Gretsch: the rot sets in

Rotting bindings on a 1971 Country Gentleman

Binding rot – it’s a phenomenon well known to collectors of vintage Gretsch guitars. Having owned a fair few over the years, I’ve had some experience of it, and have lived with certain models for long enough to get a good idea of where, when and how it happens.

Vintage plastics of the immediate postwar era are known to be unstable, certain kinds more so than others. I first encountered the problem on a 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic. Having been cased for a few months, I took it out (this was around 1989) to discover the tortoiseshell pickguard was literally dribbling onto the top of the guitar. I removed it at once, and was able to clean off the worst of the drips. The pickguard remained sticky and continued to warp out of shape until I disposed of it some years later.

But it’s the bindings on certain old Gretsches that are the biggest problem. Below, I’ll try to summarise current thinking on the issue and add my own observations based on my personal collection of around ten instruments.

Gretsch bindings first began to show signs of degradation around the late 1980s. The problem seemed to occur mostly (though not exclusively) on instruments dating from 1964 to 1971. Initially, it can be hard to detect: a subtle craquelure begins to form in the bindings, the first outward signs of a chemical process that has been happening over decades. Close inspection reveals a kind of ‘sweating’, with tiny beads of moisture present around the affected areas.

As the so-called ‘rot’ develops, the cracked areas will typically open up, producing splits, and become badly discoloured, resembling rotting teeth. The final phase comes when the layers in the binding turn brittle, separate and crumble into pieces.

Consensus of opinion online favours the idea that this ‘rot’ is accelerated by leaving an affected guitar in its case, although personally I believe this is conflating two issues: the plastic degradation itself, and the attendant effect of what is known as ‘gassing off’: vapours released by the chemical decomposition which can adversely affect metal parts, finishes, etc. In my experience, Gretsch guitars do not suffer from this secondary degradation, and only the bindings themselves are affected. Removing the guitar from the case may slow the degradation but cannot halt the process. See below for further observations.

Collectors are of the opinion that the rotting bindings problem is a consequence of Gretsch struggling to fulfil a massive mid-60s spike in demand, generated in the wake of the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. The Country Gentleman model was suddenly in high demand, and production simply couldn’t keep up. It’s believed that, in the rush to step up production, Gretsch turned to new suppliers and consequently used inferior materials on instruments starting circa mid-late 1964. However, the increased instances of binding rot from this era of production may just be a statistical effect of the increase in production: more guitars will inevitably produce more instances of binding rot, and it may already have been inherent in production prior to this date.

I’ve seen the binding rot process in various stages on a couple of my old Gretsches, but not at all on others. Below is a summary of the models I own/ have owned and the extent to which they have been affected by the issue:

1940s Synchromatic: Bindings are wooden in this era, and have separated from the guitar in places, most notably the neck, suggesting drying out of wood glue. The tortoiseshell pickguard was unstable and melting by the mid 1980s. The process was either begun or exacerbated by contact with metal parts including the mounting bracket and screws.

1962 Country Gentleman (two examples). 1962 Country Club (all models in 4700s range)
Although the bindings on these guitars have aged to yellow, they exhibit no signs of binding rot, despite being cased for months at a time. Country Club has been with me since 2002, the others since 2017 and 2020.

1963 Tennessean: The example is near mint, suggesting a lifetime spent mostly in case. It has been cased for 95% of the time since I acquired it circa 2004. To date, the bindings remain bright, with no visible signs of degradation apart from a split in the heel cap. This may be the first sign of breakdown of this area, often an early indicator.

1963 6070 ‘Country Gentleman’ bass: Two small splits in the binding, visible at purchase in 2015, but no signs of actual binding rot.

1963 Chet Atkins 6120: Bindings are lightly aged, but show no signs of rot developing. Owned since 2002, and kept cased most of the time.

1964 Tennessean: Bindings had yellowed but showed no signs of rot at the time I sold this on circa 2010.

1965 Country Gentleman: A near-mint example, owned since 2006. Bindings were all clear at first, but after a few years in the case, being taken out periodically, I observed the beginnings of binding decay in a few areas. Leaving the guitar out of its case seems to have slowed down the process.

