Refin, or Primer?

[crunchee]

I have a black '93 Gibson Les Paul Studio with some very thin/narrow areas along the fretboard/color finish boundary that are showing up as white, as if they weren't completely covered with tape during the paint spraying finish, as well as a couple of small edge chips here and there showing up as white under the black finish, and the typical edge wear at the 'arm rest' area showing the same. I've checked out several LP Studios from the early-mid '90s in various states of finish wear and tear, and they don't appear to have ever had a 'primer' coat. I also have a black '92 LP Studio, and it shows no sign of having a primer coat. On top of that, the black finish on BOTH appears practically identical. Alpine White was one of the three colors on LP Studios of the time, besides black (the third color was Wine Red). My question to our Gibson and finish experts is, was it likely that this guitar was refinished at the factory during production from Alpine White to black, and if it was likely, WHY would they do that?

Note: The edge wear has thinned out the black to the point that it looks purple. The paint underneath is white, and there is no exposed wood.

Note: There are some traces of white on the recessed lip of the control cavity, most easily seen in the upper corner of the cavity in this picture. The paint inside the control cavity appears thin, and I don't see any exposed white inside...it looks like the guitar may have been painted/primed and/or possibly repainted before the electronics were put in...or not.

TIA!

[crunchee]

More photos...there is a tiny chip of paint under the side dot marker at the 15th fret, that shows up as white (the finish on the side dot marker is yellowed, possibly from the clear coat, but the chip underneath is not yellowed), and a very thin white line along the fretboard/color coat boundary at the 13th fret, which barely shows up...it's as if the masking tape didn't quite cover it. The white line extending down the fretboard to the right, past the body edge, is actually a reflection from the glossy finish (glossy black is tough to photograph without reflections, sorry!).

A very obvious white line at the second fret level, where again the masking tape didn't quite cover:

[yuominae]

That could well be a refin. I don't remember seeing a second coat under any Gibson I've ever owned.

It's too much work for them, so they use a filler and spray straight on. Thin coat, gives more resonance and saves money

Saying that, a lot of people pay good money to buy guitars that are reliced with one finish over another. You've got the real deal and that's pretty damn cool man! You just have to get a bit more wear on it and it'll look awesome

[crunchee]

I don't recall seeing a second coat under any Gibsons I've ever seen, either. The problem I see with a refin, is that black seems to me to be a VERY common color for LP Studios (possibly THE most common color), and it doesn't seem to me to be cost effective to paint over white when the previous owner could have simply traded for a black LP Studio instead.

[yuominae]

Good point about black being very common. Most studios I see over here are black too.

What's the story behind your axe? And is that an ebony fretboard? A lot of white studios had ebony fretboards (I think...), so that might be a clue...

[crunchee]

Yep, that's Ebony. My favorite time period for LP Studios, is 1990-1993, when they featured Ebony fretboards in all three finish colors, with trapezoid inlays. The Alpine White LP Studio still used Ebony fretboards up until 2012 IIRC, but black and Wine Red went to rosewood fretboards at the beginning of 1994. Gibson was apparently sometimes inconsistent, though...I've seen a 1992 Wine Red LP Studio with a Rosewood fretboard instead of Ebony, and at least a couple of black 1996 LP Studios with Ebony fretboards instead of Rosewood. As far as a backstory on this guitar goes, I got it from a pawnshop, so previous owner info was skimpy.

[murkat]

well, being that I have been employed by the G,

You can be assured that at one time it was somewhat white

at the plant at one time. Then it got resprayed to its current color.

Happens all the time there.

If there is a flaw, shoot it black.

[crunchee]

Thanks very much for the info, Jay! Much appreciated! That's what I suspected, though I haven't run into another example like this...Gibson must not have done this too often, as I've not heard of anybody else encountering this that I know of. I'm curious now, I wonder what kind of finish flaw would have met the criteria for a factory refin? There's nothing out of place on this particular LP Studio that I can find otherwise, it plays and sounds great! I can't tell that they did any sanding/prepwork underneath the black finish, especially since the neck is about the beefiest I've run into on a LP Studio! I like it, and I'm digging the yin/yang aspect of it, too!

[Sugartune]

That's hilarious because it makes so much sense. Given the finish flaws I've seen from them that have come out at as "acceptable", I really wonder what warranted the need to spray it black.

[crunchee]

That's hilarious because it makes so much sense. Given the finish flaws I've seen from them that have come out at as "acceptable", I really wonder what warranted the need to spray it black.

I'm stumped for a reason, as I can't find ANY evidence for the need of a refin...of course though, it's been overpainted black, so.... In a way, it kinda reminds me of this:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LP59CC34ABKBNH

[stonge]

IIRC there were a few 25th anniversary Hamers (the all mahogany version) in black.