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I have a friend's 70's gibson SG that has a chunk of neck binding missing (about 3/4" long). Of course it is gone so can't simply glue it back.

How would you folks go about this one:

Would I need celluloid binding or would modern plastic work?
After "patching" a new piece in, what would be a simple way to get the aged finish back? Stewmac makes a rattle-can lacquer in vintage amber. Thoughts?

Any details, steps, tips, etc appreciated for those in the know. Thanks!

call me I have done this repair

I removed a bit more of the binding with scarf/angles on the cuts. This stuff is crumbing and very brittle so I am assuming it is the old celluloid stuff.

Question is can modern, plastic binding be patched in here with good results or would it need to be another piece of celluloid? It is crazy expensive to get because of haz-mat shipping charges and I only need like 1" of it.

Thanks for any assistance.

I was able to order some celluloid binding from Grizzly http://www.grizzly.com without the HAZMAT charge. Who knows why....

FWIW, acetone will dissolve celluloid binding. You can make a "glue" by dissolving celluloid shavings in acetone until you a soupy paste of appropriate consistency. With suitable use of the stuff, you can make joints totally invisible because it all melts together. CAUTION: the "glue" shrinks like crazy when it dries, which takes a while, maybe a couple of days. You may need to fill depressions caused by shrinkage a couple of times until you get a level surface.

If the binding is crumbling badly, would it make more sense to take it all off and replace it? I'd use celluloid again for authenticity.

this is one of those keep it original as much as possible things. Once you start pulling things out the more damage may follow. I have done a few of these. Acetone or acetone based glue like duco , even CA may be the best here.
Get the piece to fit nicely. Brush a little acetone to the joint. The small chips from the trim should have been saved , and soak them in acetone . they will melt to a paste. Tape it together and use thin CA to wick in. That should tie it all in.
call me if you need to

Thank you. I am picking up some acetone today and will test a small piece to confirm it is celluloid. Here is a photo of the cut out pieces. I cleaned the excess off the wood since. The 2 small pieces and the dot marker are laying above in the photo. Note the binding is very thin at .050" on bottom then tapers to .020 inches at top next to the fretboard.

Very dry and brittle but the rest of the binding is not really damaged so if it can be patched then maybe that would be better.

I explained to the owner that the guitar really needs new frets which would be a good time to rip off all the old binding but he does not want to put the money into it as wants it primarily for open-chord slide playing.

OK thanks to John for sending me a bit of celluloid binding for this repair. I got a piece thinned and tried to bevel the ends for a decent joint. I then mixed a paste of acetone and binding and filled in and smoothed out the joints. There is still a slightly visible joint but it is smooth and I am ok with it. Of coarse I need to drill and install the fret marker next...

which brings me to the final finishing. I am not real experienced with lacquer and tinting, etc. Stewmac sells a tinted vintage yellow lacquer in rattle can that I hope to use for this. Would it be better to spray over this patch or spray some in a cup and use a brush to apply it over this spot?

Thanks for your advice

looks pretty good

tippie53 wrote:looks pretty good

Thank you John. How would you go about the finish on this one?

mask well and spray