Black acoustic guitars, are they rare?

[MHC]

Black guitars are OK by me. And it doesn't need to be a Walker or a Taylor to be cool.

[frankfalbo]

I've done two black tops in the past year. But I stain the spruce directly. So aside from the stain soaking into the wood fibers the actual finish is identical in thickness to my naturals. The stain is almost jet black, so the guitar looks like it's painted black under most lights, but under direct light or sunlight you can start to see the sparkle of the grains.

[Pitar]

I have a Martin 00CXAE black HPL stage jammer hammer. Not much to look at. Bought it used to do the obligatory gig when I have to. Black is not a preference of mine. I think it is a choice more from the hat band types. When I get around to it I'll probably throw some stickers on it just to advertise my lack of seriousness about it. I'm thinking some travel destination stickers would look great on the dull black. I personally prefer wood guitars with no paint or failburst jobs.

[pjroberts]

Originally Posted by Lacks Focus

A few years ago when we were on vacation in Austin, we took a tour of Collings' operation, and they talked about a new finish they were trying out, called something like "dog-hair." They used a light-colored grain filler on mahogany and then stained the wood dark, like black or at least a very dark gray. That left the pores of the wood grain light, creating an effect like a blue-tick hound or a German short-hair.

Distinctive, but kind of odd to my eye. But then there's that whole "beholder" thing going on.

Those dog hair finishes have escaped the Collings compound into the wild. They actually remind me of a carbon fibre type finish. I see a lot more natural though.

[DukeBerryman]

I recently went to GC and played all the black guitars they had. I'm going to get a Martin DXAE - I like the innovative build, and the black.

The best sounding one they had that day was a Breedlove dread, and to my ears, a cheap Fender Sonoran acoustic - had a solid top.

I have my own reasons for wanting a black guitar (???) and I wish every model came in black. If I could afford it, I'd probably get that black J-45.

The DXAE is basically old fashioned bakelite, so, you know, black.

[jcarlos]

I have a Fender 300ce that has a really nice translucent maple top, black with the wood grain, can't lose

[AndrewG]

Lots of black instruments around the early years of the last century-Gibson, especially, seemed to love black guitars and mandolins.

[jt1]

Thanks for the kind words about the Walker.

Alas, the article is not online. But, some copies of issue 21 are still available:



I had such fun with the guitar's visuals, choosing to highlight my favorite art periods: Victorian (script logo), Romantic (floral inlay), 1930s Modernism (MOTS headstock overlay), Art Deco (gold sparkle purfling), Op Art (world's last piece of new-old-stock 1950s Rickenbacker checkerboard binding), and Post Modernism (Kim's brilliant spiral fingerboard inlay). Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I really like it:



Plus, these are woods that Kim otherwise would not have been able to use.

[jethrocephus]

Got this little Gibson 'cause of the great sound:



One of six built by Ren Ferguson, an L-1 Archetype. Searched high and low for one, finally my good friend caved and sold me the one I wanted, his.

[ericcsong]

A black top on a Kostal!

[Dirty Bill]

Originally Posted by Kitchen Guitars

A musician walked into a guitar maker shop to discuss his dream guitar. The guitarist said "I want a black topped guitar, the luthier said "Oh good, I can use the great sounding wood"
When I had the opportunity to have the McKnights make a guitar for me I asked Tim if he had any great great tops he'd not used because of cosmetic flaws. He had a Carpathian top with a few marks that kept it on a shelf, the top tapped wonderfully. That and quite a search on Tim's part for Striped Oak I requested and the Black Knight was created.

That is a great looking guitar.

[jt1]

And my older black guitar, a 1932 Gibson L-00: