacquer that cracked?, should I be concerned?, is this a guitar defect and covered by a warranty? At the moment is just 1" long but I am concerned that t might keep on growing. Thanks for any feedback. I will try and take a picture of it... not sure if my camera will be able to capture such detail but I'll try.

[tom]

we've seen a few of those just like we used to see lots of corner cracks on old style neck joints. most have been just finish cracks but a few have been broken wood. it takes a pretty good sideways whack to make it break the wood. if the neck appears to be stable positioning wise it's probably just paint. if you can make the neck wiggle in the body, it may be worse. take a look and let me know what you find.

[trikim]

Thanks for the reply Tom. I checked the guitar and there is no "wiggle" or anything our of the ordinary. It stays in tune fine and It plays the same as the fist day I bought it....brand new. This guitar is basically my "home practice" guitar and I keep it away from "band practice" and "live shows" because we play all these drop C and drop D tuning cover songs. Also all the standard E tuning songs we tune down to Eb for the singers sake. What I mean to say is that I don't like to mess around with the springs so I decided to make it my home practice guitar, which means it's been pretty much sitting on a stand at home and not getting the use my other guitars get... until I decide to tune it to Eb. Anyway, I'll try and get some photos today and see what you think. Thanks again.

[trikim]

Hi Tom,
Here are the pictures of the crack on my guitar. I appreciate your feedback. As I said before, the guitars plays fine and stays in tune just like the day I bought it. I don't know how this crack came about. Have a look.

[schofnsteen]

Just bought a new Anderson and mine has the exact same issue.I wonder if ot has something to do with the new neck design. The dealer says it must have occured in shipping.I have noticed this come up several times here.

[mbrown3]

Looks like finish to me, but since I've never built or done finish work on a guitar in my life, I wouldn't totally go by what I've said here.

:D

[csd]

I'd say that because of an inside corner, it has a finish crack. Inside corners are always a prob. I deal with it in pouring concrete too!!! Don't think it's structural. Just my 2 cents.

[tom]

looks like finish to me too.

[trikim]

Comment by csd
I'd say that because of an inside corner, it has a finish crack. Inside corners are always a prob. I deal with it in pouring concrete too!!! Don't think it's structural. Just my 2 cents.
... and when concrete cracks is due do a weak and unstable foundation.
I guess I am just concerned of "why" this crack occurred on a 2006 guitar. Will the value of the guitar go down? Is hard to spot, but even if is just a finish crack it doesn't look good. Will the crack line keep "running"? I have no cracks on any of my other guitars.

[Ecky-Thump]

That's a bummer. Most likely happened during shipping (from personal past experience).

Although it may not be structural, it can negatively affect the value of the guitar (again from past experience). Finish cracks are very common with any bolt on neck. Saying that I always thought the A wedgie looked super stable.

Unfortunately there's little that can be done about a delivery guy throwing cases around...

[csd]

[I]....Concrete cracks on inside corners. Heave and thaw on the ground moving contributes, as like that delivery guy comment. Very unfortunate, it is a bummer for sure.
Just something to bounce off you guys,.... You know how furniture people 'patch-up' cracks with a lacquer stick, is it possible to do the same with this type of crack? Is it an NC lacquer that can be dealt with this way? At least in a way that won't lessen the value of said gtr.[I]

[tom]

time is not a factor, we see it in old and new guitars.
super glue is the new lacquer stick. it gets in and seals cracks very nicely.

[csd]

Never thought of that, dries nice and clear too. Good to know, thanx.

[tom]

a warning, it must be used sparingly. the unbonder will take it off the finish, but it's a mess when it gets where it's not supposed to be.

[csd]

I use this product for repairs and other things in my industry, I've used it with plastic fusing jobs, it works well. www.plastex.net