Black acoustic guitars, are they rare?

[Wade Hampton]

Exactly. Black finishes are fingerprint magnets. I learned this the hard way with a black Kentucky mandolin I bought when Kentucky mandolins first hit the market: with a black musical instrument if you even think dirty thoughts, it shows up!

Well, okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

As for your poll, I didn't vote because you didn't have an option that reflects my opinion, namely: black finishes can look sharp but are wildly impractical if you're not prepared to polish the instrument every time you take it out of its case.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Dirty Bill]

I wanted a Black guitar,but I wanted a quality one.I ended up with a Zager Zad-20. I like it,but I won't need to buy another black guitar.

Unless something happens to this one. I hope not,it's a pretty good guitar.It mahogany back and sides,spruce top,but it's all black.

http://www.zagerguitar.com/pictureviewer.php?id=26

[Green Craig]

Color doesn't matter for me, I honestly prefer the natural grain and whatnot. However, black guitars can look really sharp...problem is, in the vein of the thread, only lower-end guitars seem to be black (or solid color, in general), so on the flip side, they can look horridly cheap as well. There aren't many mid- to high-end guitars in plain ol' black.

[angel13]

Faith guitars who have a good reputation do black guitars http://www.faithguitars.com/faith-gu...lipse%20Series. My learner guitar which is a Luna Dragon is black...I think it looks cool, it sounds ok for what it is, but now having that bit more expeeince I wouldn't necessarily rebuy it.

[muscmp]

as others have mentioned, a black guitar shows fingerprints, smudges, sweat, and nearly everything. however, as most people here are so meticulous in cleaning the strings and guitar after each use, do the same with a black guitar. no big deal!

i have a gibson chet atkins ce that is black, and just like all my others, it gets cleaned immediately afterward.

play music!

[Earl49]

I prefer to see the wood and grain, but would not be opposed to a black guitar. I always figured that black and other soild colors was a way to use otherwise acceptable woods that had cosmetic issues. Satin would be better than glossy because of the fingerprint / smudge issue discussed extensively already.

Seems to me that some of the older Gibson sunbursts are much more black than burst, and they look OK. Many have lost their glossy polish with wear and use, if they ever had it initially.

[AMW]

Mmmmmm... black!

[jpd]

I have this one.......I had to warm up to it.....love it....

[ewalling]

The only maker that ever produced a black acoustic guitar I liked the look of was Ovation, and even then it was just their Elite series with the multi-sound holes.

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by AMW

Mmmmmm... black!

Love the dog hair!

[Lacks Focus]

Originally Posted by AMW

Mmmmmm... black!

That's the dog-hair finish they told us about at the factory tour.

[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.

[jpd]

Woooooo....the "Black Night" is welcome at my round table, anytime!

I couldn't imagine my Gibson or Yairi being black. Part of the "high end" image to my thinking is the wood grain on both and the burst on the Gibby. But my Epiphone EJ-200 is black, and I love the way it looks - even though in the sound department it's not in the same league as my others. If I have all three on stands people always want to talk about the Epi lol

[bohemian]

Tacoma made three all black Parlors.. abalone encrusted. Expensive.

I ordered and returned one of the three.