I found a few threads on the internet where people say that the wood of their Stratocaster cracked at between the bridge post and the pickup cavity, like here: http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/tech-ta ... -stud.html . So I wonder how common is this problem Stratocasters? I assume basswood bodies are more susceptible to such cracking?

Fender Strats are made out of Alder and sometimes Ash, not Basswood. I have heard of this happening with the two-point trems but would not say it is common.

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Bill

I own 10 strat's....and I have never experienced this issue. I have USA and import Fender's. None of my USA Standards with 2 point trems have this issue, so I wouldn't say it is too common. Something would have to cause that, either a factory defect, or dropping the guitar, or an extreme case of low humidity More likely I would say most of these cases are just finish cracks, like the ones you get around the neck pockets of nearly all bolt on neck guitars.

Hi andrius: this Forum has been running for four and a half years and has 458,001 registered users (as of this moment). I've been here (nearly) from the start and I can remember this issue being raised twice. Maybe I missed a couple more, but I think that tells us that whilst the problem exists it isn't common.

I have an old Strat body made from basswood which I converted to two-point about ten years ago. No problems. Not that that proves anything, but...

Cheers - C

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Wrong! I own three MIJ Fender Stratocasters. They are made of basswood. Basswood is common in MIJ Strats.

I had a similar issue.

It's a common issue with basswood stratocasters with a floyd rose routing for pull backs. It seems that they drilled the holes for the tremolo bridge pivot studs to close to the bridge pickup cavity. So the wood between the pivot stud hole and the pickup cavity cracks. I believe this only happens with basswood, because its a softer wood than alder.

I searched the web and found one guy that had the same issue. He removed a large piece of wood between the bridge routing and the bridge humbucker routing (location of the damaged wood), and replaced it with a big machined brass block. He then drilled holes into the brass block, and installed the pivot studs directly to the brass block.

I wasn't a fan of removing so much wood out of my guitar, so instead, I made the damaged pivot stud hole bigger, by drilling a bigger hole where the pivot stud hole was. I then plugged the hole with a wooden dowel and wood glue. Essentially what this did is give me a clean slate to work with. I redrilled the pivot stud hole, the correct size this time. I reinstalled the pivot stud, and the bridge. and it worked perfect.

I stand corrected.

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Bill

But doesn't all that glue and the body having more pieces of wood, especially in that important place, where the vibration from the strings is transferred to the wood through bridge, have a negative effect on sustain?

I have heard of this a couple times over the years, one of the reasons I am not a fan of the two point trem. Throw in the swimming pool route and you have a recipe for disaster with heavy trem use. This might not be real common, but if Stewart McDonald has come up with a fix for it, then it is happening enough to be problem.

Having said all that, seems like a couple different methods of fixing it and all seem very sound in thier reasoning and execution!

FWIW

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Not really. In fact I would saythe repair improved the sustain. The damage caused my bridge to be unstable. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of my project.

Also, the dowel fit very snug into the the hole I drilled. I poured wood glue into the hole before I inserted the dowel, so actually it was wood against wood with only a very small layer of glue in between. Ofcourse, because of the location of the damage, I felt there was suficient wood around the area drilled to support such a repair. And ultimately, if my repair was unsuccessul, I would have taken it to a luthier. But it worked just fine. Only thing is, I wished I had access to dowels made of basswood. The only dowels they sell at my local hardware store are made of poplar.

Just to throw my 2 cents in on this issue.
I have been in the repair biz for 33 years and I have seen this issue MANY MANY times.
BUT, I must qualify my statement, I have only see this often on models with Kahler Spyder trems or the made for Fender trems. Virtually every instrument I have ever worked on for any reason at all with this particular trem has shown some kind of physical cracking.
Maybe this will help narrow down any potential problems as this is still the ultimate customizable guitar.

Bob-ROC Instruments

I can remember one case of this aside from your case.
Fender America used basswood in the eighties, I think.
I don't see why basswood would be any more susceptible to this than ash, alder or mahogany.

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No no and no

The Jeff Beck guitars I believe are Basswood.

Not to be a Debbie Downer regarding this cracking issue, but I currently have 2 instruments in various stages of repair for this problem. They are both late 80's models with the afore mentioned trems. One, at the request ofthe owner, had the routing filled and a hardtail installed and the other is signed by Merle Haggard and its owner is looking for a restoration.
Could it be the weather or the players in Northern Cali?

Bob-ROC Instruments