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Sunburst is a style of finishing for musical instruments such as electric and acoustic guitars and electric basses. At the center of a sunburst-finished surface is an area of lighter color (often showing the wood grain underneath) that darkens gradually towards the edges before hitting a dark rim. Among the best known examples of a sunburst finish are the Gibson Les Paul guitars and the Fender Stratocaster.
Some vintage mandolins made by Gibson actually had a burst style finish achieved with stain that was wiped on to the top of the instrument and sometimes the back as well but sprayed tinted nitrocellulose lacquer later proved to be a faster way to achieve a burst finish.
There are various types of sunburst finishes. Some common types include "vintage sunburst", which is golden yellow in the very center and black around the edges, "cherry sunburst" or "cherryburst" - which is a golden yellow at the very center and cherry red towards the edges, "tobacco sunburst", which is golden yellow in the very center and brown around the edges, and "three-color sunburst," which fades from golden yellow at the center through a layer of red and finally to black around the edges. The finish is often transparent in order to show, and accentuate, attractively-patterned wood or wood veneers such as flame maple, but may be opaque where the wood is not strongly figured, such as basswood or alder.
Other sunburst varieties over the years included "Sienna Sunburst" and "Blue Burst", first introduced by Harmon in the late '70s and mid '80s. The American Series Strat HSS and the Strat Plus guitars are examples. The British Burns company use greenburst finishes on a number of their guitars, such as the Steer and Scorpion. [1]
There are also aged variants of sunburst finishes which are usually found on high-end boutique instruments from Fender, Suhr, Tom Anderson, Melancon, Don Grosh and James Tyler, such as Aged Cherry Burst, Fireburst, Lightburst and Antique Tobacco Sunburst. These aged sunburst finishes are mostly suited for quilted, spalted and flamed maple tops, as well with other highly figured woods such as swamp ash and koa.
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge, although variants exist.
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars.
The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.
The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.
The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed in 1957 but not released until 1982. The Explorer was the final development of a prototype design that, years later, Gibson marketed under the name Futura.
The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton. It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender.
The Squier '51 is an electric guitar made by Squier, a subsidiary of Fender. The '51 is notable for being one of the few original designs made by Squier, which normally manufactures less expensive authorized copies of Fender's popular guitars and bass guitars.
The Gibson Hummingbird is an acoustic guitar model/series produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
Flame maple, also known as flamed maple, curly maple, ripple maple, fiddleback or tiger stripe, is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern, producing wavy lines known as "flames". This effect is often mistakenly said to be part of the grain of the wood; it is more accurately called "figure", as the distortion is perpendicular to the grain direction. Prized for its beautiful appearance, it is used frequently in the manufacturing of fine furniture and musical instruments, such as violins, guitars, and bassoons.
The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson and Epiphone.
The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.
The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1983. It is a model of Les Paul with some features omitted to appeal to musicians looking for the tonal qualities of the guitar but with less of an emphasis on cosmetics and to reduce the price of the instrument.
The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar. It was the descendant of the L5S jazz solid-body electric guitar. It was the same shape, very much like a wide Gibson Les Paul, but with a 24-fret neck, the first Gibson guitar to have this.
The Gibson Nighthawk was a family of electric guitars manufactured by Gibson. Introduced in 1993, the Nighthawk represented a radical change from traditional Gibson designs. While its maple-capped mahogany body and set neck were reminiscent of the classic Gibson Les Paul, the Nighthawk incorporated a number of characteristics more commonly associated with Fender guitars. The Nighthawk was not a commercial success; production of all models was discontinued in 1998 after only five years.
The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.
The Gibson ES-333 is a semi hollow body electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation.
The Fender Elite Stratocaster is an electric solid body guitar that was manufactured by Fender in 1983 and 1984. The name was revived from 2016 to 2019 with the Fender American Elite Stratocaster Series.
The Peavey EVH Wolfgang guitar series is a collaboration between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and Hartley Peavey's company, Peavey Electronics. The EVH stands for "Eddie Van Halen" while Wolfgang is the name of Eddie Van Halen's son.
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music.