Gibson headstock veneer and logo

[servant]

Hey folks,

My son and I are refinishing his Gibson SG. The face of the headstock is gone; all we have is the fiberboard backing.

Does anyone know what Gibson puts on or paints on to make this gray material glossy black?

Anyone know where to get a replacement logo?

Thanks!

[quarry]

I can't say what Gibson uses, but I use Krylon spray paint for my projects. I also make my own water-slide decals with my computer and ink-jet printer...

The process is rather easy - just apply the decal to the painted headstock, then dust coat it with Krylon Clear Gloss.
Once the dust coat(s) have dried, apply several (like 10) coats of clear. Then begin the wet sanding process to remove the "bump" around the decal edges.

Finish off with some Swirl Remover and its done.

One problem: Ink-jet printers don't print "white". So if your headstock is black, the decal may not show up very well. You could try yellow or light gray, but I don't know how that would look...
I think you might be able to get a logo decal from Gibson, but I'm sure they'll cost you a fortune!

[eljib]

There are a few guys on ebay (who all seem to be from England) that sell decals that cover the entire headstock. Some look better than others. You can get white, gold or silver, all on black backing so there's no painting required. Just clear coat and sand.

Occasionally you can find some NOS (New Old Stock) ebony headstock veneer with inlaid Gibson logo and crown. These are not cheap, but might be worth it if your kid's got a vintage Gibby.

Good luck!

EDIT: If you can, post a picture of the gray fiberboard backing. I'm curious about what it looks like

[vonFrenchie]

Id say just slap on some brown primer (not grey... for obvious reasons). Then paint it black and you could make a stencil or like quarry said print a label or check on ebay. Then just add some gloss paint and your done.

[servant]

Hey guys (and gals?),

Thanks for the replies. I had stopped checking this thread and thought it had died a quiet death. ;D

I didn't like the idea of the whole-headstock decal. I felt that it would not be very durable, and that it might "buckle up" as we tighten the tuning peg bushings.

Gibson was no help on this. I offered to take many photos and even to send them the damaged logo. No deal. They said that the only way they would provide a new one was if we sent the guitar to their repair department. They would not do JUST the logo, but insisted that they would do ALL OR NOTHING. Fine; they'll do nothing.

We're going the ebay route, getting a new headstock veneer/overlay from a European supplier.

Thanks for all the tips!
Dean

[spitfire23bc]

quarry said:

I can't say what Gibson uses, but I use Krylon spray paint for my projects. I also make my own water-slide decals with my computer and ink-jet printer...

Out of interest, how do you do this?

(Slightly off topic, I know, but I've been trying to work out how to do this for some model aircraft!)