There should not be silver paint inthe control cavity, just the brass insert. Black dot side markers on the neck?? I thought the color went to the finger board joint?
On my Cardinal Red NR bird the sides of the fretboard were painted just like that one, except it has white dots, which would be hard to see on a white finish, hence the black dots. I bought the red one used in 1968 so I'm sure it was original that way.
