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Hello,
I am currently in discussion to buy a 2016 L5 Wes Montgomery that I tried a few days ago .
The guitar is mint, sounds like it should and the neck profile , D shaped, slim and rather flat suits me just fine.
BUT, because obviously there is a "but", there is a "detail" that bothers me and for which I ask your enlightened opinion!
You can feel a kind of "line" under the thumb when it passes at the rear of the neck, as if something was "sticking out".
It's slight but nothing is more sensitive than a hand (and even more so a guitarist's left hand!)...
It doesn't interfere with the playing and you can only feel it when the thumb moves perpendicular to the neck and during my test, I felt it mostly when manipulate the guitar, not during playing it.
At first I thought it was a varnish defect (even if it would be a scandal, the Crimson division is not infallible after all !) but absolutely nothing is visible even if I inspect it meticulously.
Moreover, this "sensitive line" happens to be exactly at one of the walnut/maple joints of the neck and my personal hypothesis was a different reaction of the two woods to the variations of ambient humidity as it can happen sometimes with Fender at the level of the reinforcement at the back of the neck.
The seller (a trustworthy professional who sells some guitars from the collection of one of his excellent customers - no doubt about the guy's honesty-) also noticed this and asked today for the opinion of a luthier competent in this matter.
His diagnosis is the same as mine (I had kept my hypothesis to myself, his opinion was not influenced) and according to him these things happen and are not worrying for the guitar .
According to him, an intervention is superfluous, given the perfect condition of the guitar and the fact that the neck does not present any structural problem.
The wood remains an evolving material...
Hence my question:
have you ever experienced a similar situation on one of your guitars?
If so, what were the consequences?
Do you think I should pass up this sale?
I would not to let myself be dazzled by the fact of finally acquiring this dream guitar and taking the wrong one...
Of course, you haven't had the guitar in your hands, but maybe you've already encountered this phenomenon on a guitar!
Thank you in advance for your answers !
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12-28-2022 06:50 PM
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If you are talking about walnut strip shrinkage on the 5 piece neck then this is a very common occurrence.
I have a L-5 and a Tal Farlow where it was so bad that the walnut shrunk so badly that the lacquer peeled off and Gibson had to refinish the necks under warranty.
My blonde 2010 shrunk a little the 1st year but after that it has been fine. Yes you can feel the strips a little.
I have found it happens in the 1st 1-2 years after new then that’s it.
If the guitar is a few years old it won’t get worse.
Gibson kiln dries their wood so it is not properly dried.
The necks that Gibson had to refinish was a 2014 TF and a 2016 L5.
If the lacquer didn’t crack in the strips nothing to worry about.
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Not to worry, finish cures and the lamination of several woods that make up that laudably stable neck arrangement can indeed effect the way a uniform coat of lacquer settles into the wood.
I understand how this can disrupt the perfect feel of the back of the neck.
What I've done in the past, this is just me personally, is to level the finish ever so slightly, remove the perceptible 'edge' of that lacquer ridge, and then seal the neck with the slightest of oversprays or even an applied wax.
I know there are those around here for whom this is sacrilegious so I can't say I'd recommend this, but it works for me and it makes a perfect surface under my hand. I feel good, I play better.
It doesn't harm my guitar, and I'm happy.
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Ask for a discount and if he says no tell him to forget it. You seem like the usual jazz guy who gotta have his guitars all perfect and this is your dream so either get the price break or find one that is flawless.
Myself I could care less about some invisible finish line in the neck. I will play the finish smooth in a few years anyways. A guitar is a service instrument. This is my guitar there are many like it but this one is mine. My guitar is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My guitar, without me, is useless. A Wes is still a mass produced guitar so big deal. Does it play good? Does it sound good? Does it look good? Is it comfortable for stage use? That's all that matters to me. I'd rather wash my hair than sweat some small cosmetic details other than using it as a bargaining chip. I got other more pressing matters at hand.
With regard to the left hand being sensitive to imperfections. In auto body repair you always use your non-dominant hand to determine high and low spots when doing body filler work. It is the more sensitive hand.
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I agree with what Jimmy blue note suggested, but depending on how much differential there is between the laminates, a luthier might be able to lightly wet sand (clear coat only) and simply buff it out.
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Yes, my 2006 L5CES also had this. It’s common, as has been mentioned above, and it was very slight and didn’t affect the guitar at all.
Originally Posted by Guihm
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My 2015 ces has it too. Does not bother me at all.
I think it has more to do with the lacker Gibson uses than the wood.
The crimson guitars are great. I have played a few of them and all were of a very high quality.
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Hey, I have a 2012 WesMo and also have this issue, but I don't feel it at all while playing.
Now not to hijack your topic, but mine has the "sticky neck" issue and it is much more unpleasant :/
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You've tried an instrument wax? (There was a thread on this recently). Originally Posted by tomassplatch
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If it was the lacquer settling into the wood I wouldn't worry about it. But if it was an actual noticeable shrinkage in the walnut in relation to the maple part of the neck, I would be more cautious.
I too don't particularly like a lot of rough stuff under my thumb. I have some vintage guitars that are missing lacquer, that's OK, but a gouge in the back of the neck in the wrong place would bother me. It's one thing I always ask about on a used guitar.
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Thank you very much for your answers and advices!
I posted the same message in the "repair" section of the official Gibson forum and the answers are in the same direction as here.
It's quite reassuring to see that the phenomenon has been encountered by quite a few people.
The forums dedicated to the bass guitar, whose necks are most often laminated, also talk about this fact without it being a problem for the instrument.
What also reassures me is that it can appear on instruments from different periods of manufacture and all guitars, especially Gibson, can be potentially concerned by this phenomenon (I hope that my 2001 Tal Farlow -guitar that I cherish so much that my wife could be legitimately jealous of it- will not be concerned in the years to come!...
But according to all of you, it appears mainly in the first years so I should be safe!
Concerning a lutherie intervention, as it is, it is absolutely not necessary and the benefit/risk ratio of a sanding is not optimal!
It is also true that it is difficult to say with certainty whether the peak felt comes from the varnish or from the wood (even if both are obviously linked) but in the light of your answers, this phenomenon is quite common and it is not really a deal breaker.
Of course, I could wait for another Wesmo to pop but they're pretty rare around here and I haven't seen any for a couple of years...matter of luck...I'll think about it some more but the balance is tipped in favor of "buying it" now!
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Get close up pics of the walnut strips on the neck. If the lacquer isn’t cracked you are good.
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Same on my 2016 L5 CES. I couldn't care less, the neck is the best neck I've ever played.
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