Is the old Faux Binding out of fashion?

[Jo-]

Is the natural edge (fake binding) going out of style? I see more and more guitars where there are bursts which wrap around covering up the natural maple edge, or a lot of them are stained.

I am not a fan of binding, especially the plastic binding along the fretboards. I always loved the natural look that PRS did, to me it showcased the quality of the construction of PRS guitars. Not needing any binding down the fretboards, or around the bodies edge. I loved seeing the pattern of the maple flow from the top around the sides.

Is it going out of style? Or is it laziness? Bad stain jobs? Why are there so many wraparound bursts, and opaque black backs... I love to see the wood grain through the finish. What's changed?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I think it’s just people love wraps and bursts?

I dunno… I’ve given up trying to understand why people buy what they buy.

 

[shinksma]

A few possibilities:

1. Changing tastes. Maybe that's just what the market prefers.
2. Natural edge is difficult with darker stains. If darker stains are more popular, then going full wrap might be easiest solution.
3. Wood quality: maybe getting wood that looks great across the entire body is getting more difficult, so doing a burst-wrap (with dark burst color) allows the purchaser to enjoy a nice center-area figuring and if it fades a bit at the edge no-one really notices?

EDIT: My avatar is my P24 in Black Gold Wrap, not burst - I was told at the time black-gold was really hard to get a clean-looking natural faux binding because the black would seep into the binding no matter what.

 

[Bogner]

I Prefer Seeing The Natural Binding And Can't Stand Neck Binding And Bone Nuts Or Bone Look Nuts On PRS Guitars. Since PRS Won The Lawsuit With Gibson It Is Almost As If They Are Doing Everything They Can To Twist The Knife Any Chance They Get.

 

[JasonE]

I love the natural scraped binding on PRS guitars. It is one thing that drew me to them in the beginning. I even opted for it in my custom Suhr Standard carved top that I had built for me. It is just a great high quality thing I love to see.

 

[Jo-]

I Prefer Seeing The Natural Binding And Can't Stand Neck Binding And Bone Nuts Or Bone Look Nuts On PRS Guitars. Since PRS Won The Lawsuit With Gibson It Is Almost As If They Are Doing Everything They Can To Twist The Knife Any Chance They Get.

Same. Same. Same!!

 

[László]

Since PRS Won The Lawsuit With Gibson It Is Almost As If They Are Doing Everything They Can To Twist The Knife Any Chance They Get.

I doubt PRS cares at all any more about the Gibson lawsuit. PRS won, it's been over for years and years. The market loves PRS' take on classic Gibson tones, i.e., the McCarty and 594.

PRS is still doing plenty of scraped binding guitars, all of mine currently have them, not that I have a strong preference one way or the other. I should mention I also like the neck binding; however, PRS bound the necks in maple on two of mine, the others don't have a binding.

I like the tone of the guitars I have (and previous versions) with bone nuts. No need to mess with a good thing, because the tone is what counts. I think the note attack is a little bit crisper with it.

Half of mine have the traditional PRS nut, and half have bone. I'm good with either one.

Why are there so many wraparound bursts, and opaque black backs... I love to see the wood grain through the finish. What's changed?

This isn't a new thing. PRS has always done certain colors with a black back. My first PRS bought in 1991, in Whale Blue (if I recall correctly) had it, and a wrap finish. The 2011 Artist V came with a wrap finish. My 2012 Charcoal Sig limited had a black back (I have a current DGT in the very same finish). I think it looks great with certain colors. I've had a few other with a wrap finish, and actually prefer it.

The faux binding is a bit fussy, though I don't mind it. If the birds went away to be replaced by something else, I'd be good with that. I feel like I've had a bazillion guitars with birds now (a bazillion is a lot). .

I love my current DGT with opaque back - looks good to me, black back, bone nut and all. There's sufficient wood to ogle as far as I'm concerned. YMMV.

 

[ViperDoc]

To each there own, but when it comes to scrape binding, I have to have it. I love the pinstripe outline it gives the body, and because I'm a fretboard binding addict, it goes along nicely with that. Take it around the header and your fully protected!

 

[ViperDoc]

I doubt PRS cares at all any more about the Gibson lawsuit. PRS won, it's been over for years and years. The market loves PRS' take on classic Gibson tones, i.e., the McCarty and 594.

PRS is still doing plenty of scraped binding guitars, all of mine currently have them, not that I have a strong preference one way or the other. I should mention I also like the neck binding; however, PRS bound the necks in maple on two of mine, the others don't have a binding.

