2000 Starfire III fretboard binding cracks

[helios10z]

Hi folks,
I’ve been lurking for a while here and really appreciate all the good info. I just bought a 2000 Starfire III (Westerly)from Reverb (Halloween sale!) and upon close inspection noticed (5) hairline cracks in the fretboard binding near the dot markers on the side. I’m attaching pix. Is this something to be concerned about or is it simply cosmetic? Here is the original listing: https://reverb.com/item/36317204-usa-guild-starfire-iii-blonde-maple
Thanks in advance! My other Guild is a New Hartford F-212xl ce.

—Chuck

 

[gjmalcyon]

Welcome. Stick around - nice bunch of folks around here. I'm a (mostly) acoustic guy so I can't speak to your question, but I expect the plugged-in cavalry to be along directly.

 

[GAD]

Binding rot of varying degrees is very common unfortunately, though usually on older guitars.

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG! I have several Guilds with those fingerboard binding cracks and it's just cosmetic. It seems to be, unfortunately, not an uncommon thing.

 

[helios10z]

Thanks for the replies far. Do you think the cracks could have happened in transit from Illinois to Oregon? The seller did not notice them before. The guitar plays fine and the shipping box was undamaged. Temperature related?
Thanks again.

 

[Nuuska]

Hello

Looking at pictures it is quite easy to see that the cracks are not clean - they are old and have "stuff" inside colouring them.

So it appears kind of funny how the seller - a music store - writes " I've gone over this one many times under LED office lights and by an open window. I'm not seeing any dings, scratches, or damage. " And yet they provide not a single picture from the side of the fretboard. Maybe they hoped nobody will notice. Obviously they noticed them but did not include any pics.

 

[gjmalcyon]

And yet they provide not a single picture from the side of the fretboard. Maybe they hoped nobody will notice. Obviously they noticed them but did not include any pics.

What Nuuska says. That omission of a shot of the side of the neck struck me as well.

 

[helios10z]

Hi guys. The seller is willing to take the guitar back or provide some compensation so I don’t think it was an intentional omission.
Any thoughts on fair compensation for those who have found themselves in a similar situation? Thanks again.

 

[ruedi]

Hi guys. The seller is willing to take the guitar back or provide some compensation so I don’t think it was an intentional omission.
Any thoughts on fair compensation for those who have found themselves in a similar situation? Thanks again.

This is a protective claim IMO, I would not believe the seller didn't notice - what Nuuska said, what gjmalcyon said. Sadly some seller use this tactics, they conceal some minor issues and hope to get away with it, and when they don't, they act surprised and offer a partial refund.

Did you pay the full price? or did he accept an offer?

Are you otherwise happy with the guitar and plan too keep it if fairly compensated?

 

[helios10z]

So far I’m happy with the guitar and would like to keep it. I paid 10% less than the original listed price. Any suggestions for a fair compensation amount even if there was misrepresentation? My local guitar tech is sure that this was not a shipping issue, but rather a manufacturing error. It looks to him like the binding had broken due to being weakened by the side dot hole being cut in the middle of it.

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Welcome! That's a beautiful guitar, but I think a little refund is in order. It's not shipping damage. It shouldn't cause any playability trouble though.

 

[ruedi]

5-10%. Try 10

 

[helios10z]

You read my mind! Thanks to all of you for your feedback.

 

[bobouz]

Imho, the instrument being listed as "Mint" was intentionally deceptive. There's no way a dealer would miss those binding cracks, so you are due a partial refund if you want to keep it. Decide on what you feel would be reasonable and ask for that amount.

As for the damage itself: I have a 1997 Starfire III with one similar binding crack on the treble side. While recently doing some periodic maintenance on the guitar, I discovered that the neck binding had separated from the edge of the fretboard along the treble side, and partially on the bass side. This was not visible to the naked eye, but was discovered by sliding the edge of a post-it in between the fretboard edge & binding. You might want to check your instrument just to be on the safe side, and have it repaired if you discover any separation. I did the repair work myself, but it does requires a great deal of care.

Hope it all works out to your satisfaction!

 

[helios10z]

Thanks again for all the good advice. You guys are great! The seller agreed to a reasonable refund and the guitar plays great so I’m gonna keep it.

 

[kakerlak]

No manufacturing flaw -- just age and plastic that's unfortunately prone to shrinking a bit and those spots that are essentially perforated by the side dots are the path of least resistance when it shrinks taught enough to crack.

You just never know the longevity of plastics until at least a couple decades post-manufacture. Some of it very literally rots and crumbles from the inside out, like old Gretsches. Some seems to simply shrink, but stay otherwise intact, like many sixties-seventies Guilds have done, and some seems perfectly stable, like whatever Gibson was using in the fifties and sixties.

It's the stuff that rots and crumbles that's a real bummer. Early tells on that are extensive cracking (like every half inch or so), lumpy/wavy surface appearance, lifting/bubbling clear coat, and darkening/staining of surrounding finish, or green battery-like corrosion on nearby metal parts. I would tend to be surprised if yours goes that way. The newest guitars I've seen that on are from the early eighties, predominately Japanese, and, given that we were seeing it on late sixties guitars as early as the mid nineties, I think we'd see it by now if antibody's nineties stuff was that way.