Staninator Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hello! Last night my foot got caught in the cable running to my amp and I pulled my SG off of its stand and it took a pretty hard fall onto a very hard floor, with the back side hitting the floor. Luckily for me the only real damage was the shaft on my low E tuner (the shaft you turn) got bent pretty badly, but I found a place that sells individual Gibson Deluxe tuners and it works fine for the time being until the replacement arrives. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed quite a large cracked had developed on the back side of the neck right where it joins with the body. It looks like the crack has went most (if not all) of the way through the nitro finish. Part of the crack also extends about 1" into one of the cutouts. I'm not looking to repair it, but I'm just wondering if there is any cause for concern with such a deep crack. Is there any chance of the crack running, or will it be fine. Please excuse the bad quality of the pictures. It really was the best I could do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 This is poor, sorry for your bad accident. :( I fear it's not just the finish. The bump may have had serious impact on the neck joint. In any case, I would have the guitar inspected by a reputable luthier. It is recommendable to never leave a cable plugged to a guitar or bass when putting her in a stand, regardless if active with the power switched by the plug, or passive. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 This is poor, sorry for your bad accident. :( I fear it's not just the finish. The bump may have had serious impact on the neck joint. In any case, I would have the guitar inspected by a reputable luthier. It is recommendable to never leave a cable plugged to a guitar or bass when putting her in a stand, regardless if active with the power switched by the plug, or passive. Good luck! That's definitely not what I wanted to hear. I certainly will keep it unplugged from now on. I guess I'm just so used to playing in a room where there is literally zero chance of tripping over the cable. I kind of figured it was only a matter of time before this happened (there's been a few other close calls in last couple of months). I took the little cover in front of the neck pickup that covers the joint off and took a close look and the crack doesn't seem to have went that far, but I will certainly take it in and have someone take a look at it. With any luck there won't be any real damage because I really can't afford any sort of repairs. Thanks for the help though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Sorry I don't have any more to offer than condolences ... that must be a horrible, sinking feeling. Hopefully the diagnosis won't be too severe. <fingers crossed> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Sorry I don't have any more to offer than condolences ... that must be a horrible, sinking feeling. Hopefully the diagnosis won't be too severe. <fingers crossed> It could have been worse. At least it landed most flat and didn't take out the corner of my bed or the metal arm on my desk chair on the way down. I can live with only one busted up tuner, some finish damage, and at worst some neck joint damage. I'm fairly surprised there isn't more damage to the finish. The worst part of the whole thing was I had enough time to turn completely around and watch my guitar fall after feeling my foot catch on the cord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I wouldn't worry about it unless the neck is loose. If the neck is loose, glue can be pushed in. It's probably fine. Lucky your headstock didn't break off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 I wouldn't worry about it unless the neck is loose. If the neck is loose, glue can be pushed in. It's probably fine. Lucky your headstock didn't break off. The joint feels solid and it's holding its tune fine and sounds as good as ever. Yeah I'm really surprised that nothing else happened. There's not even the slightest ding anywhere else. I'm also pretty fortunate that the only thing that happened to the tuner was that it got a bit bent out of shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 The joint feels solid and it's holding its tune fine and sounds as good as ever. Yeah I'm really surprised that nothing else happened. There's not even the slightest ding anywhere else. I'm also pretty fortunate that the only thing that happened to the tuner was that it got a bit bent out of shape. In case of a loose neck joint, action would go stiffer through string tension. If the action is still OK, the neck is likely to be firmly in position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Judging from the other pics, it looks like you might have an exceptionally hard finish. It is very common for Gibbys to develop cracks in the finish at various places, due to the differences in finish flexibility and wood flexibility. While these cracks are obviously NOT cause by weather or temperature, but rather impact, it is still very possible that what happened was not a break, but a good flexing. SG's are notorious for being weak and flexable at that joint, even on ones with no cracks in the finish or otherwise. It doesn't hurt to have it checked. If it were my guitar, I would keep an eye on it and be careful with it until it was convenient to have it checked by someone qualified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Judging from the other pics, it looks like you might have an exceptionally hard finish. It is very common for Gibbys to develop cracks in the finish at various places, due to the differences in finish flexibility and wood flexibility. While these cracks are obviously NOT cause by weather or temperature, but rather impact, it is still very possible that what happened was not a break, but a good flexing. SG's are notorious for being weak and flexable at that joint, even on ones with no cracks in the finish or otherwise. It doesn't hurt to have it checked. If it were my guitar, I would keep an eye on it and be careful