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New Youtube video tutorial on how to thoroughly repair Martin Binding failures.

I had someone comment on my Instagram page that they are having trouble finding anyone to do a Martin binding repair for them. I told him I'd post something here. Please comment if you would do that and I'll send your info to him.

Im going to attach some photos of a 000-style guitar from Potomac(I believe an Eastman product) that has some top cracks and deformation around the neck block from what I assume to be a shift of the neck block. How do you all approach repairs like this. Im thinking that pulling the neck and somehow pushing the block back into place from the inside is about the right course of action, but if anyone has some advice, Id appreciate it! In th…

Question for the group.. Let's say you start with a new nut blank and leave it too tall, but cut the slots to the proper depth. So you are left with a scenario where the strings are fairly buried in the nut (not protruding from the top), would that affect playability or just potentially cause binding issues and look bad? Thanks, James

So, I've seen people having to deal with crappy binding glue on newer Martin's. I have a D35 at 50 (2015) and the purfling has separated from the guitar body all the way around both the top and bottom of the guitar due to heat. Not only that but the binding has separated from the purfling in spots. The glue is still tacky and it's almost like a thick stain as it has impregnated the top and sides, making it impossible to completely rem…

In the process of evaluating the repairs needed on this guitar I checked to see if the truss rod was working. There is hole in the transverse brace where you would normally insert a truss rod, but all I see is the end of a metal bar with a smallish hole in the center. I tried several allen wrenches that would fit in the hole, but nothing seems to grab. Did they really eliminate the adjustable truss rod on this vintage reproduction? Here'…

G'day...I have a nice old Burny LP in that is showing some rot in the fingerboard binding, with some on the body binding as well... I'm looking to stabilise things for now (I understand that eventually, it will all turn to dust)...thinking about: acetone applied sparingly to cracks, Duco cement (not really sure here...maybe try to just adhere crack edges), or CA (ultra thin, wicked into cracks)... Very grateful for any suggestions.... Stev…

I've been slowly chipping away at a rebind on a Gretsch streamliner with full on rotted binding. The repair was started by a luthier in KC that passed away a couple years ago and I inherited the repair after it sat for a few years. I've glued some binding back in place on martins with the Pacer canopy glue, and that has worked out fine in the past. I did a test w/ some new ABS from stewmac that I was going to use for rebinding the gr…

1952 Gibson Southern Jumbo. I drilled 2 holes 1 cm from the edge through the 15th fret slot for the wire heaters. This one didn’t require any steam just a lot of boiling water. Be weary of the celluloid inlays and binding. They melt fairly easily. (Oops) It happened to a friend once! lol

This is my mid 50's LG-1. I had the back off to replace the bridge plate and one of the braces. I've got it all back together now but I'm lacking the knowledge to make my work disappear. I was using amber CA glue to color the binding but that didn't seem like the proper route so now I'm scraping, filing and sanding that back off and starting over. I watched Doug Proper's demonstration on liquid binding repair and that did have a lot…

Hey guys, I’ve got a crumbling binding issue on a 1977 Gibson F5 mandolin. After viewing the liquid binding repair video from Doug, I ordered the appropriate(I think?) chemicals to mix with my Gluboost Master Glu and attempt the repair. I mixed the titanium white with the Dioxane, and the Butoxyethanol, and then when I mixed in the Master Glu. As soon as I mixed in the glue, it got hot and smoked and turned into a solid mass pictured in…

Hello everybody, I have a 2001 Guild 12-string in my shop that I suspect got a little too hot in a car. The extent of the damage is what you see here, the two cracks in the top and some warped binding where it meets the neck. I don't see any loose or damaged bracing. After looking into it a little, I found Frank Ford's approach: http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Structural/Cracks/D45FBTopCrack/d45fbtopcrack.html b…