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Post subject: Eric Johnson Stratocaster Question: alder wood quality
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:17 pm
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Hello everyone-

I recently purchased a new Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster from a national retailer. This is not only the best guitar I have ever owned, it is the best guitar I have ever played in the last 30 years.

I have only one reservation about my particular instrument. There are very visible cracks running across the grain of the alder wood used in the body of the guitar.

Here is a photo of my particular guitar (I marked a few cracks with arrows for reference):

Image

My question is whether I should be concerned about these cracks. Are these cracks an indication of an inferior piece of alder and are these cracks something that could cause problems for me later on down the road as the guitar ages and is subjected to normal gigging abuse?

If these cracks do not pose any quality or durability issues then can anyone tell me the technical term for them? Are they called "checking" or "rays" or something else? I am certain that people will notice them and ask me about them.

I would sincerely appreciate any input on this subject. I have 30 days in which I can return the instrument for a full refund/exchange. Other than my reservations about the cracks I have only good things to say about this guitar.

Thanks.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:05 pm
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I have the same guitar as you do. Thats just the grain of the wood probably. I really like my EJ .

I looked at my grain and the cracks are not as visible as yours. But I can see they are in the same area but not as visible. So basically the same cut but not as pronounced as yours.

If you like the guitar like you said why worry about. Play the hell out it. And then play some more.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:46 pm
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Interesting. Have you used the trem a lot and aggressively ?

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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:56 pm
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EVERYBODY NOW!

"For alder quaintence, be forgot and never brought to mind! For alder quaintence be forgot and the days of old langes angne!"



Sorry I know that was bad.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:17 pm
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z2eight wrote:
I have the same guitar as you do. Thats just the grain of the wood probably. I really like my EJ .

I looked at my grain and the cracks are not as visible as yours. But I can see they are in the same area but not as visible. So basically the same cut but not as pronounced as yours.

If you like the guitar like you said why worry about. Play the hell out it. And then play some more.


Thanks for the response.

If you look at the EJ guitar on the Fender Products Page it has the same figures in the wood. So I guess it's safe to assume it's just the nature of the grain.

Here's the Fender Products image enlarged (this is the Fender product image, not my individual guitar)...
Image

I already love this guitar. It's the best guitar of any make that I've played in the last 30 years. I can't say enough good things about the tone. And everything about the construction and setup of my particular guitar is first class.

I'm going to take your advice and just play the hell out of it. I bought it to use and abuse anyway. :lol:

Miami Mike wrote:
Interesting. Have you used the trem a lot and aggressively ?

Actually yes. This strat stays in tune like nothing I've ever played. My old Strat Plus from the 80s doesn't stay in tune like this one at all. Very happy with the trem setup. Funny, I always thought my old strat had awesome tone until I bought the EJ. It makes my American Standard (with lace sensors) sound like a toy.

groovemongrel wrote:
EVERYBODY NOW!

"For alder quaintence, be forgot and never brought to mind! For alder quaintence be forgot and the days of old langes angne!"



Sorry I know that was bad.

Actually pretty funny.

I saw on one luthier's site where they described something called wind checking which they dubbed "Alderosis"..

Quote:
Your right, Alder is a good wood but so is Poplar. They are both real close in density so the tone is relatively the same, although Poplar being a tad bit brighter.
The problem with Alder is when the trees get big and start to sway the wood starts to crack and then fills up with sap, this is called wind checking. As a result of this, when you put a quality finish over the wood the finish usually shrinks where the sap pocket was formed and this looks terrible, we call this Alderosis. And so that why we use poplar.


Anyway, I'm set to jam with some friends this weekend so I can turn it up through my Marshall DSL 401 and really give this thing a workout.


Last edited by riversitter on Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:24 pm
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riversitter wrote:
z2eight wrote:
I have the same guitar as you do. Thats just the grain of the wood probably. I really like my EJ .

I saw on one luthier's site where they described something called wind checking which they dubbed "Alderosis"..



