Official Luthiers Forum!

Why do some of you and/or your clients prefer synthetic bindings? Is it because they are harder to damage?

Re black, white and iveroid bindings.Are some company's materials for these bindings better than others? Are there superior synthetic bindings?

I think at the end of the day plastic is going to be more damage resistant. But somehow this just seems "wrong" to me to put platic on a guitar that has required so much love and attention.

It is another spot that is just full of pros and cons.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Here's where a number of people part ways. While I don't like to see white or black bindings on an acoustic, I really have to admit that I love ivoroid bindings. They look great to me. Especially if you're talking about a vintage styled instrument. My resonator guitar has ivoroid on it, and I'm thrilled with the look. Everything has it's place, and sometimes those places cross lines...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I am ok with white bindings... I just have a problem with plastic. Ivoroid does look nice though.   

Holly is a nice white wood.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Plastic bindings are probably more durable for a touring guitar where the the wood bindings would be likely to dent or crack under the same abuse. Probably not as much as an issue for finger style solo players, but bangs are bound to happen occasionally with a band.

I'm with Don except I really like the look of tortoise bindings for a more vintage look.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

I like tortoise and ivoroid, mostly because that's what good guitars had when I started playing guitar.

2 things I don't like about wood binding; figured binding on figured wood looks a little busy to me, and, very often wood binding is very thick, very heavy.

I like a bit less decoration on a guitar than most, though, I think.

Monty

I hate plastic bindings. I love wood. plastic may be more impact resistant but I am a termite. simple IRW, ebony or Culy Maple, Culy Koa, Snakewood..UMMM Heck I even prefer white maple and ebony for perfling. but deal with black fiber. I do like the look of vintage tortoise and Ivoriod. but I positivly hate the look of white ABS

I use to refuse to put plastic bindings on my guitars but they do have their place for a player who is a banger. I'm building one now for a pro who really wanted wood until we discussed things like abuse and we both agreed that this player is far better off with plastic.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I prefer wood bindings but I like the look of ivoriod on some guitars.

Instead of using the plastic stuff I use the light colored wood of Black Gum. It has the creamy color of old ivory.

I just hate to use plastic for anything I don't have to.

My understanding has always been that binding was invented to seal the end grain of the top and back, not for protection. Guitars WILL be bumped, banged, dented and scratched. It's just par for the course with a fairly large, unwieldy, wood instrument that must be shifted about frequently in order to use it. If it had no binding, all those same things would happen to it, with the same results. It won't fall apart without binding. All things considered, I think bruised wood binding looks much better than smooth plastic. The best protection for a guitar is proper care.

Plastic bindings are what I'm used to seeing on guitars. I don't know that I've seen a guitar with wood bindings in the flesh even now.

The reason for plastic-Tele body. Do any of you use wood for a body with curves as tight as a Tele? if so, How?

[QUOTE=D.L.Huskey] I prefer wood bindings but I like the look of ivoriod on some guitars.

Instead of using the plastic stuff I use the light colored wood of Black Gum. It has the creamy color of old ivory.

I just hate to use plastic for anything I don't have to.[/QUOTE]


Holly looks good too. And that stuff is so pliable you barely need to prebend it first.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Bob you can bend wood bindings pretty tight if you are willing to take the time. I bent curly maple for a Les Paul carved top on three differnt pipes. I took my time and bent the cutaway in a couple of sessions spritzing only as needed. It was not easy by any means but came out fine.

[QUOTE=bob J] The reason for plastic-Tele body. Do any of you use wood for a body with curves as tight as a Tele? if so, How?[/QUOTE]

Yes, I have done that. Depending on what wood you are trying to bend it is actually pretty straight forward.

If you bend it on a pipe just use a backer. Sometimes a little piece of flexible metal with a small handle at each end (blocks of wood screwed into the metal) will allow you to support the whole binding strip as you "wrap" it around the small end of your pipe (presuming you have the electric pipe). If you WARM the flat binding in a couple of electric blankets that also helps facilitate bending... just don't dry it out to the point where it gets brittle.

At one point I made a little contraption to help bend the cutaway horn on a tele... but there is really no point in it. After a few tries, bending the cutaway horn by hand is pretty easy.

Try it... I think you will find it isn't too hard to get the hang of it.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

When it comes to aesthetics, if there are 10 choices you'll get 100
opinions. I feel both wood and plastic have their places. If someone
wanted tortoise shell binding, for instance, nobody is going to use real
tortoise shell in this day and age. Plastic is perfectly acceptable. Ivoroid
instead of ivory. I personally like the look of ivoroid, as Don has used on
his reso. I recently wanted to use ebony on a cutaway. No matter what I
did, I couldn't get the ebony to bend around the very tight curves of the
cutaway without breaking. I resorted to black plastic and I defy anyone to
tell the difference where ebony trim pieces mate up to the plastic. Once
the finish is on, ebony looks exactly like black plastic. How many vintage
archtops (D'Quisto, D'Angelico) are bound with plastic? These are highly
sought after, highly valuable instruments. We all love wood for its
aesthetic as well as its sonic qualities and I too like the look of wood
bindings. I just think both materials are legitimate binding materials and
both have their place.
Craig

Thanks everyone. Great info to think about