kristof_w Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I've just made a sad discovery, my guitar's neck has a crack right at the nut. I cleaned it and put it away yesterday, after I finished playing, and everything was alright. It had been in it's case on the floor for the entire day, and when I opened it up just a few minutes ago, I felt something unusual on the bottom of the nut. I found out it's a hairline fracture, about 3 cm long. It starts at the bottom of the nut, and goes on along the first fret. What do you guys think about this? Will this be under warranty? PS: It's also a Tribute Plus model, which is pretty hard to get around here. I hope I won't have to wait 6 months to get a replacement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednefceleb Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 This is the weakest point in The Les Paul. Since there is a rod in the neck it can't be drilled for a dowel. Since you have such good photos e-mail Epiphone Support and ask about the warranty. I don't know if this is covered or not, honestly. You can find out in a few minutes. Perhaps you could drive to the nearest Epiphone dealer and exchange your Tribute Plus. Good Luck. Rednefceleb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednefceleb Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hey kristof_w. I poked around the "support" menu next to the "community" heading on our Epiphone Dashboard. Finding "warranty", click on that. You will see the website application. Fill it out and send it to Epiphone (with those pics). They will fix you up. Good Luck, Rednefceleb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Thanks for the advice, I've contacted my local guitar store and they've now contacted Epiphone with the pictures. Now I'll have to wait to see if it's under warranty or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plus Top Dan Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I hope it gets sorted smoothly and quickly for you. keep us informed with the outcome? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I hope it gets sorted smoothly and quickly for you. keep us informed with the outcome? I'll post it here as soon as I get any information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednefceleb Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I would advise until you hear from Epiphones warranty policy that you go on and play that "Tribute Plus" as hard as you want. Find out whether she's gonna keep cracking or simply stop where it's at. There's a good chance of no more crack "traveling". I believe that Epiphone will exchange the guitar. Cracks in this spot are quite common. When they open up and need resetting, the glued joints are stronger than the wood itself. The proper glue is the key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 The area around the nut is the "Achilles' Heel" of S.G.s and Les Pauls because the wood is very thin there and very prone to breakage.A technician buddy found a '68 S.G. with a cracked off neck buried under a pile of old guitar boxes etc. in the basement of the shop that he was working in.The owner of the store who is also a very good friend of both myself and my tech friend,told him that if he could fix it he could keep it,lucky for him it was a pretty clean break and there were no wood bits missing.He applied waterproof carpenter's glue to the cracked off part and strapped it up and clamped it as best he could and left it for a couple of months.When he took off the clamps etc. the joint was as solid as granite,even when he put on the strings and it stayed perfectly in tune no matter how hard he strummed. This was back around 1975 and the guitar was sold to another friend at a cut-rate price he's still playing it daily after all these years and it still sounds great-much the same tone as Santana got at Woodstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 So I just got pretty bad news from my dealer. The damage won't be covered by warranty, so they won't repair it or take it back. I feel very sad now, being left with a guitar that cost me €500 (all the money that I earned on my summer job), that's now just waiting to break down completely. I feel like I've just thrown €500 down the drain. The worst part is that I didn't even cause the damage in the first place, I've NEVER EVER hit it, I treated it as if it were made of gold. So apparantly, warranty doesn't mean a thing, Epiphone can just decide as they please. Do you guys reckon there's anything I can do about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 So I just got pretty bad news from my dealer. The damage won't be covered by warranty, so they won't repair it or take it back. I feel very sad now, being left with a guitar that cost me €500 (all the money that I earned on my summer job), that's now just waiting to break down completely. I feel like I've just thrown €500 down the drain. The worst part is that I didn't even cause the damage in the first place, I've NEVER EVER hit it, I treated it as if it were made of gold. So apparantly, warranty doesn't mean a thing, Epiphone can just decide as they please. You might contact Epiphone directly. This does suck. Not always is this sort of thing caused by abuse or damaging by the user. I suggest contaacting EPI becuse they have more power to make it right than the dealer. The dealer would be asking if EPI will reimburse them, and if the dealer chooses to make it right, they incur a loss if EPI doesn't back them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 You might contact Epiphone directly. This does suck. Not always is this sort of thing caused by abuse or damaging by the user. I suggest contaacting EPI becuse they have more power to make it right than the dealer. The dealer would be asking if EPI will reimburse them, and if the dealer chooses to make it right, they incur a loss if EPI doesn't back them. Thanks for your reply, I've sent an email to Epiphone at this email adress: service.europe@gibson.com Do you know of any other way to come in contact with them, maybe an email adress from the warranty department or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 How long have you had the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 How long have you had the guitar? I've had it for just 3 months, from April 7th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 If it were me I would send them a long letter (old school hardcopy letter signed by you and sent through the mail) explaining the situation in detail and including good quality pictures, with a copy to the dealer where you bought it. I got very good results from Gibson a few years ago with this approach - they actually replaced the guitar. Granted it was Gibson and a different problem, but I was surprised how responsive they were. It is worth a try. If that fails I think you could get it professionally repaired for not too much money and it would play as good as if it were never cracked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 If it were me I would send them a long letter (old school hardcopy letter signed by you and sent through the mail) explaining the situation in detail and including good quality pictures, with a copy to the dealer where you bought it. I got very good results from Gibson a few years ago with this approach - they actually replaced the guitar. Granted it was Gibson and a different problem, but I was surprised how responsive they were. It is worth a try. If that fails I think you could get it professionally repaired for not too much money and it would play as good as if it were never cracked. