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Gibson headstock finishes


andysleigh
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[quote name='andysleigh' post='1131593' date='Feb 17 2011, 09:50 PM']Does anybody know what the finish on Gibson bass headstocks is. e.g. RD artist, ripper etc

I assume its an ebony veneer/ top, but you can never see any grain. jsut a straight black finsih . Is it painted?

cheerz

Andy[/quote]

I think the ones with the painted / transfer gold logo are usually just painted black, but the ones with an inlaid MOP logo are a black stained veneer with a clear lacquer topcoat. You see them as pre-cut sheets for Les Pauls etc on ebay. but never seen one for bass.

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The 60s Gibsons had a veneer made of wood - holly in fact - painted black.

By the late seventies (certainly for the RD series) it was a black resin - I can probably find the exact name they were calling it - but can't remember off hand. I interviewed the guy who designed the RD series (including the flying f-hole inlay) - the late Chuck Burge - and he told me all about it. I'll try and get that interview transcribed at some point.

I can not tell you the exact date they changed, but they were still using holly in 1972 or so.

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[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='1132164' date='Feb 18 2011, 01:16 PM']The 60s Gibsons had a veneer made of wood - holly in fact - painted black.

By the late seventies (certainly for the RD series) it was a black resin - I can probably find the exact name they were calling it - but can't remember off hand. I interviewed the guy who designed the RD series (including the flying f-hole inlay) - the late Chuck Burge - and he told me all about it. I'll try and get that interview transcribed at some point.

I can not tell you the exact date they changed, but they were still using holly in 1972 or so.[/quote]

The replacement sheets, and what Gibson currently use are "fibreboard" (a kind of thin MDF I guess). Interesting they used to use holly - stained holly-wood has been used as an ebony substitute since the Renaissance. I recently tried to patch a missing piece on my '58 EB-2, but in the end gave up and left it mojo'd.

The "winged note / flying shrimp" logo-ed RD Artist headstock probably the classisest headstock ever IMO.

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[quote name='Shaggy' post='1133129' date='Feb 19 2011, 10:10 AM']The "winged note / flying shrimp" logo-ed RD Artist headstock probably the classisest headstock ever IMO.[/quote]

Apparently there were two versions - the lightning bolt through the middle signifies that it was an active instrument (for the RD Artist). There was also a flying f-hole (an f-hole with wings) but no lightning. That was for passive instruments. Chuck designed both, but the passive version never got used. But you never know, there may be an early RD Standard with this other version - Chuck made all the show models that were taken to NAMM etc in '77... would be interesting to see one of those if it ever came up

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