Neck cracking sound

[astarock]

Hi everybody, it's been 3 months now that i proudly own a Ernie Ball Musicman John Petrucci 6 stings pearl redburst. It's the best guitar i'v own and by far the best i have the chance to play! For comparison, i own a ESP KH-2 and a fender stratocaster and these too doesn't compare to the feeling of the Musicman.

But sadly, 1 month ago i'v begun experiencing a weird problem with the guitar, every time i'm playing with it, i hear and feel in the body a cracking sound or should i say a "Tic" sound that seems to come from the neck joint of the guitar . I have found that if i put a small amount of pressure on the neck i can reproduce the Tic sound?? But what worry's me the most is that every time the weird sound comes on, the guitar comes out of tune.

So the first thing i'v tried is thithening a bit the neck screws on the back of the guitar, 2 seems to be looser than the others. Then at first i tought the cracking had disapear, but when i returned from work, i'v taken the guitar to play just a bit and then "Tic" again .

I'v send the guitar to my luthier but he didn't hear anything . i'v told him that the guitar does this every time i play the guitar after it has settle for a while. He checked again but have not anything wrong.

Now i don't know what to do

 

[NorM]

Your Pet is got to be one sweet guitar. Pearl redburst is a great finish. Sorry to hear of your issue and I know it can be disturbing. I think the best thing you could do would be to call Ernie Ball's customer service @800.543.2255 ( that's 800.KID.BALL)

They are really great people there and they would love to hear from you. Please call them ASAP. You can even tell them I said hello but that won't help you any.

Thanks for asking.

 

[blackspy]

I'd wager it is the strings slipping on the tuning pegs. You may be stringing it incorrectly... the locking tuners require very little extra string on them. I'm sure someone will chime and describe how to do it correctly, I'm not too sure.

 

[lock-ny]

The necks on bolt on guitars actually move a bit sometimes, which is what the cracking sounds like to me, if I pull the neck of my bolt ons they move a bit and it could throw the guitar outta tune, not sure how to fix it though -

 

[Colin]

Contacting customer service will be your best bet. Make sure you tell us how you go. Sometimes people post their problems on the forum and after it's been fixed they don't update the post. EB customer service are very helpful and approachable.

Colin

 

[Roubster]

I also sometimes hear a slight pop coming from the neck joint when I pull the guitar out of the case, but I have not had ANY problems at all with it and I dont have any tuning problems. I sure freakin hope it stays that way!!! Good luck with yours man.

 

[koogie2k]

Give Customer Service a call.......just to make sure. Can't be too careful.

 

[brentrocks]

my amber EVH used to make a noise like that every time i laid on the floyd...i tightened the neck screws and it solved the problem

 

[blackspy]

Ok, I think I must've misread your initial post. I took 'neck joint' and thought joint where headstock attaches to neck. Not joint where neck attaches to body. I generally think of that as neck pocket.

Sorry...

 

[roburado]

Never had a problem like that on my guitars except my 1990 Ibenhad RG 570.

But, yeah, please let us know what happened.

 

[astarock]

Thanks to all your replies and your support guys. I'm pretty sure that the proplem come from the neck joint. Cause when i'v tried to unscrew and screw the neck screws just a bit, i could clearly hear the cracking sound, same as the one i have problem with!

I know, some people gonna say "then just thithen the screws", i'v allready tought about and allready done it but i'v thithen them pretty hard(at least of what i think is safe) so they don't screw down anymore, even with a big thick screwdriver, but i don't wanna crack the clear coat on my little jem too. And even then, i don't hear it as much as it was before, it still does the "tic" sound once a while.

And i don't want to mess too much with this, fearing of breacking something. By the way i'v got to the store and they gonna send it back to Musicman + $$$ of shipping . i had some argument with the store guy cause he didn't hear nothing on my guitar but hey, it's my guitar and i know better than everyone what problems she have. One of my frend have one EBMM JP 6 strings too and he doesn't have this issue!

i'll just have to cross my fingers so that Ernieball gonna find the problem!

 

[Colin]

i had some argument with the store guy cause he didn't hear nothing on my guitar but hey, it's my guitar and i know better than everyone what problems she have.

I'll just have to cross my fingers so that Ernie ball gonna find the problem!

I think you will find EB will look after you, and you're right it is your guitar and you will know better than anyone if it's not right. Just remember when your happy again to let us all know.

 

[tommyindelaware]

Thanks to all your replies and your support guys. I'm pretty sure that the proplem come from the neck joint. Cause when i'v tried to unscrew and screw the neck screws just a bit, i could clearly hear the cracking sound, same as the one i have problem with!

I know, some people gonna say "then just thithen the screws", i'v allready tought about and allready done it but i'v thithen them pretty hard(at least of what i think is safe) so they don't screw down anymore, even with a big thick screwdriver, but i don't wanna crack the clear coat on my little jem too. And even then, i don't hear it as much as it was before, it still does the "tic" sound once a while.

And i don't want to mess too much with this, fearing of breacking something. By the way i'v got to the store and they gonna send it back to Musicman + $$$ of shipping . i had some argument with the store guy cause he didn't hear nothing on my guitar but hey, it's my guitar and i know better than everyone what problems she have. One of my frend have one EBMM JP 6 strings too and he doesn't have this issue!

i'll just have to cross my fingers so that Ernieball gonna find the problem!

where are u located ???????
u should try lubing the nut slots.
there are a couple of simple things u should try before u send it out to jon.

 

[astarock]

I live in montreal, Quebec. It' s been almost 2 years that i havent speak english with somebody, so i think i wouldn't been able to call the consumer service. And about lubing the nut, i'm 99.99% sure that the problem comes from the neck joint but anyway it's allready too late, the guitar have been allready shiped!

By the way who is jon? If it is really him that's gonna checking for my guitar, is there any way i can write to him, i think i can give him a better description of the problem than just a piece of paper!

 

[J-Nick]

I live in montreal, Quebec. It' s been almost 2 years that i havent speak english with somebody, so i think i wouldn't been able to call the consumer service. And about lubing the nut, i'm 99.99% sure that the problem comes from the neck joint but anyway it's allready too late, the guitar have been allready shiped!

By the way who is jon? If it is really him that's gonna checking for my guitar, is there any way i can write to him, i think i can give him a better description of the problem than just a piece of paper!

Salut Astarock!

You should update your profile so that people know where you're from... Jon works for EBMM and is the EBMM repair guru. His forum name is Jongirtaz (spelling?)

Good to see a fellow Montrealer playing the greatest instruments out there!

à la prochaine

 

[NorM]

Jon is the only EBMM authorized repair person in the world. I also understand that he is the guy who puts together the guitars for the EBMM artists. I got to meet him once and I think he is really cool. I had to send in one of my guitars once and when I got it back all I could say was:

Dayum​

it was/is really nice.