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I just finished my second guitar - I'll post pictures later - and it turned out 100 times better than the first. The local guitar store owner said he wants to sell it in his shop - whoo hoo!

Anyway, I tried the "faux" bound fretboard look - undercutting the frets and filling the fret slots - but didn't have a lot of success. I did the best I could to fill and mask the errors, but there are still tangs showing in some spots after the finish sanding.

Question: - how do you do an ebony bound fretboard for a classical? Do you do it the same as any other bound fretboard? How do you hide the fact that it is bound using the same wood? Is it appropriate to bind with a different wood on a classical? I know that is not traditional, but...

Lots of questions, but I'm not a fan of that "tangy" look and would love to 1) either perfect my undercutting/filling technique or 2) bind with ebony or another wood if it looks good on a classical.

I'd love to see examples of some bound fretboards. I've searched the internet for bound classical fretboards but haven't seen any. Maybe a new trend?

Thanks for the advice/help. I'll post pictures after I get some nice ones taken.
Steve

Can't help you on the classical end, but here's a picture of a steel string OM I just finished showing the ebony bound fretboard. Sorry, I don't have a better picture.

Chris.

gorgeous fretboard. How thick were your bindings? Did you cut channels like a side binding? or glue a full width binding? I can't tell from the picture, but I can't see any binding seam at all. What type of glue did you use?

Steve

Here's one:



An ebony bound ebony fret board looks really good. Very clean.

Pat

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Steve,

I trim the entire fretboard to a narrower dimension to allow for full height bindings. I do it on a router table, which yields a pretty clean edge. Then I glue the binding on each side with CA. Any gaps, if there are any can easily be filled with ebony dust and CA. Ebony is very forgiving that way. It does come out very clean looking. I generally thin the bindings to around .080".

Here's a picture of one done with maple binding, it shows the details a little better. I always bind the end of the fretboard first, so it looks clean from the side.



Chris.

As luck would have it, I'm in the process of making a nylon stringed guitar with an ebony bound ebony fretboard. I cut off the two sides (0.1" off each) before I cut the fret slots, then glue them back on after the slots are cut. I use LMI luthier's glue (put on thinly with a foam glue roller). I pattern route each of the long edges before and after cutting off the sides so that they can be glued back on dead flat with no visible glue line. After routing, the glued-on sides are around 0.08" thick. I use laser-cut acrylic patterns to route the edges perfectly. Note, don't try to pattern-route the end grain ever - it's a losing proposition - cut it real close with a scroll saw and then sand to final shape. Here's a quick picture of the fretboard as it is right now, just finished gluing the edges back on and ready for inlay:



HTH,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

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Boy! I love the look of that maple bound fingerboard!

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