Cracked neck plate, really?

[MM Luke]

In all my years of playing (40 years) and working on guitars (20 years), I have never seen a neck plate crack. Beginning to rethink my Music Man Luke collection. Extremely disappointed ...

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[Kinjin]

Holy overtightened neck screw, Batman! Might be time to replace Thor as your guitar tech... you can see in that close-up pic the screw-head has some damage to it, as well- starting to strip a bit...

 

[MM Luke]

Holy overtightened neck screw, Batman! Might be time to replace Thor as your guitar tech... you can see in that close-up pic the screw-head has some damage to it, as well- starting to strip a bit...

"Thor" ...

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[MM Luke]

Just purchased from original owner. It definitely needed some TLC. Luckily I'm a luthier by night. FB was bone dry as well. Soaked up the conditioner like like Bounty, the quicker-picker-upper.

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[johnnyboogie]

I have received a Polar Noir Majesty with a terrible paint job. Paint had ran on several places. Totally beats me how it passed quality control. Thanks to a grand-master luthier of global range we are lucky to have here in Athens, Greece it is now finished immaculately into a Ferrari Rosso Majesty.

Another Majesty with a curve on one of its sides due to an inaccuracy in the sanding process. Where it was supposed to be perfectly straight.

The NOMAC Majesty had a drop of glue on the forearm contour. Glue that was used to attach the eye-monitors.

My JPXI Cardinal has a very small polish crack on the neck joint along with orange-peel due to bad paint job as well.

Nobody is perfect indeed, and EBMM should not be 'divinified' as it's something that I see happening here a lot. In the end, everything depends on how high standards you have and how-well trained eye you have for details.

 

[G0REH0UND]

Exact same thing happened on my '07 Luke. It's a bummer for sure. Especially since the serial is stamped on the plate. The crack in mine has gotten much worse over time, too. I'll probably have to look into replacement options eventually.

 

[ieso]

wow, quite frightening

 

[DrKev]

you can see in that close-up pic the screw-head has some damage to it, as well- starting to strip a bit...

My exact first thought too.

Fortunately it's not a big deal. Just don't over tighten your neck screws. And there is no need to have them cranked anywhere near that tight.

 

[MM Luke]

My exact first thought too.

Fortunately it's not a big deal. Just don't over tighten your neck screws. And there is no need to have them cranked anywhere near that tight.

Yeah, already backed that screw off about an eighth of a turn. Shouldn't get worse. Just mind-boggled that 1 someone would crank on them that hard and 2 the plate would crack. BTW, the screw heads are still fine as well as long as u use the correct size screwdriver ... imagine that?!?

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[DrKev]

Yeah, I learned my lesson cracking the neck plate on on my strat a long time ago, back in the days when I thought the tightest possible neck join meant "mythical sustain". (Narrators voice: I doesn't). Those screw heads are not in good shape either.

 

[MM Luke]

Exact same thing happened on my '07 Luke. It's a bummer for sure. Especially since the serial is stamped on the plate. The crack in mine has gotten much worse over time, too. I'll probably have to look into replacement options eventually.

Damn, bummer! U must have had the same tech the previous owner of my guitar had. It's a same knuckleheads like that work on gorgeous guitars like these!

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[MM Luke]

I have received a Polar Noir Majesty with a terrible paint job. Paint had ran on several places. Totally beats me how it passed quality control. Thanks to a grand-master luthier of global range we are lucky to have here in Athens, Greece it is now finished immaculately into a Ferrari Rosso Majesty.

Another Majesty with a curve on one of its sides due to an inaccuracy in the sanding process. Where it was supposed to be perfectly straight.

The NOMAC Majesty had a drop of glue on the forearm contour. Glue that was used to attach the eye-monitors.

My JPXI Cardinal has a very small polish crack on the neck joint along with orange-peel due to bad paint job as well.

Nobody is perfect indeed, and EBMM should not be 'divinified' as it's something that I see happening here a lot. In the end, everything depends on how high standards you have and how-well trained eye you have for details.

Ugh, bummer! Orange-peeling... Wow. Never seen that on an EBMM

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[xjbebop]

That's actually not uncommon on some of the older guitars. One of my older 'pre-owned' AL's has the same thing. I panicked a little at first, but after talking with CS and researching the subject, I relaxed about it. Few years later now and I've forgotten it's even there.
EBMM will sell you a replacement plate, but it won't have a s/n on it.

 

[ohbugger]

I would think that the threads in the wood would strip before the metal plate cracked, if someone torqued the screws too tight - oh man!

 

[johnnyboogie]

Ugh, bummer! Orange-peeling... Wow. Never seen that on an EBMM

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It is very subtle, but it is there. It is my firm belief that the paint-job is one of the most difficult and accuracy-demanding parts of the whole construction process. One that requires a dedicated specialist if ones wishes to achieve perfection.

 

[MM Luke]

I would think that the threads in the wood would strip before the metal plate cracked, if someone torqued the screws too tight - oh man!

Ditto!

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[Big Poppa]

if you crank on the plate it will crack...maybe not at first...also most times it is a plating crack not material crack. If we did something wrong we should get a chance to fix it.

Johnny all those problems sort of surprise me....why didnt you give us a chance to fix it?

 

[johnnyboogie]

if you crank on the plate it will crack...maybe not at first...also most times it is a plating crack not material crack. If we did something wrong we should get a chance to fix it.

Johnny all those problems sort of surprise me....why didnt you give us a chance to fix it?

Thanks for offering Big Poppa =) Sincerely appreciate it. However, were I to send the afore mentioned instruments to the US and have them sent back would cost me a fortune in shipping fees, not to mention a mountain of paperwork as I am located in Europe. I certainly wish there was an easier way.

As fas as the NOMAC is concerned, I had a conversation with Pete, and he in turn with Drew. Drew's adamant position is that it's not glue but part of the NOMAC time-worn finish. It's not though, and I am willing to bet a second NOMAC on that =)

PS. I would definitely be satisfied with a 5A quilted maple top JP15 in Trans Black and an insane flame-figured neck, which I would pay for of course =D

 

[marcobenassi]

Hi Guys. I'd have the same problem on my Mm Luke II.
You can see some pictures at this dropbox link:

How cani resolve it ?
Can I send the guitar to MM? Can they paint the guitar again?
This is my beautiful guitar signed by steve Lukather. If i can i want to resolve !! ;-)
What do you think about it ?

Thanks.
Marco.

 

[beej]

Sorry- I can't let you post a random link to a zip file here, that could be anything. If you want to link to pictures, please do it directly.

In terms of the problem- if it's just a plate cracking (which was the subject of this thread), there's no reason to paint the guitar. You can just get a replacement plate. Drop Daniel a line - [email protected].