Help on cracks on 1yr-old Jackson Kelly KE2

[JCFaristos]

Hello all.

Exactly 1 year ago I bought (for quite a bit of money) a black Jackson Kelly KE2. It is a wonderful instrument and this is why it pisses me off that a couple of months ago two cracks appeared on the finish below the bridge along the two straight lines that connect the 3 body pieces (reminder: it's a neck-thru). Clearly the 3 pieces have shifted with respect to each other.

Has anyone ever had a similar problem? Do you know if it is fixable? In any case, do you know if this is covered under the Jackson (Fender) warranty?

Please help me, I am in despair! Thanks a lot in advance for the responses.

[levantin]

Oh boy...

It's a pretty common thing, to be able to see the wood lines on a USA, especially if it's black. My Kelly has the same thing. Advice? Don't sweat it

Check this thread: http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57609

Welcome, by the way. Post some pics.

[ulijdavid]

This is a common problem depeneding on the environment. If the kelly is a neck thru, it probably has a maple neck with alder, mahagony, etc. wings. The mismatch of woods means that the woods will shrink and expand at different rates given the humidity and temperature. Have you recently had the guitar in a drastically different climate? Usually it is the humidity that causes the glue lines to appear. Sometimes getting the guitar back to a stable humidity and temperature will make the lines disappear (but, unfortunately this is rare). Levantin is correct in that it does not threaten the integrity of the guitar.

[j2379]

if its a crack then i dont like it. usually the finish settles into the seem a slight impression, but a crack bad. & most of my neckthru guitars are 20+ yrs old.

[shreddermon]

Post some pictures.

[Bengal65]

Post some pictures.

+1, that would help. If it is a crack, I definitely think Jackson would repair it under warranty. If it is lines like described in the above posts, I say no under the warranty. My black guitars all show the lines as well.

Hey, and welcome to the forum

[shredmonster]

Yep - probably humidity and temperature. Its expansion and contraction - the wood expands and contracts faster than the paint.

No manufacturer's cover that under warranty because they cannot control how their guitars are exposed to whatever environments after they are sold.

Older guitars use to do this quite a bit - when they used the Nitro finishes.

[delt]

You can probably make the "glue lines" disappear, or at least make them much less visible, by adding a bit of clear-coat on the affected area(s) and re-polishing them.

Any paint experts wish to share their $0.02?

[JCFaristos]

Thanks a lot guys.

So basically you are saying that this is not a problem, instead it happens to almost all neck-thru guitars. This is quite relieving.

Also, probably this wouldn't be covered under Jackson warranty, but, even if it were, it wouldn't make sense to try to "repair" it, because the lines would appear again.

I am posting some pictures here (sorry for the size!). You can see that the problem is not too bad yet. Just, it is a bit annoying aesthetically, plus I didn't know how much worse it can become and I wanted to act fast, before it's too late.

Thanks again!

[Bengal65]

You have more "orange peel" in the paint than wood joint lines as seen in this pics. I wouldn't be concerned. From the pictures, the buffing operation looks like it was not complete or as good as what I have seen. You purchased this one new right? From the Jackson's I've seen including the ones I have, the paint work is second to none.

The more I look at the pictures, I see the leveling process (wet sanding and/or buffing) was not done very well on this guitar. The Poly finishes that Jackson uses do not move as much as the lacquer finishes some other mfg. use. Has this guitar been exposed to hot or freezing temperatures?

[sully]

oh boy. totally not cracks, and i'd be willing to bet that most of your other guitars have seam lines as well.

sully

[Mario8672]

That happens on my KE3 as well. It's totally normal.

[toejam]

I was able to see the seam lines of the neck on my old black cherry Model 6. I don't remember seeing them on the old black cherry Model 5A I had, though.

[toejam]

That happens on my KE3 as well. It's totally normal.

How would you see neck seam lines on a bolt-on KE3?

[Zerberus]

How would you see neck seam lines on a bolt-on KE3?

A vivid imagination, maybe?