I have a beautiful American Standard HSS with Sienna Burst finish. Recently a piece of the finished chipped off at the neck body juncture. I'm totally into the "character" thing when it comes to road wear, but:

1)The wood under the chip is completely clean like the finish was never adhered at all

2)The chipped place was not hit or banged. The chipped literally popped off one day when I sat guitar on the floor.

If I had dropped the guitar and banged it on something while playing I'd chalk this up as character and love it. But I feel like this was a flaw where the finish was never attached to the body properly. What should I do?

Hello Mechtonia,

Firstly welcome to this forum

Yikes!!! I have seen finish pop off at that spot
but never so large. Contact fender maybe they'll
stand behind it{maybe}.

If not and you have that piece of urethane
glue it back on or have someone who can do it nicely for you.

Cheers.

A flaw I seen cracks and flaking but thats a chunk!!!!

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Hi mechtonia, welcome to the Forum.

Thank you for that clear photo - and sympathies with this nasty problem.

Completely agree with Mr Bill and cvilleira: that is a flaw, pure and simple. As you say, the finish plainly hasn't keyed into the timber at that point.

If your guitar is within its warranty period then you have a clear case for repair or replacement at no cost to yourself. That's what the warranty is there for.

If it's beyond warranty, well it's still a flaw and I'd be curious to see what attitude Fender take towards it.

Either way, I definitely think you should contact Customer Support at consumerrelations@fender.com and ask their advice. Include your photo with your email: it leaves little room for doubt on the matter.

Come back and let us know what they say, why not? If you find that you are on your own with this, then there's more to be said on the subject...

Cheers - C

Thanks for the advice. Your comments confirm my hunch. I've spent many thousands of dollars on Fender over the years and will likely spend thousands more. I can't imagine that they'd hang me out to dry on this.

Mech,what kind of paint is used on that guitar. I had the same thing happen to me but on the bottom of a strat that was finished in nitro. I did not bang it inn any shape or form but a piece came out that looked like the state of Texas I called Fender and once it was known my warranty was up so was the phone call. The good thing was that it came off so perfect I just got some crazy clue and fit it back in perfect till today no one can even see a line or a mark and it even takes me a few seconds to find. By the way for the guys who have heard me talk about it this is the Jeff Beck strat that turned a differant color in the are my forearm rest when I pick. Another thing is that people say how thin nitro is this paint is not as thin as you would think.

Just talked with a repair tech that talked to Fender. They had pictures of the chiped guitar.

The repair tech said that 7 out of 10 Fenders will develop cracks at the neck/body juncture.

Fender says finishes are not covered under warranty at all. I'm out of luck.

I guess when people rave about my beutiful guitar then ask "but what happened THERE" I will reply with "the paint just flakes off, its normal for a $1,300 Fender guitar" ;-(

now that sucks.....im going to looking at mine now every few minutes

That's total BS. The only time I got a chip on my 72 is when I banged it on something. Cracks are one thing, but a big chunk falling off is another. From your photo, it doesn't look like impact damage. Take them to small claims court.

Mech, did the finish come off in one piece so that you can do what Straycat did? I was thinking of this just before reading his post...

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

The guitar tech that I spoke to suggested that I use superglue...so I might give that a try.

I'm actually glad you posted this, because for years people thought I was crazy for telling them that a chip in my favorite Strat "just popped off" when I was putting my guitar in the case.

I went to put my guitar (only months old at the time) in the case and actually saw it come off!! My friends all gave me s**t about it. "dude, you just got that thing and you already chipped it??"

Everyone laughed at me when I told 'em it just popped off out of nowhere!! And it's mainly because of the spot it's in. It's literally on the face of the guitar body.





At least it's small enough, I can live with it. I've always loved the finish of this guitar. It has a beautiful frosty blue metallic burst. It's just normal for me to look at the chip now.

But yours is GINORMOUS!! That would make me sick to my stomach. I think you have every right to be angry about it.

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Hey Shredd6, I have a ding just like that on my strat. I mishandled the guitar cord and it swung into the body. It was a very small misque, but the metal end of the plug chipped it down to bare wood instantly. I hate marking my guitars, but it is a very small thing. If you put a small dab from a blue marker on it, it will pretty much go away visually.

It actually doesn't bother me anymore, but thanks. That chip happened in 1993. I'm cool with it now. You know how Murpy's Law works. As soon as I fix it, I'll put a huge dent in it somewhere else. So I just leave it alone.

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HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
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Thats the way to think!!!!

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson