gcpicken Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Hi, new to the board, and I plead guilty of joining and posting because I have a question. About 25 years ago a bought a Les Paul "Custom". It was $2,000 at the time, and I really didn't know how to evaluate a guitar, then or now. But because it was beautiful and pricey (for me) I considered it "special" and put it in my closet, meanwhile using another Les Paul (Les Paul #2) to play (when I played - which wasn't often). I recently gave Les Paul #2 to my son (who does not live locally), and took the Custom out and began to use it. We come to my question. I noticed that on the Custom, the is a groove/gap between the edge of the frets and the banding. It is large enough that the high e-string will go right down in it. I have attached three not very good pictures. One is the guitar itself, the other is of the fretboard and banding, and the other other shows the fretboard and banding with the high e-string pulled off the frets and into the groove/gap. Is this just how they are? Is this a problem or am I making it into something bigger than it needs to be? Is it fixable without being a huge production? If it was going to be fixed, would you recommend sending it to Gibson? (I am guessing they don't have a 25 year warranty) Are we talking many months before I would see it again? Thanks. Sorry to join just to post a question. The guitar is much prettier than it looks in the picture - the red is very deep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 The binding shrinks over a long time and this is not that uncommon. I also can see the binding around the cutaway has shrunk. Replacement of the neck binding with the fret ends (nibs) is expensive and some repairmen might suggest you just cut them away and fill any gap. However it would be far better to do the whole job properly, it's too nice a guitar - so you need to find a good guitar builder/repairman with a good rep, and get a quote. You may also be able to send it back to Gibson which might be competitively priced apart from the freight cost. There are many more expert forum members than me, who should be able to advise you in more detail. I have a dark cherry LP Custom which I just finished playing for the evening! Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 . Shrinkage. . B) This topic shows up now and then. Is the guitar properly humidified? Sometimes being a bit dry shrinks the fretboard enough to open those gaps. Humidify and oil the fretboard - give it a few day to dehydrate and see if the gaps shrink. The binding can shrink with age. On players some would use a bit of resin or super glue to fill the gap. But if you use a glue substance to fill the gap a shop/luthier will have a hard time doing a re-fret in the future. If you have the fret nibs filed down/removed you it might diminish the guitar's resale value. If it's binding shrinkage, because it's such I nice guitar, I would get a repair price to fill the gaps from a shop/luthier. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 There's been some success stories on here using a hot spoon or knife i think to push the binding nibs back up against the fret ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I often wondered if this could happen with nibs. At least its fixable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 There's been some success stories on here using a hot spoon or knife i think to push the binding nibs back up against the fret ends. This. I seem to remember that Bence (btoth76 is his forum name) is the man who can tell you exactly what you need to do. I'm sure he'll be around sometime soon. Good luck. Nice Guit! Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Hello and welcome to the Forums. Unfortunately, I encountered this problem on my no. 1. This is what I did: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/116011-correcting-nib-separation-on-les-pauls/ Good luck... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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