It's a great guitar and congrats on having it, bro.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:26 pm
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i have long since forgotten what this is called but just to put your mind at ease this is what i remember about it. it has nothing to do with the wood.. it has a name for it, it IS a finish mistake. i have one of the first ever HSS amercan series strats made and it is an incredible guitar to me but mine has the exact same thing!! this is an high quality guitar too. this is a unwanted thing and the way i see it there are too ways to look at it,

that this is a sing of low quality and fender needs to wake up putting this kind of work on such a expensive guitar or that people are human and someone made a mistake while spraying it and who the hell cares? i dont care at all and nothing is perfect and i love MY guitar dispite its flaws but you may feel different. however this does not effect the function in anyway and is just a natural occurance sometimes in paint.

maybe if you are worried about it then go play another or couple EJ's and then you could see if your guitar is special or it plays and sounds the same as the others, then if it is about the same you could request a new one but thats gonna be just as much of a gamble as im sure you know. this type of thing is pretty rare though. anyway good luck with whatever you decide!!! to me it looks beutifull! :P


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:28 pm
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groovemongrel wrote:

It's a great guitar and congrats on having it, bro.

I got it 20% off on "Black Friday" or I could have never afforded it. Actually I can't afford it now but after hearing it I know its worth working some extra hours to pay for it. :shock:


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:31 pm
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kja wrote:
i have long since forgotten what this is called but just to put your mind at ease this is what i remember about it. it has nothing to do with the wood.. it has a name for it, it IS a finish mistake. i have one of the first ever HSS amercan series strats made and it is an incredible guitar to me but mine has the exact same thing!! this is an high quality guitar too. this is a unwanted thing and the way i see it there are too ways to look at it,

that this is a sing of low quality and fender needs to wake up putting this kind of work on such a expensive guitar or that people are human and someone made a mistake while spraying it and who the hell cares? i dont care at all and nothing is perfect and i love MY guitar dispite its flaws but you may feel different. however this does not effect the function in anyway and is just a natural occurance sometimes in paint.

maybe if you are worried about it then go play another or couple EJ's and then you could see if your guitar is special or it plays and sounds the same as the others, then if it is about the same you could request a new one but thats gonna be just as much of a gamble as im sure you know. this type of thing is pretty rare though. anyway good luck with whatever you decide!!! to me it looks beutifull! :P

Thanks for the input. Who knows, I may actually grow to like the look of these grain figures after a while. Its got a lifetime warranty so what the hell.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:31 pm
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oh wind checking... ok ill buy that!! :D


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:37 pm
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riversitter wrote:
groovemongrel wrote:

It's a great guitar and congrats on having it, bro.

I got it 20% off on "Black Friday" or I could have never afforded it. Actually I can't afford it now but after hearing it I know its worth working some extra hours to pay for it. :shock:


I hear ya. I bought my Strat last year on Black Friday and just today the check cleared on my final payment.


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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:19 pm
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I just love my EJ. Without a doubt the finest guitar I've owned in the last 37 years. After a year and a half of owning it, I'm still blown away by the tone and resonance of it. I plug it in, CyberTwin set on a 66 Super Reverb, add some chorus and it's just......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It just sounds so beautiful. I'll never stop raving about that guitar. Best damn strat ever produced.

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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:04 pm
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My American Deluxe Strat has the same marks, heck it may even have a few more. I guess if it doesn't effect anything I might be cool with it, but now since I know it really shouldn't have these marks I may take a trip back to Sam Ash and see if they have any different ones in stock.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:38 pm
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Postscript:

After owning this EJ for about 4 months I can say that it's one of the best purchases I ever made, period. Since I got it I have a hard time putting it down. The "crack" thing doesn't even enter my mind anymore. I love the character of the wood and the sound of the guitar is wonderful.

Sorry to bump an old topic but I couldn't leave this topic alone until I gave one last update.


One more thing. I have a friend who never showed me his vintage '59 strat until I showed him my new EJ. Then he whipped his vintage baby out to show me how similar they were. The neck shape (almost exact), the body contours, the tuning pegs, the bridge, all almost exact.

His had a weird "orangy" sunburst. My EJ actually looked better to me. His original case was almost exactly like the EJ's case except you could see a definite quality difference. The corners on the old case were done with much better craftsmanship. The new EJ case corners were pretty sloppy by comparison.

It was very strange because while I was complaining about how crappy the cable and strap are that come with the EJ, he pulled out the strap that came with his '59 and it was the exact same thing.

Fender really did a great job reproducing Eric's old '57.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:35 pm
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I can assure you that after 30 years as a woodworker that those marks are not cracks nor the result of bad finish. That is a characteristic of Alder.


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