Replacement Checkerboard binding

gareth · Post by **gareth** » Wed May 18, 2005 6:39 am

Probably a false hope here, but I've decided to refinish the 4001 in the original white. I currently has black binding that is in poor shape.

How hard is it to replace the binding, and is there a source for new binding ? I'd love to put checkerboard binding on it but I fully expect this to be impossible as everyone would be doing it if it was available. Still, someone here could prove me wrong.

marty · Post by **marty** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:17 am

Gareth,

You can get binding and everything you need to install it here:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_trim.html

I'm not sure if they can get checkerboard, but I'm sure someone here can steer you in the right direction...maybe Ted knows as he does a lot of restoration.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:20 am

Hey Ted ... chime in here ...

Ted has done binding replacements ...

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:26 am

I was able to look at Marc's bass at the confluence, the one that Ted did the checkered binding on, and it looks factory. He does a GREAT job....even on those little hard to do turns...

gareth · Post by **gareth** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:40 am

Thanks All !

I'm a bit new here. Which Ted do we speak of ? I'd like to get his advice on this if he knows how to get checkerboard binding.

marty · Post by **marty** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:53 am

Ted Staberow...

He has some great Rics and does some wonderful restoration work.

Have a look in this thread:

http://www.rickresource.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=5&post=116662#POST116662

....there's Ted holding Mark Seligman's bass which he did some work on.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:50 am

I bought some here:
http://www.tonewerks.com/index.html

But I see it is listed as "sold out".
It was very nice quality binding too!

mikeylc · Post by **mikeylc** » Wed May 18, 2005 2:29 pm

Adding checkerboard is tough for a couple of reasons. First the material is hard to find. Your best bet at this point is probably e-bay. It pops up from time to time. I've purchased it there but have used all that I had. The second issue is that you have to rout a second channel, kind of a step, for the check binding. Since RIC basses are routed and bound prior to assembly, retrofit can be tricky. You can only rout the second channel so far and then you have to resort to a chisel or dremel since the neck is in the way. Once you have the check binding glued in, you then glue on solid white or black depending on the look you are going for. Then there is the process of scraping. Binding itself is not terribly difficult but it is time consuming. Although it could be done without a complete re-fin, I'd suggest that it be part of a total re-fin just in case to instrument gets jacked up in the process of tooling.