binding separation: big job to fix?

djazzy

A vintage guitar with some (slight?) binding appearing to come off in the cutaway.

Anybody have experience with such thing?

Do you know if this is a costly job to have fixed? Can I let it go & still get years out of the instrument?

Gouch

(Not having seen a picture of it):

Leave it, battle scars are cool.

Buco

It happened on my Martin. I let it be until the whole section came off. Eventually the guitar was without binding. It sounded the same to me. Then I took it to the guy and he had it reglued. I think it was a couple hundred.

JasonS

Generally you can just have it reglued assuming the binding is still otherwise stable. How vintage are we talking? It's not uncommon for some types of binding to deteriorate to the point it will come off in pieces. At that point someone who knows what they're doing can patch it. I would get it fixed before that happens though.

djazzy

I was told 1950s -- it was twisting and almost ready to crumble & I know that material (including pickguards) dissolves over decades.