Virtual Workbench

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When it rains it pours, and my partner Dan has been up to his elbows in binding repairs this year.  Here, he replaces the dried and crumbling binding from a vintage Gretsch Country Gentleman.

Vintage Country Gentleman - Binding Repair

A common problem on vintage Gretsch guitars is the decay and crumbling of the outer celluloid binding strip. Sometimes, owners will opt to leave the cracked binding alone, but in this particular guitar’s case, the owner wanted it repaired. In areas, it was loose enough to be scraped off with a fingernail and in others it needed to be scraped and even chiseled off. We ended up replacing the outer layer entirely, then touching up the nitrocellulose finish.

Vintage Gretsch Country Gentleman - Binding Repair

Here, Dan chisels away the cracked and loose old binding.

Vintage Gretsch Country Gentleman - Binding Repair

After cleaning and smoothing the binding channel, he glues the new binding into place.

Vintage Gretsch Country Gentleman - Binding Repair

Then he touches up the area with ambered lacquer to better reflect this vintage guitar’s age.

Vintage Gretsch Country Gentleman - Binding Repair

Final buffing…

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Shiny, clean, and looking great.

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