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Ironically, there is one period in history where Gibson used the sunburst to cover what may have been considered poor wood. During WW2, when materials became scarce because of the war effort, Gibson (in Kalamazoo at the time) made a lot of guitars with three or four piece tops, and used the sunburst to cover the "flaws". As a further irony, a lot of people that own or have heard these "Banner Gibsons" claim that they have the best tone and workmanship of any Gibson acoustic from any era.
I don't believe there is any other time in Gibby history when the sunburst was used to cover flaws, but the Banner Gibson era is notable. |
#17
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#18
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#19
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Most wood has flaws. It is after all natural organic matter. Some flaws are desirable, like bear claw.
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"Vintage taste, reissue budget" |
#20
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I cannot speak to whether or not bursts ever have been used intentionally to mask cosmetic flaws as the primary purpose, but I absolutely believe that questionable looking tops get placed aside for the burst line while especially good looking tops go to the natural finish line. That only makes sense. I seriously doubt it's done randomly.
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Martin CEO-7, Martin 000-15sm, Gibson J-35, Ibanez AC240, Yamaha FD01S, Journey RT660 |
#21
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In 2007, I bought an NOS D-35 built in early 2005. I hadn't planned on bringing home a D-35 (and I had previously owned a '73 and a 2000 D-35) but this was the best sounding new one I'd ever experienced. It had the ugliest asymmetrical bear claw top I'd ever seen on a Standard Series Martin, which is probably why it hung on the wall for a couple of years. Flash forward to 2010. The end pin jack had come loose so I masked it off so as not to scratch the finish, and then tightened it back up. When I pulled off the tape, the finish came with it. I realized that it had been finished with the bad batch of lacquer that Martin encountered in '04-'05. I went through the whole ship-it-in-and-we'll-evaluated-it procedure, knowing full well that I would be getting a factory refinish under the warranty. When I spoke to them on the phone, I asked "Since you take it down to the bare wood, could you ad a Vintage Sunburst when you put the new finish on and, if so, what would it cost?" They got both answers right so I've had a beautiful Vintage Burst D-35 since then. My concern about a refinish changing the tone was, in my case, unfounded; it still sounded amazing with no discernible difference and now it continues to improve.
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It's all about the sound. |
#22
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Gibson most certainly covered cosmetically imperfect tops with bursts or other stains, going waaaay back to the 1920's. In fact on F-model mandolins, a dark stain is used on the edge of the top near the scroll to mask the side-to-top seam. Likewise with other areas of the instruments, the philosophy was "cover up what doesn't look good." Of course, the wood doesn't sound any worse, necessarily, or have any less strength. It's just not as pretty as the wood set aside for natural finishes.
In restaurants, as the meat gets a bit old, it's set aside for someone who orders their meal well-done. It isn't spoiled, by any means, but might just be slightly unsatisfactory if served rare; well done, it's fine. Woods get similar treatment, at least in some cases. Now, not every builder uses cosmetically imperfect wood for their sunburst instruments. Some intentionally make their bursts transparent to show off the wood. But other, robably mostly larger factories, definitely will hide cosmetic imperfections on an otherwise good top by giving it a blast of pigment.
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Bob DeVellis |
#23
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I own three sunburst guitars and two natural finished. I love bursts. My understanding is that Gibson charged more for the natural finished LG-3's than they did for sunburst LG-2's and everything else about them was the same (if there is such a thing as a generalization when it comes to Gibsons). They put the burst on to cover up cosmetic imperfections they thought would affect the saleablility of the product. Nowadays it's reversed in a lot of cases; one would be charged more for a burst by some luthiers. I don't think of bearclaw or other "irregularities" in wood to be imperfections because I don't think of natural things in that way. A mountain is perfectly shaped in all its imperfections as opposed, say, to the Great Pyramids. I think it gives the wood its own individuality when there is bearclaw or swirls in the grain. I know this, if either of my Adirondack topped Eastmans were stolen I could identify them immediately just by looking at the grain irregularities in their tops. But, ultimately, it IS about the tone, right?
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#24
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Martin CEO-7, Martin 000-15sm, Gibson J-35, Ibanez AC240, Yamaha FD01S, Journey RT660 |
#25
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Phil Playing guitar badly since 1964. Some Taylor guitars. Three Kala ukuleles (one on tour with the Box Tops). A 1937 A-style mandolin. |
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Phil Playing guitar badly since 1964. Some Taylor guitars. Three Kala ukuleles (one on tour with the Box Tops). A 1937 A-style mandolin. |
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#28
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yes it does look good IMO as well but it is a Flaw.
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#29
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I was told that this is where the vintage sunburst came from. Taylor had some engelmann wood that was great tonewood but had visual flaws. They put them on the 700s and used a darker burst finished. It apparently was also the end of their engelmann which is a shame cuz that stuff sounds great.
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#30
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Dead on, it helps to make maximum use of a somewhat limited product. (Guitar soundboards)
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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything |