GUITAR FINISH NATURAL BINDING

Natural binding on an electric guitar is the effect of NOT colouring a small portion of the front and side edges of an instrument's maple top.

This solution creates a subtle contrast effect with the rest of the instrument that is coloured as normal, while the parts corresponding to the thickness of the top and a small upper portion of it maintain the original cream colouring typical of maple.

Over the years, I have come up with an exclusive method that allows you to create a perfectly sharp natural binding without colour smudges, which I pass on to my students during my painting classes. You can see its aesthetic result in the picture on the left.

Want to go from theory to practice?

Now that you know what natural binding is, in the finishing course you learn to achieve professional finishes, mirror gloss or open pore.

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The alternation of light and dark flames on the edge of the
natural binding.

It is possible to find out if the instrument has a real solid flamed maple drop top, rather than a maple top that is not figured or veneered, by checking the alternation of light and dark flames on the edge of the natural binding. Only if these veins show up can we be sure that it is a solid maple top.

Galeazzo Frudua

As a luthier and guitar making and repair teacher, since 1988 he has built making more than 350 boutique guitars and basses priced from 2,900 to 5,600 Euros and repaired and customized thousands of stringed instruments. His instruments and amplifiers are used by flagship artists, such as Chick Corea, Peter Gabriel, Ennio Morricone, Carl Verheyen. He owns two YouTube channels—where he teaches music—that count over 40 million views and about 200,000 subscribers and almost 200.000 subscribers.