What do you think of sunbursts on traditional guitars?

[mtcross]

I think bursts, done right, look stunning on Les Pauls and Strats. I'm not as impressed with bursts on flat tops, though a j-45 can pull it off with style.

[painasusual]

I like martin ambertone tops. Otherwise sunbursts look cheap to me.

[Guitarfish]

I just picked up my first, a 1981 Guild F20 sunburst and I'm sure it's in my mind, but I feel mojo playing that thing.. Tobacco burst type color.

My preference in burst is always shaded towards amber. Really don't like yellow shades.

I do have a shaded amber top collector edition Ovation floating around the house somewhere. Beautiful looking.

My favorite of all finishes though is a flamed maple. That's a finish!

[HHP]

I may be the only one, but I do wish Martin would bring back the mahogany stained spruce finish they used to use on D-19's.

[devellis]

I'm okay with a well-done burst on a guitar that I like, if it happens to have one. I'd never pay extra for one, though, given the choice. I consider it "different" rather than "better," relative to a natural top.

[Guitar1083]

I would love a green or sky blue guitar

[slowesthand]

just about every guitar I've had.... from Silvertones, Harmonys, to Takamines , have all been bursts. So , yes I like them.

[drive-south]

Originally Posted by HHP

Not sure I follow, sunbursts are a traditional finish dating to the early part of the 20th century. Like them or not, nothing inappropriate or nontraditional about them.

I believe they trace back much further than the 20th century, especially on violin family instruments and they were also used on furniture as well.

Most people agree that Gibson wrote the book on sunburst guitars. If you want to see the best of this artform look at Gibson carved top acoustics such as the Citation. These guitars are constructed with the most attractive woods available and the finishes never hide the beauty of the wood, they enhance it.

[Silly Moustache]

Why did sunburst finishes originate ?

I get the emulation of a crusty old fiddle with a couple of hundred years of grime and grease in the ridges around the edges, but also suspect that it might have been a way to disguise perfectly good tonewoods with cosmetic faults.

What think you?

[drive-south]

They may have been used on furniture long before musical instruments. In any event they were an attempt to recreate the natural beauty of a sunrise or sunset. People have been looking to the sky for inspiration for centuries.

[DesertTwang]

I don't understand the question. What does "traditional" guitar mean? A dreadnaught? An archtop? And why would a sunburst be an issue on such a guitar... What am I missing?

[devellis]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Why did sunburst finishes originate ?

I get the emulation of a crusty old fiddle with a couple of hundred years of grime and grease in the ridges around the edges, but also suspect that it might have been a way to disguise perfectly good tonewoods with cosmetic faults.

What think you?

Absolutely! The guitars with natural finishes were higher priced than the bursts back in the day. Why? They had prettier wood that cost more. Gibson found a variety of ways of making use of less than perfect wood. In fact, their truss rod patent application states that one advantage of the invention is that it allows for the use of poorer wood for the neck of a mandolin. In prctice, I'm not sure that the neck woods actually got poorer after the advent of the truss rod but it did give them the option of using neck blanks that might have been borderline prior to the rod's invention. Likewise, not every guitar with a burst top has an ugly grain pattern under there. But it gave them more options. Even on some of their non-burst instruments, Gibson found a way of covering up grain irregularities. I have an old A-3 mandolin (a relatively high-priced model back in the teens of the past century) with a bit of wave in the grain right where the pickguard would have covered it. A coincidence? I doubt it.

[sdelsolray]

I like lighter sunbursts more than darker ones. Here's a Collings 0001ASB with a modified Collings style 1 sunburst (made lighter than normal).

[Dave T]

I never liked them until I saw a "tobacco" burst on a Taylor. The kind that includes the back, sides and even the neck. Despite not being a Taylor fan I really like the look of those.

Dave

[D18Hoglover]

I like em'