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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | New guy question-- What do they mean by "Bound Neck?"
Just window shopping on E-baaa, and I see them refer to the guitars as having a bound neck. Good, Bad, Really Cheap, What? |
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Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | bound necks are bound with one matieral or another around the fretboard...i think it looks good on some guitars but not all..my legend's fingerboard is bound with a iroryoid(sp?) type stuff, looks quite nice. if i wasnt so lazy id walk donw stairs an get mt digi cam and post a pic of my legends neck..jason |
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Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | A bound neck will have binding running the length of the fretboard. An unbound neck has no binding. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | But the real question is; Which is better? and Why?
Thanx, I was looking at a GC057 with some white stuff trimming the fretboard, all the way down to the sound-hole. So I look at my 4861, and it has no such thing. Neither does my Johnson, nor my Lyon. So, since I may get on of these things, all input is appreciated. |
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Location: ranson,wva | i think its more for astectics than function but ive been known to be wrong once in a great while..lol..jason |
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Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | very generally speaking, a bound neck might be considered more up-scale as it indicates more hand-work is being done on the guitar. but you'll certainly find exceptions to that rule going both ways. Like Jason said, it really comes down to what looks good to the designer and what looks good to you.
I'll leave the functional part to others. To stretch, I suppose one could suggest a bound fretboard would be less likely to wear at the edges over time (roll?) and would be more resistant to dents and dings than raw wood. You're less likely to take a divit of wood out of your fretboard if it has nice ivoroid (plastic) binding. Damaged bindings are much easier to repair/replace than the fretboard itself.
Hope that helps! good night. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | bound is sposed to be more upscale as stated. smoother feel. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Unbound are easier to refret.
Note - Not all necks are bound in ivoroid (or what ever that white plastic is called). The white bound necks are certainly the most obvious. But many are bound in polished ebony or other material and you don't really notice they are bound unless you look hard. The U681 is one example that comes to mind. Quick glance looks like an unbound ebony fboard. Look close. Beautiful smooth ebony binding. Moody's classical is like that. He didn't even know it was bound until I pointed it out to him (so much for PI's being observent). Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Tuppy's right. I didn't realize that the Ute's neck had binding till StephenT mentioned it... (I believe I was the first to receive a line production model) |
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Location: SoCal | "(so much for PI's being observent)"
huh?
Dave's right.. I was too busy playing the guitar, not examining it. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with a guitar? |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | My 2 cents - the two cheapie celebs that I bought have bound necks and on both of them, the binding is cracked up and down the neck (and all the way around the body in one case). It's not falling off or anything, but something that's supposed to make it look good is doing the opposite. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Just did a quick E-baaa research trip. 9 outta 10 Celebrity's had necks bound with Ivoroid. The one that wasn't may have been bound, but not so obviously.
So they are harder to re-fret? I'm glad that 4861 don't have it, I may need to fix that one. I think too much capo wore-out the first fret.
I'll be asking questions about that next... |
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Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | That's correct, most celebs are bound and for good reason. There are 2 reasons to bind a neck. 1. (usa models) is to show luxury and quality craftmanship. 2. (imports) is to cover up the shitty edge work and uneven fret tangs.
Dave |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | That's kinda what I figgered.
On my Lyon Pseudo-strat (MIC) the fret edges were pretty rough, with no binding. I think that I have either worn those edges down, or developed callouses half-way down my fingers.
Well, so shoot me, cuz I got a celebrity coming, GC057. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&sspagename=STR...
Yes, I know it's not a REAL USOvation, but hey, I'm poor. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Arthur - don't sweat it... my celeb still sounds great plugged in. It's a good placeholder til I find a nice US made O. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Some of my friends think I'm weird, cuz I figger: I want it, so I got it, until something better comes along. Then I will pass my Johnson on to some Broke-and-Just-Starting future-musician. Then do it again. |
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Posts: 430
Location: Lebanon, TN | From a technical standpoint edge binding (neck or Body) was doen with material that is generally hard and was supposed to provide protection to the joins in the body and sides. From their they added it to necks to make them appear classier. I am ambivalent as long as they don't use crappy brittle material that after a year or two starts to crack like crazy paving.
I do love the bound with wood look of some necks. The tortoise is very classy but becoming very prevalent on a large number of models/makers I noticed. Like many things I would guess it will follow fashions. |
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Bound Neck?
