Epiphone black finish

[DanielHerring]

Just looking to see if anyone can tell me for certain what type of finish is used on the Epiphone MM-50 black headstock. This particular one was built in China in 2006.

[Tom Haywood]

I doubt anybody other than the Chinese factory workers at that time know "for certain". What's your goal?

[stevo58]

I can’t answer your question, but I can give you some data points.

First, it’s poly of some sort. You probably knew that already.

I recently removed the black finish off the neck of a 2017 QingDao-made Casino. The neck is finished in the same color and manner as the peghead - thick, glossy black.
I wet-sanded with 600-grit. The run-off was milky white for what felt like years. When I finally got through to the black it was very obvious - the run-off was now a dark gray, and the color layer was much thinner than the clear-coat. Under the black was a clear sealer, which laughed at my girly-girl 600-grit and dared me to use a manly grit, like, say, 40. Needless to say I didn’t take the challenge and just left the sealer. I assume this hard-as-diamonds sealer is epoxy or something similar. However, I have read that on the cheapest Epiphones ($100 guitars and such) there is no sealer, you get down to the bare wood.

I’m assuming the black on your mando is the same as the black on my Casino. It’s always possible the exact poly changed between 2006 and 2017, but it’s certainly poly of some sort. You will find NO information on the web as to what they use, not even a statement that it is poly.

Steven