Music Man Axis cracked neck

[MMA_wannabe]

Hi all,

today I've just received a Music Man Axis bought on Reverb.com for the price of 2100€. Guitar arrived from Malaga Spain, and I was very excited. Unfortunately the thrill lasted for a very short period of time... I was just was going to restring the guitar (strings were thousand years old) when I've noticed that neck position seems a bit odd:


Afterwards I took a look at the neck joint, and just underneath the neck noticed a crack on the guitar body:


I don't know what to do here because I like the guitar, but the value payed for it seems a way too high considering the guitar is broken. I've just checked the received pictures from the seller and all of them were at angle "hiding" this crack, so there was no way I could have seen it... Of course nobody communicated this to me, and guitar description stated Mint.

Did someone experience similar situation? I would appreciate any advice!

Also whilst checking the guitar condition, these couple of plastic or rubber parts slipped out:

Anybody know their purpose or where do they belong? Seems to be some part of music man tremolo bridge?!

Thanks in advance!

BRs,
Goran

 

[DevRock]

That stress crack is VERY common. It's not structural. Usually just the finish. But you're right that's it's not MINT, by any means.

Have you removed the neck? It just appears the previous owner shimmed it for some reason. Take it off and see what's going on under there.

 

[Cenobyte]

Totally agree with the above, that crack is generally a finish crack and pretty common... I had an '89 Ibanez Sabre which fell face forward to the ground in a soft case on a streetcar, when I took it out I gained one of those finish cracks, exact same spot... the guitar played fine for many years after that and I started to notice many other nicer bolt on instruments with similar finish cracks in that exact spot.

Remove the neck and inspect closer... it does look like the owner may have tried to tilt the neck back, possibly with those little plastic bits and bobs, who knows why... but it may be ok once you take it apart and get it back on sitting flush. If you aren't comfy doing that take it to a local lutheir, it would be a pretty quick job, maybe get it set up at the same time... I would 100% reach out to the seller with your pics and complain, very uncool to not mention this and you should get some cash back for having to deal with this.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Hmm, those plastic washers, how big are they? EBMM uses washers like those under the strap buttons on their new guitars these days. I would definitely pull the neck. It IS possible that the crack just occurred during shipping. Guitars are often subjected to a lot of stress, which can cause the neck to shift. That can sometimes lead to those cracks.

Some consider those cracks to be almost inevitable with a bolt on guitar. You're basically using some screws to squeeze two pieces of wood together, which distorts the wood in strange ways.

 

[Steve Nukather]

This is very common and really not a serious problem. The washers were probably used to shim the neck angle, that's how action is adjusted on this design.

 

[MMA_wannabe]

Thank you all for replying!

I've contacted the seller and informed him about the issue. He agrees to compensate for the damage but only 10%... What do you think guys? In your opinion what should be the target price to settle on?

@tbonesullivan: Related to those washers I think I've figured it out. They seem to be related to tremolo arm if I'm not mistaking?! There is an allen wrench type of a screw which goes into tremolo arm preventing it from falling out. I think they fell out of there...

 

[Cenobyte]

He agrees to compensate for the damage but only 10%... What do you think guys? In your opinion what should be the target price to settle on?

I'd like to help here but I have no idea what general condition the Axis itself is in, or the year it was made, that kind of thing... so really hard to say, though it seems like you paid for a guitar that should be in very good condition vs mildly abused condition. It prob comes down to how you feel about the discount, have you tried taking the neck off and getting it to lay flat/restrung it yet? I'd say that's your first priority before agreeing to any kind of discount at all. If you can't get the neck to lay flat for some reason that 210€ means nothing.

 

[DevRock]

Thank you all for replying!

I've contacted the seller and informed him about the issue. He agrees to compensate for the damage but only 10%... What do you think guys? In your opinion what should be the target price to settle on?

@tbonesullivan: Related to those washers I think I've figured it out. They seem to be related to tremolo arm if I'm not mistaking?! There is an allen wrench type of a screw which goes into tremolo arm preventing it from falling out. I think they fell out of there...

That's great if you got some money back But you still haven't answered the question about taking off the neck.

 

[spychocyco]

From the limited photos, it looks like it needs some TLC. Those frets definitely need a polish. The stress fractures are not a big deal, just finish, but they should have been mentioned by the seller. If you have a tech you trust, I'd probably have them check it out. Then it's really just down to whether or not you feel it's worth what you paid. I'd say 10 percent is probably fair for the paint cracks if everything else is fine, but you've got to decide if you're going to be happy with it.

 

[MMA_wannabe]

Hello guys,

I'm afraid to take off the whole neck, but I've tried loosing it up a bit... did some pressure on the neck and tighten it up again. To me it looks a bit better?! While loosing the screws a lot of cracks were happening though... ¨

 

[tbonesullivan]

Hello guys,

I'm afraid to take off the whole neck, but I've tried loosing it up a bit... did some pressure on the neck and tighten it up again. To me it looks a bit better?! While loosing the screws a lot of cracks were happening though... ¨

View attachment 36411

That can just be the sound of the screws getting "stuck" and then released. I think it would really be a good idea to take off the neck, and see what is in the neck pocket acting as a shim. It looks like the previous owner used something a bunch more thick than the usual small piece of plastic.

 

[MMA_wannabe]

Hi,

I have written a mail to music man customer service as well, asking about the neck position.
Apparently this seems to be normal for Axis type of guitars, or at least the ones with Floyd Rose system.
Here is the quote from customer service mail:
"The difference in height you're seeing on the neck is normal for that guitar. I'm assuming that this is the floyd rose model guitar? There are usually shims under the neck that are used to set the neck angle that makes it look like this."

Thanks guys for all your help!!!
And now... the beauty on display (at least to me )...

 

[tbonesullivan]

Hi,

I have written a mail to music man customer service as well, asking about the neck position.
Apparently this seems to be normal for Axis type of guitars, or at least the ones with Floyd Rose system.
Here is the quote from customer service mail:
"The difference in height you're seeing on the neck is normal for that guitar. I'm assuming that this is the floyd rose model guitar? There are usually shims under the neck that are used to set the neck angle that makes it look like this."

Thanks guys for all your help!!!

This is true. The Floyd Rose on the axis is "decked" on the body of the guitar. The saddles themselves on a floyd rose are also not height adjustable. This means that the only way to get the right action is to shim the neck, sometimes substantially.

 

[MMA_wannabe]

This is true. The Floyd Rose on the axis is "decked" on the body of the guitar. The saddles themselves on a floyd rose are also not height adjustable. This means that the only way to get the right action is to shim the neck, sometimes substantially.

Thanks man!

 

[Wahoonc]

This is true. The Floyd Rose on the axis is "decked" on the body of the guitar. The saddles themselves on a floyd rose are also not height adjustable. This means that the only way to get the right action is to shim the neck, sometimes substantially.

Yep. Had to shim mine and now it's perfect.

 

[elhueso]

Take the neck out and see if there's a shim in the neck pocket. Also you'll be able to see if that crack is just the finish or the wood. (I'm pretty sure without seeing the guitar that is just a crack in the finish, a very common spot for cracking)