70s L6S Deluxe Headstock peeling off?

[chameleon]

Hello everyone,

 

I am being offered a L6S Deluxe supposedly from 1976, natural finish with a rosewood fretboard.

I am an experienced guitar player, but I don't know a lot about Gibson guitars. What really worries me is the headstock. It looks like the paint if peeling off. So I did a google search for Gibson headstock peeling off, and it looked like they are usually veneer, and this doesn't look like veneer to me.

 

I am not interested in this guitar for it's collector value, only as a player, so I don't mind the bad shape of the headstock, but it still makes me worry, what could have been done to this guitar, and also if it's possibly a fake?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ksdaddy]

No worries. Since the early 70s, some models had no headstock overlay whatsoever. It was obvious on many, as they just left the headstocks natural or stained like the rest of the guitar, where ones with an overlay were stained or painted black. Earlier overlays were made of wood (holly I think) and later ones were made of some kind of fiber or plastic.

 

It would appear your L6S never had an overlay but that wouldn't be apparent if it were intact, since it was painted black. Your pic shows the L6S's unique headstock shape. I wouldn't worry about it being a fake, it looks 100% legit to me.