Quote:
Originally Posted by boris bubbanov
I don't see any obvious evidence of abuse, but you might unstring that high "E" and see if the tuner post has been bent. I'll bet the impact was to the tuner, and when the load was transferred into the headstock a pre-existing crack became evident.
|
Boris - I believe your diagnosis of how the crack occurred is correct. I've never taken the tuning pegs out of these type of Fenders before and was only familiar with ones that have visible screws attaching them. I had originally found this picture of a Deluxe neck and assumed that the small holes were for attaching screws that were under the back covers.
After a little more research I now know that they are locating holes for raised pins on the tuning peg.
It makes sense that if the tuning peg took an impact the force would be transfered to those small holes and cause this crack.
I think my safest course of action is to send it back rather than risk having Fender say that the damage happened from abuse.
I'm now wondering if this was a previous return that was sold to me as new stock. The "Made in America" flag sticker that you normally see on the pick guard was missing and the bottom of the Fender box had been opened and resealed with clear tape. That's where they stuck the receipt but I wondered why they chose the bottom when the top had the original reinforced brown packing tape in place and there was a large area where they could have easily slipped the receipt between the end flaps without breaking the seal. That's how the receipt was inserted on a Gibson guitar that I got from the same warehouse because Gibson has a huge security seal on the box ends that guarantees the contents has not been opened since packing at the factory. This wouldn't be the first time a dealer resells a previous return as new...