1967 Country Gentleman: Aquired in 2003, at which time the bindings were yellow but showed minimal or no sign of binding rot (1967 seems to be a critical year for the problem). However, some small areas had begun to turn by the time of selling the guitar on in 2012.

1971 Country Gentleman (1^st example): This guitar had been subjected to heavy refurbishment, but the bindings, though yellow, all appeared sound. The guitar was sold on within two years with no signs of deterioration.

1971 Country Gentleman (2^nd example): Acquired by a friend in 2002, this guitar was already showing signs of decay in small areas. Generally left cased, on every inspection, the rot was found to have advanced further. In the worst areas (see top photo), the outer layer is beginning to break away. The problem has become noticeably more severe in the last two to five years.

1971 Roc Jet: Owned since 1985, no case, but has occasionally been stored in non-original cases. The worst problem on this guitar was blistering of the neck varnish, already evident on purchase, and now severe. No binding issues were noted until very recently: a couple of small cracks and the tell-tale ‘sweating’ have begun to occur, although the guitar has been out on a stand for at least a year.

1973 Country Gentleman: Owned from 2002 to around 2006, this was the ‘full Baldwin’ type, with open f-holes, squared pickguard, etc. The bindings were yellow on purchase, but showed no signs of decay at the time of being sold on.

1983 Factory unfinished Southern Belle: This guitar was a sprayed and bound but otherwise incomplete body rescued at the time of the Arkansas plant closure, subsequently fitted with non-Gretsch parts. The bindings are yellowed but still showing no signs of decay. Owned since 2010.

On the basis of this experience, I would offer the following observations.

1) Binding rot is more severe/inevitable on instruments from the period 1964-1971, although instruments prior to this date are clearly not immune.
2) It can’t be stopped by removing the guitar from its case, but keeping an affected guitar cased will definitely accelerate the process once it’s started.
3) ‘Full Baldwin’ models seem to be less affected/unaffected. The problem thus appears to stem from the Brooklyn factory, not the Booneville plant.
4) Binding rot is often first observed in the largest areas, most notably around the heel cap.

How does one treat binding rot? Luthiers online seem to agree that the only sure fire remedy is complete removal and replacement of affected bindings. A simpler job is to patch up the worst areas, and some repairers even advocate application of a nitro ‘slurry’ or even superglue to ‘seal in’ any problem patches. As a collector, my advice would be to treat only in the very worst examples, and manage/ live with the problem until it has a significant cosmetic effect. I periodically inspect my own affected examples, and wipe away any of the ‘sweating’ where it occurs. This may or may not slow down the process.

The sixty four thousand dollar question, though, is what is actually happening to these guitars to let the rot set in? I believe that it is not so much a question of instability in the plastics themselves as the glue that was used to attach the bindings causing the plastics to break down over time. This, I believe, is the source of the ‘sweat’ beads referred to above. Opening the case of an affected guitar, one always notices a marked ‘fishy’ smell. Fish glue has often been used in guitar construction, and it may well be that Gretsch Brooklyn began to use it in the mid-60s. Over time, the glue has begun to break down, creating acids that eat into the plastics and cause them to rot. This, as I say, is my opinion derived from the evidence I’ve seen for myself and gathered online. I’m neither a luthier, nor a chemist, so I may be wrong, but it strikes me as the most logical, commonsense explanation. This being the case, there is nothing to be done for an affected instrument, save for stripping the bindings and cleaning off any remaining glue residue. It also suggests that 'gassing off', although part of the process, is not causing the problem per se. The chemical change is taking place within the bindings: uncased guitars may benefit from allowing the 'sweated' glue/chemical residue to evaporate, but gas in the case is unlikely to be the cause of the rot so much as a side effect.

Short of anyone doing any serious chemistry in this arena, a definitive answer may be impossible to obtain. All any collector can do is to consider the known facts, and observations from the online community, and act accordingly. Gretsch binding rot can't be stopped: it can only be managed. But why some years of production seem immune whilst others are particularly prone is a question that will never be answered: at least not without access to the raw materials inventories from the Brooklyn factory, and that data is almost certainly lost to history.