Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

[giles]

I've noticed several Model 4s or 475s for sale lately where the seller mentioned a small crack in the body near the neck joint, but they have stated it is in the paint only, not the wood. Does anyone have any experience w/ this type of cracking? Is it realistic to think that it won't spread, and that it can be confined to the paint only?

[Budman68]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

<font color="aqua">Yep, it happens to most of them. Very rarely does one not have a crack in those areas but they're out there. This will usually happen to most bolt ons as that's a (for lack of a better term) "weak" area because of the neck shifting ever so slightly and and the necks fitting snugly into the neck pocket. When the wood expands and contracts, the paint doesn't and the joint can get tighter or loosen, dpending on climate and humidity, hence cracking begins.

Now this is not to say that someone couldn't have dropped the guitar or that it took a hit and the neck was shifted that badly that it literally cracked that area through to the wood as well. When the guitar body is in your hands, it's really easy to tell if the wood is actually cracked as well because the whole cracked piece will "move" when pressure is applied to it, unlike when it's just the paint, it won't move at all.
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[Carbuff]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

Also, sometimes a crack occurs from the neck pocket to the neck pickup cavity. Ive seen this on a few guitars too. I dont think its a big deal and usually its hidden by the neck overhang.

[Speiro]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

The model 4 body I've been working on had a crack in the same place, but it turned out to be only the paint that was cracked. I've stripped in back to wood and the body itself is fine.

[DonP]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

I have a paint crack in that place in one of my Charvel Fusion Deluxe bodies.

[donvandam]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

I have a paint crack in my 375 also as described

[giles]

Re: Model 4 cracks near neck joint?

Thanks for all the replies guys. That helps put me at ease. The owner of this guitar removed the neck just to double check and said that the body is fine, so it's only surface checking.