Let’s face it: guitars are fashion accessories, and guitar makers know this. It isn’t good enough that we’re on stage rockin’ the place, we gotta look good doing it. Guitarists choose their instrument for many reasons but we all know the player that puts looks above all else. Instead of focusing on, say a Flying V vs Les Paul debate, this one will take a turn towards the flash. Someone must be buying guitars with everything trimmed in gold, abalone, jewels, or exquisite carvings, because guitar makers keep making them. Some of us prefer to take a more proletarian approach and we see guitars as tools. Too much focus on the instrument itself takes away from our hot licks and that minor 7th arpeggio we just played. This is the battle of bling, baby!

Shiny! I want it shiny! More! More!

Carved and inlaid small parlor guitars entertained this Baroque household.

Early examples of elaborate guitar making date back to the Baroque era, as wealthy young women were expected to learn an instrument as part of their finishing school training. They entertained the family guests in the exquisitely decorated parlors of the home, often playing delicate but elaborately carved guitars. Some of these ‘parlor guitars’ still exist today in museums and private collections, showcasing the fact that the roots of our fair instrument were pretty ostentatious before rebellion set in hundreds of years later. Originally, the nicer the instrument, the more wealth the family had, which equates to a higher social standing. More modern-day bling started with the inclusion of gold hardware, as well as a healthy dose of inlay.

Gold hardware, large fretboard inlay, and quilted maple…shine on!

Inlay has always been the mark of a ‘more expensive’ instrument, as hand-cutting and setting inlay by hand is a time-consuming process. One of the more common inlay materials is abalone, which comes from a shell. Abalone is used for fingerboard inlay, or even binding, which reflects light off of the many colors. It’s a striking look which players seem to either love or hate. For some, abalone dots on the fretboard are fine. Abalone binding, knobs, and tribal inlay up the fretboard might be too much. Add in the fact that major companies producing thousands of guitars a year are probably not using hand labor to inlay. They might not be using real abalone either, but it doesn’t matter. For some, the flash is the point.

Carve it Out

From the ESP Custom Shop

Bling doesn’t have to come in the form of gold hardware or elaborate inlay, either. Elaborately carved bodies are a hit a every NAMM show, and even if you wouldn’t ever play with one of these creations at a wedding gig you have to admit they’re pretty amazing pieces of functional art. Playing one of these creations live is sure to get you noticed for your guitar alone, but these pieces are mostly designed to showcase the skill and creativity of the master builders, and are priced at a level that leaves out most professional musicians. Still, as functional art, they are wonderful to look at, and those Seymour Duncans assure that it will sound good. Elaborate carvings might not be everyone’s taste, but don’t worry, there is still another kind of bling that might just be your thing.

Woooood….Purrrty…

Umm, wow.

Some people love understated inlay and basic chrome hardware. But their shine comes from the wood itself. Elaborately flamed, quilted, birdseye and spalted maple are still very popular, and maple is still plentiful, so it will remain popular for years to come. While figured wood doesn’t sound much different than its non-figured counterpart, it sure looks pretty. And who needs gold or abalone when you have a Les Paul that looks like this picture, amiright? Not only is figured maple popular, but rosewood, walnut and a host of exotic tropical species are getting more popular. Translucent finishes are still as popular as ever, and these days they can be thin enough to protect the wood, yet hold up over time and showcase that wood grain better than ever.

So you like it plain, huh?

Fender’s reissue Esquire contains a pickup specially formulated by Seymour Duncan.

For some people, a guitar that makes a stronger statement than the music created on it doesn’t belong on a stage. Fortunately this was just what Leo Fender had in mind when he built the classic single-pickup Esquire, which has its own charm in an understated way. Made to do the job it was designed to, and absolutely no more, it embodies the ‘guitar as tool’ aesthetic, with nothing more than it absolutely needs. Similar in nature, the Gibson SG is a no-nonsense rock and blues machine. The standard model contains basic hardware and no fancy finishes or woods. Simple and classic, the SG was not supposed to be fancy, and neither was the music made on it (unless you are Allan Holdsworth in the 1970s). Other companies generally offer ‘stripped down’ versions of especially blinged-out models, and even though these are not as expensive, they are actually preferred by many guitarists.

So what’s wrong with one (or the other)?

The Synester Gates Invader set adds bling in the form of chromed hex polepieces.

Guitar players are pretty passionate about this, and it really comes down to your personal tastes. The shelf-life of gold hardware is less than that of its chrome brethren, and oils from the skin tend to break it down over time. On a well-played guitar, the gold never stays as shiny as the day the guitar was bought, and while some guitarists don’t care, it might be a concern for those that are bling-conscious. For some, overdone abalone is simply distracting, and takes an elegant guitar and turns it into a tacky, bedazzled fashion disaster. Even figured woods are off-limits, because, face it: Jimmy Page had a plain top on his Les Paul.
On the other hand, plain guitars are, well, plain. They tend to disappear into the background, and they don’t catch our eyes like EVH‘s Frankenstein or Joe Bonamassa’s copper-topped Les Paul. Most guitarists spent time admiring our favorite guitar gods’ bitchin’ axes, and the whole package is important. Good thing is that there are lots of choices out there, and if bling is your thing, you don’t have to spend as much as you used to. 

Where I Stand

Personally, I am not a huge fan of gold hardware or overdone abalone (although fretboard dots are fine), although I don’t really care if other people like that stuff. I tend to like nicely figured woods, but I am fine with understated grain too. I don’t particularly like bright finishes, unless it is a 50s Fender finish, and tend to like satin finishes showcasing the natural beauty of the wood. However, if I love the way a guitar plays and balances, all of the rules change.

This Strandberg is made of spalted walnut.

Do you like ornate guitars or plain ones? How ornate would your dream guitar be?