Non transparent burst?

[fire skull39]

Hey guys, so recently I've been looking into getting a faded studio guitar. However, I want to refinish it in a vintage sunburst color. My only concern is that I don't want there to be a grain on it...

I guess what I'm asking is, is there a way to make a vintage sunburst color with a lighter yellow in the middle (similar to a BJA Junior Sunburst) without getting a grain on it?

Thanks for the help

 

[bfcg]

Careful, you might be headed into clown territory.

 

[fire skull39]

Would there be any way to get it like this ya think?

 

[rockstar232007]

Would there be any way to get it like this ya think?

IMHO, that color scheme wouldn't look very good on a carved-top LP. It seems to work well Silverbursts, Goldbursts, etc, but when you get into the "black on yellow", it just ends up looking too..."toy-ish".

And, the whole point of the belly-carve is to accentuate the look of the grain of the top wood, so why hide it?

Ah, well. Whatever floats your boat, I guess?

 

[fire skull39]

IMHO, that color scheme wouldn't look very good on a carved-top LP. It seems to work well Silverbursts, Goldbursts, etc, but when you get into the "black on yellow", it just ends up looking too..."toy-ish".

Well what about on a flat top? Would I be able to do anything then?

 

[rockstar232007]

Well what about on a flat top? Would I be able to do anything then?

Depends. What kind of "flat top" you're talking about?

Also, by "faded studio" you mean the Vintage Mahogany (Worn Studio), right?

Anyway, here's a mock-up I did just to show you how an opaque Junior-style burst would look on a carved-top LP:

 

[fire skull39]

Depends. What kind of "flat top" you're talking about?

Also, by "faded studio" you mean the Vintage Mahogany (Worn Studio), right?

Anyway, here's a mock-up I did just to show you how an opaque Junior-style burst would look on a carved-top LP:

By flat top I mean something like a Les Paul Special.

Personally I like that look not sure about anyone else.

 

[Akahito]

And, the whole point of the belly-carve is to accentuate the look of the grain of the top wood, so why hide it?

If that's true, then why were the original Les Paul models offered only in gold, and later the LP Custom in black? Sure, it does accentuate the grain nicely, IF the wood has good grain to begin with. But it doesn't look silly with flat colours at all.

For the burst, it's completely doable. You just need to do the underlying yellow coat in a non-transparent finish by either using a flat primer and spraying the burst on top of it as you would, or just plain old yellow (or what ever color you choose) paint and do the burst edge on top.

My only concern is that it will end up looking like a two-tone finish. You need to make the burst a bit wider and the transition very smooth for it to work, but it's doable, yes.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm not a big fan of opaque bursts myself, fwiw.

 

[mbach72]

Hope this isnt hijacking the thread but it seems like a relevent question. When doing a burst over an opaque finish like the OP is asking about, would it be better to use a translucent black to get a softer transition? I just got done finish sanding my current project which is going to be silverburst. I have opaque black pigment but I was thinking I should use a toner instead.

 

[greenhorn]

By flat top I mean something like a Les Paul Special.

Personally I like that look not sure about anyone else.

Yeah, I like it too!

IMHO, the whole point of the belly-carve is to accentuate the look of the grain of the top wood

No, It was carved for comfort, not to accentuate the very plain looking grain of the top wood on the old LP's.

 

[rockstar232007]

Yeah, I like it too!




No, It was carved for comfort, not to accentuate the very plain looking grain of the top wood on the old LP's.

Actually, 1.) the top-carve was the brain-child of Maurice Berlin, because he loved violins, and 2.) the original LP prototype was a highly figured, flame-top. It was Les Pauls idea to pain them gold, because "Gold means rich...expensive, the best, superb."

The shape/depth of the carve was done (back then) to give the tops (especially the flame-tops) a deeper-looking, more "3D" appearence on 'bursts' as well a opaque-finishe LPs (GTs, Customs, etc).

If that's true, then why were the original Les Paul models offered only in gold, and later the LP Custom in black? Sure, it does accentuate the grain nicely, IF the wood has good grain to begin with. But it doesn't look silly with flat colours at all.

See above.

By flat top I mean something like a Les Paul Special.

Personally I like that look not sure about anyone else.

Ok, gotcha!

And, now, after taking a second look, I actually retract my previous statement. It does look alright! Though I don't particularly care that particular style of 'burst', it really doesn't look that bad on a carved-top.