Sunburst/No Sunburst...that is the question

[MorrisseyGuitar]

Hi All,

Sending a few guitars out for finishing. This one in particular I was contemplating a Sunburst on the top to create some contrast of the perimeter pearl inlay. It's a Swiss Moon Spruce top and Claro Walnut B&S's

What do you think....Sunburst or not? Or perhaps an edge burst just to darken the edges.

Thanks

Patrick

[kakashi]

I prefer sunburst only on Gibsons and nothing else.

[The Bard Rocks]

I voted "no" as I don't care for bursts. But - darker wood does make pearl, abalone, etc. stand out better.

[Steve Kinnaird]

I’ll be the contrarian: burst that baby! But do a Gibson-esque style.
As the Bard so poetically states, it’ll make that pearl *pop*.

Steve

[islandguitar]

An amberburst might help the contrast with the abalone, but also tie in better with the walnut back and sides

[Tim McKnight]

I’m with Steve, a darker burst with a nice fade on the neck as well. A well executed burst looks great at distances and on stage, which will showcase the sparkle of that shell.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

I’m with Steve, a darker burst with a nice fade on the neck as well. A well executed burst looks great at distances and on stage, which will showcase the sparkle of that shell.

This is what I think also. Hard to go against Steve and Tim!

[canuck7]

Not usually a fan of sunburst, but if the Claro Walnut is really dark rich colored, then a 'dark violin sunburst' would look cool...!

I'm with Tim, Steve, and Tom!!

[CollingsPicker]

Because no two bursts are identical, I have to see the finished burst before rendering an opinion. Some bursts are great and others (most for me) are not. One of my D1 Traditional has a killer burst but Collings does a mean burst that I generally love but even with Collings I wouldn’t consider a burst finish that I hadn’t seen first. On this guitar (without evidence of what the burst would look like) I would go with an aging toner.

[s2y]

Looks perfect as is.

[Silly Moustache]

I must be sooo conditioned and often feel that if a guitar doesn't look like a Martin or gibson design, it doesn't look right ...to me.

Further, although I have a burst on a 12 fret dreadnought, I'd say that Gibsonesque designs should have bursts, and Martinesque ... not.

I'll see myself out.

[invguy921]

I tend to lean with the “bursters”. Edge burst??? Hmmmm…don’t see too many of those. Maybe there’s a need for one out there, or maybe nobody likes them?? Don’t know the answer on that one

[jklotz]

I went through a similar quandary when Steve built my Edwinson. The 40 year old cedar was the ultimate tone wood for what I was going for, and worked really well, but it wasn't all that exciting to look at. We decided to give it a burst. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[Mr. Paul]

Beautiful guitar, I think we are choosing between 3 right answers.

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by jklotz

I went through a similar quandary when Steve built my Edwinson. The 40 year old cedar was the ultimate tone wood for what I was going for, and worked really well, but it wasn't all that exciting to look at. We decided to give it a burst. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This is more of what I had in mind with my suggestion of "amber burst".....a darker shade which would help the abalone pop, but also tie into the walnut color.