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#1
08-20-2016, 11:49 AM
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Martin HD28V back binding gap at the neck joint?
Hello everyone, I bought a new Martin HD28V 2 days ago, and I noticed that it has a back binding gap at the neck joint. To my understanding, the backing binding has two layers. As you can see in the attached photo, the layer with black line keeps still while the other binding seems start to shrink a little bit.
You can see some white spikes in the black line around the gap, and I assume it's caused by the shrink. It is a brand new guitar, but it's made in 2013. I don't know if I should keep it or return it to the guitar store? Feel free to give me some suggestions, thanks a lot! 
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#2
08-20-2016, 12:09 PM
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The thinner white and black inner strips are called "purfling": the outer thicker strip is called binding.
The color of the inner-most white strip is inconsistent, with intermittent yellow-brown segments and a continuous white segment at the center. The white segment at the center suggests it has no finish on that segment. I'm not sure why there would be no finish on that segment. Running along a short length of the black strip is a crack in the finish. A similar crack in the finish is seen perpendicular to it at the juncture of the binding, where the two pieces come together. All of that is cosmetic, provided that the binding is secure, and should not be of any structural concern. It can be the result of plastic binding and purfling shrinking with age or can be due to differences in expansion and contraction between the wood and the plastic binding. Possibly in the 3 years since it was made it has seen less than ideal control of its temperature and/or humidity. If it bothers you sufficiently, return it. If you keep it, you might want to control the humidity in which you keep the instrument, while keeping an eye on the area.
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#3
08-20-2016, 12:34 PM
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I also notice that the inner-most white strip is different. I touch that area with my finger tips, and its surface feels smooth and it has finish. Or do you suggest the finish underneath? I don't know anything about it. Do I need to put some glue in the gap or do something to fix it? Thanks 
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#4
08-20-2016, 07:35 PM
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I don't see anything that isn't typical. The binding joins in the center of the heel (and the center at the bottom). It is a butt joint in a light color material and always is visible on close inspection. For the lacquer to sink a bit or crack on the binding joint is normal. The white purfling line has color bleeding from the pigments in the rosewood back. That's not ideal, but not unusual and depends on the particular piece of wood and the lacquering procedure and materials. The white area on that purfling line above the zigzag backstrip is IMO because there isn't any rosewood adjacent to it to bleed color.
I don't see a lacquer crack above the black purfling line. In do see some plastic fibers pulled from the binding on to the black line during sanding,; that could have been done more cleanly, but it is a very small detail. Look closely enough at most any guitar and you can find comparable imperfections. You may find one of the same model that looks a bit cleaner in this area, but there isn't anything there on this one that is out of the ordinary or a construction flaw.
__________________
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon
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#6
08-20-2016, 08:16 PM
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#7
08-21-2016, 02:18 PM
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As mentioned, the coloration is from the pore filler or bleeding color from the rosewood itself. The gap at the joint occurs due to normal shrinkage of the celluloid binding (AKA ivoroid). The black/white purfling is made of PVC, which shrinks very little.
There is no reason to fill the gap, other than cosmetic. If I did do it, I would smear some Titebond glue in it, then scrape off some white chalk and rub the powder in to color it. A damp cloth will safely clean off the excess. My experience is that any inspection that is this magnified will show flaws in most guitars.
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#8
08-21-2016, 05:09 PM
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Thanks a lot for all of your inputs. Really help me a lot!
I don't have any Titebond glue right now, but I do have a bottle of carpenter's glue and gorilla super glue(long working time). Are they also good choice mixing with some plastic/celluloid powder to fill in the gap? I may not do that, but just wanna find a possible cure
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#9
08-21-2016, 08:28 PM
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That gap is too small to mess with unless you are VERY experiened in finish repair. Attempts to improve the look are more likely to make a mess than to be successful unless you are prepared to amalgamate the lacquer in the area and to deal with leveling and polishing it afterward.
__________________
Cheers, Frank Ford
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#10
08-21-2016, 09:26 PM
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