What Do You Love/Hate Cosmetically About a Guitar?

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LedZep77

LedZep77

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Love:

- bound fretboard (except on strats/teles, of course)
- dark sunbursts
- transparent blue or green finishes
- chrome hardware


Hate:

- to much "bling", or flashiness
- I may take some heat for this, but I HATE the look of soapbar pickups
- guitars with 3 full-size humbuckers



This is all I have for now. I'm sure I'll come up with some more later.
 
Fun topic idea! I'll play....
LOVE binding around the body & nice woods under transparent finishes.
HATE hero-inspired copy-cat graphics (EVH stripes, ZakkWylde bullseye, etc) & that classic 'wine red' finish.
 
I hate guitars that have been aged/relic'd to look old and played but are a year or two old. Make your own mojo, don't buy it.
 
Can't stand binding. Espically on a neck. More to do with feel than looks I guess. Don't care for gold hardware either.
 
I feel the same way about the relics, I was poking fun at a buddy who just payed DEARLY for a 58 strat relic, then I played it, OH MY GOD, best sounding strat I ever heard. 10- ton violin from HELL!! I still think its silly, but maybe if I poured battery acid on my McCarty.........
 
Love:

Quilted Maple Tops
Deep, rich Candy and Metallic finishes
Natural Matte/Oiled finishes
Burst-to-Black finishes
Sparkle finishes
Black Hardware
Small Dot Inlays
Oval Inlays

Hate:

Chrome Hardware
Gold Hardware
Rosewood Fretboards, Especially porous ones
Lots of Abalone on a guitar
Body Binding
Black Pickguards
Black pickups on a white pickguard
21-fret necks
 
RememberLaughter?":3qzq23vq said:
I dislike most flame tops and overly elaborate inlays.
Click to expand...

Whilst there are lots of things I could list, these are BY FAR the most important. I would add quilt tops to the list too, I probably dislike those more than flame tops.
 
LOVE:
Oiled finishes
Black Korina
Single volume knob guitars
Unique bursts like Siennaburst, cherryburst on Fenders, Bengalburst, etc.
TV Yellow
Natural Mahogany for a back of a guitar.

HATE:
Natural mahogany for the front of a guitar.
Quilt tops. Probably because there's FAR too many import guitars with cheap quilt veneers in blueburst or something like that.
Blueburst or greenburst. See above.
Gold Hardware.
Inlays that have anything to do with crosses or skulls
When people make their own guitar and put the volume knob way too close to the bridge pickup.
Epiphone headstocks
+1 on the triple bucker scheme
 
+1 on the Epi headstocks. I love a good flame, but for some reason, I dont like quilts
 
Love:
-solid mahogany body/neck
-satin/natural/matte finishes
-uncovered humbuckers

Hate:
*flame suit on* MOST 80's shredder guitars - There's 1 or 2 that I don't mind.
-maple fretboards
-gold hardware
-sunburst finishes - some of the real dark burst's I don't mind
-for the most part, I can't stand red guitars at :D vintage cherry, like an SG is cool. Just not RED
 
Love
Maple flames in just about any colour
Binding (simple cream or black only)
Nice inlays, i.e. sharkfin/sharktooth/piranha inlays
All Access Neck Joint
Sunburst
Pickgaurd on elaborate finishes
Fluorescent/bright finishes i.e. RG550
Reverse headstocks i.e. jackson/ibanez


Hate: :powpow:
Simple dot inlays
ESP Headstocks
Albone binding EVERYWHERE
Weird shapes
Expensiveness
 
I can't stand binding anywhere on any guitar. I'm sick of seeing flame and quilt maple although I don't mind it on Carvins because they round the edges and don't use binding. I don't like flames, tribal, or confederate flag paintjobs. Also can't stand gibson SGs or any kind of explorer.

I like all other woods with trans colors over them...especially mahogany. I love chrome hardware. I love strat shaped guitars both with and w/out pickguards. The less extras the better.
 
Love:
Chrome hardware.
Cream or scrape binding.
Flame, quilt, angel step, burl, spalted - highly figured wood grains.
Trans red, amber, or natural.
Maple board.

Hate:
Black painted hardware.
Overly rounded trans tops with no binding.
Fake plastic "pearl" tuner knobs
White plastic anything.
Blue or green trans finishes.
Rosewood board.
 
I'll Bite,


Love

Chrome Hardware
Dot Inlays
Flame, Quilt and Good Paint

Hate

Floyds or any other trem on a Gibson Les Paul
Bigsby Trems
Stupid replica guitars
Ugly overkill gothic guitars
Sharkfin Inlays
Most Signature Guitars
Faked distressed guitars
Guitars with way to many Controls
Stickers on a guitar
Wolfgangs
Firebirds
BC Rich
Piezo system
Roland ready guitars
Anything more that 24 frets
fine tuning standard bridges
 
Wow, lots of interesting 'hates'... :lol: :LOL:

Cosmetically, I dig

Strat, LP, and Soloist body shapes
Natural finishes
Some transparent finishes
No inlays
Guitars that have a 'workhorse' look and feel

I don't care for:
Goofy headstock shapes. My biggest instant 'turn off'.... sorry GMW, Carvin, Hamer, Epi, and esp BC Rich...puke.
complicated switching
Gold hardware
any of the 60s iconic guitar shapes... jag,stang, tiesco etc...
Bursts. Except for some of Gibsons 'fireburst'...every other burst can rot in hell.
Goofy 'Conan teh Borborion' shapes...again BC Rich, Dean etc...
Pink anything.
 
likes:
something standout
any kind of wood neck, preferably thick in size
black hardware
uncovered pickups
unusual shapes e.g ML shape

hates:
telecasters.....WITH PASSION!
signatures with too much and of the bands shit or the guys name all over it!
guitars with too much of a classic vibe, e.g relics
when a guitar is hung to high




thats a bit vague :Stheres other stuff as well
 
I have a long list of each, but here are the biggest ones:

Loves:
- Flametops
- Burst finishes
- Red finish guitars
- White finish guitars
- Ebony boards
- The Strat, Soloist, Tele, Les Paul, Explorer, V, SG, Firebird shapes
- The silver/dragon finish on Jacksons
- The Schecter headstock on the C series

Hates
- abalone
- any inlays that weren't around in 1977
- elaborately decorated signature guitars
- any trems that aren't locking
- Steinberger style: no headstock, rectangle body shape
- green and blue finishes
- guitars that looks like insects or axes (BC Rich style)
- the James Tyler headstock
 
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