HANGAR18 Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Is flaking paint on two sides of the neck joint of a solid body guitar a problem? (See neck joint photos of my H157 in the photos attached. I could only get one side of the neck joint in focus at a time.) Here is why I ask... I was talking to this guy who told me that a crack in the finish like this would allow moisture in and blah, blah blah eventually the neck would fall of the body or something. So, is this a big deal or should I take some sort of steps to protect the guitar from the aforementioned apocalyptic doom the guy predicted?
Genericmusic Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 I'm not a luthier but I do have an opinion. Does the neck move? If it doesn't don't fix what is not broken.
Hfan Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 A little Guitar polish or wax should seal it I suppose.
NoNameBand Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Depends on how flaky the guitar player is. Kidding aside, I think it is an issue of cosmetics more than a structural one. Many necks are unfinished. I don't think the paint condition affects the glue in the joint.
HANGAR18 Posted August 21, 2012 Author Posted August 21, 2012 Depends on how flaky the guitar player is.
DetroitBlues Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 I think wood swells with moisture, so it would make sense the joint seam paint may crack. Might be an issue with thick opaque paints too. But my old 140 showed signs of the same thing. It was solid as a rock. Just don't use your 157 as an oar and you should be fine.
HANGAR18 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 I've got a bunch of fancy-pants guitar wax so I guess I can make sure slop a bunch into the seams and keep it there and that should be fine I guess.
bolero Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 the neck is glued in so it should be fine; the cracking does indicate some movement though, unless there was just some glue residue on there the nitro finish/paint didn't adhere to very well I had to get that done to a guitar, the luthier carefully brushed some nitro lacquer into the joint & it melted in to merge with rest of the finish & seal it...nitro is good like that I guess you could try yourself, maybe best to bring it to a guitar finish expert though. ?
HANGAR18 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 Where does one buy some gloss black nitrocellulose lacquer?
H Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Where does one buy some gloss black nitrocellulose lacquer? StewMac sells nitro - not sure about black though.
DetroitBlues Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Is the Nitro the actual paint or is it the lacquer the paint gets mixed in with?
H Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Is the Nitro the actual paint or is it the lacquer the paint gets mixed in with? It's the clear lacquer. However, you can get it in various colours too.
tbonesullivan Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 see, that area is VERY hard to buff out, and they may do some scraping in there as well. Also due to the different pieces of wood, often you will get a crack there as the wood expands and contracts. How old is the guitar?
yoslate Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 It's the clear lacquer. However, you can get it in various colours too. Right, Howard. There is stress in that area, on any guitar. Those minimal stresses will show up in the "powdering" of the clear coat, particularly on guitars with a dark finish. See it all of the time. If it really bothers you, you could make one pass in that right angle with a black industrial Sharpie. I'd leave it alone!
Hfan Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Right, Howard. There is stress in that area, on any guitar. Those minimal stresses will show up in the "powdering" of the clear coat, particularly on guitars with a dark finish. See it all of the time. If it really bothers you, you could make one pass in that right angle with a black industrial Sharpie. I'd leave it alone! a ha! I knew you guys used sharpies.
pressure Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 This lacquer problem happens so often on Hamer's that they have named it Hameritus. Don't worry, be happy.
MartyGrass Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 If you don't like the neck pocket flaking, consider a Fender. There is no way to fully prevent stress cracks in the finish there with that design. Plus they are of no more consequence than nitro hazing. Thornton guitars avoid this flaking by their neck design. That's not the reason for the design though.
tbonesullivan Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 If you don't like the neck pocket flaking, consider a Fender. Thornton guitars avoid this flaking by their neck design. That's not the reason for the design though. Yes, with fender style guitars you don't get neck pocket flaking. Instead you get neck pocket finish cracking, usually on the top of the neck. Got it on my Two hamer bolt ons, got it on my Fender Tele. Is that thornton a Neck through? That is one sure fire way to avoid any kind of neck joint issues. As for hameritis, that's a bit different. It's the finish pulling away from the wood itself, which happens I believe due to a reaction with the glue used at that time. It happens around the glue joints, and also on the edges of the fretboard on unbound guitars.
HANGAR18 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 see, that area is VERY hard to buff out, and they may do some scraping in there as well. Also due to the different pieces of wood, often you will get a crack there as the wood expands and contracts. How old is the guitar? The guitar is a 2004. I ran my fingernail across the joint (figuring that finish should be stronger than whatever my fingernail might do to it) and I did get some of the finish crumbling off. The photos were taken after I ran my fingernail across the joint.
HANGAR18 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 The photos were taken after I ran my fingernail across the joint. Man, that's a good camera!
yoslate Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 a ha! I knew you guys used sharpies. I had to re-glue some binding on a black guitar yesterday. Then it had to be scraped, to smooth things out. Despite my best efforts, a little of the finish came off of the neck, right at the binding. I asked Tom about dealing with it. He gave me a protracted dissertation on masking, spraying, clear-coating, and rubbing out the miniscule area. Then he said, "Or you could do this," handing me a Sharpie. Ten seconds to mask a neat line. Five seconds, one pass, with the Sharpie. Done. Could tell, only if you knew what you were looking for.
tbonesullivan Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 The guitar is a 2004. I ran my fingernail across the joint (figuring that finish should be stronger than whatever my fingernail might do to it) and I did get some of the finish crumbling off. The photos were taken after I ran my fingernail across the joint. 8 years... that is plenty of time for the finish to outgas a lot and become more brittle. The nitro also can shrink a bit, and just due to the different rates of expansion of two pieces of wood, that area gets a lot of stress.
Thundersteel Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 This lacquer problem happens so often on Hamer's that they have named it Hameritus. I don't think that's the case anymore. It happened on the older ones, but not the newer ones. At least mine don't have it!
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