Is this neck pocket alright?

[andymue]

Hey guys,

first time post here.

I recently bought a NOS Swamp Ash Speial.
It's a great guitar, I really like how it plays and sounds.

Yesterday, I changed strings for the first time.
While doing so I was able to inspect the guitar more closely.

What I found was, that there's a little crack in the finish (only, hopefully) at the neck heel.
Also, the gap between the neck and the body seems a little large to me.

I've e-mail Customer Service but they probably won't reply until next week.
What do you guys think? Should I be worried about the neck?

Thanks!

Andy

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

It's reasonably common to see little cracks like that on bolt on guitars. Seen it a lot on Strats. Maybe down to two different types of woods expanding and contracting at different rates. Whether that should happen so soon on a new guitar I honestly don't know. Same goes with the slight gap. I see it a lot on Strats, but doesn't look to be anything to worry about.

I'm sure the little finish crack is fixable... See what PRS says in response.

 

[andymue]

Yeah, my Strat has a similar crack as well (produced it myself by overtightening the srews... ), but the neck pocket is more snug.
Don't know how important a snug neck pocket really is for a PRS as the whole bolt-on construction is different, it just struck me as a little odd to see such a gap on a PRS.

 

[andymue]

Customer service reply is here.
They said neither the crack nor the gap should concern me.

While this is good news, I'm still not so sure that I'm happy with finding either on a new guitar.
Hmm....

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Personally, i'd take their word as good.

How recent is it?

If it plays and sounds great that's what matters the most.

 

[andymue]

I have no reason to doubt their words.
And I'm not really expecting anything from them either, that's all fine.
The guitar is from 2007, but I have bought it as NOS only 3 weeks ago.
Clearly, the wood might have moved some time in the years since it has left the factory, causing the gap (even though it was basically unplayed all the time).

I know, good playing and good sounding, what more could you want.
But then again, a blemish on a new guitar is a blemish on a new guitar and it somehow distracts from the NGD feeling for me.

 

[justmund]

Sorry to be the one to tell you, but it's all you I'm afraid. You had the chance to inspect the guitar before you bought it, and I'm assuming if you had of noticed this you either wouldn't have bought it, or asked for a discount?

PRS have effectively no control over their guitars once they leave the factory, so you're right in not expecting anything from them.

Personally if I was buying a "new 5 year old guitar" I'd be giving it a very, very close inspection, who knows what happened in those 5 years, how much temperature/humidity changes it was subjected to (even if the dealers said it's been in it's case in a humidity/temp controlled room the whole time) etc. I do apologise if this comes off harsh, I'm just trying to be realistic about the situation. If you're really worried about it, send to it to the PTC for a touch up!

 

[themike]

If you're truly unhappy with it contact the dealer you bought it from. Generally they have a 30 day return policy.

 

[andymue]

You had the chance to inspect the guitar before you bought it, and I'm assuming if you had of noticed this you either wouldn't have bought it, or asked for a discount?

It was shipped overseas (I'm not from the US), so I couldn't inspect it and I can't return it.
But I took this risk willingly, so really there's nobody to blame.

I asked CS about what the PTC might be able to do. That might be an option.

The reason I started this thread was to find out whether other PRS bolt-ons look like this as well (i.e. if it's somewhat "common") - it probably wouldn't bother me at all in this case.

 

[garrett]

It was shipped overseas (I'm not from the US), so I couldn't inspect it and I can't return it.
But I took this risk willingly, so really there's nobody to blame.

I asked CS about what the PTC might be able to do. That might be an option.

The reason I started this thread was to find out whether other PRS bolt-ons look like this as well (i.e. if it's somewhat "common") - it probably wouldn't bother me at all in this case.

Definitely very common on bolt neck guitars in general. Don't bother with a repair on this, since chances are it'll crack again later down the road.

I agree with PRS that the gap is also a non-issue. Looks really small to me from that angle, especially compared to a lot of Fenders out there. You gotta remember all the handwork that goes into building a guitar. A little variation is expected.