The Steel Guitar Forum

On a '66 Emmons, what is the glue holding the mica on? Is it hide glue and can it be heated or steamed to come loose. The mica on mine is barely coming off in a few places. What is the common cure for this?

Brad Sarno

This sounds like a question for my friend Mike Cass

Brad, I was waiting for someone else to answer your question but, the mica was put on the guitar using a contact cement. On the Emmons guitar they used contact cement and then used a press on all but the front and rear aprons. You can get a good quality contact cement at a store that sells formica and you need to ask for the flammable type which is better but only supposed to be sold to professional installers. If you can get a coat of contact cement on both surfaces being the cabinet wood and also the mica surface and let it dry so as to no longer being tacky to the touch, then press it down and try to use wood blocks and clamps to hold it very tight overnight, it shoud hold unless you have the problem I ran into with a guitar that had the wood saturated with oil. That can pose a whole new problem. I had to take all the mica off and get the oil out of the wood before contact cement would bond to the cabinet. I think I read one time where Jack Strayhorn said Emmons at one time used a special type of cement but most of the builders use contact cement like cabinet shops use to bond formica to counter tops.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry. What about removing the mica that's only partially loose. I want to preserve the original stuff. It's a '66. Once the mica is off, is it then cleaned of all residue or is that not an issue?

Brad Sarno

The best contact cement I have found is Roberts type 101. It is used by floor layers. I used it to glue rubber treads to urethaned hardwood steps after all the popular brands failed. A flooring supplies wholesale should carry it.

I work for a company that make Mica covered display units for companies such as Vodaphone, Wella etc., and our trades men thin down the contact adhesive with cellulose thinners, that way you don't get lumps and the mica sticks better. Alternatively you could use a thixotropic type of contact adhesive.
Cheers
Dave.

I had saved this from a post by Jack Strayhorn on the Forum from Aug 4, 2001 (according to my notes):

".....Emmons co. uses and adhesive called multibond C. It has a catalyst and must be mixed. It is then put under pressure and heat. Contact cement will not hold it for a long period of time."

Rob Segal