WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

[dazedandconfused001]

ok so i was workin on my dean zx that i got used from guitar center, im getting ready to drop some duncans in it and just installed (albeit haphazardly) a TUSQ nut when i notice a crack around the neck pocket, so i remove the neck to look at the damage (hoping its just paint)



so i dont think its that bad but i did see some stuff that freaked me out such as the chisel marks here:



and that the genius that installed the straploks used the straplok screw rather than a longer bolt on neck screw:



i know that this model doesnt come with straploks so i cant blame that on dean thats on the previous owner (and easily fixed) but please tell me dean wouldnt send a guitar out the door with that horrendous of a neck pocket?

 

[Masta' C]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

Is it too late to return to Guitar Center?

 

[dazedandconfused001]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

Is it too late to return to Guitar Center?

yea i got it used and in the mail.(stupid question alert) is it really that bad?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

I doubt that the neck pocket left the factory like that. Probably either some clueless kid with a chisel or a Guitar Center "tech". :chairshot

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

Yes, Dean could send it out looking that bad. Is it ruined? No. Bolt the neck back on and play the damn thing. Finish cracks around the neck happen all the time.... Fender, whatever brand - doesn't matter.

 

[dazedandconfused001]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

I doubt that the neck pocket left the factory like that. Probably either some clueless kid with a chisel or a Guitar Center "tech". :chairshot

thats what i was thinking too because i used to own one of these in black and a dean ml xm and neither had any kind of issue with the neck pocket when i worked on them.

Yes, Dean could send it out looking that bad. Is it ruined? No. Bolt the neck back on and play the damn thing. Finish cracks around the neck happen all the time.... Fender, whatever brand - doesn't matter.

i wasnt thinkin it was ruined until i read

Is it too late to return to Guitar Center?

so wasnt so sure. i honestly was just ticked off that it looked that bad. and tbh the crack does go into wood alil but its hard to see here is a pic where i highlighted it.



the chisel marks annoyed me what really got me was that they replaced a screw from the neck with a much shorter one that barely went all the way through the body i figure that not haveing the neck bolted on right might eventually cause some kind of issue i really dont wanna deal with.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

GEEZUS!!!!!!!!!!!
What is it with you pansy players worried about a little crack? Have you paid any attention to the latest crop of acoustic finger pickers who wear holes in their guitars bigger than Willie Nelson ever tried to do? If this stuff bothers you, sell your damn guitar and take up kazoo!!!!!!!

 

[dazedandconfused001]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

GEEZUS!!!!!!!!!!!
What is it with you pansy players worried about a little crack? Have you paid any attention to the latest crop of acoustic finger pickers who wear holes in their guitars bigger than Willie Nelson ever tried to do? If this stuff bothers you, sell your damn guitar and take up kazoo!!!!!!!

ok so ill just sell my gear and become the hendrix of kazoo cuz ur higness obiviously cant stand giving useful advice about concerns over structural integerity. either smash all the guitars or play kazoo ya pansy got it great advice thanks

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

dude chill, if it bothers you that much sell the guitar, that little crack won't impact the structural integrity whatsoever and no i don't believe that dean would send it out with chisel marks if you want to you can sand away the chisel dents then put in something in the retain the original spacing so that the neck doesn't sit too low in the neck pocket.
this is why all my guitars that i actually use are set or neck through

 

[dazedandconfused001]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

dude chill, if it bothers you that much sell the guitar, that little crack won't impact the structural integrity whatsoever and no i don't believe that dean would send it out with chisel marks if you want to you can sand away the chisel dents then put in something in the retain the original spacing so that the neck doesn't sit too low in the neck pocket.
this is why all my guitars that i actually use are set or neck through

k thanks thats all i really wanted to know general people on here are helpful and i was worried that the crack could be worse than it looks and that maybe the guitar may not play right due to neck pocket issues. i can set up a guitar and swap pickups is the extent of my knowledge of repairs, so i freaked out thinkin that maybe i bought fire wood. i did not post this to get insulted i posted to get advice, if i knew what i was doing i wouldnt have bothered makein a post.

 

[Aceman]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

A few points:

#1 NEVER buy used/mail if you are not planning on a thorough review and willing to return! Lesson learned.

#2 A syringe with some wood glue (a very little bit - very very little) and some quality time in a C clamp and probably fine.

