For owners of Sterling Silver guitars...

**GoKart Mozart** · 01-30-2010, 02:44 PM

...does the Sterling Silver color have a metal flake or "sparkly" look in real life? The factory photos on the MM website suggest not, but the few digital photos I've seen elsewhere seem to show a "sparkly" look. I'm wondering if this is due to camera flash.

Thanks guys.

**Matt Gillis** · 01-30-2010, 08:02 PM

I'm no expert on the subject (though I'm sure one will chime in shortly!) but I'll help to the best of my ability.

With all the balls I've seen or owned, the "sparkliness" of the paint depends on the colour and (I'd assume) the type of paint that was used on the guitar. Typically, you'll see some sparkle in the iridescent colours; I see a fair bit of sparkle in my MD and DDII JP guitars. When you photograph these guitars with a flash, you seem to get all kinds of sparkle, but without a flash you may or may not get some sparkle, depending on the lighting conditions. In person they sparkle quite a bit if you tilt them the right way or are in good lighting.

That being said, usually the "flat" colours don't have much (or any) sparkle in them in person, but you can see a little bit if photographed correctly. My third JP is in Carbon Blue pearl, which certainly isn't very sparkly in person, but here's a few pictures to display my point:

Picture 1: This is the guitar under a lamp, with no flash. There is some slight sparkle going on, but not much.

Picture 2: Essentially the same picture, but with flash on. Again, there is a little bit of sparkle but certainly nothing near what my MD or DDII would show. The last picture likely would have shown less sparkle than this picture had the lamp been less intense.

Picture 3: This is an outdoor shot from a sunny, clear day. You can see how some sparkle shows up along the bevel, but beyond that there isn't much.

Anyway, I'm making my point convoluted: as a general rule, the "flat" finishes won't have much sparkle to them, but it seems any EB colour will sparkle under the right conditions. But those conditions don't reflect 99% of the circumstances you will be playing/practicing in, so I would say that the flat colours don't sparkle too noticeably in person. I can't speak towards Sterling silver directly as I haven't seen it in person, but I think my example of Carbon Blue serves as a bit of an analogy--hopefully someone can provide some direct evidence. Sorry I couldn't help more