Guitar Binding Repair - Luthier Tips du Jour Mailbag
In this episode, luthier Robbie O’Brien shows how to re-attach a binding that has come loose from a guitar.
Video Transcription
[on-screen text reads: Luthier Tips du Jour Mailbag]
Mailbag question: My guitar binding has come unglued. What should I use to glue it back on?
Robert O'Brien: Today's Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Connecticut. "Robert, I have a guitar that the binding has come unglued in an area. What should I use to glue it back on." Slade in Millbury, or Millbury, Connecticut.
Well, first of all, Slade, you shouldn't finish your sentences with a preposition, but that's another point. I've got a guitar on my bench right now with the same exact problem. Let's go over, I'll show you what I'm going to do.
Slade, here's our problem. The binding has let loose. Now that's not uncommon. It happens. What's happening here is the solvents are flashing off of the plastic over time. Sometimes it shrinks and the glue releases. Fortunately, this is a clean release and we can just glue it back together.
New build solutions
Now that's where you want to be careful because the guitar has a finish on it. If this were a new build, I would use this contact adhesive that I get from LMI. What it does is melt the wood and the plastic together and it makes a nice clean bond. Then since the guitar didn't have a finish on it, as I'm building, I scrape, sand, get all that stuff off of there.
You could also use a product like this, Weld-On, which is a vinyl adhesive. Same principle. You're melting the two components together. However, I'm not sure what this stuff would do to the finish.
Best binding repair solution for a finished guitar
What I'm going to use is Fish Glue. It has a little longer open time, allows me to get everything set in place, taped up, and it's water-based so I can just wipe it right back off of there, so that's what we're going to do.
[Robert runs the Fish Glue bottle down the binding channel squezzing out a little bit of glue consistently as he goes down the entire length of the seperated binding area]
It doesn't matter how messy I get with it, because like I said, it's water-based. It's going to come right back off of there. This is sticky, gooey stuff. It does get messy, but that's okay because it's not my guitar, right? I'm kidding guys. I'm kidding.
[Robert presses the binding into the binding channel all the way down the area where it is seperated]
The cool thing about the Fish Glue, it has a very quick tack because it's so darn sticky. That's why I keep a wet rag around here to get rid of the excess. See, it's already beginning to tack up and hold itself in place there. I've got my glue installed and I've pulled the majority of it off of there and you can see it's already starting to tack up real good. I'm just going to put some tape on here to hold it in place.
[Robert applies multiple strips of Brown Binding Tape every 2 inches to hold the glued binding into place]
If you've never used Fish Glue, guys, it's a wonderful product. I use it a lot in repairs and restorations. Here we go. Now here is where the binding has shrunk a little bit. So I'm going to put a little bit more horsepower in there and muscle it back into place. Look at that. Oh, squeeze out.
Since this guitar has to go to a gig tonight, it's going to go with a little band aid on there like that because I like to leave this glue on there clamped up overnight. Maybe right before the gig, or if you want to tell a few stories during the gig, you can leave the tape on there and show the audience and then pull it off in the morning.
That's all it takes. No finish damage whatsoever. Life's good.
All right, Slade in Connecticut, now you know how to glue your binding back on. Good luck and happy building.
[on-screen text reads: More Luthier Tips and online courses available at www.obrienguitars.com. Private and small group guitar building and finishing instruction available.]
