The other day when taking my guitar (2010 American Deluxe Stratocaster) out of its case I hit the headstock on the roof. At the time the guitar showed no signs of damage and was still in tune.

I noticed the day after that the neck looked like it had been cracked in several places. The cracks don't look too bad, they just look like the grain of the wood, and they can't be felt threw the thick finish on the neck. (The neck is maple if it makes any difference)

The guitar still plays the same as before, just the strings keep going out of tune sharp, especially when I use the whammy bar. I've never had any trouble with the whammy going out of tune in the past, and have tried adding extra graphite to the bridge and the nut, my strings (Erine ball 9's) are brand new, and I have stretched them so that's not what is causing it to go out of tune (but even if it was that would cause the strings to go flat?)

I was just wondering if damaging the neck could be causing the strings to go out sharp? Or whether it's mainly in my head?

Oh another thing is the strings look slightly rusted in parts (came out the packet like that) the G string looks the worst (Pun not intended), and it is also the string going out of tune the worse.

Any other ideas to why it might be going out of tune sharp would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Baxter

Before you do anything, and I mean anything, have the guitar examined by a competent guitar tech. I repeat, do nothing to your guitar until you have any possible damage assessed and dealt with. Once the guitar has been given a clean bill of health (or else has been repaired if there is damage) then come back to us and we can help you get your tuning issues sorted out.

_________________

Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

definitely have the neck checked out.

but the first simple thing i would check is the contact at the fulcrum point of the tremolo. it is possible the bridge shifted during the bump and is causing it to bind up. if hit hard enough the impact can cause the knife edge on the trem to make a divot in the post. so if it looks seated properly loosen the strings and try giving them a quarter turn.

it is also possible the truss rod was damaged, may make it more susceptible to humidity and temperature changes. but you would have to smack it pretty darn hard to break a rod also your neck would bow like crazy.

do you have any kind of trem setter device or possibly anything up against the trem springs in the back?

_________________

i recently got a new guitar that wouldnt stay in tune. just restringing it seemed to fix the problem.

Bring it in to a Guitar Tech. He/She can make a full inspection and tell you what you have for problems, if any.

_________________
-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield