# Neck Binding Repair Guidance request



## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

I've a old Framus Strato Super ('65) that has neck and binding damage. My question tho is regards to binding repair. It has brass/copper (or whatever ?) type frets that will impede applying binding. Do luthiers go to the length to notch the binding before installation, at each fret so that it will slip under the fretwire ends ? 
Alternative is to do a full refret which also is a lot of work but changes a lot from the original. I'm not sure of how concerned I should be about making too many changes. 

The guitar has a laminated neck ( if you're familiar Klira and Framus did these ) that also shows sign of having been repaired once just above the scarf ( or was a factory lab rat that was errantly let out to the public ).

I also noticed that the shoulder under the original binding the is not flat or even... ( now I'm thinking the binding was repaired once as well ... poorly). 

I can put up some pics, but thought I's ask first ..


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## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Pics would be good but if it was me, I would remove the frets, replace the binding, level the fingerboard and replace the frets........


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Here's some pics.. the closer I look at it, the more I'd like to replace the whole neck, but that headstock can't be relegated to a spares bin.
The fretboard is flat, frets are .036. I have a stewmac fretboard and a roughed out maple neck waiting for my courage to build up, but this has the most complex V-shaped neck pocket it presents me some challenges (that'll be another day). Anyway, I thought I first focus on the existing neck to see how it can play out. It also has a zero fret , does it get any special attention when re-fretting ? 







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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Yep, that's about as ugly as a Framus / Klira laminated neck can get ! I'll probably get a serious start during the holidays. There appears some neck stability when strung but being a thin neck it will not like you hanging any weight of your arm on it, I'd bet worse than what I've heard some SG or 70's copies exhibit. 
So far , re-fret is the answer. As you can see the neck is flat, I'd like to put some radius on it, as I've not an original saddle ...we'll see.


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## Rudder Bug (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks for the pics! I agree with Lab, its well worth a complete neck and fretboard restoration. That's what I would do if it was mine. Keep us posted.

Cheers


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Hi again. After some neck sanding there are some small voids along the upper kerf slice edge. Indeed there are two slices. My guess is that the glue was hide glue, and I don't want to mess with it.
Would filling these voids with CA be a fair approach. 
I was thinking to rub the neck with mineral spirits to see what happens to the remaining parts of the original finish ( test spot first) where sanding is not so deep. 
I was hoping to finish with tung oil after. I've no idea if tung oil over traces of original varnish is a bad idea. Any comments on the CA + tung oil + orig finish are appreciated.

I've done light headstock sanding, its very hard to see how deep the serial stamps are ( appear very shallow ) and I don't want to mess them or lose them altogether. That said, there's more original varnish/finish in that area. ( plus I like the look of the paint that has cracked with the varnish topside )

I'll note here, this is my second neck binding repair. I forgot that I should leave the side dots plugged or re-filled them, so that when I re-drill for new dots, the drill doesn't hunt and stretch out a hole.
Doh !! ( just a reminder )


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Here is latest pics, was able to apply a radius without removing too much material. Binding is still a little proud of the neck edge in spots, to be remedied later.


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Trying again to post pics re the voids - is filling with CA the right thing ? 
Looks more like the neck was repaired above the lower kerf, would explain the missing fragments I suppose. 
Applied a 15" radius btw with a 8" Stewmac sanding block. Slow and careful as material cones off fast.


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

Twice I did it ... said kerf , meant scarf , doh !


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

School of hard knocks teaches well. Unfortunately I know I'll bang my head again down the road. 
So you can see above , I radiused the fretboard and bound the neck, but I made a big mistake. I measured the tang width of the frets I removed and not the width at the barbs. I should have done more ... guessing that my slot width was close enough was a big mistake. 
The first fret I tried to install failed to insert and chipped the slots. ( glad I didn't do the zero fret first, probably would have fractured). 
The medium wire I had used was about .005" wider across the barbs compared to two other types of wire that I have. ..huh ! 
I've been able to see is that most wire suppliers don't specify the barb width. 
When I double checked fret slots, they appear narrower than I expected, 0.018", is pretty snug on some frets. 

My other wide fret wire, is a close (within a thou give or take) measure across the barbs to my original with a possible 
slight wider tang too. I have a headache now  
I compared a spare SM fretboard I have and for sure I have a narrow slot issue. 

So before I proceed, I'm waiting on refret file set from Stewmac so I can try to open slots up wider. I also have reached out to the wire supplier 
to see if this difference was evident in other samples of these two specific stock items. Suspecting that these differences can and do happen. 

That narrow wood above fret 0 makes me very nervous, and I contemplate filing off most of the barb material and gluing that fret. 
This week, getting some experience with chip repair.


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