Mandolins #2 and #3

With these kits, I've confirmed that binding the top before attaching the neck is the best way to do it, no doubt. Here's a pic of the binding glued on, and trimmed to fit the angle of the neck joint. It doesn't get any closer than this. By the way, I couldn't tell if I was going to like the black/white binding, but now that I've shaved it down flush with the top, I like it a lot. I might even do the F style I'm working on with the same binding.