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Proper 'burst finishes... Even Gibson can do them when it wants


Biz Prof

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Perusing CL, Reverb, and other FS sites, I am stunned at how many "sunburst" finishes are mostly teardrop shaped inner hues framed by lazily sprayed outer rings with nearly zero transitional shading. Hell, even PRS does nice 'bursts in its SE line, so it's not exactly mission impossible. Gibson is probably the worst offender of all manufacturers (in the Epiphone line and the Gibson USA line), and frankly, I just cannot fathom how a drive for numbers can overtake the inherent value of doing a proper 'burst that might take a couple of extra minutes by a trained finisher.  I certainly don't expect Pirro-level quality, but if Gibson can render a finish like that shown on the 2006 LPC below, certainly it can do better than the yellow teardrops and clownbursts that have become ubiquitous (and yes, I realize that some bitchin' guitars from the old days have these lazybursts, i.e., Ree-shard's LP Deluxe).00k0k_ifAHxz0B1n1_600x450.jpg

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This may be a personal preference issue. I think I prefer the teardrop burst shape rather than having the shading follow the upper bout.

Here's a couple of pics of actual original 1960 "Bursts" that are down at Emerald City Guitars for sale right now. They look to be teardrop shaped shading and I think they look awesome and correct. The first one is $325K and the second in $195K.

 

1960GibsonLesPaulStandardBurstJohnnyFever-1-1.jpg

1960GibsonLesPaulStandardBurst-1.jpg

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Add me to the lazy burst camp.  I orefer amber and lemon bursts which show a fairly consistent grain top to bottom, but I still like an obvious teardrop to the fading.

The rules don't apply across the board though...Strats and Teles have to follow the edge.

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18 minutes ago, Camstone said:

Here are a couple of my Gibsons, both Cherry Sunburst. A 2016 R8 and a 2016 Custom Shop LPC. I like the way the red is blended in on these.

 

 

R8.jpg

IMG_5917-510x340.jpg

That one on the top really floats my boat.

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30 minutes ago, Marvelicious said:

Not my cup o' tea that... I don't much care either way about the pattern, it's the color that makes or breaks it for me. That is way too starkly YELLOW, RED, BLACK for my tastes. Leave it in a window for about a decade and you'd have something!

Yes, very sears catalogish!

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Good points, all of them. It is certainly more of a preference. I think my issue is mostly with the stark contrast in the teardrop 'bursts on many lower end Gibsons. Perhaps a few decades of fading will help, especially since the translucent edges of the photos you gents have posted look nice and show a gentler transition. 

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Don't get me wrong.....I have owned several great Gibsons over the past 4+ decades. But I sometimes think their marketing line has changed from "Only A Gibson Is Good Enough" to  "Its a Gibson---Its Good Enough".

There are so many builders doing drop dead gorgeous bursts (Don't MAKE me post pictures!) that you would think the company would make a bit more of an effort. Admittedly. many of those builders are not competing at the level of the "lower end" Gibsons. That said, many compete in the same realm, cost-wise,  as such as the various RI products.

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Double Dawg Dare! Dammit! Django Dasn't Disappoint Does Don?PRS Private Stock #4346 SC245 Signature Piezo 5.jpgHartung Sephir 7.jpg

45478913141_1b052dcba5_b.jpg

Speaking of dares, I might dare add that the total cost of the three (1 new, 2 SLIGHTLY used) were roughly equal to 3 used R9s.

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I personally HATE the non-teardrop burst on a Les Paul.  Looks cheap to me for some reason, probably because that's how many copy brands did it in the 70s and early 80s.

 

I'll pass 100% of the time on those.


A burst should look like this on a LP:

 

My Lesquire Jr..jpg

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1 hour ago, scottcald said:

I have to say on a single cut LP with 2 pickups, I like the teardrop the most and also like the perimeter burst when the LP doesn't have a pickguard.  

I'm usually a traditionalist when it comes to these things.  I see the merits of the more historically correct approach to the tear drops bursts - especially when the top isn't particularly flamey/quilty/otherwise interesting. Here's what I'm talking about:

https://loviesguitars.com/product/1974-gibson-les-paul-standard-tobacco-sunburst/

But as the tops get more interesting, I like seeing more of that detail.    Those "rim" jobs can obscure the detail  in a nice top as well:

http://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/gibson-2018/gibson-usa-2018-les-paul-traditional-tobacco-sunburst-perimeter.htm

My favorites are the time faded bursts tear drops that show off the wood really nicely and let the binding accent the arcs of the LP shape:

https://reverb.com/item/10639066-gibson-les-paul-standard-1959-sunburst

Ideally, I would have had a guitar that had the distinct tear drop that over time faded.  But chances are pretty good that I won't have another 50 years to let the guitar fade so I'll have to buy it in an "accelerated" state.   I like the looks of this one:

https://reverb.com/item/17614442-gibson-collector-s-choice-37-1959-les-paul-carmelita-2016   

Not quite "proper" I suppose, but what the heck you only live once.

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