What’s happened to the neck.

chris78

I got a Paul’s guitar today which came off eBay. The neck joint seems to have some filler/glue residue around it. Very unusual for a PRS which are normally immaculate. I’ve attached pics but what is it and any cause for concern?

chris78

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/8yypahgayubqv71/AABIadLzpB1pupFsR6t3HVzXa

heres a link. Bloody pics are working

Brize

How was it described? I can't imagine it came from the factory like that.

richardhomer

No way a PRS would come out of the factory like that.

WezV

Looks like the finish has delaminated from the wood to me... Needs further investigation, that's for sure

TTony

That doesn’t look like a PRS standard of finish to me ... 

chris78

No mention or pics of it on the original listing and my thought was it’s not typical given the prs I’ve had are flawless. It is possible the neck has been reset or reglued?

WezV

Definitely should have been disclosed 

Is there also a white line between back and top in the cutaway?  

Is the finish still shiny over the pale bits, it looks it in your pics.  

If there is no residue on the finish I would assume the mahogany body has shrunk and finish has popped where it joins other bits of wood.  

If there is residue you can feel, it's likely been reglued... But I don't think that's what we are seeing here

chris78

@WezV thanks. It’s smooth around that area and there are no white lines or obvious cuts. The finish feels like every other v12 prs I’ve played and that’s why I can’t make sense of it. 

WezV

I would definitely ask the seller, 

If you like it as a player, see if you can get a bit back.

If you are likely to flip it, return now to save the hassle  later.

It's an expensive PRS, and PRS buyers are picky... This will affect value, as will any repair

FatPete

If it is the finish lifting away from the surface slightly, could that have been caused by 'shock' from a drop in shipping?

WezV

FatPete said:

If it is the finish lifting away from the surface slightly, could that have been caused by 'shock' from a drop in shipping?

Certainly could happen that way, but the completed listing on eBay does not show this area at all, so more likely it's been omitted on purpose

I asked about the white line in the cutaway as that is visible in the seller pics and points to wood movement, rather than finish separating from a knock

Either way, it is the sellers problem

chris78

Amazingly, I emailed PRS customer service and they’ve emailed me in 20 minutes! How’s that for service. Here’s what they said:


Thanks for contacting PRS Guitars. 

From the photo it looks like the neck may have taken a hit causing the finish to pop in the neck joint where the neck flexed. This appears to be an aesthetic issue and does not appear to have damaged the structural integrity of the guitar. If the neck had moved out of the pocket or was damaged the guitar should not set up or play properly.  

Epsilon

Regardless, I'd probably be looking for a return on that anyway!

Funkfingers

If the issue was not mentioned in the item description or illustrated in the photographs, you have grounds to reject the guitar. 

If the seller’s listing conveniently avoided any images of the problem area, you have to suspect that the issue was already known. Naughty!

ICBM

I would take PRSs expertise over mine, but in my opinion it may be worse than that - to me, it looks like the neck *has* come out of the pocket, then been reglued, and the glue has penetrated under the separated finish.

Two reasons - firstly the colour is exactly that of dried Titebond and not that of lifted finish over mahogany, and secondly if you look very closely right at the angle of the joint in the second pic you can see what appears to be a very fine crack. If the neck had come out cleanly and been reglued well, and clamped firmly, that's what you'd see.

Either way it absolutely didn't leave PRS like that, and if the seller can't show that it was disclosed fully in the description and pics, which an honest and/or sensible seller would, then you have every right to send it back.

Fishboy7

I'm normally pretty tolerant about blemishes and imperfections on a guitar but I would probably be pursuing a refund. 

If I'm looking at the right listing it seems the seller was pretty careful to avoid showing that spot in the pics.

WezV

ICBM said:

I would take PRSs expertise over mine, but in my opinion it may be worse than that - to me, it looks like the neck *has* come out of the pocket, then been reglued, and the glue has penetrated under the separated finish.

Two reasons - firstly the colour is exactly that of dried Titebond and not that of lifted finish over mahogany, and secondly if you look very closely right at the angle of the joint in the second pic you can see what appears to be a very fine crack. If the neck had come out cleanly and been reglued well, and clamped firmly, that's what you'd see.

Either way it absolutely didn't leave PRS like that, and if the seller can't show that it was disclosed fully in the description and pics, which an honest and/or sensible seller would, then you have every right to send it back.

Can you see the white line in the cutaway carve?

It's a similar colour to the issue here.   Could be a bit of maple top that was masked wrong.... If it wasn't a PRS.  Could be a similar finish issue to the neck area

On the eBay listing there is almost a similar line, but much more faint, between the pickups on the center join.  I could believe all 3 could happen from a significant bash, but would expect other signs of damage somewhere

I assume it's this one from what we can see of the cutaway


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153903219641

ICBM

WezV said:

Can you see the white line in the cutaway carve?

It's a similar colour to the issue here.   Could be a bit of maple top that was masked wrong.... If it wasn't a PRS.  Could be a similar finish issue to the neck area

On the eBay listing there is almost a similar line, but much more faint, between the pickups on the center join.  I could believe all 3 could happen from a significant bash, but would expect other signs of damage somewhere

I assume it's this one from what we can see of the cutaway

I’m even more suspicious now. On my damaged PRS HBI where the neck has definitely been out, it’s lifted the maple cap off the body on the treble side too.

guitargeek62

Aye - if you look closely at pics 4 and 8 in that listing you can see traces of the same damage. This was definitely known to the seller prior to listing it on eBay.

Send it back and file a complaint (not that it’ll do much good!).

WezV

ICBM said:

WezV said:

Can you see the white line in the cutaway carve?

It's a similar colour to the issue here.   Could be a bit of maple top that was masked wrong.... If it wasn't a PRS.  Could be a similar finish issue to the neck area

On the eBay listing there is almost a similar line, but much more faint, between the pickups on the center join.  I could believe all 3 could happen from a significant bash, but would expect other signs of damage somewhere

I assume it's this one from what we can see of the cutaway

I’m even more suspicious now. On my damaged PRS HBI where the neck has definitely been out, it’s lifted the maple cap off the body on the treble side too.

But would you expect glue to seep that far without any external damage to the finish. 


Titebond, even thinned, wouldn't without some evidence of injection marks. I would be checking the neck pickup cavity if I wanted to prove a repair/reset