What does FOTO Flame mean?

[0le FUZZY]

...It ain't noe better nerr noe worser than pastin a bunch of pink image removed onna Tele body.

...Sum of em flame jobbers are quite purdy.

...I my own seff kant stan noe flamed neck.


(image removed)

 

[Enjoicube]

I hope you are being sarcastic there..

 

[0le FUZZY]

I hope you are being sarcastic there..

...Few mean me of course I am, in several wayz and tew several degrees.

(image removed)

 

[getbent]

Endzone,

You are not alone... btw am I having deja vu all over again

I will restate my opinion of foto flames. They are phony, like Pam Anderson's body parts... Many abhor them, I'm thinking I could still have lots of fun with them. Dig that!

The irony for me is I'm not usually wild about figured woods with lots of fire and all that.. I own one because it was really inexpensive for a really nice strat (I know oxymoron) are they an abomination? no they are a guitar... an abomination would be going to a jam where Danny Bonaduce, Latoya Jackson and Donny Osmond (don't you dare Skully) and maybe Peter Tork promised to play amazing blues solos... that would be an abomination! a foto flame is just an experiment that may or may not be a good idea (like masonite) or tusq or lots of stuff...

 

[neocaster]

I'll bite. Will someone explain to me why finishing wallpaper to a guitar a great idea (I happen to think it is.) and finishing veneer to a guitar is an okay idea (I think it's better than okay) and finishing a plastic or paper image to a guitar is horrendous? I think it's just fine, especially when they call the the finish foto-finish and seem to go pretty far out of the way to disclose that this is an effect or faux finish.

 

[getbent]

I'll bite. Will someone explain to me why finishing wallpaper to a guitar a great idea (I happen to think it is.) and finishing veneer to a guitar is an okay idea (I think it's better than okay) and finishing a plastic or paper image to a guitar is horrendous? I think it's just fine, especially when they call the the finish foto-finish and seem to go pretty far out of the way to disclose that this is an effect or faux finish.

Neocaster, thinking and expressing ideas like that is pretty dangerous... I mean, you make total sense and it is logical.... it just can't be right.

(I totally agree with you)

besides, someday all of our spaceships will have foto flame wood panels (like the venerable 1969 Plymouth wagon!)

 

[JohnnyCrash]

I'll bite. Will someone explain to me why finishing wallpaper to a guitar a great idea (I happen to think it is.) and finishing veneer to a guitar is an okay idea (I think it's better than okay) and finishing a plastic or paper image to a guitar is horrendous? I think it's just fine, especially when they call the the finish foto-finish and seem to go pretty far out of the way to disclose that this is an effect or faux finish.

I don't like veneers, wallpaper, or foto-finishes (unless I'm at the horse track).

As far as "going out of their way" to let us know... this they do NOT do.

Rarely do they say "foto-flame" anymore. In the '90s this was a little more common to see,.

Just judging from some of the surprised comments on this very thread, some people still don't even know foto-flame is fake flamed maple, let alone see it advertised by the manufacturers... I never see it openly advertised, or even easy to find in most literature anymore.

 

[Tom S]

As far as "going out of their way" to let us know... this they do NOT do.

Nor did they ever. Aside from the little sticker that was used on the back of the headstock on many of these guitars (at least when they were first introduced), there was virtually no disclosure by Fender about the reality of these finishes or the process used, and even less disclosure at the retail level in my experience. I remember having to do a bit of digging to find out exactly what they were selling when these were first introduced.

IMO, you can't compare the foto-flame concept to other ideas like paisleys or florals, simpy because the latter is not pretending to be something that it's not. Of course, if you buy a paisley thinking that it's hand-painted, you have been misled.

Veneers are used to mimic more expensive, more exotic woods. The difference is that veneers ARE wood, not a photograph(!) of wood and as long as the presence of the veneer is disclosed, a buyer can make a decision with all the facts. That said, Fender has not been all that open about their use of veneers on a lot of models in the past (some MIMs, California teles, etc.); I'm glad to see that they are being a little more forthcoming on the recent koa models by at least mentioning it (probably to avoid possible litigation, but you still have to look for that info). Paul Reed Smith has gone one further. They are actually attempting to make veneering sound like a premium aspect with their "art of veneering" advertising. I have to at least give them credit for having huge balls.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

Paul Reed Smith has gone one further. They are actually attempting to make veneering sound like a premium aspect with their "art of veneering" advertising. I have to at least give them credit for having huge balls.

