How is guitar binding applied?
How is guitar binding applied?
The general process of installing body-binding is to cut a channel around the outside of the guitar to hold the binding, glue it in slightly proud of the guitar’s surface, then scrape the binding even with the body.
What glue do you use for guitar binding?
At my shop, we prefer to use water-based wood glues, like Titebond II, because they’re easy to clean up using a damp paper towel. Titebond is also very strong—perfect for binding repair. Before you apply any glue, cut several thin strips of painter’s tape and keep them nearby.
How thick is guitar binding?
Body binding generally ranges in width from 0.060″ to 0.090″. Sometimes 0.120″ is used for its “forgiving” width, which makes it harder to see variations in thickness from uneven channel widths.
How do I know if my guitar needs new frets?
Frets are meant to be used. If they have light divots or some uneven wear, they can likely be leveled and dressed, but if they are so worn and gouged out that they don’t do their job anymore, it’s time for replacements.
What is fret dressing?
Joking aside, a fret dress is a process of leveling frets with some type of flat, straight abrasive surface in order to eliminate string buzzing. When frets become worn, they actually tend to splay outward rather than wear away, which means that they tend to look worse than they actually are.
What happens if you don’t bind your guitar?
Without binding, a bump on the edge of the instrument is much more likely to start a crack in the top or back. The difference between bindings and purflings is simple.
How do I install binding and purfling on my instrument?
Prepare the binding and purfling for installation. Set up your router with the proper cutter and bearing and cut a test channel in some scrap wood, then rout the channels into the instrument. Glue the binding and purfling onto the instrument. After the glue has dried, scrape or sand the binding and purfling flush to the surfaces of the instrument.
How do you bind a Gibson fretboard?
Gibson binds some fingerboards with the binding glued flush to the ends of the frets. This requires “nibs” along the length of the binding to match these fret positions. To do this, tape the binding into the channel and trace the location of each fret with a sharp pen or pencil.
What are guitar bindings and purflings?
When bindings contain extra decorative strips that aren’t exposed on the edges of the guitar, these strips are often called “purflings.” Bindings and purflings are installed during the building process, before a finish is put on the instrument. They are sanded and smoothed to make them level with the surrounding wood.
