PrimaLuna's Blog

LACQUER — THE SKIN AND SOUL OF A DESIGN

Sometimes something happens that you never forget. In a bar somewhere in Asia, I happened to meet a man who used to be a car painter at Aston Martin. Not a salesman, not an engineer — but a craftsman who lived each day for the perfection of color, gloss, and depth.

After retiring, he had settled in Asia for love, yet he still spoke about his work with deep passion. I told him that I worked in the world of audio — also a field where tradition still plays a major role. We started talking about surface finishes. He explained the difference between industrial coating and true lacquer work.

He grabbed a napkin and drew two lines, one above the other. Material with a single layer. “This,” he said, “is anodizing: fast, hard, flat, lifeless.”

Then he drew another line next to it, slowly building it up in layers with his pen. Material with multiple coats. “And this,” he said, “is lacquer. Depth. Reflection. Soul. Life.”
It was a perfect explanation — I understood it instantly.

Anodizing and spatter paint are efficient. Functional. That’s it. But they don’t touch you.
Multilayer lacquer, on the other hand, is something no machine can do: it captures light, depth, and emotion in a single surface. Timeless.

Days later, he accompanied me to the factory and — completely out of kindness — spent several hours teaching us how to spray metal parts. He shared tips about fine-tuning the nozzle, adjusting spray pressure, and, most importantly, mastering the movement and speed of the hand.
The staff watched with admiration. Under his guidance, they practiced and repeated what they had just seen. Ron, the Aston Martin man, smiled and said, “Practice makes perfect!”

Look at the top of a Floyd Hybrid. It’s more than just color — it’s an experience. That deep, layered lacquer lives with the light: during the day it’s a mirror of glass, at night a warm glow with subtle tones that seem to move as you walk past. It doesn’t just make the amplifier more beautiful — it turns it into a living object. Especially in harmony with the softly glowing tubes.

The car painter said it perfectly: “Anodizing is technique. Lacquer is art and passion.”
Once you’ve seen, felt, or touched that difference — and thought about it — you’ll never want anything else. The Aston Martin man was right.

Multilayer lacquer — beauty isn’t printed; it’s built. Layer by layer.