I'd suggest a veneer and inlay into the veneer. You could do the inlay with the veneer off the headstock (so you only waste a bit of veneer if it goes wrong) and then stick the inlaid veneer on the headstock. You've also got more control over the inlay depth as well, as it's the depth of the veneer, so you only need to worry about the outline. You could probably cut that out of the veneer with a scalpel. You'd have to cut small pieces out of veneer to fill in the middle of Os and As etc.