I just bought an american deluxe, less than a month ago, and I just noticed two cracks inside the horns, near the neck, pictured below:

Is there anything to worry about? What could happen if I just leave it? The other option is I return the guitar.

The first pic is inside the top horn, and the second pic is inside the bottom horn.

I've never known a crack to get smaller.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

So you're saying return it?


are cracks in these locations common to the stratocaster? if its a common thing, no point in returning it since it will just happen on the next one i get too.

I've owned ten Strats in my six decades on this rock (eight currently, a '66 in the late '60s, and a '63 in the mid '70s).

None of them ever developed a neck-pocket crack.

Let your conscience be your guide.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Did you buy it new or used? If you bought it new less than a month ago, contact the selling dealer to find out there return policy. I know Guitar Center has a 30 day return policy, no questions asked.

Here is the warranty. Note item #3 under Limitations and Exclusions. After reading the warranty I'm not sure what Fender DOES cover, but it might be worth contacting them anyway if you are out of the dealer's return period.

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Bill

I bought it used

Go to see a GOOD luthier , he will know what to do , maybe put glue on craks and you'll be quiet the rest of your life.

For your information IMO good luthier is somebody repair guitars in is own shop , rarely in guitar store. And a guy you know the good reputation by friend or other people you trust.

It is a low cost job

Out of 15 Fenders, strats, teles, p bass, musicmaster etc., 11 have cracks similar to that. This is common, and it is likely to happen with age on any bolt neck guitar. There is no way the wood is cracked unless you dropped it, but then you'd have other dings to worry about These cracks in no way compromise structural integrity or tuning stability either. Also, they usually won't get any worse In fact, all of my Fenders over 15 years old have these cracks in the finish at the neck pocket.

Both cracks being somewhere near parallel to each other, either side of the neck. It looks to me like the guitar has had some impact damage. I couldn't judge that to be nothing more than finish cracks. Which are quite common in certain conditions.

I also don't think you have much ground to return the guitar, it being bought used and all. Any warranty coverage is for the original owner, sorry to say. Unless of course you bought it used at a decent shop. If so, just go and talk to them. The weakness that's caused the crack in the paint could have happened a while back.

Certainly not unfixable. But get it done sooner rather than later.

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No no and no

So far in my Strat-owning life, I've had two American Deluxes like that.

One I still own, it's ol' Red... not sure why as he's never been dropped or treated badly. But he is now 10 years old.

The other one was the None More Black I had briefly. When I took the neck off, there was clearly some impact damage, as the wood separating the neck and the pickup route had actually been knocked out of place.

Both guitars still played well, and sounded good. Just a case of not being perfect in looks. Your call.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

a buddy of mine has the same thing on a strat plus. the cracks in his were caused by him leaning the guitar against things and it falling over. when the neck is knocked around shifting in the neck pocket like that cracks are going to happen. the previous owner probably had it fall over allot or kept it in a gig bag. its not going to hurt the function of the guitar any. but if the surface coat is only fixed the cracks will come back easily. for cracks like that that to happen the wood has probably cracked also and needs to be properly fixed to completely solve the problem.

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Yeah like the others I've had this on three strats. I suspect this area undergoes a lot of tension and the poly just cracks either with a knock or some other issue. It is generally in the finish only and most would say why bother fixing it, you are bound to put another dent elsewhere over time.
Take the neck off examine the area to see that it is not the wood and just the finish and more importantly when putting the neck back on avoid chipping any poly from around this region! It is easily done.
Unfortunately it can affect the resale where some buyers are nervous about neck issues. You could touch it up using really fine sand paper and poly but it could end up looking worse.
I like my guitars to be in mint condition too but the reality is sooner or later something will happen that changes that.

I took the guitar to a well reviewed luthier today, he said that it is only a paint/finish crack and that it should be fine. Nothing more to do with it.

I will go by that and just keep the guitar. I got a killer deal on it anyway.

I don't think the guitar has ever had any impact, it would have left a ding on the part where it was hit. and the rest of the guitar is absolutely immaculate.


sweet huh?

I'm thinking about stripping the lacquer off this bad so I can get a good relic look going, i think it will sound better too




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Thats a seriously fine looking guitar, cracks and all. I would not strip it unless you are hell bent on doing so. It is your guitar so its up to you but I say keep it as is and play it like its meant to be played. I think it sure is pretty.

Russ

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'08 Amer. Dlx. Strat, '98 Amer. Std. Strat, '10 Squire CV Tele Custom, '96 Seagull S+6 Cedar
Deluxe Reverb RI, Tweed Blues Jr., Champion 110, Champion 600, Mustang I, Line 6 Vetta

Break out the belt sander!





A "relic" modern Strat isn't going to look like anything except for what it is -- a used and abused modern Strat, foolishly and needlessly destroyed. But as DeadAhead mentioned -- it's your guitar. You can be as goofy as you want to be with it.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY