OffsetGuitars.com

had some $, immediately found something to work on.
I bought this from Gibsondeplorable, which i try not to do. There are a number of undisclosed issues that i wont get into, because I'm keeping it anyway. I have a stash of valco parts, almost everything i need to put this together.

I was immediately smitten.

Anyway, the binding is cracked in a thousand places, coming loose where it's still white-ish, and crumbling away in others.
is there a trick to stabilize this stuff. I'm assuming it's made of nitrate, or dead people.
I could try to chip it off, nip the fret tangs and sneak new plastic in there. (I don't understand why the slots go through the binding).









and there's also this:

Con-Tiki! wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 3:51 pm

I could try to chip it off, nip the fret tangs and sneak new plastic in there.

Happy NGD!
If this were mine I'd treat it with new binding, especially since the guitar looks mint otherwise.
I asked a guy who had a go at conserving the binding rot on his '67 Gretsch Anniversary, he used sodium bisulfate mixed with 2 part epoxy as mentioned in this Stewmac Video.
If the binding on your Valco is indeed celluloid (which to my inexperienced eye it seems to be) this could be your ticket.

aRoseisaRoseis wrote: ↑

Thu May 09, 2019 2:07 pm

Con-Tiki! wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 3:51 pm

I could try to chip it off, nip the fret tangs and sneak new plastic in there.

Happy NGD!
If this were mine I'd treat it with new binding, especially since the guitar looks mint otherwise.
I asked a guy who had a go at conserving the binding rot on his '67 Gretsch Anniversary, he used sodium bisulfate mixed with 2 part epoxy as mentioned in this Stewmac Video.
If the binding on your Valco is indeed celluloid (which to my inexperienced eye it seems to be) this could be your ticket.

thanks for the suggestion, I always forget about those stewmac videos.

it's become my current go-to guitar. I don't own an acoustic, and this thing sounds a little like an archtop. Eventually, I'll have a little time and i wil sort out the wiring.