Ed Driscoll
Les Paul Forum Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2002
- Messages
- 4,691
Billy Corgan, leader of the Smashing Pumpkins, has been catching flak among gearheads on the internet recently for purporting that paint color affects the sound of guitars. In unveiling his signature model Reverend for Guitar Center, Corgan said “I’ve found through the years that certain paints sound different, so the white Reverend, I think, sounds better.”
I buy into the notion that paint, like anything else you put on or in a guitar, will affect the tone. Other people who buy into this idea usually talk about the type of finish used—nitrocellulose, polyester, or polyurethane, the three most popular finishes. A lot of the discourse is just forum talk with a lot of speculation and contradictory answers.
To see if there’s credence to claims about guitar paint affecting tone, I talked to experts at the Fender Custom Shop and to Fender’s Senior Chemist Julio Cedano.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/music/a25658216/guitar-paint-tone/
But of course -- isn't this the very basis of "'Burst Tone?"