CAN PAINT AFFECT GUITAR TONE? Cables can, so it’s not a complete stretch.

Related (From Ed): Guitarists can be an obsessive and experimental lot (take it from one who knows). The Beatles went through a phase in 1968 when they believed that lack of paint improved their instruments’ tone:

In early ’68, The Beatles headed to Rishikesh, India, to study transcendental meditation with The Maharishi and friends, including Donovan Leitch. There, Donovan convinced the trio to sand the finish off their instruments, telling them how a guitar sounds better without a heavy finish. After returning to London, during sessions for the self-titled “white album,” Lennon and Harrison sanded their Casinos. Lennon primarily played his newly stripped [Epiphone] Casino for the sessions. Harrison said that once they’d removed the finish, they became much better guitars. “I think that works on a lot of guitars,” he explained. “If you take the paint and varnish off and get the bare wood, it seems to sort of breathe.” With the completion of the white album, promo clips were filmed for the single “Revolution”/“Hey Jude.” The clips showed Lennon using his natural Casino.

Though according to Gibson (which acquired the Epiphone brand in 1957), “Reportedly, [Lennon] was interested in having the Casino restored to its original sunburst finish toward the end of his life, but that never happened. Today the guitar is owned by his widow, Yoko Ono, and listed in the inventory of Lennon’s estate as the ‘Revolution’ guitar.”