Finishing a Blue Guitar, PRS-style binding

Part 3: Dan Erlewine shows how to achieve a PRS-style finish using liquid stains and aerosol lacquer.

A-BLUEGUITAR_3

Part 3: PRS-Style Binding

After an hour remove the latex tape.

Removing the latex tape

Using your index finger as a depth guide . . .

Using index finger as a depth guide

. . . sand the stain off the top edge to create the top of the "binding".

Binding

A sanding stick, with 150-grit does a good job of exposing the edge also and gently rounding it.

Sanding stick

Though the sanding created an almost-perfect top edge, I used a single edge razor blade with a scrap of binding taped to it as a depth stop . . .

Razor blade with a scrap of binding taped

. . . and removed any blue stain that the sandpaper didn't get—this also creates a very clean line between blue and clean maple.

Blue stains removal

Let the guitar dry overnight before spraying any lacquer.

Guitar drying overnight

This guitar is now ready for Part 4: Sealer and scuff sand.


More In This Series

Introduction Finishing a Blue Guitar
Part One Wood preparation
Part Two Staining the guitar
Part Three PRS-style binding
Part Four Sealer & scuff sand
Part Five Topcoats & touchup
Part Six Final sanding & rubbing out