jimitom Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Hello everyone.. I've bought my Epi Masterbilt DR-500MCE VS about month and a half ago. Everything was great until today when I noticed that wood is cracking right next to Shadow electronics panel screws. I can't believe this is happening. I just started to love this guitar and now this... It never fell on the floor, it was never even slightly kicked or scratched, it never went out of my home. It is kept mostly in a room that has great air characteristics - moisture just above 40 percent and temperature 20 - 25oC (68 ºF - 77 ºF). I hope that you can see the photos and the crack clearly because I don't have the camera at hand so the pics were taken with a cellphone camera. The first and the second picture show the bigger crack which is visible from the inside of the guitar - the side wood is cracked! The third one shows the smaller crack which is on the right side to the first one. Did anyone had any similar experience with masterbilt guitars?? I'll contact my seller tomorrow.. What do you guys think - should I ask for a refund? If they offer me to exchange this guitar for the same model again I doubt I'll accept that... if you are asking me now no more Epiphone for me. I hope you understand.. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimitom Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 And here is a picture from the inside. It clear now that wood is cracked.. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Yea, I see the problem, and it looks like that guitar has one, especially if you can see the crack on the inside. But I would say, If they offered you a replacement, I don't see why you shouldn't take it. I would be more apt to trust them for a second try if they demonstrated they were trustworthy by correcting it for me. Epi Mastebuilts are not like $5000 guitars, so you have to expect that a bad apple could get out every now and again. I would not think you would have any better chance with a different brand. I say this of corse assuming that there is not a problem with those guitars in general that I don't know about and also assuming the dealer will take care of it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 And here is a picture from the inside. It clear now that wood is cracked.. Uploaded with ImageShack.us I don't see the crack. From the pics it looks like finish cracks. It still looks like a problem to me though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimitom Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Thank for the reply. Yeah I think you are right about second shot and Epi.But there are two things that worry me. One is that I already had to wait for this guitar for 10 months to arrive (I live in Europe, Croatia), and I don't want to wait again.. The other thing is that there have been some rumours about faultiness of this model - but I don't know is that true, because all that I've heard is that there have been a bunch of manufacturer refurbished models on ebay and elsewhere, and that there was some specs modifications for this particular model.. I don't know. I saved money for 2 years, waited it for almost a year, played it for a month (with quite a big smile on my face) and than this happens :((( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimitom Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 I don't see the crack. From the pics it looks like finish cracks. It still looks like a problem to me though. It is really noticeable when you look at it. I know that picture isn't that good.. but anyway i framed the crack with red line - trust me it's there. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I hear you. Pics are only a tool to help explain, if the crack is there, it is there. I don't know too much about Epi's, hopefully an Epi expert will have something to add. Maybe edit the posting to ask for someone with knowledge on that model guitar. There are experts on here, as well as fans. Especially sinse you had to go through so much to get a guitar, you want the best advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Don't settle for anything other than a replacement as over time cracks of this nature spread with climate,humidity and temperature changes no matter how slight or gradual so will the cracks gradually spread.The problem in the first place was that whoever installed the electronics didn't predrill pilot holes for the screws and consequently the wood split and will continue to do so.My daughter worked installing the necks and electronics at the Gibson plant when it operated for the short time it was in Mt. Pearl,Newfoundland.She always had to drill pilot holes wherever screws were put in and they were told to use specific size drill bits so that screws wouldn't cause cracks or conversely be too loose when installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 The cracks on the outside appear to only be finish cracks. They don't run parallel to the grain and you can see the refracted image of the grain in the crack. The inside appears that the 'nut' they used, in my opinion, is too small. The nut has been sucked down into the wood. This should never happen with a wood assembly of this type. The wood fibers get compressed, most of which are sheared off. A 1/8" wood side now only has the strength of much thinner material. A fair size washer or back-up plate is in order. This appears to be a purpose built (custom) nut. Someone at Epiphone kissed the pooch by designing this nut. Poorly designed in my opinion. They kissed another pooch by designing it's use in this assembly. The 'cracks' you point out, to me, don't appear to be actual cracks. The area circled to the left of the nut appears to be natural darker and possibly softer striations of the wood. This is not a defect. Similar dark striations can be seen in other areas of the pic. To the right, with arrows, appears to be some of the same darker wood, but in the center appears to be a chunk of wood missing. Notice the shards of wood poking out of the hole the nut made. I suspect the missing chunk started out like these couple shards, then finally fell off. It is probably still rattling around in the body of the guitar. It's hard to get an actual measurement, but I think the nut is almost pulled completely through the wood. This is bad. This is why you don't use a small nut on a wood assembly without a metal back up. Could the poorly designed attachment 'system' be the cause of the finish cracks? Possibly. The finish only cracks are likely caused by the movement of the wood under the finish. Wood can flex, finish of this type cannot flex. It is possible the wood is flexing more than it should due to the weakened wood in the area of the nut. It might also be possible that the nut, protruding trough the wood, scored the underside of the finish where the cracks started. Dis-assembly would tell a tale. But... Let Epiphone disassemble it, so as to not void your warranty. Take it back for a refund or replacement of a better built guitar. I fear the amp box will eventually fall off when the one nut/screw pulls through the wood at it's corner. I suspect the other four are not far behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I've got a preamp setup that's similar - yet without problems so far - on a PR5e. I've noticed that the case is just about perfect fitting for the guitar, but there's a bit of pressure on the volume dial on the pre-amp I've felt when casing the guitar. My guess is that there's a bit of pressure that way on the instrument in the case, plus what's been mentioned with the actual construction, so you're probably getting more pressure than you might imagine when the thing is cased and perhaps just a little from using the controls quite normally. Now my train of thought is that if you have a specific piece of wood that may be just a shade weak where they put in the preamp, the weak wood causes a major problem for two other things that are otherwise "no problem." They probably didn't notice the weakness in the factory. I'll agree with the other guys in that I think you should contact the seller, preferably by voice at first, and point him to your photos here. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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