Ebony Headstock Overlay Finish?

[M29]

Hello,

I have an Epiphone LP that had a broken headstock that I replaced. I used an ebony fretboard and decided to also put an ebony overlay on the headstock because I really like the look of the bare ebony. My question is...What kind of finish would you suggest to put over the ebony overlay? Also the ebony fingerboard?

I have stripped the poly off the body/neck and am going to finish it with nitro lacquer. It will be black with a yellow to red to black sunburst on the top. Should I tape off the thin edge of the ebony laminate to keep it bare on the side of the headstock or should I paint right up to the top edge black with the rest of the neck and body?

Here is an image, I have since fretted the board and am ready to paint.

Thank you for your time and help.

M29

[cherokee6]

Nothing on the fingerboard except a little lemon or linseed oil. The headstock can have lacquer such as on the neck. Ebony is a bit unstable but its wonderful to play on, so use a bit of oil and play on it often so the oils from your fingers work in.

[Nicko_Lps]

I sand ebony with lemon oil in just to take that satin look and clean too.As cherokee6 said dont do anything on ebony the fretboard if it has not that big grayish lines..If it does not fast fret turns the ebony fretboard to coal black plastic-like looking as well as the gibson luthiers choice bottle for non finished fretboards(i just placed a lot of gibson fluid in the beggining...)

Also most epiphone guitars have nitro varnish as well.

As about the head stock i would say that is better to finish it with varnish and if you want a jet black colour go find some fretboard stain to add to it.I would varnish even the black side of the ebony,just like the strats and more guitars in the market,that the side is varnished but not the top surface.

peace

[M29]

Nothing on the fingerboard except a little lemon or linseed oil. The headstock can have lacquer such as on the neck. Ebony is a bit unstable but its wonderful to play on, so use a bit of oil and play on it often so the oils from your fingers work in.

Thank you for the info cherokee6, I like the open grain on the ebony headstock and I thought about using some sort of oil finish just to protect it and seal it but I think in all practicality it will be best to finish with lacquer like you suggest.

Thank you again.

M29

[M29]

Nothing on the fingerboard except a little lemon or linseed oil. The headstock can have lacquer such as on the neck. Ebony is a bit unstable but its wonderful to play on, so use a bit of oil and play on it often so the oils from your fingers work in.

Thank you for the info cherokee6, I like the open grain on the ebony headstock and I thought about using some sort of oil finish just to protect it and seal it but I think in all practicality it will be best to finish with lacquer like you suggest.

Nicko_Lps. Thank you for the info. I was at odds with making the ebony jet black as most do. I thought about leaving it with the grey streaks in it for something different. The streaks are very uniform and do not look too bad but I am still trying to decide if I should stain them black or leave it as is. Thank you for the suggestions on how to stain them I still might do that.

This Epiphone body is a Studio and was covered with poly and man was it tough to get off. I ended up sanding it off as nothing would touch it that I could find and I tried a lot.

Thanks again guys.

M29

[Nicko_Lps]

That you say,i wanted to make something different is up to you.

As about the varnish,if you scratch with a sharp object as knife the varnish and the line that will appear is white-gray is poly varnish,now if you scratch nitrocell the line will be crystal clear.

Thats a way to find out but not so handy for refinish.

Peace

[cherokee6]

True! the scratches will be easier to repair.