Do you own a variety of colors or just one?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zarathustra
  • Start date Start date

Do you find yourself attracted to a certain color for your instrument?

  • Yes, definitely.

    Votes: 8 18.2%

  • No, it's all about the sound.

    Votes: 12 27.3%

  • It's a toss-up between looks and sound.

    Votes: 20 45.5%

  • I don't own enough/not sure.

    Votes: 4 9.1%
  • Total voters
    44
Z

Zarathustra

New member
I find myself constantly attracted to black cutaway guitars. I only own three, but my first was a black cutaway, and somehow the other two that came along just happened to be the same color, but I actually bought them based on their sound. I'm now having trouble deciding, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, if I really want a variety of shades to my instruments.

Do you find yourself attracted to a particular color/color scheme? If you have any custom instruments, were you very particular about color? I personally discriminate, just because I like traditional curves and colors. There's something very appealing about arch-top designs to me.

Sorry if you find this stupid, I'm just kind of interested. I know that it's really all about the quality of your playing, then the quality of your instrument, then the amp, etc., but looks do affect people's first impressions and your "marketability".
 
I find I'll buy a guitar,...

then I'll want to buy another one just like it, only in a different color!:eek:;)
 
It's sound and feel that makes me keep a guitar but I do like the looks of a nice sunburst finish. I like to be able to see the wood grain through the finish. I do have a couple of Hamer guitars (both black) which I'm not in any hurry to part with though.
 
I voted "not sure."

It depends on the instrument. And maybe my mood. And probably the alignment of planets. Whatever it is, I don't find myself attracted to any particular color all the time.
 
I have 2 guitars and one bass, all black. I didn't plan to have them all be the same color. It just worked out that way.
 
Hmmm...I thought most of mine had been natural blond...

Let's see, after 30+ years:

Seven sunburst (two cheap import solid bodies, a thin body arch top, a Dobro, a '30s Regal resonator, a Takamine resonator and a Ric electric 12)
One maple natural (acoustic)
Six natural mahogany (a Epiphone resonator, a Carvin bass, an Ibanez ABG, an acoustic and two twelve strings)
Four natural ash (three basses and a thin body arch top)
One fiesta red (bass)
One butterscotch (bass)
One blue agave (bass)
One gold top (Les Paul, what else?)
One walnut stain (Gretsch Country Gent)
One pearl white (bass)
One mother of toilet seat (lap steel)
One red (thin body arch top)
One black (solid body)
 
It's a late '40s or early '50s Supro lap steel with radio knobs and a pearloid coating -- the stuff came in sheets and they used a solvent to soften it and wrap it around the body. If you look underneath you can see where they overlapped on the corners.

Oh, by the way, I guess I don't care much for the finish. The two finishes I most dislike are sunburst and fiesta red, and guess what?
 
Voted "not sure" -- most of my purchases were determined entirely by price and availability. Some I painted. For some reason I have a tendency to want to balance the color spectrum, though; I can't see having all one color.
 
I had to vote "No, it's all about the sound." My collection, alphabetically by brand (rather than chronologically 'cause that's getting a bit hard to keep track of, by now):

1) Epiphone PR100; acoustic 6-string - natural finish
2) Epiphone PR350-12E; acoustic-electric 12-string - natural finish
3) Epiphone Les Paul Jr. 90 - ebony
4) Epiphone EB3 SG Bass - cherry
5) Fender Standard Telecaster - sunburst
6) Fender Standard Stratocaster - sunburst
7) Fender So Cal Speed Shop Strat - crimson & cream a la So Cal Speed Shop logo
8) Fender Bass VI - sunburst
9) Fender Standard Precision Bass - agave blue
10) Gibson Les Paul Faded Double Cut - worn cherry
11) Ibanez Artcore AG75TBS - translucent blue sunburst
12) Ibanez JTK2 Jet King - sunburst
13) Johnson JG-622-E; acoustic-electric bass - natural finish
14) Peavey JF-2 EX - gold sparkle
15) Squier Standard Fat Telecaster - sherwood green metallic
16) Squier Affinity P-bass - gloss black
17) Squier Bullet Special - ice blue metallic
{soon to come, after a 90-day lay-away}
18) Gibson Les Paul Junior - worn cherry