#3 I have been to the Dean factory and seen the guys doing QA on the imports few times. They are EXTREMELY anal about issues. I don't know that they remove the necks, though. Now - There are Dean "B" goods dealers, all kinds of un-reparable issues could end up there. But again - non-functional is usually junked.

#4 Not judging, but a ZX is like the cheapest of the cheap. These guitars are barely what I would call functional. I'm not saying it is junk - but I would not be surprised if these were not worked on with chisels. This is not a sporty Korean import, and certainly not a USA model. Set your expectations accordingly. Its got a stock neck produced by the millions, plastic nut, and tuners of unknown origins. Just saying...

Perhaps - and I think this is most likely - the original owner put a shim in there to adjust the neck angle. Then, they decided to remove it. A SUPER thorough fix would be to not only C-clamp that crack with a small syringe (luthier work - real luthier) but you add a thin small shim that matches the neck pocket. Not a bad time too add a little angle if that's what you want. The cost of that is probably worth more than the guitar.

I have a Caddy X, by the way, the I plan on severely modding and a couple of Vendettas. Look up Chops Builder on here.

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

I’m sure there’s plenty of modders who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at this though and who would happily take it off your hands and then proceed to mod the s%^t out of it

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

Yes, Dean could send it out looking that bad. Is it ruined? No. Bolt the neck back on and play the damn thing. Finish cracks around the neck happen all the time.... Fender, whatever brand - doesn't matter.

That one crack is NOT a finish crack. The wood is fractured emanating from the screw hole.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

GEEZUS!!!!!!!!!!!
What is it with you pansy players worried about a little crack? Have you paid any attention to the latest crop of acoustic finger pickers who wear holes in their guitars bigger than Willie Nelson ever tried to do? If this stuff bothers you, sell your damn guitar and take up kazoo!!!!!!!

OMG, that's a brilliant statement. I am sooo glad that you are only kidding!!!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

I don't get the chisel work, but that one crack coming from the neck screw hole is NOT good and MUST be repaired. See if you can very slightly spread that crack open and work some glue deep into it then clamp it for 12-24 hours.

I would also fill-in the chisel gauges with wood filler and sand smooth to give a better, more solid base for the neck...better sound transfer.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

GEEZUS!!!!!!!!!!!
If this stuff bothers you, sell your damn guitar and take up kazoo!!!!!!!

This seems to be your standard response to a problem with a guitar. Rather than make an appropriate repair, just sell the guitar.

How about if we actually try to help some of the newer forum members?!

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

In post 14 you said you knew I was kidding.
Now you think I'm serious in post 16?
Please make up your mind.

 

[dazedandconfused001]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

so to be honest i got this thinking it was a simple pickup swap and id have a light, great sounding explorer type guitar. a bonus was it came with grover tuners and dunlop strap loks but honestly now that im lookin at the amount of work needed and the lack of space to do any real repair work and lack of funds to pay someone to do it for me im probably going to eat the cost, pawn it and instead try my hand on a hardluck kings lady luck and hope its not too heavy



they atleast have a 2week return policy if it is and i still am GASin for a white explorer

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

In post 14 you said you knew I was kidding.
Now you think I'm serious in post 16?
Please make up your mind.

That's right, you always want to deflect...to challenge everyone, you want everything to be someone else's responsibility/fault. My first response to you was tongue-in-cheek to be somewhat kind to you and to subtly offer you an opportunity to humbly retract your rash statement and contribute something positive to this thread. But that wasn't happening, you just didn't want to offer much help to the OP. Maybe my tongue-in-cheek comment was too subtle for you to recognize my gift to you. And so, my second comment was a more direct/obvious way to point out this behavioral trend in you. Yeah, you DID get that.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: WTF!?! <Dean ZX content>

That's right, you always want to deflect...to challenge everyone, you want everything to be someone else's responsibility/fault. My first response to you was tongue-in-cheek to be somewhat kind to you and to subtly offer you an opportunity to humbly retract your rash statement and contribute something positive to this thread. But that wasn't happening, you just didn't want to offer much help to the OP. Maybe my tongue-in-cheek comment was too subtle for you to recognize my gift to you. And so, my second comment was a more direct/obvious way to point out this behavioral trend in you. Yeah, you DID get that.

Not like ICT was going to "humbly retract" anyway, but you only gave him 18 minutes between your two posts.