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try that if everything else fails. And you did this after they decided not to replace the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I would be surprised if Epiphone/Gibson continued to ignore this if you approached them directly. Seems more like a structural weakness that has been exposed than wear and tear. This shouldn't happen to any guitar, never mind one that is practically brand new. In the UK you get a year's warranty for this stuff. I would phone up the store anonymously and ask how long an epiphone warranty lasts for buying a new guitar and see what they say. I wouldn't let the store shirk their responsibility to you as the buyer so soon after the sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 And you did this after they decided not to replace the guitar? No, in my case it was a limited edition and I bought the last one available online. I really wanted the guitar, not my money back, so I complained directly to Gibson. Just because the dealer said no I would not give up that easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Today I finally got some news. As I already told you guys, when I first noticed the crack about six weeks ago, I immediately made a phonecall to my dealer. But because it was a friday afternoon, I wasn't going to make it there anymore that week. So I suggested I'd email hime some pictures so he could already have a look at it. Now, after many emails and phonecalls about the warranty (a crack in the neck apparantly isn't under warranty), I decided to have my guitar repaired anyway, so I took it to the shop. When my dealer took a look at the guitar in person, he simply told me that it was just a crack in the paint , and there's probably no damage at all to the wood !!!!! \:D/ Talking about a lot of fuss about nothing ... So I'm pretty happy now. I could get it repaired, but it would cost me a lot and I don't think it's worth the trouble or the risk of having it transported anyway :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well, that's good news to hear. A crack in the finish is much, much better. Now instead of a major repair job, you just have a small cosmetic flaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I don't mean to be negative, and I hope I am wrong, but that doesn't look like just a crack in the paint to me. How did the guy determine that the wood below is not cracked? Does he have x-ray vision? That crack originates at a natural weak spot, the nut slot. What in the world would cause the paint to crack like that but not the wood? If you were satisfied with having it repaired, and the guitar plays fine, then you can just watch it and only get it repaired if it starts causing problems or actually breaks. I hope it doesn't cause you any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I dunno...that's a ploy finish on those, VERY strong and not subject to cracking on it's own for no reason. Either the neck is cracked because of a naturally weak spot in the wood grain (which HAS been known to happen sometimes on new guitars), or if it isn't cracked in the wood, the headstock would have to have taken a HARD hit, because it would take a lot to flex the wood that much. I might try again. Have you thought about taking it to an authorized EPIPHONE repair facility? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I don't mean to be negative, and I hope I am wrong, but that doesn't look like just a crack in the paint to me. How did the guy determine that the wood below is not cracked? Does he have x-ray vision? That crack originates at a natural weak spot, the nut slot. What in the world would cause the paint to crack like that but not the wood? If you were satisfied with having it repaired, and the guitar plays fine, then you can just watch it and only get it repaired if it starts causing problems or actually breaks. I hope it doesn't cause you any problems. First off, I have to tell you that the pictures make it look much worse than it actually is, you really have to hold it into the light to see the crack. The guy is a luthier who has experience with this type of guitars. He first looked if the neck was straight, the action was right, and it was all perfect. He came to the conclusion that it was "most likely" the paint, because the crack appeared over night, without being hit, there's no wood showing, the guitar stays in tune very well, and the crack hasn't gotten worse over the last 6 weeks. He also told me that he couldn't be completely sure that it isn't a small crack in the wood, because to know that for sure, he would have to sand down the neck. I'm just happy now, keeping in mind that I check up on the crack every day, and if it gets worse I can still get it repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilshire Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 I'm not ok with it at all, it's just that under these circumstances, being told that it's only the paint is probably the best news I can get. There's nothing I can do anymore to get it replaced, and I still think it isn't right. Nothing seems to be covered by warranty, it's just a bubble to make people buy their products. For example, a crack in the paint after just 4 months, is "damages to or discoloration of the instrument finish for any reason", and isn't covered. Ok, let's assume the wood has cracked. First I thought that was the case, and I was in contact with both Epiphone and my dealer for several weeks. My dealer kept saying that he could only wait and see what Epiphone had to say. Ephiphone let me know that such damage is ALWAYS the result of a hit, so they won't replace it. Been arguing that for weeks, without any result. Now let's say it's the paint. I've also sent an email to Epiphone to ask about warranty, they say it isn't covered. So there's no way I'm ever getting a replacement or free repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_w Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 sorry, double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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