John Lennon and his Epiphone Casino, holding his Gibson J-160E. George Harrison tuning his Gibson SG Standard, his Epiphone Casino on the chair behind him. Paul McCartney with his Hofner bass, holding his Rickenbacker 4001S.
Jimi Hendrix’s covered the base of his 1965 Fender Stratocaster in lighter fluid, then set it on fire at the Astoria in London
, March 1967.
During this performance the crowd had never seen anything like it before. The venue staff led Hendrix from the stage. Hendrix was then taken to hospital with minor burns to his hands.
Hendrix performed his guitar burning stunt twice in his career.
You know when you get a book in your hands that you just cant put down, well this is one of those books…
The Beauty of the ‘Burst is the definitive historical rock journey of THE most magnificent solid-body guitar in the world, the Les Paul ‘Burst, or Sunburst electric guitar.
The Beauty of the ‘Burst written by Yasuhiko Iwanade and Ted McCarty, both equally respected and qualified to write such an informative and entertaining book. Yasuhiko Iwanade is a renowned collector of Gibson ‘Bursts in Japan and Ted McCarty was President of Gibson Guitar Corporation from 1950 up until 1966. The first part of the book takes you through Gibson’s critical years of development of the Les Paul Sunburst electric guitar; 1958, 1959 and 1960. This is the period that became known as ‘Gibson’s golden age’.
The heart of the book chronicles the ‘Science Of The ‘Burst’ details and references the processes that create a Sunburst electric guitar. Specifically the technique of color layering, which provides a great insight into the Sunburst methods used by Gibson. This chapter then leads into; Study Of The Figure – 3 Dimensional Phenomenon, The Heart Of The ‘Burst, Hardware, From Gold Top to Sunburst, Structure Of The ‘Burst and Voice of The ‘Burst and Facts Of The ‘Burst. From raw materials, to the physics of the technical specifications, to the exact assembly methods of the guitars, we are given all the nitty gritty details.
The final part of the book contains ‘Burst Talk’ which is a section dedicated to eight interviews with qualified top aficionados of Sunburst guitars, owners, authors and dealers; Billy Gibbons lead guitarist with ZZ Top, John Clardy, Vic Da Pra, Perry Margouleff, Ichiro Kato, Albert Molinaro, Ronny Proler, and Tom Wittrock. These interviews give an amazing insight into their knowledge and amazing collections of Les Paul Gibson ‘Bursts.
The book then details a list of key model Serial Numbers, with the final pages of the book noting Sunburst Les Paul phraseology. This is a terrific collectors resource as well as a great tribute to the greatest, iconic instruments of the 20th century.If you are just about to buy your first Gibson Les Paul guitar, this book helps you to identify the unique attributes that you should look for with your first purchase. Width, weight, aging and highlights the flame.
For the collector who pays top dollar for ’58 – ’60 Gibson Les Paul due to each guitars’ individuality and uniqueness of the wood pattern and coloration of the Sunburst finish. This book provides a wealth of information for vintage collectors and clearly points out what to look for when investing in such a fine and worth while instrument.
Where ever you are on your journey with Sunburst Gibson guitars, this book puts us all on the same page. In awe! Without doubt this is the most complete book ever written and published about Gibson Sunburst guitars. If you are into Gibson ‘Bursts, I guarantee you will love this book. It contains a wealth of technical information and a bank of the best Gibson photographic images ever compiled in a single book. The color photos of the most beautiful vintage Les Paul ‘Bursts gives a lavishly illustrated history of the Gibson company.
The clear and simple layout of the book works well and is printed to high standard on gloss paper, which is crucial as it is a show casefor the presentation of guitars. Once you do manage to put this book down, I guarantee you will pick it up again and again and you’ll keep referring back to it with passion and enthusiasm, a bit like a Gibson guitar.
Health Warning: Could possibly turn your interest in the worlds’ most iconic guitar into an obsession. Rare, much loved andhighlysought after, the Gibson Les Paul Sunburst electric guitar.
Awesome! I can’t recommend this enough! A must have for any Les Paul Sunburst electric guitar fan.
The Beauty of the ‘Burst available HERE for $25.51 reduced listed price $34.95, save $9.44
Soft back: 224 pages Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches Published by: Hal Leonard 1999 Language: English
I have a passion for the Sunburst electric, acoustic and bass guitars. I would love to share with you my story of this guitar finish. How it started and why and when.
French polishing began in the Victorian era in 1837, it was thought to be the highest quality finish that could be given to any piece of expensive furniture.
