Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was playing my '05 360/12 and I noticed the beginings of binding rot
by the TP.
Any one else have this?

Sheesh, already? How about a photo, John?

weird...I wouldn't expect that yet..especially from a Ric.

I used to be into Gretsches and they always had the WORST binding rot...I don't know if it was just the materials or what, but I had a few guitars (a seventies Viking included) that nearly had all the binding falling off the whole guitar. Sometimes the binding would fall apart, and the finish on the body would still be in great shape...

usually Ric, Fender and Gibson bindings seem to last really well, in my experience.

Cheers,
-Collin

Yeah-
I'd never seen on a Rick before.
It won't show in pics as the cracking is hairline at best.
I only found it as I had felt something odd and upon close
investigation, found cracking starting at the jack, and going around to the bass side
close to the sound hole.
Very weird....

Are you sure it's not just the clearcoat finish?

Yeah-
I'm pretty sure it's in the binding.
There are about a dozen or so very
faint cracks in the binding. They're hair line
to be sure, but they are there.
I was going to sell this guitar(RAS again!) but now
I just don't know....
Maybe she got upset since I sold the 4003BBR.....

Hmm, I didn't think that the material they use today could rot......

Paul W.???

This sounds like a teachable moment for me. I've never heard of binding rot. What is it? What causes it? Why hasn't the binding on my 32 year old acoustic S.L. Mossman rotted? Or for that matter why hasn't the binding on my 75 year old Dobro rotted?


JimK

Celluloid binding is a highly unstable material, and is actually classified as an explosive for shipping purposes, by the ICC. There is one supplier left in the USA that I'm aware of (people like Stew-Mac stopped carrying genuine celluloid years ago due to costs to insure and ship), and everytime I order some, there's a $25.00 charge tacked onto my order for ICC paperwork. It cannot be shipped by air. I have to be very careful sanding this stuff, as too much heat of friction will cause it to combust. It burns mysteriously, with no flame, and looks like an old gunpowder wick; it turns to ash before your eyes. The shavings and dust will explode.

Guitars that use celluloid binding are in danger of binding rot--whoever Gretsch's supplier was until the '90s, sold them a particularly nasty formulation and this fine brand's products have been prone to rot very badly until recently. I am not sure what RIC used on your guitar, but I've worked on Rick guitars going back to 1957 and never seen binding rot. I susect what you're seeing, John, is fine clearcoat cracking, or maybe a bit of climate-related binding cracking, but not rot.

That having been said, most of the binding put on guitars today is made of extruded ABS plastic. Won't rot, won't decompose, makes lousy landfill.

Paul-
I stand corrected- to use correct terms:
My guitar's binding is cracking in a manner
similar to rot.
I'm wondering if it might be fixable by dropping
Acetone on the cracks with a pin and then wet sanding
to reblend......
Super glue might work too...

Well, possibly. It would be experimental; I can't offer any encouragement on this, unfortunately. In fact, without pictures, and good sharp close- up ones at that, this hasn't been really diagnosed yet.

IMHO, a RIC with a little bit of checking in the clear around the binding is great. I love a little bit of character like that.

So the upshot seems to be that the binding on my S.L. Mossman is probably something other than celluloid, and who knows what sort of binding was used on my '30s era Dobro.

JimK

The Mossman is probably moss..er, ABS plastic.

The Dobro is definitely celluloid. It's all there was at the time in the way of synthetics...