Gibson Head Stock Black; Paint or Stain?

[Tim Warn]

Can anyone tell me if the Black on a Gibson head stock is paint, stain or other. I am restoring a 1967 LGO and want it to be right.

Thanks, Tim

[Russell Vance]

OK, the composition of the finish is variable - mostly a stain/dye shader which goes over the inlay/branding with little effect other than to darken the background and normalise the color of the headstock. But, for refurbishment /restoration of a badly marked/gouged and repaired headstock I use sanding sealer, black paint (scraped/sanded away from the inlays/binding and branding) to hide all the repair work and finish with a black dyed shader and clear-coats. Importantly, the paint has additional black dye added to make it black/black as opposed to normal black which is a shade lighter. Please note that 'domestic' stain bought from a hardware shop is generally weak - use dye from a paint shop/finish supplier - it is much more intense as a rule. Dont forget to mask off the tuner holes on the other side of the peghead to stop overspray getting around to the other side (when spraying blacks and shaders) through the tuner holes - easy to forget.