Sunburst with black pickguard or tort pickguard..

[Ghastly]

Both are great but tort is the answer. Especially a medium bright tort with bits of yellow showing through.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Tort.

And tort.

 

[bobba66]

I voted tort but black looks pretty sweet with that nice sunburst.

 

[Malak the Mad]

Block inlays look sooooo good with black pickguard

It's subtle, but I suspect it's the guard's white layer working as a visual continuation (what we call in the Art World a "thru-line" ) for the binding. For example, here's the same neck on a different body which really illustrates (pun slightly intended ) the effect…

 

[Johnny21]

Wow its 59% tort 41% black

Closer than i thought

 

[Swerve]

Tort by a small margin. But both look great.

 

[Malak the Mad]

I voted "Black", 'cuz reasons…

View attachment 3197984

Even to this day, I still say "Black", whether it be a classic Sunburst...

...or the similar Siennaburst...

...or even some sort of Cherryburst...

...it's still for all the same reasons.

 

[Peteyboy]

It doesn't need to be either/or. I have multiple pickguards for my Fender basses, and I switch them out from time to time. Makes it a novelty again - and cheaper that buying new basses. The wig-on-the-wife dynamic, if you will.