Gibson fret work & binding

[Graffiti62]

When I visited home during my birthday, I stopped at Guitar Center (mainly for the reason it was the one store where the wife refused to come into), and I found a guitar I really liked--a Gibson SG Classic with P-90s and the 50s neck. Sounded great through a Fender Twin Reverb Reissue, but I saw something that kind of suprised me. I guess I never paid an insane amount of attention to it before, but I was suprised to see Gibson not extending their frets over the binding. Instead, the frets are chopped short of the end of the fretboard, and the binding itself is used to cover the ends of the frets before they reach the end of the side of the neck. I've noticed this even on older ones as I looked through eBay. I always thought removing the tang and finishing the frets over the binding was a sign of quality lutherie work. To me, this seems like it'd make repair work a pain, as you would not be able to trim the fret right on the neck, and you would have to mind the binding bumps when you level. Who's right on this, me or Gibson?

 

[Mor Paul]

Yep, Gibson always puts binding on the sides of the frets.
And yes, it does make refretting work have new challenges. While it is possible to get the binding to stay the same, but almost every refret job has the binding nibs (that's what the bumps in the binding are called) removed. I do think it looks uber-classy, even if it's not as practical.

 

[Superlizard]

Looks great on a new guitar.

Doesn't look so great after a decade of getting old and having
a little vertical crack in each "nib" because the binding shrunk.

 

[Crappy]

Unless the person I'm refreting the guitar want to keep the nibs they are sanded off and the new frets go right to the end.

 

[dNA]

It's the same way on my ibanez Artcore (archtop), Artist (LP copy), and Artwood (flat-top acoustic) - none of which are particularly expensive models. I think it looks great, but I have yet to ever refret any of these guitars in the many years that i've owned them. I'd hate to muck up the nice look.

 

[-CB-]

There are many guitar-smiths (not luthiers, who are technically... guitar "builders") who have learned to refret with the nibs in place.  Actually, they've learned how to re-nib the binding (not too hard).  Binding plastic will soften in acetone and you can glue it to itself very easily.  They just wad on a new nib, and file it back down into shape.  The trick is getting the fret ends all even ... and there are tools for that.

 

[Paul-less]

I like my frets going over the binding, so no binding nipples for me!

 

[bagman67]

no binding nipples for me!

That's what she said!

Bagman