Stress Cracks in the Neck Joint of non EBMM

[straycat113]

I just got finished doing a string change and polishing 11 guitars that were put away last year. Six were in a closet in one room a 5 in a closet in my Bedroom which are right next door to each other. Now these guitars were not touched in that time period for a fact. The odd thing was the 5 in my room were fine, and 2 of the six in the other developed a stress crack in the neck joint which has me bewildered. Neither was an EBMM guitar in fact both start with an F and one is a S#### and the other a T###.

I really cant for the life of me figure out how these happened as the climate in the house is the same and both sets were kept in just about identical spots in there cases and since I need surgery only one guitar is always out of its case that I Django a bit on, or else I have not even been able to play a whole song due CTS and a Neuroma in my thumb joint that I will be having surgery on very soon.lol The thing that is bothering me is one guitar is 25 years old and was my main guitar for 15 years and the other is 8 and was pretty expensive and only had a few months the most of playtime, and was practically dead mint. I look at every nook and cranny before I put a guitar away, and that is how I know they were not there a year ago.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could of caused this as I just want to safe guard it from happening to any other guitars. It is not an unusual topic on many forums but I never payed much attention as I have never had it happen to a guitar in 30 plus years, and now do not want to see it happen to anything else. I had bought a Strat years ago from a friend that had it and no way did it affect playability. The only problem I had was when I went to sell it I had to take a loss because of it. I would appreciate any feedback.

What is done is done

 

[TonyEVH5150]

Stress cracks can happen on any guitar. Regardless of storage conditions, you still have 200 pounds of pressure trying to pull the neck towards the body.

 

[jbyrd]

Sorry to hear that. I definitely wouldn't have guessed 200 lbs. What's the proper way of storing a guitar if it's likely to stay stored for a good while? If you remove the string, and tremolo springs if so equiped, is the neck more likely to do weird stuff without the tension it's used to?

 

[patpark]

The wood may have expanded and shrunk while being stored. This is usually the reason why stress cracks occur.

If your going to store a guitar i would not recommend taking the strings off. The truss rod with no string tension could cause the neck to lock into place without the strings. Resulting ina back bow that you can't adjust out. If you must store with no strings, loosen the truss rod and take the tension off the neck.

 

[beej]

Since we're not talking about an EBMM here, I'm going to adjust the title, just so Google doesn't get the wrong idea.

 

[straycat113]

Yes I am glad you did that beej as I did not think of that and someone might of interpreted wrong.pat I have been storing my guitars the same way for ages as it is the only time I give them a thorough polishing then I change the strings, tune down a half step and keep them in there cases standing up as this has always worked best for me. Just one of those things that will bother me for a week and then I will get over it. Thank God one is a 25 year old work horse and the other though an expensive ax was bought to go either way and I know which way it is going to go now. If it was the guitars in the other room I would not of been online for sometime, as I would of been breaking a lot of things.lol

 

[nobozos]

I wouldn't worry about it. I honestly don't think it will reduce the value of your guitar. Most people know that finish cracks at the neck pocket are common, and don't indicate any larger underlying problem.

I compare them to a door ding on your car. Yes, they are annoying. Yes, it's extremely frustrating when you discover it. The thing is, it really doesn't effect anything. You just learn to live with it.

 

[grapeshot]

I had those neck pocket finish cracks appear on my new AL HH a day after I bought it. it's not a big deal to me, though, it happens. This is something people extra for on Fender Custom Shop Relics, right?

 

[ShaneV]

I had those neck pocket finish cracks appear on my new AL HH a day after I bought it. it's not a big deal to me, though, it happens. This is something people extra for on Fender Custom Shop Relics, right?

That's true. Throw your new guitar down the stairs- you may stand to double its value

 

[grapeshot]

That's true. Throw your new guitar down the stairs- you may stand to double its value

Ha!

 

[Dante]

i read a little something down (would you believe it?) the dean forums. it seems to be a smart idea to let your guitar acclimatise for a number of hours when you get it because most of the world is on a different climate than the factory, not to mention the conditions on the road.

as far as for stored guitars, never happened to me.

 

[beej]

Ok fellas ... I think this one has run its course.