The horror!
By The Horse
@TheHorse (205796)
Walnut Creek, California
December 19, 2017 11:03am CST
This is what my Martin D-18 acoustic guitar looked like a few days ago. The binding had worked loose, and nobody (meaning Guitar Centers in Concord and Emeryville) wanted to touch it, even though they're supposedly Warranty Service Centers for Martin Guitars. So I decided to do the repair myself.
I hadn't realized that painter's tape couple be used as a "clamp" and wouldn't damage the surface of highly polished guitars. Live and learn. The glue I used was a special guitar glue for just this kind of repair. I got it from StewMac, which makes products for guitar repair. It only took about three days to arrive.
If you look carefully, you can see that I'd already "clamped" the area to the left, but was masking the area to the right, to drop some glue into the gap. I took care of the middle area last. You can see that the binding there is still slightly separated from the guitar.
17 people like this
17 responses
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
20 Dec 17
You`re good! You got this little job, no problem.
4 people like this
@FourWalls (62164)
• United States
20 Dec 17
Ever considered getting a job at CF Martin? (I remember telling you that they said they couldn't do anything to repair my friend's guitar that once belonged to her father, an your reply was, "There's always something that can be done.")
3 people like this
@TheHorse (205796)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Dec 17
Heh. That would be exciting! But it would certainly require some retooling. I really think that there is almost always something that can be done. You reduce a guitar's "authenticity" if you replace the bracing, or put on a new fingerboard, but I think it's always possible to make a guitar playable.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325818)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Dec 17
@TheHorse Yeaers ago, I had an old gentleman who used to repair ornaments for me but I'm sure he'd be deceased by now. It crossed my mind that I should be trying to do these repairs myself. It's mainly china horses with broken legs.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
20 Dec 17
I never would have thought of using painters tape as a clamp. Brilliant.
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74592)
• East Tawas, Michigan
20 Dec 17
It's surprising what a little bit of ingenuity and TLC will do, for a musical instrument in need! Those warranties are usually a big joke, from my own personal experience. I'm glad you're handy enough, to fix this very lovely guitar!
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (205796)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Dec 17
Thanks! I think if there were a major structural issue, Martin wold do a good job of fixing it. The tech I talked to said that fixing loose binding is a touchy issue, because it never looks EXACTLY like it did before. The final coats of finish are put on the guitar AFTER it's made.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (205796)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Dec 17
@kobesbuddy But when we repair binding, we don't reapply finish. That's why it might look slightly different. I've been buffing my repair out with car polish. You can only tell there's been a repair if you look really closely. I just took a picture of the "finished product."
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (74592)
• East Tawas, Michigan
20 Dec 17
@TheHorse Those final coats are probably a security measure, over the repaired binding.
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (58140)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
19 Dec 17
Is it going to live to play again?
2 people like this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
19 Dec 17
i hope you had fixed the guitar already
2 people like this
@annabanana20 (96)
•
20 Dec 17
hope it will be fix again so u can play the guitar
2 people like this
@howardwilson (36)
•
20 Dec 17
@TheHorse i hope it will be fix soon so u can compose another song bro! keep rockin!
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
20 Dec 17
Talk about finding other uses for products!! I hope the beautiful guitar is good as new when you are done.
1 person likes this
