Modern Gibson headstock inlays

[Sérgio]

I have seen a couple of Gibsons recently, both standards and reissues, and something caught my eye.

If I look at the headstock in a certain angle, I can see a translucent "halo" surrounding the "gibson" letters, though very very thin and almost invisible, like if the inlay is covered by a plastic film.

Are these inlays in modern guitars some kind of sticker under the finish like in Fenders or is it an actual solid mother of pearl inlay?

 

[eSGEe]

mines gold ink screened on to the black headstock.......

 

[Sérgio]

Yes, the models that feature a gold logo are silk screened.

I mean the MoP models

 

[gball]

They've always been that way. The inlay itself is cut quite precisely and the rout for it to fit into is loose, then filled and sanded. After the lacquer is applied it is nice and smooth but as the lacquer "cures" it settles a bit and you can see the outline of the rout. Every Gibson I have ever owned (that had an inlay) from my first in 1977 to today showed this effect to some degree over time.

 

[Sérgio]

Thanks!

Just did a thorough search: seems to be a common issue, and it's due to age over the nitro laquer and/or the thin finish in some models, the nitro shrinks and it shows around the edges of the logo.

I just didn't know new guitars (well the ones I saw were 4-5 years old, loke my own SG) had that...

Good to learn this, I'm kinda new to Gibsons

 

[eSGEe]

Very cool---learned something today----well this and use the 9 mil thick clear plastic not the cheaper 4 mil when chopping up bodies to........oh.......uhmmm

 

[Sérgio]

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?197788-Is-this-a-legit-LP-standard-Help

 

[gball]

Yup that ^^

I've had new ones that had the faintest outline of the rout visible and they end up like that over time.