Could it be "Basswood" causing the finish cracks?

[metaled]

In light of the other threads where people have been complaining of finish cracks along the neck joint of Axis guitars,could it be associated with the wood Basswood? Maybe that wood tends to expand more than others because i just got back from visiting a local guitar center store where they have many used EBMM guitars and out of the 3 used Axis guitars there,2 had finish cracks along the neck joint. 1 of them was really bad, but they also had 2 Luke models which are made of Alder wood and they had no cracks! Now i`ve seen strats made of Alder that had cracks before but i`m wondering if its more common with Basswood! In my experience it seems to be more frequent with that wood but i can be totally wrong.....wouldn`t be the first time!!!

 

[learningtolive]

Interesting thought as the petrucci is also basswood and has problems with finish cracks too, so ive heard. My friends ibanez rg is basswood and that has a stress crack also. I pick my strat up by the neck all the time and don't baby it at all and that is crackless - it is made of alder. Although, Vai's Jem7Vs are made of alder and ive heard they can crack there (look at poor evo!) Still, Vai isn't exactly gentle with them lol. Watch live in london to see what I mean! It's a quality dvd/concert anyway so buy it.

 

[Lew]

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showpost.php?p=40423&postcount=6

 

[metaled]

Hey Lew.....thanks! It just seems like it happens more with Basswood bodied guitars so i thought there might be something there! I`ve had about 20 different guitars and out of those only 2 were Basswood bodies (Axis SS and Peavey Wolfgang) and they both had finish cracks,none of my other ones did! Having said all that, its not a big deal to me and it wouldn`t stop me from buying a Basswood body guitar. In fact,i plan on getting an Axis very soon!!!!!

 

[Lew]

No prob.
I had a g&l legacy that was ASH and had a Big neck joint crack.
It was discussed awhile back on the TDP,and some learned twangers in the know thought that too tight a neck pocket/neck joint could cause these symptons aswell.YMM
I think anyone concerned about the finish cracks should do as learningtolive sugests and check out vai's number one

 

[PurpleSport]

Still, Vai isn't exactly gentle with them lol. Watch live in london to see what I mean! It's a quality dvd/concert anyway so buy it.

Just be sure to pop a few Dramamine before you watch...the camerawork in that one was a HUGE disappointment to me - so much zooming and flipping and spinning was going on in that DVD that I thought a high school video class had been hired to produce it!

This isn't a slam on the performance of Vai and his band, which was great, nor the audio quality. I do wonder, though, if SV knew what he was getting when he contracted that film crew...totally detracted from what was apparently an otherwise quality show.

 

[dwf1004]

I think that it's the gravitational pull of the moon...but that's just me.

 

[NorM]

You are the only one affected by the gravitational pull of the moon?

C Ya Thursday.

 

[OrangeChannel]

In light of the other threads where people have been complaining of finish cracks along the neck joint of Axis guitars,could it be associated with the wood Basswood? Maybe that wood tends to expand more than others because i just got back from visiting a local guitar center store where they have many used EBMM guitars and out of the 3 used Axis guitars there,2 had finish cracks along the neck joint. 1 of them was really bad, but they also had 2 Luke models which are made of Alder wood and they had no cracks! Now i`ve seen strats made of Alder that had cracks before but i`m wondering if its more common with Basswood! In my experience it seems to be more frequent with that wood but i can be totally wrong.....wouldn`t be the first time!!!

the causation of this issue is that the particular region in question is where the finish is most brittle and less at ease to expand and contract with the body (the nature of wood) so it develops cracks and checks due to the natural phenomena that occurs in wood.

 

[dwf1004]

norm...you're so rude.

Yeah, 7 days, bro and the mighty VH again...can't wait!

Sorry to steer the thread off course...as you were people.