Crack or Grain?

[fretbuzzard]

Hey all,
I'm eyeballing a guitar online that I am going to have a chance to check out in person. The pictures I'm looking at show a somewhat concerning line on the back of the headstock that seems to go through at least one of the tuner holes. My question: crack or grain (or both)? Anything I should keep an eye out for or check out when I get the guitar in my hands? The neck is rift sawn, if that matters, and the guitar is new with warranty.

 

[Sax-son]

To me, it looks like a vein in the wood grain and not a crack. I had neck that I bought from Warmoth that had those. It was discounted because of that flaw, but it turned out to be a perfectly good neck.

 

[Fendereedo]

Contact Fender, show them the problem, ask them what they intend to do with a flaw in their very tip top range? Don't settle until they sort it out. There's no way I would accept that, seriously!

 

[schmee]

Looks like "sugar" grain. Dark and likely a bit softer than the white maple. I just bought an off brand of neck cheap with a lot of that in it . Probably not a big deal but I would not like to see that in a CS neck personally. It's not like Maple is rare . On the top by the tuner knob it should not show as deep.

 

[Joe M]

I had a CS Tele that had lines like that on the back of the neck. Bugged the heck out of me till I took it to a repair guy who I trust and was told they were only veins in the wood, like Sax-son said. But, in the end, even though, as I said, I really trust the repair guy, just couldn't live with those lines and I moved the guitar on.

 

[IrishBread69]

Contact Fender, show them the problem, ask them what they intend to do with a flaw in their very tip top range? Don't settle until they sort it out. There's no way I would accept that, seriously!

He isn't accepting anything. He's deciding whether to buy it or not. It isn't an order he has made.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Could just be minerals, but one has to ask, why would the minerals fill a non-void? They don't. They migrate to areas where they're welcome. I wouldn't want it, and so if you don't absolutely love the guitar, you could be in trouble ever trying to re-sell it.

 

[fretbuzzard]

This is helpful. Current plan: check it out and if the guitar is otherwise amazing, see what the shop can do for a discount. I'm not super worried about stability - if nothing else FCS has a pretty decent warranty - but the point about the effect on resale value is legit.

 

[JohnnyThul]

Looks like a mineral streak, the stuff Burst afficionados are crazy for in "authentic" maple tops.
That has no effect on strength imho,but makes it unique. That's just what mother nature gives us from time to time, and I'd say cherish it , rather than abandon it.

Remember what Taylor did for ebony. Before they marketed striped or multicoloured ebony, everyone asked for jet black stuff,so, slot of perfectly good wood was abandoned for optical reasons. Now it seems, the more figure and colour, the higher the price tag.

 

[Steve Holt]

That's grain. My 2 cents.

 

[willietheweirdo]

I dig it. Even has a nice little flame/curl at the end of it, by the looks of it. This would be the one I'd pick out of a dozen otherwise identical guitars that had boring, characterless heads.

You can see it wrap around the corner between the B and E tuners. Too bad there aren't about a half dozen more...

 

[Blue Bill]

To me it looks like a grain feature, not a crack. As you can see, this bothers some people, and doesn't bother others. It wouldn't bother me, wood that's too "perfect" can be boring. (As Willie said above.)

 

[Fendereedo]

He isn't accepting anything. He's deciding whether to buy it or not. It isn't an order he has made.

Fair play, I missed that. In that case I would walk.

 

[Crobbins]

Nothing showing on the front of the headstock.

 

[dsutton24]

I've got a 1980-something Telecaster that has the same mark on the headstock and a couple parallel to the fretboard. I bought it dirt cheap because of the bad neck. That bad neck is nearly forty years old now and is rock solid.

 

[fretbuzzard]

I've got a 1980-something Telecaster that has the same mark on the headstock and a couple parallel to the fretboard. I bought it dirt cheap because of the bad neck. That bad neck is nearly forty years old now and is rock solid.

That is super-useful, thanks. This would be a decent amount of money for me to spend, even with a discount, so it’s helpful to know that it should be stable.

 

[Tele Jr]

Looks like a long mineral streak to me. Very similar to the shorter mineral streak below. I look for mineral streaks, one of the signs of eastern maple.

 

[Boreas]

Nothing showing on the front of the headstock.

Actually I see a short streak, but in a different location. I don't think it is a crack. I would probably try to finagle a discount for a cosmetic flaw.

 

[Fretting out]

Grain

I have a les Paul R7 that has grain/mineral streak? Like that

I wouldn’t sell it but I guarantee it would be hard to convince people it’s not a crack by just looking at it

Looks exactly like a crack

 

[Fenderdad1950]

The custom shop would never let that thru. It's not a crack, for it doesn't line up with the run of the grain. Not a scratch, for it would be closer to maple color. Might some kind of color flaw post build, or boo boo in the pic.