I've heard this one before and believe it's mostly myth. The charge is usually made about Gibson, but consider that Gibson has been using a sunburst finish since at least the introduction of it's archtop L-0 and L-3 models in 1902. The idea was to evoke the look of high end European stringed instruments (think violin or cello), not to hide any wood flaws.
Gibson has been making sunburst finish guitars ever since and they are much more common among Gibson models than clear finishes. As an aside, Gibson also made some guitars in the 30's with black finishes (as did some other makers such as Stella).
I don't believe it has ever been shown that a sunburst finish (which is not "paint" by the way) has a marked effect on tone, but if anyone has some definitive information otherwise, I'd like to see it.
D.
Last edited by sfden1; 09-25-2013 at 03:38 PM.
Reason: typo
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