[Leica] adhesives

[mjblug at total.net (Michael Blugerman)]

Small world.

 From a guitar list, discussing cheaper but apparently well made [good 
sound and playability] musical instruments from Asia there is a hidden 
danger in cheaper construction methods:

snip
"This rather forthright man says that Asian and European
instruments are being glued with some sort of glue combination that he 
has
never seen the like of, and cannot identify.  It might be 
petroleum-based,
and soaks into the wood very well and no amount of sanding can get him 
to a
level where he can use the traditional hide-glue.  Hide glue will not 
stick
to this oil-soaked wood.  You can see the problem.  Instruments are 
supposed
to be take-apart-able.  So, he used glue on mine and said it will either
come apart in a week, a month or a year, but it WILL come apart again.  
So
far, mine is staying together (6 or 7 months).  I am very disappointed
because that is a good sum of money to unknowingly send down the 
plumbing
system.  It's just NOT right."

I'd be VERY suprised if any European instruments are made this way -- 
it's
the Europeans, after all, who perfected the traditional building 
methods to
begin with! Eastern Europeans included.

I have an Asian-built bass with (I'm told) the above-mentioned glue 
problem.
Rather not mention the make here because I don't know first-hand that 
it's
not the right glue, but I have been very careful to keep it humidified 
-- my
bass tech tells me that if such a bass starts cracking it may be 
impossible
to fix at some point, if a repair that would normally require removing 
the
top is impossible because of the way the instrument was glued to begin 
with...."

It seems that progress  (cheaper construction) is an epidemic affecting 
fine products of all kinds.

Michael