4003 Binding

[Gaolee]

It's a 2005, I just thought it was weird that it seemed to be flaking off by the binding and I was wondering if it was going to get worse

As I recall, water based finishes were coming into use about then. For a while, the finishes, including the clear top coat, would peel, blister, or otherwise misbehave. I wouldn't worry about it too much. The rest of the finish looks fine.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Some older Rics had "binding Bleed", where chemicals released from decaying celluloid binding would stain the wood, but it wss only visible on mapleglo or other light color finishes. The Checker Binding is still made from Celluloid AFAIK, but in this case I concur: the finish itself is flaking a bit. Kinda par for the course for older instruments, the binding expands and contracts differently than the wood, so that joint gets stressed over time. A fairly easy fix for a Pro, but i wouldn't mess with it unless you have some refinishing experience.

 

[Jeff Scott]

IIRC, the binding has been made of ABS for a very long time.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I think that’s true of standard binding, but there’s only one company I know of, Shellex of Germany that still makes checker binding, and it’s true celluloid. Lovely stuff, but highly flammable and prone to being unstable long term, as in 30 years or so. It’s common to see wood and binding get a couple .001” out of flush seasonally, and that can crack a hard, brittle finish.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I think that’s true of standard binding, but there’s only one company I know of, Shellex of Germany that still makes checker binding, and it’s true celluloid. Lovely stuff, but highly flammable and prone to being unstable long term, as in 30 years or so. It’s common to see wood and binding get a couple .001” out of flush seasonally, and that can crack a hard, brittle finish.

Yeah, I am referring to the standard binding.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

That's not an easy job, having done it several times. The hard part is scraping the paint off it to create that perfect line after color coat. Gibson still does it entirely by hand, mostly by women with the patience and skills to do it perfectly, using a sharpened piece of spring steel. I assume it's the same at Rickenbacker, but I've never seen film of anybody doing it in the factory tours. I tried my hand at it, realized I suck at it, and resorted to masking it, which worked, but it's not as perfect as they manage to do it at Ric and Gibson.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I didn't make any photos of the scraping at the factory but did watch it being done.