MetroGnome Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Okay so, I picked up my Lifeson 355 from its case a few nights ago and noticed an excessive amount of fine finish cracks. The cracks all run longways around the sides of the body. Although they're random, they run pretty constant from horn to horn all the way around the perimeter of the instrument. Now, I understand nitro cracks like these are normal for guitars as they age. I also understand wood expansion and why these cracks occur but, to me it seems awfully soon to see this happening; because there are quite a bit of these little cracks. My question is this: Are other owners of this guitar experiencing similar issues? Have owners of like guitars been experiencing this? I also want to make it clear that other than this issue, I am 100% happy with this guitar. While waiting on the Alex Lifeson's release, I followed these boards last year. I strongly disagreed with much of what was being voiced here. My intention now is merely to inquire about the finish issue, not to enable folks the opportunity to resurrect other problems. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crappy Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 It is alittle too soon for that to be happening to that finish unless you have been going out in the cold and bringing it into a warn room over and over again. Try posting a few pictures of this so we can see how bad it is. Only thing I can tell you right now is give Gibson a call and let them know. but I don't think they will do anything unless it's a major flaw in the finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroGnome Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 It is alittle too soon for that to be happening to that finish unless you have been going out in the cold and bringing it into a warn room over and over again. Try posting a few pictures of this so we can see how bad it is. Only thing I can tell you right now is give Gibson a call and let them know. but I don't think they will do anything unless it's a major flaw in the finish. Thanks for the response Crappy. No, I definitely have not been exposing the guitar to drastic temperature changes. In fact, its actually spent a majority of its lifetime in the case, kept in my closet. It hasn't been out much until the last couple months. My wife and I just had a baby and it hasn't been until recently that I've actually been able to spend some time with it. I snapped some pictures, but they don't really show the extent to which the finish has cracked. I have to upload them which I will have to do tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdick2112 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 MetroGnome, What is the humidity level where you are storing your AL? I ask because I live in Colorado, and the humidity is so low here that I have to keep humidifiers in all if my guitar & bass cases to prevent wood grain from telegraphing through Fender finishes, inlaid "Gibson" logos from developing cracks around their perimeters, Rickenbacker necks from twisting & warping, etc... I have TWO humidifiers in my Lifeson case - one by the body, and another in the headstock compartment, and they need filling every three weeks or so - the AL seems to be one thirsty guitar. If you have not had your axe out in the cold, then maybe high or low humidity could be causing the problem. As new as our guitars are, you would think that it is an expanding/contracting wood issue as opposed to any kind of finish flaw. Good luck, and I'm glad to hear that there are others like me who still love their ALs. Superdick2112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staxman Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Mine has no finish cracks on the sides, yet (KOW) but it has developed some hairline cracks in the white paint just below the binding on the fretboard. After closer inspection what I discovered is that the paint line overlaps the binding just a bit and the crack is developing along the line where the binding meets the wood of the neck under the paint. It appears it is a finite issue, limited to the few spots where they masked the paint line above the binding just a hair. It's not noticeable unless you look very close at the sides of the neck and it doesn't effect playability at all but an annoying finish flaw for such a new high-end guitar. Still love the guitar. It just plays and sounds like a dream and it's amazingly stable on tuning even though I have made no mods or used anything like nut-sauce or graphite. Even after it sits for a while I can pick it up and it's in near-perfect tune. Weird for a Gibson, but not complaining! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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