Finish Defect on Headstock - Advice Needed

[Robbie Collins]

The photos below are of the headstock of a 1993 Les Paul Custom.  The owner asked to "improve" its looks.

As you can see, along the edges of the pearl and the binding are missing areas of black color. I sprayed the headstock with Butyl Cellusolve and let it dry overnight. The finish was very slightly uneven in these areas to begin with and the BC made the finish wavy, so I level sanded the headstock (photos were taken after 400 grit).

Does anyone have a clue what might have caused this to begin with and have a low cost solution?

The owner doesn't want to put much into it, but this aggravates him.  I think the proper fix requires spraying the HS black and tediously uncovering the pearl and plastic. I guess I could polish it up and hit it with a Sharpie but I don't see that as being a clean look.

[William F.Eden]

If it were me doing the job Robbie I would clean the head off and redo it. You can take some masking tape and and razor blade and mask the pearl before you put the black on then strip it and put your laquer on. Some times you are better off doing the job right rather than trying to patch it up after all anyone that sees it will like the work  you   are doing. Good luck Bill...........

[Paul Breen]

Robbie, you could drop fill the missing Black with Black CA or Black tinted epoxy, scape it back and finish clear over it. I would probably use the epoxy, there is less shrinkage.

Looks like it's mostly finish lifting around the MOP and a couple of smallish areas that are missing the Black? You may have to sand the chipping down if you can't get the amalgamator to wick under them or you could try your luck with CA to wick under them. As to cheap fix, there is almost no materials involved, it boils down to your time. This is one of those kind of jobs where you work for a while, put it up for a step to dry, pull it down for round two, ect. It's hard to estimate time for this kind work but I bet you'll have 4 hours in it and maybe more before it's over sprayed and buffed out. Finish repair can be fussy and shortcuts usually end up costing more time.

[Frank Ford]

From the look of the inlay margins, I get the sense that you could use a good deal more Cellosolve ®.  I typically expect to spray it on so heavily I'm in fear of it running, and need to keep the peg head level while it sets up a bit.  Sometimes a second application the next day helps, followed by drying, leveling and a bit of new lacquer on top.  I figure on at least three weeks in the shop.

(In case you're wondering about the "®"  well, I did get a very clear little e-mail from Union Carbide a number of years ago reminding me that it's a trademark, and should capitalized and printed with the little registered "bug")

[Russell Vance]

Hi Robbie,

We have seen a lot of this kind of Gibson problem - its endemic with the "Gibson" pearl brand shrinking & checking around the outline.  Oft seen local repair tend to go through the lacquer and expose the grey/charcoal fibre headstock plate which no amount of clear coating can hide.   Similarly local repair with black drop fills sticks out like green balls on a red dog when you hit it with some light.  

Franks solution is probably best for  a cheap and cheerful repair (remember to block up the tuner holes and deep mask the sides if you are going to flood the front surface with retarder).  My approach to this repair (where the split diamond and binding joint is checked as well as the brand) on what is a relatively valuable instrument is to remove the lacquer on the face and refinish with the Gibson finish schedule while taking the final lacquer coats around the side  of the peghead to blend and  protect the new edge.    400 grit will scratch up the split diamond and make it harder to refinish down track - use a finer paper and steel wool the pearl to get it back to standard.

Rusty.

[Robbie Collins]

Thanks, guys, for the excellent and thoughtful suggestions!  I spoke to the customer and he didn't want to put the time and money into it so I sanded up to 1000, wet sanded to 2000, then hit it with the buffer. It looks  better at 5 feet, I suspect, from the removal of the facets where the finish had sank. I hate leaving it like this but it's his call.

Seems like a waste of your brainpower but at least we have this problem on record with different angles of attack.

I wonder if silicon or some other contaminant caused this?

[John]

I had a relatively new Gibson acoustic come in last summer, there was so much damage from previous repair attempts that we replaced the entire headstock veneer logo and all.