Headstock Veneer After Completion?

[CleverPun]

I was wondering, how does it work if you add a headstock veneer after you have originally finished the guitar headstock? I'm thinking of adding an inlay to a headstock, but the neck is glued, so I was wondering if I could send a veneer to the inlay artist and then glue it on to the guitar later? Would this work?

[Batfink]

Not really the best way round of doing it but yes, you could do it depending on what stage of 'originally finished' the necks at. Most shell is between 1 > 1.6mm so you'd have to have a veneer of around 2mm minimum so you'd have to loose, in theory, at least 2mm from the front face of the headstock which depending at what stage you're done to it could be a right P.I.T.A. especially if you make a mistake and trash it in some way. As with most things, it can be done but you may be presenting yourself with more of a headache than it's worth again depending exactly how far down the 'finished' road you are.

Jem

[CleverPun]

Not really the best way round of doing it but yes, you could do it depending on what stage of 'originally finished' the necks at. Most shell is between 1 > 1.6mm so you'd have to have a veneer of around 2mm minimum so you'd have to loose, in theory, at least 2mm from the front face of the headstock which depending at what stage you're done to it could be a right P.I.T.A. especially if you make a mistake and trash it in some way. As with most things, it can be done but you may be presenting yourself with more of a headache than it's worth again depending exactly how far down the 'finished' road you are.

Jem

Well I haven't even started the guitar yet. I can make the original headstock thinner in order to make room for the veneer later on, or I could do something. But the inlay is costing more than I pay for right now, so I need to wait a while on that, but I want to get the guitar over with as soon as possible, and I don't want to keep the whole project waiting just because of a small addition I want to make.

Any suggestions on how to get it to work?

[Batfink]

OK, so if you're not at the 'finished' stage then it's not a problem pressuming it's an angled G*ison style headstock - a F*ender type will be more tricky but just as do'able. Just thin the top of your headstock by the required amount (take less off rather than more!) and wait for the completed piece to arrive and then just glue it down or better still do everything else bar the final thicknessing and wait for it to arrive just to be on the safe side.

Jem