cracks in neck pockets

[Foulacy]

Ive taken necks off my guitars a billion times with no finish cracks. knock on wood. the key is to pull straight up.

[wilkinsi]

So Fender UK just yanked it off? The cracks are a lot smaller than on the one pictured above, as I look my DK1 now, safely back home today. Is it common for the crack to be bigger than the other side (more so on the top than the bottom), or would it depend on which angle the neck was removed and how much force was applied to get it back in the pocket?

[Learn Guitars]

Alot of the cracks in these finishes are the result of guitars fitting poorly in the case and peeps plopping the guitar cases with the axe in the case. The lateral movement in that direction forces the neck and body to move in the wrong direction, thus forcing the cracks. The cracks can be found in the wood quite often under the finish. It is insignificant to the stability of the guitar. I have refinished quite a few and you will see some slight crack in the wood as well in most cases. The Poly E and Poly O will easy crack under stress, more so in polyester due to its rigidity. Polyurethane is a bit more flexible and forgiving.

[metalchurch79]

I have heard that over tightening the neck screws can cause this to happen easier, because there is less "give" and therefore something has to 'give' and most cases it's the neck joint, or finish.

I have 7 bolt on guitars and neither one of them have cracks in the neck pocket, and I even lean them against the wall 24/7/365. Of course they are in a temp controlled environment if that matters.

I have also seen cracks in the wood of the guitar right beneath the finish crack after sanding a body for a refinish.
I also never remove a neck under string tension.
If I have to shim a neck pocket, I usually don't remove the strings entirely (when applicable) but they are plenty loose enough with no string tension.

The only time I'd be concerned is if there was paint chipping where the finish crack is usually located, or if it was a set neck of course. Most times a finish crack is a non issue and merely cosmetic.

[bfloyd6969]

If the crack was in the wood, you would most likely hear a creaking noise when simply moving the guitar around or picking it up from a guitar stand. I had one that would give a very quiet creak when I would pick it up (by the neck as usual). It would also slightly go out of tune from sharp to flat when I heard the creak.