FWIW, nope. I can't remember their names right now (dammit), but there were a few finish guys using the right gold back in the 60's & 70's. They probably got their powder straight from Gibson or their original supplier back then, who knows? And Dave was shooting his gold before HM even existed....FWIW Kim was one of the first (along with DJ I believe) who started regularly using the correct powder...
HM initially contracted to Dave to do all the guitar work out of his Olympia shop. HM now uses a group of people in Florida for all the work. Last I'd heard, Kip Elder was spraying HM's finishes.Didn't Kim and Dave work together for a while?...