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You least favorite finishes

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#81
I can't stand pastel colors usually. If you're gonna have a color, go balls out. The Fender Fiesta Salmon Pink or whatever is hideous. That being said, I love natural finishes that show wood grain, especially if it's a tinted finish. Or just a nice solid color. I generally hate any kind of burst as well, I feel like it distracts from the lines of the instrument.
 
#85
bigmoosepi said:
I'd agree but there is one exception for me:

om-Al-Cisneros.jpg
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more
 
#87
- I know it might be a little odd but I do like wood finishes if there's interesting wood to be seen (burled poplar, spalted maple). Flamed and quilted maple used to be cool before it became popular to put in on cheap basses (Don't sacrifice electronics for pretty paint). But I do agree with most here that natural finishes over bare wood (ash, basswood, ash) is about as boring as can be.

- Coffee table finish (why you playin furniture?)

- Antigua
 
#88
Don’t like black ‘cause it doesn’t show up on stage, ‘cept for all the smudge marks.

Don’t like sparkle, no exceptions.

Don’t like green at all.

I prefer transparent finishes to solid colors,

Don’t like clownburst, but do like sunburst, tobacco burst and natural. I absolutely like to seem some wood grain, else it looks cheap imo.
 
#89
The fake "road worn" or antique or whatever it's called is something I don't understand at all (except for the "tribute" instruments that are an exact replica of a particular famous instrument.)
 
#90
steve_rolfeca said:
Don't know what it's called, but that milky, translucent white you see on some Fenders, where the grain shows through.

Also butterscotch with a maple fingerboard.
Click to expand...

Funny because this is my favorite finish, I believe it's called "blonde", its the only finish where Fender kept using ash wood through the years because the grain can show through and alder isn't as grainy as ash. And I love maple boards, love how they look, love how they feel and love how they wear.

Anyway, my least favorite is the stripped natural and/or stained finish on alder or ash bodies. I'm fine with more exotic woods and figuring. I especially hate those stripped down fenders that were so popular in the 70's, bah...
 
#92
Least favorites:
-Dark wood natural finishes
-Purple. Just...don't
-Black (boooooring)
-Green. Seafoam, surf and Sherwood are cool, but anything really green is just ugly.
-Relic'd or Roadworn. Just stop trying, get a new bass, and put the mileage on it.
-Neon anything (unless you're in like a hair metal tribute band)
-Any fender with a black pickguard. I cannot express how much I despise Fenders of any color with a black pickguard (especially sunburst)
-Sunburst with a White pickguard, it just screams cheap 90s to me for some reason.
-Jetglo Rics
-Butterscotch. You know that horrendous Butterscotch they put on the Standard P's in the early 2000s with the black pickguards? Yeah, barf.


Conversely, I love pastel 60s colors, especially Fiesta red, adore Paisley, think Antigua is pretty cool, and I like Sunbursts because I think they wear out the best. I also like light natural finishes. Exotic wood is cool, and on Fender's natural reminds me of stripped finishes in the late 60s/70s, which I think look cool.
 
#93
don't like the black with white pick guard look
don't like the red with white pick guard look
natural finish with nothing to break up the monotony
natural featuring 17 kinds of wood you've never heard of
tort pick guards (except occasionally on a black bass)
pretty much all sunburst options, although I do like black burst over nice colors
agree that the "blonde" thing looks like they didn't put the paint on thick enough.

I'm sure I'd own any of the options I just complained about.
 
#94
I don't know if it counts as a "finish" but I have come to hate flame maple. It is probably just overexposure as I have been looking at flame maple since I was four.

Also, spalled anything is an instant turn off. It always looks like some kid went to town on the bass with a sharpie.

Finally, Burled wood makes it look like your bass was submerged for too long.
 
#96
I generally dislike bursts, especially cherryburst which usually looks really wimpy IMO, but for some reason doesn't bug me that much on Les Pauls. Many bursts are poorly done IMO, which is part of the problem, but my dislike probably also comes from my first guitar, a 1981 Ibanez Studio, which I couldn't stand as soon as I tried other guitars but remained my only one for 23 years. Ugh. I'm instantly repelled by anything that reminds me of it.

I don't like neon finishes either, but they have their place. That's not to say I dislike gaudy finishes though, b/c I love G&L's Metal Flake finishes, DiPintos, and others that provide a more rockabilly/Underground Garage vibe.
 
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