I love FENDER Guitars in custom colors! Here is Inca Silver!

[Steve Hoffman]

One of my favorite Fender colors. The same Du Pont paint as a 1957 Corvette I believe. I don't own this one but I saw it on eBay...

Do any of you have any guitars in nice custom colors? Any pictures?

[John B]

Steve,

What a beaut!

That one has been well played - especially low on the neck!

[Steve Hoffman]

All Fender "custom" colors from the 1950's and '60's were actually automobile paint that Leo Fender just sprayed on his guitars. Somewhere on the Net there is a chart that shows all of the original custom colors and what year of GM, Chrysler or Ford car they originated on. I love stuff like that.

[John B]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
All Fender "custom" colors from the 1950's and '60's were actually automobile paint that Leo Fender just sprayed on his guitars. Somewhere on the Net there is a chart that shows all of the original custom colors and what year of GM, Chrysler or Ford car they originated on. I love stuff like that.

Thanks for sharing Steve. I have never seen any Fender with that color - lots of reds, some blues, some blacks .... and a few whites - but never that cool silver.

[Steve Hoffman]

Custom color Fenders are the rarest electric guitar out there. The only equal is the 1959 Les Paul flametop. Good luck on touching either in minty shape for under 20 thousand bucks.

[John B]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Custom color Fenders are the rarest electric guitar out there. The only equal is the 1959 Les Paul flametop. Good luck on touching either in minty shape for under 20 thousand bucks.

I had never considered the color as anything special until this thread, I keep going back to that ultra-cool silver. It makes the $20K almost seem worth it - almost.

[mudbone]

Ouch! Some of those Strats have seen better days.

mud-

[Steve Hoffman]

Check this site out: Totally cool!

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html



If you read all of that page you will indeed be an expert on Fender custom colors.

Here is another one of my favorites; Teal Green, like the Strat Robert Cray plays. This is a '66 (note the CBS era bigger headstock).

[Steve Hoffman]

Here is a Fiesta Red lefty.

[SamS]

Fender Stratocasters are some of the most beautiful muscial instruments ever made. My American Standard Stratocaster is just the standard 3-tone sunburst with a rosewood fretboard. Classic colors, classic sound.

Steve, thanks for the great pics. Definitely gives me something to dream for :)

[Steve Hoffman]

The three tone sunburst Strat is what my '64 and '66 have. A VERY complicated color. The two tone sunburst of the 1950's may have been what Buddy Holly played, but the three tone (with that added yellow & red) is pretty nifty and now costs extra!

Here is the two-tone Buddy Holly color:

[Steve Hoffman]

Here is the three tone: Notice the additional middle colors:

[Jason Brown]

I'm saying that teal green is actually Lake Placid Blue having aged and yellowed a bit.

I always liked the pastels like sonic blue and surf green, but I've never owned one yet.

[SamS]

Very pretty. You know Steve, I surfed for an hour trying to find a better picture of my guitar than the one you posted above, but could not. Of course mine's not vintage, but that's really close to what it looks like.

I have no doubt that in one hundred years people will look at these guitars like ones picture above and admired them the same way we do now. Classic!

[Steve Hoffman]

Yes, thanks to Buddy Holly (and Jimi I guess), I've always been a Stratocaster guy. I took up electric guitar in 1982 and got some lessons from a fellow MCA employee and went out and got my Strat after reading Guitar Player magazine and seeing an ad that mentioned Norman's Rare Guitars. Heck, his store was right in my neighborhood so I went over there and talked Stratocaster with the boys for about a week before spending a bundle (and for me back then it WAS a bundle) on the 1964 L series three-tone Strat. If that guitar was a woman I would have married her. As it is she sleeps under my bed, along with her younger sister and a bunch of relatives. ;)

[SamS]

Ah found a pic.

I can't post the image because it's a .bmp on this website. If someone can pull it off and post it here, I would appreciate you!

Modern Fender American Stratocaster w/3-tone Sunburst finish (http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--FEN117400)

[SamS]

Great story, Steve. So is that 3-tone pictured above yours?

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally posted by SamS
Great story, Steve. So is that 3-tone pictured above yours?

No, just a picture I found on the Internet.

A picture of a real pre-CBS Strat would have the pickguard looking aged with a hint of green in it 'cause they were made from celluloid instead of plastic like the 1966- pickguards were. The 1966 and later 'guards didn't age and stayed white.....My '66 Strat's pickguard looks new whereas the '64 looks like it's from a looong time ago (I like it!)

[SamS]

There is all kinds of neat Fender info out there. In fact, for my birthday last month, I got a great book called "50 Years of Fender" by Tony Bacon.

Fantastic book with many pictures of famous musicians playing their Fenders and nice history tidbits. You would like it.

50 Years of Fender (http://www.addall.com/Browse/Detail/0879306211.html)

[audio]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
All Fender "custom" colors from the 1950's and '60's were actually automobile paint that Leo Fender just sprayed on his guitars. Somewhere on the Net there is a chart that shows all of the original custom colors and what year of GM, Chrysler or Ford car they originated on. I love stuff like that.

Me too! Check it: http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html

[audio]

Here's one of my old guitars I sold a year or two ago. I loved the way it looked, but no amount of stroking could make it setup right and play the way I wanted it to. 1962 Jazzmaster in Fiesta Red:

[audio]

Here's another old one that's long gone....a '62 Jazzmaster in Olympic White:

[audio]

Here's a '66 Jazzmaster in Lake Placid Blue that I had for a while:

[millerdog]

Prix,
are those ebony fret boards? I like that look cause Ritchie Blackmore always had Strats with ebony fret boards. I am more of a Telecaster man.
When I was young, I liked that brighter sound.

[audio]

Originally posted by millerdog
Prix,
are those ebony fret boards? I like that look cause Ritchie Blackmore always had Strats with ebony fret boards. I am more of a Telecaster man.
When I was young, I liked that brighter sound.


No, they are all rosewood. Fender never made a Jazzmaster with an ebony fret board. The cool thing about the Jazzmaster is that you can make it sound like a Telecaster or you can make it sound like a Strat if you want to. It's got amazingly versatile tone options.