So, although blue is my favorite color, and for as much as I'd love to own all blue guitars, I let my ears guide me, more so than my eyes. I only use my eyes for giving a guitar (especially a used guitar) a once over - straight, not bowed neck, any missing hardware. Last month, having just started looking for a cheap travel guitar, I'd tried out two Squier Affinity Stratocasters back to back - one was chrome blue/rosewood fingerboard, the other sunburst/maple fingerboard. Had I been ready to buy, at that time, I would've bought the sunburst one, although I tend to prefer the tones from a rosewood fingerboard, because the sunburst/maple Strat flat out out-toned the chrome blue one.

Now that I've got a SWEET (used) Gibson Les Paul Junior on lay-away, I don't need to do anymore shopping for a travel guitar. I've already got that, with my Epiphone Les Paul Jr. 90. :)

Matt
(still lusting for a lap steel, and a 12-string electric)
 
Zaphod B said:
I don't know how you can stand to look at 'em.

I'd be happy to provide a shipping address. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the generous offer. The only 'burst I've got left is the Regal reso (everybody ought to have at least one funky old '30s reso); I'd love to send you the Classic '50s Precision, but my band would string me up if I showed up at a gig without it.

I'll keep working on averting my gaze while I'm playing....
 
IMHO there are three kinds of guitars but make no mistake, I don't discriminate.

I buy the lookers that play lousy and hang them on the wall. I buy the ones that sound great and play them till the frets go flat and store them on the stand and arms lenght away. Then there are the sweet looking and sweet sounding ones...I buy them, admire them play them gently and save them for those "special" occasions.
 
While I've always been partial to a natural wood (or at least seeing the grain through the varnish) - I buy guitars that play well, sound decent, feel good in my hand and meet a need (ie: if I need a hunbucker sound, I would not buy a single coil guitar just cause it's pretty). I've owned everything from natural wood to sunburst and solid colors from white to black to red to blue. Certainly a nice looking guitar in a store will catch my eye - but it does not me I will pick it up and play it.
 
black guitars sound better. darker colors absorb more sound so they don't suffer from unwanted resonance.

all my guitars are black except - of course - for my resonator guitar which is white
 
punkin said:
IMHO there are three kinds of guitars but make no mistake, I don't discriminate.

I buy the lookers that play lousy and hang them on the wall. I buy the ones that sound great and play them till the frets go flat and store them on the stand and arms lenght away. Then there are the sweet looking and sweet sounding ones...I buy them, admire them play them gently and save them for those "special" occasions.
Click to expand...

I don't know? If I can't enjoy it, I won't buy it, no matter how good it looks and if I can afford it. If it sounds/plays like crap, it's going back on the store wall/guitar stand for somebody else to buy. I play all of my guitars/basses, some more than others (I have my favorites that I keep close by), but they all get played. When it comes down to it, if a Mexican made Fender is comparable, tone and playability wise, to an American made Fender, I'd likely buy the Mexican Fender even if I could afford the American Fender. The difference in prices would go toward things like more string sets, picks, a venti Cappuccino from Starbucks, and gas...since the nearest Fender dealer if 60 miles away.

Matt
 
Variety is not the spice of life, it is life.

Unless it's exceptional, a guitar has to appeal to me on all levels.

And while I go through phases of preferences, I still like variety.

There are some finishes I just don't like though, and generally won't consider unless absolutley necessary.

Don't like red, don't like gold, don't like most blue, green or 'antique white'.

Preferences are 'natural', or sunbursts, depending on the guitar.
 
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