ES-120 finish problems

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Big Willie Style

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Hey all, I'm new to the board but have had my ES-120 for over a year now. After reading a lot about Tokai guitars and how great they were, I decided on getting an ES-120 in Vintage Sunburst. For various reasons I have hardly played it over the past year, spending much more time with my acoustic. Anyways, I'm heading home to Canada this summer (I teach in Korea) and was thinking about selling it. I figure if I don't have enough time for it, someone else will. So I was inspecting it today and noticed a thin crack in the finish on the back where the neck is set in. I have never dropped or even so much as banged the guitar into anything so this was a big surprise to me. Has anyone else had a similar problem with these guitars? Any recommendations on what I can/should do about it? Thanks
 
Big Willie: I have one of the made in korea copies of the 335. It too, has a slight crack in the finish, where the neck meets the body. It has never been dropped either. I have been playing it to death, and nothing is moving. Maybe the guy who built our guitars, had a bit too much to drink that day...... :D Walter

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/waltertoresspontobeat.htm
 
It could just be a finish crack. I know that this sometimes happens with Fender guitars(totally normal actually
). If it plays fine and the neck is still straight I wouldn't stress it cause It probably isn't anything beyond cosmetic.
 
the 120 is finished with nitro laquer. the finish will crack on it. same with gibby lp's tempeture changes and humidity can cause the cracking or "checking" as some refer to it.
 
It's a common issue with nitro finishes, especially at the neck joint. The two pieces of wood expand and contract to different extents as temperature/humidity fluctuates and this can crack the lacquer. Short of a complete refinish, you can't do anything about it.

It's happened on my ls200.
 
Welcome to the world of nitro finishes! But don't sweat it. One year doesn't seem like much time, but considering the variation in temperature and especially humidity between Korea and Canada, no big surprise.
 

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