Okay, realize these are full bore sunlight photos designed to demonstrate the finish is not painted. I didn't enhance them or retouch other than crop them. This is an angle shot that clearly shows the grain through the translucent finish. I suspect they are using an oxblood stain here because it looks a lot like my Oxblood Flying V. Black for all intents and purposes, but deep, deep red under a carbon arc lighting. This one shows what it mostly looks like, but again it is shot in full sunlight bearing down on it from just a few feet away. It looks pretty close to the MF picture I think, so no misrepresentation, no military industrial complex conspiracy theory, just a really dark stain that looks black except under the most extreme lighting conditions. In case anyone is not into the whole dark black saga, a picture the rest of us can enjoy: I love this guitar and I will buy anyone's who isn't satisfied with it once they get it and play it.