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Holly headstock veneer question?

entropydave

New member
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
256
Hi,
any of you ewxperts can tell me f my Custom art & Historic LP Custom '54 BB has a holly headstock veneer and how can I tell? NAd indeed why do they put it in?!
TThanks in anticipation!
 

sonar

New member
Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
3,589
I played truth or dare with Holly Headstock when I was 13...

Oh wait, nevermind!

I'd check with the Historic district forum. They should be able to tell you.
 

reswot

Active member
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,295
It has one.

They use it because that's what they used to use on them. On the new production (= USA) models, they use fiberboard overlays.
 

BobV

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Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
831
When you remove the trussrod cover, sometimes you can see the edge of the headstock veneer around the trussrod access rout. If it is black all the way through, then it could be fiber. However if you can see lighter wood with black stain on the surface it's definitely holly wood veneer. Sometimes the stain goes all the way through so the only way to distinguish the holly is on an older guitar where the lacquer has shrunk and the wood grain starts to print through. It's subtle but it's part of the charm.

Anyway my understanding is that the Historics have had the holly veneer for years now. According to the Custom Administrator on the Gibson forum 8/31/2008, "There have been no spec changes to the R9 since 2003" (other than the VOS finish option). So I doubt they made any changes to the R4 Customs and yours would have holly.

By the way does anyone know when they started using the fiber headplates on production guitars?
 

reswot

Active member
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,295
By the way, USA does not use overlays. They use genuine Mother of Pearl Inlays.

Do fucking what?!?

Yes. They use a fiberboard OVERLAY with the MIP inlaid into the OVERLAY. This is glued to the mahogany headstock.
 

no1gibsonfan

New member
Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
31
Actually, USA uses bakelite veneers inlayed with genuine Mother of Pearl
that they laminate to the headstock.
 

Uncle Gary

Active member
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
2,431
That sounds about right. For a couple of years they inlaid a solid pearl block and used a stencil to paint the "gibson" logo. This saved them the cost of cutting the inlay in the "Gibson" shape, but ,of course, if the headstock was stripped and refinished, you lost the Gibson logo. I think it was right after that that they began using fiber headstock veneers. Gibson buys them pre-inlaid from Germany, I believe.
 

Gibsonian

Member
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
451
That sounds about right. For a couple of years they inlaid a solid pearl block and used a stencil to paint the "gibson" logo. This saved them the cost of cutting the inlay in the "Gibson" shape, but ,of course, if the headstock was stripped and refinished, you lost the Gibson logo. I think it was right after that that they began using fiber headstock veneers. Gibson buys them pre-inlaid from Germany, I believe.

I’ve seen many late-60’s Gibsons with the painted logo partially peeled off, exposing part of the MOP block. I guess paint doesn’t grab onto the polished surface of the shell very well.

There were synthetic-fiber headstock overlays with the 70’s-style Gibson logo for sale on eBay. I bought some from a seller in Germany and they’re dead-on accurate to my eyes. Some sellers claim they’re leftover parts from the Kalamazoo plant (my seller didn’t.)
 
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