estebanana -> RE: About rosettes (Oct. 28 2014 1:32:30)
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quote: But binding is there to protect the corners and seal the end grain, and John put it, they serve as bumpers. But secondary purpose would be to give access to taking the back off. Stephan, How in the world would using bindings facilitate easy removal of the back or top? It strikes me that it would be much easier if there were no bindings leaving the joint between the sides and back/top visible. _____________________________ The operative words here are 'secondary purpose'. Once you carefully and with great skill remove the bindings intact it reveals the seam between the back and lining. Then the seam can be loosened with a ultra thin case knife, warm or cold, or with the help of some drops of water. Or in some conditions with a razor saw blade- or combinations of other small bladed tools you may have. Today there are water holding gels and also the ol fashioned way, bits of kitchen sponge laid in place on the seam where it is not opening. These tricks soften the glue. The mortised ends of the braces and heel are things that take patience to open, but they will give slowly too. Binding is in the way of this seam opening process, and unlike say a lute or oud, where the edge can be exposed giving straight forward access to the seam, the binding has to come off first. The difference between the two kinds of seams are that an opened up binding channel, that is a binding channel with the binding removed, offers a clear view and tool access to the seam with out the problem of damaging the sides, or knife splitting the wood of the top of back as easy. The seam is also minus the width of the binding and is therefore not as deep, so there is not as much glue and seam width holding the back to the linings. And as an aside all most lutes, modern reconstructions or extant do have a sections near the tail where there is a wide strip glued over where the staves converge, they may also have a parchment or wood strip glued over the top seam as an edge protective element. Those parchment strips have to be removed to get into the seam, and they are a pain in the butt and usually not worth reapplying, the fillet over the staves meeting place has to stay however. In many conditions a guitar repair to replace a top or back, or get the back off the guitar, will entail basically routing the bindings off, the same way the binding channels are routed during construction. Then any residual binding is filed and chiseled out until the seam is exposed. Then as I explained above the seam can be opened. That method works fine as long as in the restoration plan it is acceptable to destroy a binding. On older steel string guitars, like prewar Martins of value, some American made steel strings of older vintage, Gibson and Washburns, etc. plus all the minor brands even the cheap ones like say a Kay plywood archtop, all those instruments are candidates for binding removal especially on the back binding which is almost always a simple one piece affair. ( although not always). Specialists in that area of restoration will have to have the skills to remove a binding and later reinstall it without damaging it in order to be considered top in the field. So the binding can be considered a entry point for removal of a back or top. Anyone doing that level of restoration or repair does not take it lightly that a back will have to come off to do certain kinds of reconstruction work. The interesting thing about those old guitars is that often the binding will be plastic or celluloid, or wood, but the bindings are easier to work off because the glue is older and usually hide glue. The celluloid imitation tortise bindings on some older guitars is replaceable with modern restoration purpose materials, but the original binding is important to try to save because it often has a particular pattern of look not available now. Restorers who work in that niche have very particular clients who value as much original parts and components as can be left on the instrument and it is part of being in that market niche to be able to do provide restorations with that level of detail. So that is my long way around to explain why I see the binding as an edge/end grain protection, but also secondarily as an entry point for back to liner seam access. I had the good fortune of working in a shop in Oakland where there was always a cycle of vintage Martins etc. opened up with the back or tops off for restorations. It's possible and quite common in high level restoration to totally deconstruct an old Martin or Gibson down to removing each brace from the top, performing a splice or other repair and rebracing the top with the same braces before reassembling the guitar. There are collectors, players and dealers who will pay good money for that caliber of work. So in that work niche the binding is considered a removal part that give access to a seam.
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