Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a couple old, smashed/cracked guitars and I would like to try to put a new Lutz top on one. I'm an avid musician, wood worker and fabricator, but new to guitar build/repair.
So what is the best way to start taking the binding off?
I'm simply just looking to try an easier way FIRST.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

Cheers,

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High Mountain Tonewood Company
Bruce Andrews
Terrace, BC, Canada
http://www.highmountaintonewood.com

Bobby: Check out John Greven's web site first if have not already done so. He has a demo on top replacement you may find interesting.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

If you don't want to save the old bindings, just rout them off.

I have removed old bindings with a clothes iron and patience. But only if they are glued on with Titebond or fish glue. No luck with CA. (expect finish damage with heat..)

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

route them off, and then make new ones once the new top is on .. easiest way I know

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

+3

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Route them off but don't try to do in one pass or you can make extra work for yourself. DAMHIKT

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

On good Guitars I tend to carefully cut through the body fret junction and remove just the fretboard extension. I then cut inside the binding and drop a new top in. The binding is preserved but not any wood purfling. You can even preserve the original bars and struts should you want to. One thing to note (before removing the Top) is to check the Neck angle/bridge geometry. If all is well you will need to get the new Top on with the exact same Neck angle.

Everyone's hit my suggestions. If you want to preserve the bindings, go with Michael's suggestion. Otherwise, just routing it off is great!


After my second build, I had a few beater plywood classicals that I retopped for practice. They sounded pretty nice after!

Rout off plastic bindings, too?

Here's some links:

http://www.grevenguitars.com/retopping-demo.html (Greven)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQihQUn6YOU (Damler pt 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79dCyhy6N0Q (Damler pt 2)

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"I've been had again"
Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

That's what I've done, just be careful. If you try to route the whole thing at once it can pull the binding ahead of the bit and take a fair amount of wood with it. That was my experience and hence my warning to not route it off all at once.

I am far from being an experienced re-topper.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Leaving the bindings in place is by far the best way to go if they look OK. It saves having to re-finish the sides, with the attendant problems of matching the gloss and color of what's there. Since the top is normally a different color than the sides and back anyway using a different finish on it is not so much of an issue.

I like to remove the neck. I make the new top with the rosette, but no bracing, and clamp it down to the original. Scribe around the edge and trim the top exactly to shape. When you have it just right, scribe the top in from the edge by the width of the binding, and trim to that line. THEN you rout out the old top. This way you get the new top to be exactly the same shape as the old one.

I like to rout inside the liners, and remove the rest of the top wood by hand out to the binding, taking off the purfling. Duplicate the bracing, do whatever tuning magic you do, and pop the new top in, making sure that the top surface ends up level with the binding all the way around.

Then comes the tricky part: cutting a slot for the purfling. You guide off the outside of the binding, of course, and make it wide enough to cover and sins. It doesn't have to go all the way through the top, of course.

If you do this right the box will end up exactly the same shape as it was to begin with, and the neck alignment should be at least very close.''

If you DO have to remove the bindings, use a marking gauge to scribe around just at the lower edge of the bindings. This should help keep the finish from chipping toward the sides and pulling out pieces of wood.