Gibson Les Paul Custom 1980 Binding
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 4:44 pm
Good Day Members,
I have a 1980 Les Paul Custom that I am restoring (PHOTOS ATTACHED ARE NOT OF MY GUITAR BUT USED AS A REFERENCE). The entire top binding needs to be replaced. I found the binding at Luthiers Mercantile. The binding consists of three separate strips. 1st strip (starting from inside) consists of the colors white/black/white. 2nd strip consists of the colors black/white/black (each color is .020 thick) and the final outer strip is solid white (.070 thick) for a total thickness of .190
The problem is the binding from Luthiers Mercantile is 1/4" (.250) tall. This is standard I assume. This is ok as the binding around the Les Paul "top" is slightly less than 1/4" tall (.250) EXCEPT for where it attaches around the cutaway. At that point it is nearly 3/8" (.375) tall. It was suggested that I "stack" the binding to obtain the necessary height at this location. That solution may work for the inner bindings (since they will be covered by the final outer binding) but the outer "white" binding will have a horizontal seam showing where the two-halves were stacked. The original white binding was not stacked (as far as I can tell) unless there is a method to make the seam disappear.
Any ideas on where I can obtain taller binding OR the proper way to stack 1/4" binding to obtain a final height of 3/8" in the cutaway area? Please see photos of original "stock" binding on a 1980 Les Paul Custom. As you can see in the photos attached, most of the top is all 1/4" tall binding except for the cutaway where it gradually rises to 3/8" tall.
Thank you for your time.
I have a 1980 Les Paul Custom that I am restoring (PHOTOS ATTACHED ARE NOT OF MY GUITAR BUT USED AS A REFERENCE). The entire top binding needs to be replaced. I found the binding at Luthiers Mercantile. The binding consists of three separate strips. 1st strip (starting from inside) consists of the colors white/black/white. 2nd strip consists of the colors black/white/black (each color is .020 thick) and the final outer strip is solid white (.070 thick) for a total thickness of .190
The problem is the binding from Luthiers Mercantile is 1/4" (.250) tall. This is standard I assume. This is ok as the binding around the Les Paul "top" is slightly less than 1/4" tall (.250) EXCEPT for where it attaches around the cutaway. At that point it is nearly 3/8" (.375) tall. It was suggested that I "stack" the binding to obtain the necessary height at this location. That solution may work for the inner bindings (since they will be covered by the final outer binding) but the outer "white" binding will have a horizontal seam showing where the two-halves were stacked. The original white binding was not stacked (as far as I can tell) unless there is a method to make the seam disappear.
Any ideas on where I can obtain taller binding OR the proper way to stack 1/4" binding to obtain a final height of 3/8" in the cutaway area? Please see photos of original "stock" binding on a 1980 Les Paul Custom. As you can see in the photos attached, most of the top is all 1/4" tall binding except for the cutaway where it gradually rises to 3/8" tall.
Thank you for your time.