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Hello,

As a newbie, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of spending a lot of time putting traditional binding and purfling on a first guitar (classical, in this case) that might turn out to sound only so-so.

What about leaving edge-bindings off altogether? At another forum I happened upon a debate among luthiers about the structural necessity of bindings. One of them mentioned a maker of classical and flamenco guitars who almost never uses bindings. The pictures I found showed his guitars to be beautiful in their simplicity. They reminded me of a steel-string I have, made by a company in Washington state, which has no decoration whatever, and no bindings. I think it's gorgeous -- "like a piece of Shaker furniture," as one admirer put it.

A guitar without bindings -- is it something only an advanced builder could get away with making?

Best,
Greg

I don't see why binding-less guitars can't look good. I've seen a lot of them. Bindings do give the edges more protection from dings, and help seal the end grains of the plates, but if one pays attention to sealing them during the finishing process, I think it's do-able.

Thanks!

My first guitar had no bindings. The biggest trick is matching the sides at the end blocks to be seamless. There is a way to help get very tight seams there.

Ben-Had wrote:My first guitar had no bindings. The biggest trick is matching the sides at the end blocks to be seamless. There is a way to help get very tight seams there.

Thanks, Tim. I reckon there must be more to that trick than overlapping the "extra" of the sides and cutting down the middle?

Greg

Dansereal wrote:

Ben-Had wrote:My first guitar had no bindings. The biggest trick is matching the sides at the end blocks to be seamless. There is a way to help get very tight seams there.

Thanks, Tim. I reckon there must be more to that trick than overlapping the "extra" of the sides and cutting down the middle?

Greg

If you chamfer the butt ends it reduces the area to butt and improves the glue line. I use a jig to support the ends of the thin sides and guided the sanding block to sand in the chamfer. Can't find a pic og the jig but if your interested let me know and I'll take another pic.

Tim,

Thanks. I like the end result very well. I follow your reason for chamfering the edges. Is the jig to make chamfering easier with the sides in place?

Boy, do I like that clean-looking line in the second picture.

Greg

Dansereal wrote:Is the jig to make chamfering easier with the sides in place?

Used before glue up on each butt end. I'll post a pic later today.

Side end bevel/chamfer jig is basically too add stiffness the the side while chamfering:

Got it. Thanks!