Is It My Eyes or Is Gibson Using Pink Binding?

[Ignatius]

Hi all--

 

If you've seen a new ES-type guitar made in the last year or so (or have seen one online), would you agree with me that the current binding material used around the neck and body is much more pinkish than white or cream? It is very odd and actually bothers me a bit on most guitars. I know that the old white bindings age to a rich deep amber over time. If Gibson is using a new binding material, do we know what pinkish stuff will look like in twenty years?

 

I am envisioning a bunch of guitars all trimmed in hot neon pink as we all sit around the old folks' home.

 

Or am I going nuts?

 

Ignatius

[Hall]

Are they Reissue VOS Historics with aged patina finish as final layer? That will do it, especially on neck binding. It will darken and drop the hue over time and use.....they say!?

 

Edit: My 2006, R8 cleaned up great, but that tinge is still somewhat present on the neck binding under certain light.

[Ignatius]

Are they Reissue VOS Historics with aged patina finish as final layer?

 

Some of them are, hg, but I've also seen it on the standard Memphis-issue ES-335s as well. It doesn't look so bad on the faded red satin finish guitars, but the gloss finish ones have looked really pink lately. And I don't know how pink darkens to white or cream so I'm a bit skeptical. I saw in a guitar builders' forum a while back that people were complaining that a lot of binding has been looking pink lately, and they aren't sure that it will fade to white or cream as everyone hopes.

 

Ignatius

[clayville]

My understanding based on forum lore from elsewhere (which could all be heresy), is that this results from either the reddish pore filler used on the mahogany prior to the application of cherry stain, or the cherry stain itself prior to the nitro finish coat. Until the nitro truly cures and hardens, the pore filler dye/stain can migrate through the nitro, supoosedly -- a bit like the "sticky neck syndrome" reported by many before the nitro cures. That dye migration theory makes some sense for an LP or other mahogany backed guitar and for necks, but less sense for a Cherry 335 body binding -- unless it's the stain rather than pore filler causing it.

 

FWIW, its a very common (if not quite universal) characteristic of (some say) the historically accurate materials used to create the reddish (rather than brownish) back coloring. It's considered by many to be "normal" though. I've also heard that UV or sunlight can fade a moderate amount of it in as little as a day... and that while "normal use" causes it, it can also cure it over time.

 

So...my advice is: play on!

[Ignatius]

Thanks, clayville! That is very helpful. I'm not sure which causes more relief: to know the problem goes away, or to see that others see the pink binding as well. I was beginning truly to think I was having a vision problem in fluorescent lights or something like that.

 

Ignatius

[clayville]

re: the fading in sunlight technique to clear up binding bleed -- it is also said that all/most of the Gibson reds are prone to UV fading to some degree, so one should use caution (and perhaps painter's tape or a towel) to protect the areas you don't want faded.

 

As in: "Dang! Where'd my sunburst go??!!"

[Ignatius]

re: the fading in sunlight technique to clear up binding bleed -- it is also said that all/most of the Gibson reds are prone to UV fading to some degree' date=' so one should use caution (and perhaps painter's tape or a towel) to protect the areas you [i']don't [/i]want faded.

 

As in: "Dang! Where'd my sunburst go??!!"

 

I mentioned this in another thread on older Epiphone colors: I was reading a book on the history of the Telecaster the other day, and the author noted that the vintage "two-tone" sunbursts were originally tri-bursts with a center of red in them. But as you have said about Gibsons, the red faded (at times very quickly) on the first Custom Telecasters of the early '60s. Now people request this two-tone as "authentic" vintage color, when it actually reflects a defect in the older finishes.

 

It seems like red anywhere is more prone to this. As someone who worked in a library, I often noticed that the red parts of book covers always faded within a year or two (or less if they were in a sunny part of the library). Purples often took a hit, too, as did orange.

 

Ignatius