Non-Warmoth Content: Major Quality Control Problem

[rspst14]

Not a Warmoth issue, but perhaps someone here can suggest a course of action.  Maybe it's just the DIY nature of the people who gravitate to Warmoth, but the knowledge on this forum is definitely above average.

Today I picked up my Washburn WI90 Idol, and found that either the wood or the finish had cracked from the nut slot all the way around the back of the neck.  I suspect it's the finish, but I can't say for sure.  This is the second time I've dealt with this exact issue on a USA Washburn, I sent a different guitar with the same issue back for a warranty repair a few years ago.  There was no trauma to the guitar, and I live by myself so I can say for sure that no child or pet knocked it over by accident.  Sometimes it's in the case, other times I keep it on a quality stand, one that won't react with the finish.  The only thing I can think of is that the weather went from cold and dry to hot and humid in the course of a week.  Even though I run a humidifier in the winter, the indoor humidity is probably higher than it's been since early fall.  Still, cracking is more often associated with too little humidity.

I bought this guitar slightly used from a Chicago Guitar Center.  Because it's a second-hand purchase, I'm assuming Washburn will not honor the lifetime warranty.  I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this, and if I would be better off disclosing the problems with it and dumping it on Ebay?  Or should I try to get them to honor the warranty and replace it with something else, under the premise that I got a lemon?  It looks and sounds great, but this isn't the first major problem I've had with this guitar.  It's been PLEK-leveled twice, due to stability problems with the neck.  Take a look at the pictures, this literally happened overnight.  I've never seen anything like it.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Before jumping to conclusions, I would preclude that your 1st experience is not the same as everyone on the forum, or in the marketplace, for that matter.

In any event, I would advise calling Warmoth direct, 253-845-0403 to address it directly as they'll be open in a little over an hour.

 

[rspst14]

This is not a Warmoth issue, the guitar in question is a Washburn. You may have just read the subject line a little too fast. I just thought I'd post it here in case anyone else had experienced this type of finish crack.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

My apologies sir.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

Just speculating, but I'd say it's more likely to be finish related.  The crack is perpendicular to the neck, not along the scarf joint.  Even if it's one piece neck with no scarf joint, there still would be no structural reason for a straight line crack to develop in that spot. 

It might be related to the fact that the guitar was hanging on the wall via a neck hangar, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[stubhead]

Yeah, I'd say the good news is that it just can't be a wood crack - wood just won't crack that way. But where you go with it, I don't know. Strange that you've had the exact same thing on another Washburn, I can't hardly figure how you could make a crack just like that even if you wanted to. :icon_scratch:

 

[bagman67]

From this armchair failure analyst's viewpoint, it looks like the finish might have cracked due to a whack on the headstock - maybe a little flex there where the crack appeared.  Not enough to break the headstock, but enough to compromise the finish.


Edit:  I re-read the original post, so it appears  you've ruled out trauma.  But the tale you tell of neck instability does not rule out internal forces in the wood screwing things up.

 

[rspst14]

I'm almost certain it's just the finish.  If I run my nail over the crack, I can just barely feel it.  I'm starting to wonder if this was displayed from a wall hanger at some point, although I've owned it for two years now and it's always been in the case or on a stand.  There hasn't been any trauma to the headstock in the time I've owned it.  The other one that cracked in the same spot was brand new and still packed in the box from the factory. 

Does anyone think it's worth trying to fix with some water-thin super glue?  I don't suppose there's much I can do to hide the crack, but I'd at least like to prevent it from getting worse if possible.  Thanks.

 

[bagman67]

You could try the drop-fill method with cyanoacrylate (aka "super") glue - just squeeze enough in there to seal it and wet-sand it smooth.  But the thing about these poly finishes is that there's really no guaranteed way to do an invisible fix.

 

[stubhead]

Yeah, I would take superglue to it, as long as you're aware of the next step of leveling it and re-polishing - no matter how the penetration works, there's no way the superglue and the whatever finish are going to be the same density or wear resistance, therefore to polish them level, you'll have to be using a fairly firm sanding "block" to float over both finishes - probably just a little scrap of pine with 1/2" flat with rounded edges will do. If you have some pretty high magnification - 10X or more - you'll be able to get a real good idea of how wide and deep the finish crack is. And by playing with your glue a bit, you'll be able to guess (somewhat) if it's going to penetrate a crack that size. If you held a gun to the head of a heavy-duty finish pro and said "Invisible! OR DOO-OOOM...!"  he might actually want to widen the crack first with a tiny little V-file. At which point, you have to ask yourself just how bad does it really bother you.

You also may be able to tell if it's penetratable* with a little drip of denatured alcohol, naptha, lighter fluid, etc. Water would work but you'd have to let it dry for a week. One good thing to keep around besides superglue is... (girly) clear nail polish. It does a number of things quite well.




*(Well it's a word NOW, dammit.) :hello2:

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I think it's just "penetrable".