Udonitron
Well-known member
OK who here wants to hear a happy and yet depressing tale? Grab your blankets and a hot cocoa and I will take you away to a land of happiness that soon turns to crap! LOL
So I went during my lunch break to pick up my highly awaited and anticipated rare Tokai with what I thought was a Burl top. When I arrived at the post office the lady brings out what I expected to be, as it always has been, a massive 8-10" deep double corrugated box loaded with air bagged padding and the guitar nicely wrapped in bubble wrap etc. Well noooo...she walks out with a 3" deep box JUST barley big enough to fit the guitar in yet alone padding on the top or bottom of the guitar! As she walked ever closer I could see the top of the guitar bulge in the lower center of the box..."I thought WTF, this cannot be good!". I panicked and headed back to work with enough time to scarf my lunch in 8 mins flat!
Heading back to my desk I was at a point where a part of me was so excited to see this guitar in person and a part of me was terrified to open it and find pieces of it all over the place. Well I sat down and opened it up carefully, OK padded air bags on the sides, top and bottom of the guitar (headstock and ***) however no padding other than 2 wraps of bubble wrap around the guitar itself, which was in a thin cloth padded gig bag. There were some large celled air bags around the butt and headstock...looked OK, right...right?
I pulled the guitar out and carefully tore off the bubble wrap and zipped open the bag to find one INSANELY beautiful guitar...the top almost moved as you stared at it via different angles & I was so happy to finally realize what the top really was...dear god Tiger Eye maple!? Whee!:naughty: It literally looked like it was NEVER played, the frets were rough with deposits from salt air but there was NO wear at all on them! No scratches on the top at all...no holes drilled for the pick guard and it just looked new! I was reluctant to turn it over and I did so fearing the worst..."oh wow, a center seamed back!" I thought. "Sweet...mmm...a dent caused from the ****** box it was in as there was a hole in that area of the box...SUCKS but I can deal with it" I mumbled. I creeped up the neck, scared to find something bad and sure enough..."oh man, no way...**** it!" I blurted and caused a few stares. The neck was cracked!!
1st time ever in 14 or so guitars that I have had this happen
All because of the sub-par ****** box it was packaged in! Now I flexed the neck with a serious amount of force and it just BARELY moves at all...definitely would not have issues while under string tension but how lame is this!? A literally mint, new old stock and super rare never before seen Tiger Maple topped Tokai and the neck gets cracked during shipping!
Below are a ton of nice photos including the crack. If anyone with some Luthier or neck repair knowledge can assist, it would greatly be appreciated! I.E. How bad is the said crack? Should a clamp the base and headstock and flex the neck a bit and add some glue in there and release or? Thanks everyone for the input and enjoy the stunning SOLID Tiger Eye top!
Crack:
Now the good stuff:
Before I polished the frets and oiled the board:
And After:
So I went during my lunch break to pick up my highly awaited and anticipated rare Tokai with what I thought was a Burl top. When I arrived at the post office the lady brings out what I expected to be, as it always has been, a massive 8-10" deep double corrugated box loaded with air bagged padding and the guitar nicely wrapped in bubble wrap etc. Well noooo...she walks out with a 3" deep box JUST barley big enough to fit the guitar in yet alone padding on the top or bottom of the guitar! As she walked ever closer I could see the top of the guitar bulge in the lower center of the box..."I thought WTF, this cannot be good!". I panicked and headed back to work with enough time to scarf my lunch in 8 mins flat!
Heading back to my desk I was at a point where a part of me was so excited to see this guitar in person and a part of me was terrified to open it and find pieces of it all over the place. Well I sat down and opened it up carefully, OK padded air bags on the sides, top and bottom of the guitar (headstock and ***) however no padding other than 2 wraps of bubble wrap around the guitar itself, which was in a thin cloth padded gig bag. There were some large celled air bags around the butt and headstock...looked OK, right...right?
I pulled the guitar out and carefully tore off the bubble wrap and zipped open the bag to find one INSANELY beautiful guitar...the top almost moved as you stared at it via different angles & I was so happy to finally realize what the top really was...dear god Tiger Eye maple!? Whee!:naughty: It literally looked like it was NEVER played, the frets were rough with deposits from salt air but there was NO wear at all on them! No scratches on the top at all...no holes drilled for the pick guard and it just looked new! I was reluctant to turn it over and I did so fearing the worst..."oh wow, a center seamed back!" I thought. "Sweet...mmm...a dent caused from the ****** box it was in as there was a hole in that area of the box...SUCKS but I can deal with it" I mumbled. I creeped up the neck, scared to find something bad and sure enough..."oh man, no way...**** it!" I blurted and caused a few stares. The neck was cracked!!
1st time ever in 14 or so guitars that I have had this happen
All because of the sub-par ****** box it was packaged in! Now I flexed the neck with a serious amount of force and it just BARELY moves at all...definitely would not have issues while under string tension but how lame is this!? A literally mint, new old stock and super rare never before seen Tiger Maple topped Tokai and the neck gets cracked during shipping!Below are a ton of nice photos including the crack. If anyone with some Luthier or neck repair knowledge can assist, it would greatly be appreciated! I.E. How bad is the said crack? Should a clamp the base and headstock and flex the neck a bit and add some glue in there and release or? Thanks everyone for the input and enjoy the stunning SOLID Tiger Eye top!
Crack:
Now the good stuff:
Before I polished the frets and oiled the board:
And After:
