Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Gearjoneser

Gear Ho
Whether you own them, or just adore them from afar, what are your 5 favorite finishes? And, 5 least favorite?

You can also include which guitars you think they look best on.

All finishes are included here, from solid colors to the most exotic finishes. Airbrush, sparkle, hologram, hardwoods....you name it.

Mine are...

Gibson Lightburst flame & Honeyburst flame, Fender 3 color Sunburst, any metallic blue shade, and Gloss Black with tarnished nickel or bright gold hardware.

Least favorites would be....drumroll please....pink, anything cheescake-like, yellow, loud 7 Up Green, and sadly.....Seafoam green.....I wanna like it but I can't...it's too much like ole granny's bathroom back in the 50's. :crazy:
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Favorites:

1)
420805.jpg


2)
LPSMGTGH1_.jpg


3)
instElectric_GuitarsICJ100WZ.jpg


4)
done_1.jpg

Yes, that is hot pink with black binding.

5) any good bass-boat-sparkle-metal-flake :D

Least favorite:

1) "Vintage White": White should be white (like alpine, olympic, pearl) not yellowish gross puke. Creamy yellow white looks like your guitar got finished in land-o-lakes butter. Naz-dee.

2) Natural bodies that are just oiled. It just looks like a nut shell... yes, like a guitar is made out of a walnut.

3) Chameleon paint jobs. I hate them on cars, guitars are no different.

4)
Les_Paul_Studio_Platinum_1.jpg

'nuff said

5) Typical Fender sunbursts.
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Five favorite for me are probably vintage sunburst (ala Les Paul), cherry sunburst (ala Showmaster), deep blue sunburst (that looks like water with the quilt maple top), solid black (aka Lite Ash), and clear satin (swamp ash and quilt tops look good to me this way, sometimes). I was wanting to do an "eye of God" burst like this:
eye_of_god.jpg

but no one said they could do it when I emailed around. It would be hard to do and make it look right on a guitar anyways....

Least favorite? Vintage white, and/or anything to do with the "relic'd" appearance, the "billion stickers" look (mainly because I didn't do it, someone else did, etc), the cheaper Epiphone 'Paul sunburst (think of the Green Day signature model, forget the dude's name), and almost all the hello kitty colors / images.
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Favorites:
Natural (with ash or other brighter colors)
Honey/vintage red bursts
Cream/Mary Kate white - not too shiny white or whatever...
Wine red on Gibsons and Fender Telecasters (not Strats)
The orange finish on XSSIVE's Les Paul got me salivating so it would push many other good options out. Don't know if this color would work on most models though.

Colors I hate on guitars:
All black guitars that metal players use are ugly.
Sparkling blue
Fiesta red on Strats with white pickguards
Pink
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Favorites (not in order):
Any Gibson Honey-ish bursts (includes good, but not most, Tobacco bursts)
Gibson Gems in Topaz, Emerald, and Sapphire
Black (Black Beauties, Duo Jets, not black Fenders/Ibanezes)
Sherwood or Seafoam Green, when aged properly (sorry Joe, an early 60's original Seafoam strat is very high on my list!)
My Green Buddy, obviously

Least Favorites:
If you play shred metal, I probably don't like the finish
Strats in any poly
Poly
Tobacco Strats in poly (nitro Tobacco is nice looking, like wahwah's)
Pink (but not always)
Bad guitars in bad poly
If your guitar has tortoise, probably that
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

H_.jpg


Not the best pic, but that's their take on Topaz. I really like it. I probably like most Emerald and Sapphire ones more (the Sapphire Gem, when done properly - unlike my hacked up junker :) - is by far my favorite). But good Topaz Gems are really pretty.

Like I've said before, I really think I wanna get all three. Not a big fan of the Ruby/Amethyst ones though.
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

No order:

Favorites:
1. Silver or pewter-solored metallics
2. Black-burst (like the Joe Perry Les Paul)
3. Candy Apple Red strats
4. Cream/vintage white
5. Cherry Bursts

Dislikes:
1. Neon/day-glow anything
2. "Targetbursts"
3. Gold
4. Danelectros or any other guitar with a plastic top/body.
5. Gibsons with sticky finishes.
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

H_.jpg


Not the best pic, but that's their take on Topaz. I really like it. I probably like most Emerald and Sapphire ones more (the Sapphire Gem, when done properly - unlike my hacked up junker :) - is by far my favorite). But good Topaz Gems are really pretty.

