A customer brought in this nice Gretsch Syncromatic 6014 today to have the binding replaced.  The top binding has been done before and the back binding is crumbling away, much of it gone already.  I am going to replace the back binding with solid cream colored material and the top with cream/black/cream.

Removing the old binding was relatively painless although the glue used for the top binding was a bit gooey – like contact cement.  It took a bit of extra scraping to clean it all away.

The finish used to glue in the binding is a solvent based glue which melts the binding while adhering to the wood.  The solvent will also eat the finish on the guitar so it is necessary to mask off the binding channel.  The finish on this guitar is very delicate and would easily be pulled off with aggressive tape so I used the tiniest strips of delicate painters masking tape that I thought I could get away with.  Before applying the tape I weakened the adhesive further by sticking it to the fabric of my shirt a few times.  With careful peeling this should not harm the finish.

On unfinished guitars or guitars with sturdier finished I would normally apply pressure to the binding by stretching masking tape from the side of the guitar over the binding onto the top and back.  The delicate finish on this guitar make it necessary to apply pressure by other means. The tape would surely pull the finish loose.  I have seen large elastic rubber bands for sale in luthier supply catalogs but with a little internet searching I found a low/no cost alternative…..an inner tube! Duh! All I had to do was stop at a few used tire shops and I eventually found one that had an unusable inner tube which they gave me for nothing.  After a bit of cleaning I cut it lengthwise in a spiral to create one long strip about 1″ wide.  I wasn’t particularly precise about it. I made it really long and it turned out I could have used even more.

The binding needs to be shaped to fit the shape of the guitar.  Plastic binding can be softened and formed using a head gun or a hair dryer.  Care needs to be taken to ensure that the curves are smooth as sharp bends will pull away from the edge of the guitar.  It takes time and patience.  If the binding is heated too much it can melt and deform. Also beware that celluloid binding is flamable!

I worked in sections gluing the binding.  Starting from the tail I worked toward the neck doing a quarter of the guitar each time.  If I had a longer strap I could have done a whole side at once.  The solvent glue dries quickly so I apply it to a 4-6 inches at a time and wrap the band  around the binding until I nearly reach the end of the glued section and repeat.  This is a bit tricky without help but I managed using a spring clamp to hold the loose end of the band to the vice stand while I proceed with each gluing.  I leave small spaces between each wrap so I can see if there are any problems with the surfaces mating correctly.  The band puts nice even pressure all the way around the edge of the guitar.

The straps worked very well. The binding is tight in the channel. It sits a little proud of the slot and will need to be scraped flush.

After a bit of careful scraping and light sanding the binding is flush to the body and ready for a light coat of amber toned lacquer.

I masked off the binding one last time to apply the toned lacquer. Just a hint of amber makes the binding appear to have aged along with the rest of the guitar.  After the amber I lightly sanded to edges to make them appear worn and sprayed a couple of coats of clear lacquer over the top.