You were worried about those little finish cracks, but have no worry in stripping the finish from that beautiful guitar? By the way, it isn't covered in lacquer, it is polyurethane. It is thick, and it is HARD. Anything you do to that finish WILL look like h3ll !!!!! Not to mention the resale value will fall to almost nothing !

was worried about the cracks for the structural/actually physically damaged part, not the aesthetics obviously.

No!!! Say it ain't so. Please don't strip that fine looking guitar.

while your at it paint it with some flat latex wall paint

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I have seen this problem quite often. When i buy a Strat sight unseen and it is older, and certain colors, I always ask this. Some of the thicker finishes were more prone to this. But as was already stated, these are cause by leaning the guitar against the neck and bumping it, or dropping it, or not having good neck support in the case and dropping the case—something that puts pressure on the neck thus stressing the joint. Very common on old 1980s Graffitti Yellow, Midnight Blue, Surf Green colors for some reason, but usually if there are a number of coats of paint or clear.

These will not hurt the playing of the guitar. I have seen guitars that have had these for years. And in many cases, If taken care of they will not grow longer. They just lower the value of the guitar and in trying to repair them you can really mess the guitar up....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com