Like I've said before, I really think I wanna get all three. Not a big fan of the Ruby/Amethyst ones though.

:smack:

That's the worst name I've heard for a 3 tone sunburst.
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

fav's- cherry s/b. tobacco s/b, strats and tele's fiesta red
only with maple boards, sienna s/b and tv yellow
least fav-silver, any metalflake, any sparkle, candy apple red and black
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Favorites...

1. Silver sparkle
2. Red Sparkle
3. Black
4. Fender 3 Color burst
5. Shell Pink

Least Favorites...

1. Fender 2 color sunburst
2. EVH Paint job (or really any baddly striped guitar)
3. Any Shade of blue
4. Antigua (or however thats spelled)
5. Any sort of Brown
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

H_.jpg


Not the best pic, but that's their take on Topaz. I really like it. I probably like most Emerald and Sapphire ones more (the Sapphire Gem, when done properly - unlike my hacked up junker :) - is by far my favorite). But good Topaz Gems are really pretty.

Like I've said before, I really think I wanna get all three. Not a big fan of the Ruby/Amethyst ones though.

yeah, really like that Topaz finish.

I'm a big fan of Black, Shoreline gold, seafoam green, sherwood green and TV Yellow. I also like simple bursts, PRS' teal black and some cherry finishes. I also like this 'finish':

16622271-16622273-large.jpg


Dislikes:

-bursts on yellowy/greeny woods, the burgundy finishes on mexican strats, every purple or purple-burst I've seen, natural finishes on ash and most yellow finishes.
 
Last edited:
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

favorite (in no real order)
Sherwood Green (duo-sonics and other fenders
Shell Pink (anything)
Seafoam Green (anything but strats)
CAR (just about anything)
TV yellow (LP specials)

least
that 60s fender 3-tone burst
black! (ugh!)
White
blank
blank
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Least Favorite:

Metal Flake
Gold Top
any burst
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

yeah, really like that Topaz finish.

I'm a big fan of Black, Shoreline gold, seafoam green, sherwood green and TV Yellow. I also like simple bursts, PRS' teal black and some cherry finishes. I also like this 'finish':

16622271-16622273-large.jpg

:eyecrazy: Good Lord, my daughter wears capri's just like that! I had no idea Ed shopped in the JC Penney's Junior Miss Department!!!:lmao:

As for finishes, fav's

cherry red
Alpine White
honey burst
natural (on a 335)
'50 Lester Custom Black

Least Fav's
80's paint jobs
Fender 3-color sunburst
that Silver Les Paul above
most anything yellow, except TV Yellow Jr.'s
PRS Blue sorry, it just don't work for me
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Likes:
Black dye on figured maple
Coppertone metallic
Gold-Top gold (but it’s gotta be with a red-back)
Orange-like colors with obnoxious flakes
ESP Black & White Serpent graphic

Dislikes:
Bursting to black
LPs with pear shaped bursts
“faded” finishes
Three tone sunbursts
Frankenstrat copies (original = cool. The 9082347523497856th fan boy copy = not cool)
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Fav's
1) Amber flame top (not too flashy, but enough to be beautiful)
2) Goldtop
3) Agave Blue
4) Vintage white
5) White

Worst IMO (in no order)
1) Really dark tobacco burst
2) Highway 1 finishes
3) Gibson Goth finishes and the guitars in general
4) Smartwood... Never got into it
5) Really flashy quilt tops, like some MM Axis guitars.. good to a point but sometimes too much
 
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

Favorites:

Midnight Wine (especially on Strats)
Burgundy Mist
Lake Placid Blue
Candy Apple Red
Goldtop Gold


Least Favorites:

2-tone Sunburst
Mary Kay White
Dragon Burst (see Warmoth's site)

These 3 will never be on any guitars I own......ever.
 
Last edited:
Re: Your 5 Favorite, 5 Least Favorite Guitar Finishes?

I love all solid guitar colors and hate clears and anything that shows the wood grain espectially quilts and flame maple tops. they look to 80's to me.
 
Back
Top