Guitar Headplates

Premium Guitar Headplates & Peghead Veneers Exotic Wood Veneers for Custom Builds 

What Is a Guitar Headplate?

A guitar headplate, also called a peghead veneer, is a thin slice of tonewood bonded to the front face of the guitar's headstock. Despite its relatively small size, this component plays a double role, not only in protecting the headstock from any wear-and-tear or tension but also in creating an individual look of the instrument. As one of the most visible parts of a string instrument, the headplate is the builder's opportunity to make a lasting first impression before a single note is played.

Why the Right Headplate Wood Elevates the Whole Instrument

The custom construction of guitars is marked by each individual surface having its own tale to tell about quality construction and materials. One example is the headplate of the guitar that helps create a connection visually from the neck to the fingerboard and headstock. When building matched sets, using a headplate made from the same species of wood as the back, sides or fingerboard increases the overall perception of quality tremendously.

Guitar Headplate Species at Exotic Wood Zone

At Exotic Wood Zone, shipping from St. Louis, Missouri, we stock a broad selection of premium guitar headplate veneers in both domestic and exotic species covering every aesthetic direction from understated elegance to collector-grade visual drama:

• Gaboon Ebony - solid black wood featuring an even texture and a glass-like surface; the ultimate choice for classical headplates

• East Indian Rosewood – rich chocolate brown hues with tight graining; excellent choice for fingerboard matching when paired with rosewood backs

• Flame Maple - chatoyant orange-amber figuring that catches light dramatically; ideal for electric builds where visual impact is a design priority

• Koa - warm golden ribbon figure that brings natural Hawaiian character to acoustic and acoustic-electric builds

Each of our headplate veneers are precision cut to a specific thickness and can be applied directly to guitar headstocks due to their dimensions.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do headplate and peghead veneer differ from each other?

They are the same component referred to by different names. Both describe the thin decorative and protective tonewood layer bonded to the front face of the guitar headstock.

• Do guitar headplates affect tone? 

Due to their minimal thickness and mass, headplates have negligible direct tonal impact. Rather, their importance is mainly for protection of the headstock, reinforcement of the tuner holes, and aesthetically bringing together the different parts of the instrument.

Explore our full guitar headplate veneer collection at Exotic Wood Zone and finish your build with the detail it deserves.