Bound fingerboards ... later on

[GPW]

   Guys , I was thinking how many of us like the look of a bound fingerboard...   But would just like to offer this practical crumb of advice from personal experience ...   When you eventually need a re-fret , It’s going to be almost twice as expensive to do rather than an unbound one ...   and if you do it yourself , it’s a LOT more work  and very tedious to get perfect ...      I stay away from bound fretboards now ...  Pretty, yes, but too much TROUBLE later on ...   (sorta’ like my first wife    )

   Just something else to consider  whilst shopping ....   

[sonofaglitch]

I never liked that look to be honest. I prefer a more natural looking neck on my guitars.

[SecretWeapon]

Y'know I love my Les Paul Studio but some part of me has always wished that I held out for a good deal on a Standard for the look. Its good to hear that, from a technical standpoint, I made the right choice. 

Now if I could just get over the look of a maple fretboard on a Strat, I might be able to avoid buying more stuff for awhile. 

[Funkle]

Yes on the maple fretboard,  but not for looks, its the SOUND! I gotta
GAS for one

[GPW]

    Although I Love the sound of a Maple fretboard , I don’t care for the light color  (just a personal preference)  But you can dye the Maple  or even buy pre dyed Maple strips  that would make excellent fingerboards..  Much easier if you’re doing this from the beginning with unfinished wood , but we’ve removed the fretboard  finish and dyed the wood  before ...  Looks Good !!!   Sounds Good !!!     ... and by taping up the fretboard sides and not staining them , it gives the appearance of a bound fretboard with none of the problems ... 

[Franky G-String]

I just think unbound looks better to begin with.  For example, the Eric Johnson RW Strat with binding is just silly.  The strat hasn't ever needed binding, so why start now? 

[Jamesssssssss]

On strats binding sux. But on a lot of guitars (esp all gibson styles) bound fretboards look amazing. I love them on jags/jazz's certain teles too. I'd have one on my jazzblaster if it wasn't so stupidly expensive, and causes all the problems during refret, not worth it at all.

[GPW]

  To do a proper re-fret on a Gibson , with the “nibs” you actually have to re-bind the neck too and cut away the excess... Big Job !! $$$      Most guys just grind the nibs flat and undercut the fret tang to fit ... Tedious , but better than the alternative...  What were they thinking  
 Frank , yeah  strats with neck binding just look outta’ place huh ?  Like bluejeans and “wingtips" ... 

[GPW]

  here’s a little interesting reading on “nibs” ...http://www.philtone.com/nibs.html

[GPW]

... and yet more reading , in fact a whole course...      http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repair/acoustic-guitar/fretting.php

[Vintage MR]

Frank , yeah  strats with neck binding just look outta’ place huh ?  Like bluejeans and “wingtips" ... 

 

[Gilks]

Ah damn... my ESP has a bound neck and I know I'll need a refret in the next couple of years. 

[FC]

And you tell me now, after all these years... 

[Meeeoww]

Only like the look of bound fretboards on SGs and even then, if they sacrifice practical function I'd have to opt for a non-bound neck.

Side note, I noticed the SG standard binding has plastic "nubs" at the ends of each fret, compared to other bound fretboards I've seen where the binding doesn't go any higher than the fingerboard wood. What's the purpose of that?

[Mushroony]

Ah damn... my ESP has a bound neck and I know I'll need a refret in the next couple of years. 

Why? Most guitars only need e refret after 20-30 years of intense gigging...