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Fretboard crack -- just shut up and play my guitar?

dnabbet2

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Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
211
After reading I-don't-know-how-many threads about correcting minor imperfections in a guitar, and thinking, criminy, forget it and just play the thing, I'm asking if I should be ticked off about having a cracked fretboard replaced about a year ago ... and finding a crack in the new one just last night.

I'll link to a couple of pics: it runs through the binding at the neck pickup to about the nineteenth fret -- which is about as high up the neck as I play anyway.

Should I just forget about it and play the guitar? It's my current favourite. And I sure don't feel like shipping it anywhere for another fretboard unless it gets worse. (By the way, I'm in a healthily humid climate here so I dunno what gives.)

Fretboard crack images ...
 

J.D.

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Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Definitely a crack. Probably won't get worse, as the fretboard of course is glued rigidly to the neck. You could have a luthier carefully inject super glue into the crack to stabilize it. If it gets worse, definitely contact Gibson for a warranty claim (you will need to provide proof of original ownership).
 

dnabbet2

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May 31, 2017
Messages
211
The first fretboard repair was done by an independent luthier ... but even he's distant.

The nearest giant city here for sure has luthiers that could either repair or replace the fretboard but large-scale repeat repairs really skew the "value" of the guitar. You're pretty much wedded to it.

I'll play it and monitor it, as you say. And read up on the super-glue approach in the meantime.

Thanks J.D.
 
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brandtkronholm

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Dec 3, 2006
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2,737
Wow, that's definitely a crack. Even the binding at the end of the fretboard (against the neck pickup ring) is cracked.
I wonder how it happened? I wonder how BOTH fretboards cracked? Weather? Accident? Faulty construction? I cannot think of what might have gone wrong in construction to cause such a crack.
How's the truss rod?
So long as it plays in tune and the frets behave, you'll be good to go.
However, I see a new fretboard in the distant future.
Dang.
 

dnabbet2

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May 31, 2017
Messages
211
The first damage was caused by heat: the guitar along with my household goods was stored over the summer in an un-airconditioned warehouse in Kuwait. The frets must have expanded and split the board and scalloped the binding. Fair enough. But that was over two years ago.

So this one I don't get, 'cause I live in a humid climate on the Mediterranean now. And I too am especially surprised the binding is also cracked. The guitar sits on a stand next to my workstation in an air-conditioned/heated apartment -- yearly indoor highs would rarely be over 95 and lows rarely under 50, even when I'm not home and the air-conditioning/heating is off. Daily spreads might be 20 degrees.

I've owned a lot of guitars, and I'm not recalling any with fretboard splits. So, once again, I dunno. It does play great and stay beautifully in tune. Maybe I should beat the rest of the guitar with chains and call the split patina.
 

El Gringo

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Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Definitely a crack. Probably won't get worse, as the fretboard of course is glued rigidly to the neck. You could have a luthier carefully inject super glue into the crack to stabilize it. If it gets worse, definitely contact Gibson for a warranty claim (you will need to provide proof of original ownership).
Also to add that It has to have the Store owners blessings to begin warranty repair service .
 
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