Making yellowed binding white back again?

[Nazgul]

Binding on two of my guitars has turned yellow over the years (17 and 18) and I'd like to make it as white as possible again.

Here's a picture of one guitar:


As you can see, the top of the binding, which is also the part that is flush with the fretboard, is white (has no clear coat on it) as I'd like it to be and rest of the binding is yellow :/ (has clear coat on it).

So, if I removed the clear coat from the yellowed part of binding, would that make it white again? And how would I remove the clear coat? Do you guys recommend doing that? Any other methods?

(I'd like to do it for cosmetical reasons only)

[nhspike]

I know it's buggin' you, but damn I like that vintage patina!!!
It's purty!

I have no idea how to go back to white... most likely would require a professional strip and a re-clearcoat?

[Sunbane]

The binding on my guitars has yellowed in the same way, but I like it that way; It's a testament to the guitar's age, and therefore it looks okay to me.

[Super_shredder]

keep it i like it

[Rich#6]

I would leave it alone.

[dannyr]

You are correct. The clear coat has yellowed, not the binding itself. It happens over time and I agree it looks cool and adds to the mojo of the instrument. I say leave it alone!

[dangerous_dave]

Yellowed binding is much better than white



That neck looks so sweet.

[shobet]

Did you want to replace the crearcoat after you'd taken it off otherwise I'd have thought you'd have a small ridge there. I wouldn't like to attempt to only strip the lacquer off the binding, I think it's just asking for trouble later on.

Learn to live with the yellowing.

[Bengal65]

You would have to remove the clear coat. It's more trouble than it's worth though. I would leave it as others have said. "The vintage look"!

[RobRR]

Also keep in mind that the binding is actually ivory, not white... so even with the clear coat off, it will never be white.

If I were you, I really wouldnt let it bother me. It looks great as is, and if you remove the clear, youll definitely hurt the value of the guitar.

[fett]

Leave it alone. One of the coolest guitars I own has the bindings saturated with cig smoke. It's almost amber. It just looks great.

[straycat]

You could scrape it with a razor blade to remove the yellowed clear coat but I wouldn't.
IMO it looks better yellowed.

[toejam]

If that binding were black, you wouldn't have that problem. :ROTF:

[jackson1]

Removing the clear coat from the binding is very easy using a Stanley blade, scraping the clear off. Very easy. And it will be very smooth.

Removing the clear coat from the binding without touching the clear on the neck, would be... pretty hard. I wouldn't try that. Too much hassle and you'll probably end up with a little "feelable" bump where the transition is. +1 on Shobet's comment.

Uros, it works best when you also want to remove the finish from the neck. I have posted pics of my Fernandes project before, but here's a couple of pics for you too see again. I removed (scraped) the finish from the neck and binding and it came out pretty good. Using only fresh sharp Stanley blades makes it very easy and controllable. And it is as smooth as if you sanded it with 2-3000 grit.

The pics are just meant as some info for you. Something to help you make up your mind. If you are not removing the finish from the back of the neck also, then DON'T do it. I agree with the guys here

Btw. the Fernandes has all white bindings whereas yours probably has Ivory as Rob said.

Sometimes yellowing is not so desirable:




The difference is huge:


Using a Stanley blade for scraping:


Before:


After:

[GuerillaPete]

Leave it as is! Look killer!

+1 to Henrik for the scraping off with a blade. That's what Zakk Wylde and his Tech do to guitar necks they want to remove the finish. Works killer for doing the ENTIRE neck.