with it until it was convenient to have it checked by someone qualified. It wouldn't surprise me if my guitar does have an exceptionally hard finish. I am surprisingly ungentle with my guitar (it frequently gets bumped into chairs and night stands when I'm playing it) and the only thing that has happened from that is a few very minor surface scratches on the back from it rubbing against the metal arms on my desk chair. As I said there was no other damage to the finish from the fall (not even the slightest crack, dent, or ding). I am aware that Gibsons will develop cracks due to climate changes and things like that (mine already has a few of those). I would suspect the crack was due to a good flexing as well. There doesn't seem to be any real separation where the crack occurred, and if there was damage to the joint I would have expected the crack to be fairly uniform and would also have thought it would have run evenly around the bottom and up both sides of the joint, which it didn't. I have been diligently keeping an eye on it and it looks like nothing has changed. But just to be safe I have contacted a local repair shop and will be taking it in on Tuesday to have it checked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 In case of a loose neck joint, action would go stiffer through string tension. If the action is still OK, the neck is likely to be firmly in position. A couple days before this happened I switch from 10-46 to 10-52 strings, which bowed my neck and I didn't have a chance to correct that (I plan on getting rid of the 10-52s as soon as I can, they play and sound like rubbish). The action feels the same as it did before (stiff and hard to play), and I also checked the neck relief and action height, which are both right around where they should be (both are a little more than they should, but that's just due to the thicker gauge strings and me not having a chance to straighten the neck out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 A couple days before this happened I switch from 10-46 to 10-52 strings, which bowed my neck and I didn't have a chance to correct that (I plan on getting rid of the 10-52s as soon as I can, they play and sound like rubbish). The action feels the same as it did before (stiff and hard to play), and I also checked the neck relief and action height, which are both right around where they should be (both are a little more than they should, but that's just due to the thicker gauge strings and me not having a chance to straighten the neck out). To my experience, medium bottom/regular light top sets sound less balanced than string sets with a better tension balance. Depending on guitar and playing style, the heavier strings' volume may appear obtrusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 To my experience, medium bottom/regular light top sets sound less balanced than string sets with a better tension balance. Depending on guitar and playing style, the heavier strings' volume may appear obtrusive. It wasn't the volume I had problems with, it was more the fact that to me it just seemed to muddy up my tone, which could very well be due to increased volume. Mostly I just hate the way they feel. They just feel so bulky and unpleasant to play, so I've ordered some individual D'Addario NYXL strings out of the States (about half priced compared to buying them locally up here in Canada, even with the exchange rate) so it'll be a week or two before those arrive. I've ordered some weirder size strings (.0095, 0.115) so I'm excited to see how those play. I've most played with 9-46 and 10-46 Ernie Balls and my overall goal with the D'Addario strings is to end up somewhere around .0095-.047 or .048 or so. I found the 9s were too tinny and shrill on the high end, and I enjoy the beefier sound of a slightly heavier low end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Well, I've got an update. I took my guitar into this funky little repair shop/store/music venue (Village Guitar & Amp in Saskatoon) and had it checked out by one one the guys there. Bad news: As you can see from the pics, the finish damage is pretty bad Good news: It's nothing more than a cosmetic issue. The guy said he didn't think there was any damage to the joint, but said to keep any eye on it just in case. So that's easily the best news I've heard in quite some time. It sucks that the crack is so bad, but at least it's on the back of the guitar right in the corner. For now I have no plans to fix it, buy maybe someday if I do a refret I'll get it fixed at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I would be more concerned about your guitar feeling stiff and hard to play and less concerned about a crack in the finish. Did your luthier say anything about the action on your guitar? All my Gibsons are using 10 - 46. . No matter what brand of strings; Ernie Ball, Gibson, Fender, GHS, none of them are stiff or hard to play unless the setup is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 I would be more concerned about your guitar feeling stiff and hard to play and less concerned about a crack in the finish. Did your luthier say anything about the action on your guitar? All my Gibsons are using 10 - 46. . No matter what brand of strings; Ernie Ball, Gibson, Fender, GHS, none of them are stiff or hard to play unless the setup is off. I changed from a set of 9-46 to 10-52. The second I put them on they just felt like garbage. They were way too heavy for my liking. I also didn't adjust the action height or truss rod accordingly because I knew I was going to be changing them out as soon as I could, so that certainly contributed to the poor action (which my guitar teacher agreed with), but mostly the strings were just terrible. I just put on some slightly thinner gauge D'Addario NYXL strings and even compared to the 3 other sets of Ernie Ball Cobalts I've played, they feel a million times better. The action height and truss rod have all been adjusted back to where they need to be and it plays fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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