HAHAHAHAHA!

When it comes to guitars, tonewoods are important.

Regardless, when veneers or photo-films are used to lead the buyer to believe they're getting some sort of premium wood, this is just downright misleading.

At least with the whacky finishes, the wood overtly advertised is what's sitting underneath the paisleys and the daisies.

PRS's "art of veneering" is just as insidious and greedy minded. Con'ing people out of their money will never stop, but that doesn't ever make it right.

If I wanted a photocopy on the top of my guitar, it'd be a photo of me kicking a guitar exec in the nuts.

 

[boogaloo]

Endzone-

you're guitar is still beautiful and if it plays well, don't worry 'bout nuttin else.

BTW- on the link he posted, scroll down and you'll see the Hamburglar image. I believe it's just happenstance but apparently there is a legend built around it..

http://www.xhefriguitars.com/page7.html

Brian

 

[frogger]

Veneering is completely different than Foto-Flame.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

Veneering is completely different than Foto-Flame.

Yeah, it's a more honest form of lying.

The point of a flame maple cap is two-fold:
1. The look.
2. The sound of the maple cap.

That's why some manufacturers use the thickness of their REAL flametop maple as a selling point, whereas others go the cheap, deceitful route.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

Veneering is completely different than Foto-Flame.

Nah, I take it back. It's the same thing.

Using a thin cheaper sheet of material to make it LOOK like there is much more of it used in construction.

Give me a thick flamed cap of maple - I don't want woodtape.

 

[kludge]

So, if I relic a foto-flame guitar, how much will it be worth?

 

[endzone]

Please guys...understand I don't give a rat's butt what anyone thinks about my Foto flame Tele. I was just making an attempt to be funny.

When I bought mine, the sales guy discussed what the Fotoflame was cuz I had never heard of Fotoflame before and I asked. So I bought it knowing that it was "fake". But it was danged pretty. Plus, it was on an MIJ Tele at a price that I liked, etc and so on.....

getbent, I like the Pamela Sue Anderson analogy. From now on when I'm frettin the board, I'm imagining a "large rack" somewhere between the 1st and the 21st fret. My skills just improved!!!!

 

[JohnnyCrash]

So, if I relic a foto-flame guitar, how much will it be worth?

HAHAHAHA!!!

 

[getbent]

Endzone... we'll let those all natural guys be right... we'll choose happiness instead.. after all beauty is only skin deep!

 

[Tom S]

Nah, I take it back. It's the same thing.

Using a thin cheaper sheet of material to make it LOOK like there is much more of it used in construction.

Give me a thick flamed cap of maple - I don't want woodtape.

I don't agree entirely. You're right, there is only one reason to use veneer, and that's to make a less desirable wood look like a more desirable wood. For this reason, I've never been a big fan of veneered guitars.

But I did build one with of all things, veneer. That's mainly because I was able to get my hands on some poplar, and I had some great veneers sitting around for use in other woodworking projects. And man, that was nice veneer. The reason I'm able to accept veneers at all is that what you are ultimately seeing, even though it's a cover for some less desirable wood, is REAL WOOD. You are actually seeing the flamed maple or quilted mahogany (or whatever) as it came from the tree. From an aesthetic standpoint, it's just as real as it would be if it were a 1/4" thick top. But it is a veneer, there's no escaping that. As for the sonic qualities of a true cap, well, while I prefer a true cap from a building perspective, I don't really buy into any of that tonewood voodoo, so it's not a concern for me.

Foto-flame, on the contrary, is pure fakery.

Please guys...understand I don't give a rat's butt what anyone thinks about my Foto flame Tele. I was just making an attempt to be funny.

Glad to hear that, I thought you were serious.

 

[TELECASTERbstrd]

Endzone... we'll let those all natural guys be right... we'll choose happiness instead.. after all beauty is only skin deep!

Put a really fat and ugly and hairy girl by that X-ray and ask yourself the esame question.

It makes me think!

 

[JohnnyCrash]

Endzone... we'll let those all natural guys be right... we'll choose happiness instead.. after all beauty is only skin deep!

.

HAHAHA, ironicly, that looks like a shot of Pam pre-boob job.

You gotta get a more recent picture

Aside from that, I prefer breasts that are natural... even if they are smaller... this thread is making me want to drink.