I like the tone of the guitars I have (and previous versions) with bone nuts. No need to mess with a good thing, because the tone is what counts. I think the note attack is a little bit crisper with it.

Half of mine have the traditional PRS nut, and half have bone. I'm good with either one.



This isn't a new thing. PRS has always done certain colors with a black back. My first PRS bought in 1991, in Whale Blue (if I recall correctly) had it, and a wrap finish. The 2011 Artist V came with a wrap finish. My 2012 Charcoal Sig limited had a black back (I have a current DGT in the very same finish). I think it looks great with certain colors. I've had a few other with a wrap finish, and actually prefer it.

The faux binding is a bit fussy, though I don't mind it. If the birds went away to be replaced by something else, I'd be good with that. I feel like I've had a bazillion guitars with birds now (a bazillion is a lot). .

I love my current DGT with opaque back - looks good to me, black back, bone nut and all. There's sufficient wood to ogle as far as I'm concerned. YMMV.

I love how broad the flame is on this top, and the sexy dirty look the grain seams to have in between the the bengal stripes. SUPER HOT.

 

[László]

I love how broad the flame is on this top, and the sexy dirty look the grain seams to have in between the the bengal stripes. SUPER HOT.

The tone of the guitar absolutely kills, so it's a plus that it looks good, too!

To each there own, but when it comes to scrape binding, I have to have it. I love the pinstripe outline it gives the body, and because I'm a fretboard binding addict, it goes along nicely with that. Take it around the header and your fully protected!

I've got nothing against the faux binding, of course - it's a PRS thing and it does look nice. But I can and have lived with some wonderful, high end PRS' that didn't have it, and I liked the look every bit as much.

I've probably owned too many PRS', but I haven't found another brand that really speaks to me. Which is weird, but it's what it is.

 

[Herr Squid]

The "old" faux binding is still around, my brand new ME V came with it!

 

[Black Plaid]

There are just a lot of guitars, so a portion of them one way or the other is going to seem like a significant number.

 

[shinksma]

Why are there so many ... opaque black backs

I forgot to address this:

Back in the day (pre-2010ish?), most PRS Core guitars came with an opaque black back. You had to pay for the Artist Pack upgrade to get a stain only or clearcoat back.

The fact that non-opaque-black backs are now typical is quite a nice thing.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I dunno… I like the opaque backs with a flame or quilt top, I think it’s a nice clean contrast.

Like, Bonni Pink has to have the pepto back and neck. The newer ones with the natural backs just don’t do it for me the same way.

 

[Prina]

The fact that non-opaque-black backs are now typical is quite a nice thing.

Agreed! I really like seeing the wood, partly to be sure how many pieces there are and if more than one, how well they're matched. Covering it up gives a hint of hiding something. Having a black wrap and neck is one of the things that detracts from my S2 594.

Of course if it's a solid color guitar, that's another matter.

 

[Jo-]

I forgot to address this:

Back in the day (pre-2010ish?), most PRS Core guitars came with an opaque black back. You had to pay for the Artist Pack upgrade to get a stain only or clearcoat back.

The fact that non-opaque-black backs are now typical is quite a nice thing.

I would say I disagree, I don't think "most" came with a black back, only a few colours. The only core guitars I knew that came with black backs was the CE models, and whale blue also had a black back. Most of the other guitars I owned in that era (early 2000's) did not have black backs. Blue Matteo had natural back, teal black had a green back, black cherry had a red back, the vintage/sunbursts had red backs. These were not Artist models, they were 10 and non 10's. And all those coloured backs were not opaque, you can see the grain through them. I like to see the grain.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I would say I disagree, I don't think "most" came with a black back, only a few colours. The only core guitars I knew that came with black backs was the CE models, and whale blue also had a black back. Most of the other guitars I owned in that era (early 2000's) did not have black backs. Blue Matteo had natural back, teal black had a green back, black cherry had a red back, the vintage/sunbursts had red backs. These were not Artist models, they were 10 and non 10's. And all those coloured backs were not opaque, you can see the grain through them. I like to see the grain.

Black Cherry came with a black back.

Gray Black (the predecessor to Charcoal) also historically came with a black back.

You may be thinking of Scarlet Red which had a red back, but no faux binding IIRC.

 

[archtop]

Might be a matter of $$$. Scraped binding takes prep time then scraping time and labor keeps getting more and more expensive.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

I like 'em all, and would like to add one with a "wrapped" finish to my collection, as I currently do not have one. All of my guitars have a scraped, natural binding on them.

Edit: I don't care for the look of plastic binding. If a guitar is going to have "binding" it's gotta be real wood.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Agreed! I really like seeing the wood……