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So the family and I vacation in key west for two weeks in February every year. There is a musician down here that I plan on building a guitar for...he doesn’t know it yet, it’s going to be a surprise. I’m just going to give it to him.

Anyway, We were at a restaurant yesterday and I saw a guy performing and noticed his binding had come apart on both sides in the waist. Upon talking with him he had said it was because of the air down here.

My 2 questions....

Has anyone heard of this?

and more importantly...

What steps does a luthier take in combating this situation?

Thanks in advance.


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Never let a non-luthier diagnose the cause of guitar damage.

More likely the type of adhesive. I’ve had fish glue fail before but nothing else. Now I use titebond & superglue


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Key west - Leave the guitar in the car for 5 minutes. Come back to an LMI pre-serviced kit. All the parts you need to build your own geeetar.

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Salty air along the coast line is not good for iron or steel but I don't think it would have any impact on glue joints, other than the normal effects of high humidity.

Humidity and heat alone will do the trick but if you want it amplified try taking a guitar quickly from a cool, dry AC environment to humid hot one.

I build in a usually dry environment. Here are the things I do when I know the guitar will live in a hot, humid one:

1. use a moisture stopping finish. Most common finishes are poor at that, including shellac, water based and nitro. The newer urethane stuff does the job, so does using epoxy as a pore filler. I haven't made the jump to urethane so I go with the epoxy pore fill, including a very thin coat on the top. 2. Seal the inside of the box with a thin layer of rattle can urethane. It may have a slight tone robbing effect but just slight. 3. Use Carbon Fiber in the braces, such as a sandwich of spruce with CF in the middle. 4. Stay away from organic glues. Go with aliphatic resins, and CA here and there as needed. 4. Encourage the owner to leave the instrument in the case for as long as possible when moved to a different environment. That will give it a better chance to acclimate.

I suspect these are not going to be popular choices but they work for me.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I can see this happening down here.
I spend winters here and the humidity and salt air do strange to things.
In my house one of the biggest things that happens is the soles of shoes, sandals, and anything with rubber on them come unglued. You can be walking along and the sole pops off. Has happened to Keen, Timberland, Merrill.
I have had stuff under the house come delaminated right on the glue lines. Have used titebond, CA and some epoxies.
It hasn't happened to any of the guitars that I built but they stay in the house with the A/C on
Just my 2 cents from someone that has lived in the keys for almost 28 years.

Gary

That's just the gods telling you to wear flip-flops.

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George :-)

I think you could be on to something George.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Forgot about those.

Timberland sandels blew out on Boac Chica beach once...

Salt air it ain't thin,
It can stick right to your skin and make you feel fine
Makes you feel fine.

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Jimmy speaks the truth

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Don't neglect to seal the inside of the guitar.