Repair of 1980 Martin D-18

[Barry Daniels]

Just finished a restoration of a Martin D-18. The guitar's top had been seriously compromised by previous repairs that had thinned the middle of it down to half the original thickness, resulting in all kinds of havoc. Nothing to do but replace it. So I took the opportunity to use pre-70s specs with scalloped braces and a small maple bridge plate all glued with HHG. Replaced the top binding and got it to blend into the finished sides with minimal evidence. I used CA glue on the binding and came up with a technique to prevent the CA from ruining the finish. Applied an aged toner on the top to keep it from looking too white. Made the pick guard with West Systems epoxy and Trans-tint dyes. Waverly tuners, ivoroid pins, new frets, bone nut and saddle. It sounds great.

[Bob Gramann]

It looks great! You’ll need to follow up on your teaser about the CA glue technique. How do you use CA for binding on a finished guitar without wrecking the finish?

[Barry Daniels]

Basically, I used masking tape and paper towels to control runoff. The critical tape adjacent to the seam of the binding and sides was vinyl tape from GluBoost. It completely blocks CA from running under the tape. I even applied it to the side of the binding. The tape is only a 1/4" wide so other masking tape was added to get a buffer. A row of folded paper towels were added under the buffer as a last resort.

https://gluboost.com/product/endpoint-mark-mask-system/

I worked in small sections. Applied medium CA to the ledge, pressed the binding into place, soaked up squeeze out with a paper towel, then applied strips of masking tape to hold the binding in place. It worked amazingly well. I originally was going to glue the binding with Canopy glue but it did not burn-in to this binding enough to give good adhesion.

When finishing the top, I also applied lacquer to the sides of the binding and maybe 1/32" over the finish on the sides. A little sanding and buffing made it blend pretty well.

[Bob Gramann]

Thank you. I bought some of that tape when it was first advertised but haven’t played with it yet. I’ll have to remember I have it. Using your description, it could be useful.

Congratulations on bringing back a nice guitar.

[Barry Daniels]

Thanks Bob. I was kind of the same way about the tape. Bought it some time ago but that was the first time I used it. It seems to be a normal vinyl tape, like electricians tape, except it is quite thin.

[Mark Swanson]

Great work Barry! I like the tips about the CA glue.