French polishing was a treatment given to wood, created by building up layer upon layer of French polish also known as Shellac Resin. Different rubbing motions and techniques were applied with the polish to wood.
The result was a high gloss finish that emphasized the woods natural grain and individuality. This original process and technique of French polish finishing took hours and hours to achieve and perfect.
By the 1930s a less labour intensive and more cost effective process was developed which involved spraying nitro cellulose lacquer directly onto the wood grain. This spraying technique was later developed so that two or three colors could be blended together to create a gradient Sunburst guitar finish that could be applied to either the electric, acoustic or bass.
Sunburst was the name given to describe the highly polished gloss finish that covered the surface of the guitar body. With few exceptions, less than a hand full of guitar makers had adopted the idea of having a Sunburst electric guitar finish.
The finish had mainly been applied to classical stringed instruments like the violin and cello. But by the 1950s the Sunburst guitar was produced with the idea of re-creating the image of a traditional aged French polish finish and making it popular to a mass audience.
The guitar manufacturer Fender in 1954 produced its first Stratocaster Sunburst electric guitar, also known as the Strat. This early Fender model was a ‘Tobacco’ Burst made up of a gradient between two colors, amber and dark tobacco brown.
The Fender Sunburst process
1. The guitar body was dipped in a golden yellow almost amber pigmented called Fullerplast filler.
(Fullerplast was a polyurethane varnish, used for sealing and filling wood)
2. The guitar body then had a second reddish dark brown color added as a gradient out to the rim of the guitar
3. The Sunburst was completed when it had a topcoat of clear varnish that acted as a sealant to the guitar body
Les Paul the late great inventor and legendary guitarist, in July 1958 created a classic solid body guitar that he endorsed with his name and Gibson produced. It was called the Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar and had a bright ‘Cherry Red’ finish.
Originally the ‘Cherry Red’ Sunburst Gibson was created by spraying ultra-violet sensitive yellow and red dye onto the guitar body.
In 1959 the Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar became available in a ‘Tobacco’ finish, similar to the Fender Strat. However, it was never as popular as the original ‘Cherry Red’ version.
By the mid 1960s the Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar was really popular with the emergence of blues and rock guitarists like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Gibson still produces a wide range of Sunburst Les Paul guitars today available in Sunburst colors now called Heritage ‘Cherry Red’ and ‘Dark Tobacco’ burst.
The first Sunburst electric guitar finish I ever played was a 1960s Les Paul Gibson Cherry Red. I urge you to go to your local music store and check one out for yourself if you haven’t already, go now!
In
May 1995 Noel Gallagher and his band Oasis recorded what was to be one of their biggest selling singles in America and the UK, Wonderwall The song is a modern day popular anthem, a real sing-a-long love song for the masses. The simplicity of the opening guitar riff uses the chord sequence Em7 to G, it is one of the most instantly recognized opening chord sequences to be produced in the last fifteen years on a acoustic Sunburst electric guitar.
I think one of the main reasons why Wonderwall instantly attaches itself to your heart strings is the power and emotion of the sound produced by the acoustic guitar. Noel Gallagher used an acoustic guitar to write the song Wonderwall and continues to perform the song live with his trusted acoustic guitar.
The guitar Noel uses for this is a Vintage Tobacco acoustic Gibson J-200 Sunburst electric guitar. The emotion contained in Wonderwall is brought to life by the Sunburst acoustic Gibson which produces the most powerful yet clear acoustic sound ever created.
When this Sunburst acoustic was originally produced in 1937 it was called the Super Jumbo 200 and got its name changed in the 1947. Noel Gallagher has made the Gibson J-200 one of his primary acoustic guitars, with its warm beautiful tonal quality and its vintage Tobacco Sunburst finish.
Hardly surprising when you consider one of his own musical inspirations, Pete Townshend of The Who used the same model acoustic Gibson J-200 Sunburst electric guitar in the opening chord sequence for the classic rock opera Tommy track, Pinball Wizard back in 1969. This Sunburst acoustic helped define Townshend’s style of attacking acoustic percussive power rhythm sound. The acoustic guitar has a distinct sound quality that is really very unique especially when it is used for playing power chords and strummed rhythms.
More than seventy years later and the Gibson J-200 Sunburst acoustic is still the most famous acoustic guitar and a popular legend in its own right.
Here are some well known guitarists that have enjoyed the classic qualities and sound of the acoustic Gibson J-200 Sunburst electric guitar: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, John Lennon, Neil Young, Pete Townshend, The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak, Jimmy page, Emmylou Harris and Bryan Adams.
Noel Gallagher and his Sunburst electric guitar Gibson J-200
