Help! my jpxi got wet

[Kobzar]

Hi, I'm new here, but hope to get some help. Yesterday I tried to send a message to customer service on Music Man site, but I guess it didn't work out, since I got no answer, and also a copy of my message didn't come to my own address. So I'm posting it here, maybe someone can enlighten me on this topic:

'my emotional yeterday's message'
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Hi, I'm from Ukraine, so forgive my poor English. A horrible thing happened to my jpxi-7 and I hope you can give me some advice on how to deal with it.

A downpour happened in my area 5 days ago, with more rain in the next days. And evidently a ceiling leaked in a place where my guitar was kept, which I shockingly discovered only today. My jpxi was in a gig bag, a pretty decent one (Mono Vertigo) with approx. 1.5 inch of padding, but most unfortunate is that it was leaking right above the guitar, so when I got to it the whole gig bag was completely wet outside and inside. Though it wasn't like water was flowing directly inside the bag, with guitar submerged in it, but it was really wet, so when I pulled it out, the water was all over the body and fretboard (well, maybe because it was also raining last night, I just refuse to believe it stayed like that for five days!). I took it home, put it on a stand, and since it is summer the surface has dried out pretty quickly. So for now I'm planning to put it in its case and let the wood completely dry, then, I guess, I should clean the fretboard with oil, and maybe polish body and neck(?).

But I just don't know what to expect next. Are the mechanics and pickups going to rust, will there be some neck/truss rod problems or will the frets fall out? I looked at ebmm forum, also tried to google something useful but couldn't find anything helpful, so maybe you can shed some light on this issue.

What problems there might be because of this incident and what to do, to prevent greater damage?
Thanks, hope I'll get an answer and sorry for too much text.

P.S. Oh, also before this happened I messed with spring tension and blocked the tremolo, so that cavity was exposed, all others are untouched. Should I check them on some damp presence?
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At first I got scared, but so far it looks like no major damage has been done, though I haven't plugged it yet.
Any advice on this case would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[tbonesullivan]

You really would need to pull the pickups and the control cavity cover to see if water got in there. If it did, you will need to take measures to get the water out.

For me PERSONALLY, I would take the entire guitar apart, neck off, pickups out, bridge out, etc, and let it dry for a good week.

I would take the metal parts like the tuners, bridge, etc and put it in WD40 for an hour, and then take the parts out and let the excess run off, followed by rubbing all the parts down with a towel to get off the excess. I would then set those parts aside until the body and neck are fully dry.

Once you are sure the body is dry, I would then put it back together. You may want to also re-oil the neck, and then use some fretboard conditioner on the fretboard.

 

[beej]

Oh man, I am so sorry to hear that.

I would contact the Customer Service folks asap - they can advise you. I would pay for that phone call, myself. Or email.

 

[A.J.]

That's a bummer! PM sent.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

Ouch man, that's terrible! I won't give any advice here, since EBMM customer service is already taking care of you. I just want to wish you good luck with your guitar. Cheers!

 

[decreebass]

Dude... I'm so sorry

You need a giant bathtub of rice, STAT!!! Think of it like a giant iPhone!

 

[Movielife]

Oh man! Good luck Hope it works out.

 

[Kenji20022]

Agreed with taking it apart, let the entire guitar dry and dry off hard to reach places in parts. At that point I would also replace the electronics like the Pots/Switches just so you don't get any trouble from those in the future, they're inexpensive as well so it won't be a huge loss. Maybe the tuners as well, but just clean them and check for rust.

Hope this gets a resolution where the guitar is still functional for you.

 

[Geetarfreek82]

One time when I was in high school I was playing a pool party gig and a drunk chick knocked me into a pool Strat and all... I finished the set dripping wet but went right home and tore it apart. Hit the electronics lightly with a hair dryer and then sprayed them with contact cleaner. That guitar went on to survive another decade, so it should be fine.

 

[decreebass]

This is seriously one of my worst nightmares; the other one being me running a two-year-old over with my motorcycle and having to defend myself against his hysterical mother who literally kills me out of panic and rage, but I deserved it, right?

Anyway, TC, be sure to report back and let us know she's alright, k?

 

[Spudmurphy]

Wow that sucks. You've done the right thing contacting CS. Let it dry out naturally in a well ventilated room, keep the string tension as it is and spray the pots with cleaner. If you can, let the guitar hang but don't put any tension on the neck by propping it up e.g. against a wall.
Better to let it dry out naturally dont get putting any wax or oil on the neck as you need to let it "breathe" and dry out - but hey, listen to CS not me!!

 

[Kobzar]

Thanks everyone for replies and advices. Also thank you A.J. from customer service for consulting.

I wanted to reply a few times already, but strange things happened with guitar, so I waited to write it when things resolve.

It turned out OK. Thankfully, the wood and finish seems unaffected. There's a little corrosion on metal parts here and there, but nothing critical. The strange part is that when I plugged it for the first time it was scratchy as hell, and a signal was somewhat unbalanced between pickups. A couple of days passed now, and it plays almost normal
Don't know how this miracle occured, but it's the most appropriate timing.

Howewer I'd like to change both pots and switches because of rust, so can someone specify what do they use at the factory? I don't want to put cheap parts from local stores in such a quality instrument, should order something good from internet instead, but I'm not knowledgeable in this matter. And same for jacks, because my mono jack is dead.

Also, anyone knows where I can get a wiring diagram for jpxi?

Once again, thanks!

 

[tbonesullivan]

I would definitely contact customer service regarding parts and such. Also I think the schematics are available on the website.

 

[Astrofreq]

Hope it works out. That's rough.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Thanks everyone for replies and advices. Also thank you A.J. from customer service for consulting.

I wanted to reply a few times already, but strange things happened with guitar, so I waited to write it when things resolve.

It turned out OK. Thankfully, the wood and finish seems unaffected. There's a little corrosion on metal parts here and there, but nothing critical. The strange part is that when I plugged it for the first time it was scratchy as hell, and a signal was somewhat unbalanced between pickups. A couple of days passed now, and it plays almost normal
Don't know how this miracle occured, but it's the most appropriate timing.

Howewer I'd like to change both pots and switches because of rust, so can someone specify what do they use at the factory? I don't want to put cheap parts from local stores in such a quality instrument, should order something good from internet instead, but I'm not knowledgeable in this matter. And same for jacks, because my mono jack is dead.

Also, anyone knows where I can get a wiring diagram for jpxi?

Once again, thanks!

Glad that things are returning to normal for ya!

What probably happened is that the pots/switches had some corrosion and when you started using the pots and switches they "cleaned up" with use. e.g. the wiper part of the pot would have cleaned itself to some extent just by turning the pot a couple of times. This also happens with old amps - the pots crackle a bit because they haven't been used and merely turning them back and forth a couple of times will sort things out. I'd just spray some switch cleaner in them for now and see how things progress rather than dive in and change everything.