How Can I Improve Less?

I have been slowly building up the lacquer on the face of the Less Paul. It is getting there, and now has a deep gloss and is very smooth:I'm working on the sides as well, and you can see the mahogany beginning to really shine: Once the last coat is on, I will have to let it cure for 3 weeks before final buffing.

And only then can I attach the neck and begin lacquering the rest of it; the glue joint will need to be sanded and there's no sense lacquering it all now.

In other words, don't expect this guitar to be finished before, oh, September.

Dammit.

But I was sitting here thinking about the headstock. It needs... something. It's not bad, but it's not great either:What to do?

Les Pauls have nice headstocks, especially Les Paul Customs:I like the binding (the white edging), but that wasn't an option on Less.

I've done maple headstock binding before, on a 7-string I built:But when I thought about having to work the binding around the top of the Les Paul headstock, where it looks like an open book -Well, I realized it was more of a hassle than I wanted to tackle.

The 'diamond' inlay is pretty interesting, though, and I'm thinking of doing something similar, but with flame maple.

That said,  I've always preferred Les Paul Standards, and Less is so far a Standard; trapezoid inlays, bound fretboard but not bound headstock.

Les Paul Standards are a little less, well, custom, and a little more standard, but still have a certain appeal:The Standards have the "Les Paul Model" silkscreen which is actually Les Paul's signature.

Thanks to the internet, I already have the option to do my own variation:I can get that printed in gold, no problem.

Notice also the truss rod covers, which say "Les Paul CUSTOM" and "Standard" respectively. I can get one custom engraved, but this headstock is smaller (or less) than the regular size Les Paul.

So I decided to improvise...Take two layers of maple veneer and sandwich some cross-grain mahogany veneer between them. For stiffness; it makes the veneers easier and safer to work with.

Super glue them together.

Sand it smooth.

Dye it yellow.

Get a waterslide decal that you made yourself.

Voila:Oh, did I say flame maple veneer? 'Cause it isHKG; it's our airport code, and it stands for Hong Kong Guitars too.

That way I can go to the airport and steal people's guitars, and if I get caught I can just point at the baggage sticker on the case and say "Of course it's my guitar, it's my f@#$ingcompany !"

The cover still needs a lot of lacquer, but I like it already. Since this is Hong Kong, I got a wild hair across my @ss and thought about trying a very localized inlay: The Bauhinia!How to do it, though?

Easy. Take six pieces of (flame) maple binding and clamp them together.Draw a single leaf.Using files and rasps, start shaping them, trying to keep them all the same. Which is made easier by being clamped together in a vise:Getting there...Almost there...A quick bit of sawing, a little sanding, and...They're too skinny. And/or too long.

So I start taking them in, little by little...

Until I get this:I took them in a little more and it looks even better (though still not perfect). I dyed the face of the headstock black. That way. it's black, but still shows some wood grain.

So check this out:Even better:Of course, after doing all that work, I decided to use pearloid for the inlay, as it is stain-proof and thinner, and I have some that I remembered and found, so I need to find out about cutting and shaping it...

Stay tuned (no pun intended).