Leon2365 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Alright then, so this is another call upon the community to examine a situation to see if it's something normal or if it's a defect in workmanship as I've never owned an instrument this expensive or from this brand before. My question here today is, after having owned my epiphone prophecy extura for only 3 months, not using it daily and storing it inside of a hardshell case where it is not mistreated at all, is it nor.al for a Crack to show up on the fret board? It goes from the 17th fret all the way down to the bottom of the fret board past the 24th fret. I personally feel like this is a discrepancy with the craftsmanship of the instrument considering I don't even use it daily, but hey, I could be wrong. What do you all say of this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohatu771 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 What is your indoor humidity? Wood cracks when it's dry. If it wasn't cracked when it left the factory, or later when you received it, you can't really blame workmanship. They may cover it under warranty. If not, it's a relatively easy repair, though time-consuming and not inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmendoza Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Asian made guitars all have a tendency to do this because they are made from tropical woods in a relatively high humidity environment. Often, the problem is related to the wood not being aged/dried/kilned long enough. Or, it could have been properly dried but then sat out and absorbed humidity before it was assembled. If you live in an are of low relative humidity, then it only will make the problem of the wood shrinking and cracking worse. One thing I do is to use fingerboard oil on my Asian guitars fret boards as it seals the wood and helps it not shrink/dry out and crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 On 7/18/2021 at 5:43 PM, pohatu771 said: What is your indoor humidity? Wood cracks when it's dry. If it wasn't cracked when it left the factory, or later when you received it, you can't really blame workmanship. They may cover it under warranty. If not, it's a relatively easy repair, though time-consuming and not inexpensive. I honestly have no idea what the indoor humidity is. It has been really hot lately though. According to outside humidity it's in the 60% but I don't have a way of gauging what it's like inside unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt4356 Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I also doubt it's due to workmanship or poor quality materials. It was made and then shipped half way around the world and while humidity may be an issue I doubt it was shipped and stored in perfect conditions. Its developed a crack after 3 months of you owning it, but when was it actually produced according to the serial number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I think environment has a lot to do with it, I lived in Az which is very dry, hot and constant central air. Now in the Pacific much cooler, very humid, windows open all the time and daily the temperature can shift by 20° from day to day because of rapid weather patterns. Anyway, I just moved to a location that is 1000' higher, which may not sound like much, but on an island thats almost like going from beach to alpine. The point is that my guitars are reacting needing trussrod tweaking and I had to get rid of my Nitro guitars because the finish was melting. In Az I had a hot warehouse where we practiced and my Gibsons started Finish Checking very quickly. So yes, your environment plays a big part in things that can effect your guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt4356 Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 51 minutes ago, mihcmac said: I think environment has a lot to do with it, I lived in Az which is very dry, hot and constant central air. Now in the Pacific much cooler, very humid, windows open all the time and daily the temperature can shift by 20° from day to day because of rapid weather patterns. Anyway, I just moved to a location that is 1000' higher, which may not sound like much, but on an island thats almost like going from beach to alpine. The point is that my guitars are reacting needing trussrod tweaking and I had to get rid of my Nitro guitars because the finish was melting. In Az I had a hot warehouse where we practiced and my Gibsons started Finish Checking very quickly. So yes, your environment plays a big part in things that can effect your guitar. Ok then, what % of your epiphone fretboard have spontaneously cracked after 3 months? Environment will play a part in set up movement etc over time but there aren't guitars falling apart at the seams to the expanse of the op, due to a shift in humidity and temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 (edited) 54 minutes ago, Matt4356 said: Ok then, what % of your epiphone fretboard have spontaneously cracked after 3 months? Environment will play a part in set up movement etc over time but there aren't guitars falling apart at the seams to the expanse of the op, due to a shift in humidity and temperature. My Gibsons with a gloss finish were effected the worst, with finish checking where large flakes were falling off and on really humid days gets guey. Then the screws rust chrome pits a turns blue and oxidation, nickel usually holds up better. Also cracks appear around neck joints and sometimes in the fingerboard. My Epiphones hold up much better, the poly finish may sometimes fracture around the nut, but main problem is keeping the neck/fingerboard flat with extreme environment changes. My Epiphones usually have nickel components that hold up well, but chrome headed screws rust pretty quickly. I think if an Epiphone fingerboard cracks it should be a warranty issue. My Gibson Blues Hawk had rapid Finish Checking a month after arriving on the island, this effect happened to my other gloss finish Gibsons very quickly. also notice the binding separating. Note that I also have a 2015 Epiphone Bluehawk that the poly finish still looks new. Edited July 22, 2021 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 There's a crack in the actual wood of the fretboard (pics?)? I would return it pronto. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Took a lot of fenagling but I think I finally got the pic hosted on imgur so you all can see: http://imgur.com/gallery/slyVp6v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Just now, Leon2365 said: Took a lot of fenagling but I think I finally got the pic hosted on imgur so you all can see: http://imgur.com/gallery/slyVp6v Not the best quality cause of the compression but the regular photo is too big to be uploaded here directly apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 On 7/23/2021 at 7:09 AM, Pinch said: There's a crack in the actual wood of the fretboard (pics?)? I would return it pronto. The pic is up there btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt4356 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 What is the manufacturer date on the serial number? Also what are the frets like around the crack? The ends appear to be still in a decent shape from the picture but I can't tell if the middle of the frets are raised, as would be expected. I would be sending these pictures and more to epiphone, this isn't common and they may be interested to find the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 I’d be sending the Guitar back & exchange it for another… Most places have a 45 day Return or Exchange policy… Why waste your time on a defective Guitar? Makes absolutely no sense… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Matt4356 said: What is the manufacturer date on the serial number? Also what are the frets like around the crack? The ends appear to be still in a decent shape from the picture but I can't tell if the middle of the frets are raised, as would be expected. I would be sending these pictures and more to epiphone, this isn't common and they may be interested to find the cause. These are their newest guitars from the prophecy line so id have to assume it's something recently made. As for the raising of the fret wire, I hadn't even thought of that tbh. And I have contacted them through their support page but it's been a week already with no reply so tomorrow, which will be a Monday for me, I'm gonna call them on the phone instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Leon2365 said: These are their newest guitars from the prophecy line so id have to assume it's something recently made. As for the raising of the fret wire, I hadn't even thought of that tbh. And I have contacted them through their support page but it's been a week already with no reply so tomorrow, which will be a Monday for me, I'm gonna call them on the phone instead. Not what I would expect on a Prophecy. Edited July 25, 2021 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 6 hours ago, mihcmac said: Not what I would expect on a Prophecy. You and me both. This is something I'd expect several years down the line from a $900 guitar, not in 3 months. My $250 Jackson Rhoads js32t has gone on over 7 years and counting without any sort of major cracks like this appearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 4:19 AM, Leon2365 said: Took a lot of fenagling but I think I finally got the pic hosted on imgur so you all can see: http://imgur.com/gallery/slyVp6v Sorry for the late reply, but return ASAP. IMO, that guitar is broken. A scratch here or a ding there is one thing. A crack across the fretboard like that - that's a broken guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon2365 Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 1:29 AM, Pinch said: Sorry for the late reply, but return ASAP. IMO, that guitar is broken. A scratch here or a ding there is one thing. A crack across the fretboard like that - that's a broken guitar. I'm still waiting for customer support to get back to me via email. 2 weeks now and nothing so I'm probably gonna just call over the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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