Finish Cracking - Need Diagnosis and Advice

squid · Post by **squid** » Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:07 am

Hi, all. I bought a 370/12 from Mike Parks earlier this year. It has a Montezuma Brown finish. Earlier this week, I noticed that the clear laquer had cracked all along the base of the heel. The crack runs right along the edge of the join between the neck and the body. If I had to get really specific, I'd say that it does migrate out over the surface of the binding, but only slightly. For the most part, it's right in the edge of the join.

There is also a finish crack on the top of the guitar. It's on the treble side of the body and again, it runs right along the edge where the body meets the neck. That crack seems to have disrupted the actual colour finish.

I've tried to take photos of the cracking, but I've got a fixed lens camera, and I can't get close enough to render a decent image. The guitar has been well taken care of. I do watch things like temperature and humidity. I can't think of any playing situation or accident that could have caused this cracking. The guitar has been in its case most of the time because I don't play a lot of twelve string guitar. It has its original strings and is totally unmodified. Any idea what's happened?

Here's the tricky part for me: UPS was terribly slow getting the guitar to me from Mike. They held it up at the U.S./Canadian border for days, and by the time I actually received the guitar, I was outside of the 10 day mailing period for the warranty card. I've contacted Mike, who has offered to take a look at it and see what can be done. Can anyone offer any further advice?

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:10 am

Yeah that sux when the customs dept. holds things up because of documents and paper work, but sometimes it happens. They wanna make sure they get their money for import/export duties. But without seeing the cracks you are refering to it would be impossible to say: finish crack, neck separation, grain crack, or maybe the guitar was subjected to high temps. during shipment, this can ruin a guitar. If you have a qualified luthier in your area consult that repair person. Hopefully it's just a finish crack.

matchlock · Post by **matchlock** » Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:20 am

Hi John,
I know how you must feel. I think I would ask Mike Parks not only to look at it but see if there's anything he would do to remedy your situation. You didn't mention if it was a new or used one. Some of the problems I had with my 325C58 had to do with the finish, and I was told you never know who had it after it left the factory or if it was even considered new, most of all the warranty is only one year on the finish, which obviously then would negate a remedy from Rickenbacker. I don't see how you did anything wrong as far as storing it, I've ordered several guitars that were both new and used, non Ricks, that have sat in a wearhouse and there were no problems with finish cracking. I can only say start with where you purchased it from and go from there. I think your kind of on your own from there.

squid · Post by **squid** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 5:53 pm

I just wanted to post a follow-up on this. I contacted Rickenbacker for a return authorization, and they were very helpful. Special thanks to Kenny Howes in this regard. I think I sent the guitar back to California in or around the second week of December. The repair was done promptly and the guitar was sent back to me in early January. I think this is really impressive. I didn't expect to see the guitar back until mid-February at the earliest, what with the holidays and all. The repair is perfect, and I'm very pleased at having my lovely 12 string back in its former glory. A big, big thank you to all concerned.

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:47 pm

Awesome John. Great to hear everything's OK now.

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:44 am

What a great story, John. It's always good to hear about people who care and are willing to go the extra mile. Thanks for sharing the update.

frankabq · Post by **frankabq** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:33 pm

If you have this problem in the future, let's say when it's older, maybe antique, do nothing but wipe it with a clean damp cotton cloth. If you wax it with polish the wax turns white and makes it worse, if you oil it then dirt collects in the cracks and the cracks become dark lines. Usually the cracking in the finish does not hurt the guitar, it's just ugly. You can have a pro luthier refinish it but 30 years from now you may not want to have it refinished because it is an antique, love it for it's character. Ricks Rock.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:56 pm

John, my heart goes out to you, and it looks like Rick came through for you. Wonderful ending.

I was very very happy that both my new MB Ricks made it through shipping (in very cold weather) and are settling in very well, thank you.

And I'm glad that yours is well once again!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:50 pm

It's always nice to hear a happy ending to a story like this! Good for you, John!