A bound fretboard is "outlined" in Plastic or shell, and depending on the style of binding (over the frets or not) feels different than an unbound one.
Other than that , It´s pure cosmetics. I personally like binding, it adds a touch of class to most axes
If you ever need a refret, you'll pay more to refret a bound neck. Zerb is right, the feel is slightly different, but it's mostly just a cosmetic thing.
Some of the bound frets will either cover the fretwire at the end and some of them do not. It is a costly exercise to have one re-fretted that is bound and also with the fretwire covered should something ever go wrong. The ones that I have that are bound are my Hamers (see below) and they play a lot better - a bit like having the ends of your frets polished smooth so that you don't catch your fingers over the wire.
My Hamer Monaco Elite has ivoroid binding and this extends all the way over the headstock as well.
Down to personal choice - if you do go for one which does not have the fretwire covered you can always get the frets dressed at the right profile at the ends at a later date should you wish to do so. Of course the frets will be sitting on top of the binding so will not be as expensive to do as my Monaco.
Usually American made guitars have the fret ends covered, Japanese and Korean models have the frets over the binding. I prefer the covered fret ends, just a personal preference.
Down to personal choice - if you do go for one which does not have the fretwire covered you can always get the frets dressed at the right profile at the ends at a later date should you wish to do so. Of course the frets will be sitting on top of the binding so will not be as expensive to do as my Monaco.
Usually American made guitars have the fret ends covered, Japanese and Korean models have the frets over the binding. I prefer the covered fret ends, just a personal preference.
mmm, so there are a lot of points that make me think i will go for a bound fretboard without the fretwire covered (not as expensive to re-fret as the other ones, and my Ibanez personal preference over other brands...)
But how often do you need a refret? That's not something that we do with any regularity, so personaly I wouldn't make a purchase choice based on a possible refret later down the road.
well, about 1 year and a half... anyway i´m going to buy a guitar to play with for 5,10,15 or maybe 20 years, if not, i won´t spend that bunch of money on it
and as you said japanese builders like ibanez make the frets over the binding (i have seen on my catalog that the RGT3020 Quilted Maple saphire burst* comes with this kinda bounded fretboard) my preference on ibanez guitars over jackson or esp makes me going for this type of fingerboard, or better said, that makes me going for the entire guitar, that is a badass axe, and, also it comes with bounded Fb