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Warranty?


JonathanB

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Hi,

 

Im from Barcelona and a year ago bought an astonishing Gibson Fyling V 67 Custom Shop. The guitar plays awesome, but the first days I noticed a line/crack in the area of the screw that unites the body and the neck. I was really excited about the guitar and thought it was not a big deal if it had some small ding.

 

A year has passed and sadly I did not have that much time to play it (acounting all year Im sure it was less than 5 hours), so the guitar was basically always in the wonderful custom case.

 

But moments ago I picked id up and realized in horror that it has those same cracks in a lot of other places and Im freaking out a bit. Its the guitar going to fall in pieces? Its going to look like the face of an old man with lines and cracks everywhere or what?

 

Right now im obviously really sad so I want to know how the warranty of Gibson works in this type of problems.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Sounds like you might be describing checking. Nitro finishes check eventually. In the case of custom shop reissues this is more prevalent and can happen faster dependant on humidity and temperature although a year is quite fast but not unheard of.

 

Unfortunately finish cracks are specifically not covered by the warranty.

 

Post some pics if you can.

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Sounds like you might be describing checking. Nitro finishes check eventually. In the case of custom shop reissues this is more prevalent and can happen faster dependant on humidity and temperature although a year is quite fast but not unheard of.

 

Unfortunately finish cracks are specifically not covered by the warranty.

 

Post some pics if you can.

 

Thanks. We are at night here now and with my S6 phone and the light of my home I can't manage to make a clear photo of the cracks.

 

The guitar is from 2014, but I boughted a year ago. If this will never ever affect the playability and if it doesnt get too ugly (in my case right now is only noticeable if you get really close), I suposse I can live with it, but I found it funny than an almost 3000 bucks guitar is now less flawless than a more older guitar from another brand that cost me only 500.

 

What can I do to prevent more checking to happen? buy and humidifier?

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I found it funny than an almost 3000 bucks guitar is now less flawless than a more older guitar from another brand that cost me only 500.

 

:rolleyes:

 

Oh man you should have read up on nitro finishes before throwing that kind of money around if you don't want it to act like a nitrocellulose finished guitar.

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:rolleyes:

 

Oh man you should have read up on nitro finishes before throwing that kind of money around if you don't want it to act like a nitrocellulose finished guitar.

 

I just didn't expect my guitar to have a lot bunch of cracks in less than a year.

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Hello Jonathan, and welcome to the Gibson Guitar Board.

 

I'm sorry that your reason to join here is doubtlessly a sad one.

 

First, the screw you mentioned is holding the strap button only, the neck is glued-in or set. The mechanical tension may have promoted the occurrence of a hairline crack as any joint or mounting point of switches, controls, pickguards and hardware may do. Most common are hairline cracks starting at torque support screws of machine heads. These are the only points I find some on my Gibsons, albeit only those two made in 1973 and 1978.

 

As next, this rarely happens with polyacrylic or polyurethane finishes. None of my poly-finished guitars made between 1980 and 2014 has a single hairline crack, even not close to torque support screws of machine heads.

 

Nitrocellulose or more exactly cellulose-dinitrate finishes (the higher-esterified trinitrates are explosive substances, usually called guncotton) basically are polyesters, too, but they form chain-like molecules only and never cure. All the other poly finishes are cross-linked and thus cured, in most cases after a few minutes only.

 

The advantage of cross-linked finishes is that they are very cohesive and fit like a glove. Their downside is that they are not soluble by any means and will never bond to a partial repair area. They must be completely removed mechanically, followed by mordant and complete refinishing.

 

In contrary, nitro finishes allow for partial or touch-up repairs. The surface of the adjacent original finish will be solved by the solvent of the new one and bond with it. Ultraviolet light can make repairs visible because every old nitro finish has billions of tiny cracks, making it look milky under UV light. The new finish will look virtually clear.

 

Despite of using accurate finish blends, the remake of vintage lacquer is critical, and one can't predict what tiny changes in density of wood and coat may appear in the future. Common modern nitro finish blends are not true to those used decades ago. They contain significant portions of plasticizers that are rejected by follower of vintage guitars as well as by people worrying about health, but the latter would have to have problems with any sort of nitro finish. Vintage reissue guitars are finished using period-correct dyes and lacquers, but this includes the risk that their downsides may occur. One of them is developing hairline cracks, known as finish checking.

 

In short, there is no warranty, but the cracks could be repaired at a reasonable price by a reputed luthier who is experienced with nitro finishes and has the required equipment for labour protection and environment. You may have to do without the guitar for two or three weeks. (I know by experience that they do this very well at Thomann here in Germany, and I don't even dare to quote their quite affordable prices.) If it's about the clear coat only, you won't even find there ever had been a crack before.

 

Most important is that the luthier is experienced, and in the best case he has all the stuff needed stock. (The huge service center at Thoamnn has, so they need nothing to order, keeping the material charges low).

 

I think in case you want to get your Flying V repaired, I'm confident you can find a well-reputed, experienced, friendly and helpful luthier in or near Barcelona. I'm sure he will also give you good advice if perhaps it is better to wait some more years or so in order to repair the cracks already there along with those still to come all at once.

 

I hope it helps, and I wish you all the best for dealing with and overcoming your trouble. Believe me, I understand you so well - my guitars are sanctuaries to me, more than amps, speakers or digital recorders could ever be.

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