Why are Fender US colours so shite?

barnstorm

crunchman said:

barnstorm said:

crunchman said:

It's deliberate.  They want you to shell out for a Custom Shop.

That's often said, but it's a bad business plan if my spending (or lack thereof) in recent years is any indication!

On the other hand, if I could get a Classic Series (or the latest marketing guff name for it) in a nitro finish in a good colour, I wouldn't go near anything made in the US.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply I want the moon on a stick – just that there are lots of Mex and US guitars I'd struggle to resist if a single (significant but cost-neutral element) was changed. But I don't want any of them badly enough to order something similar from the CS instead at 3/4/5 times the price, so Fender leaves my money on the table more often than I'm sure its bosses would like.

They can't read my mind, though, so how should they know when I want a hardtail, or that I don't like binding or whatever. And obviously I'm just one bloke.

Re. paint specifically, I do think an improved choice (in terms of colour; I can take or leave nitro) at US standard level would be an easy win for them given that a lot of desirable colours are available on Mexican and Japanese instruments. It's easier to pass on a more expensive Strat if the colour you want is available on the MIM/MIJ model and not on the American one.

That assumes, of course, that their margin on an American-made instrument is bigger… It might not be, in which case they're not going to care which we choose!

RonnieHotdogs

example https://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/select.php?cd=06-315092914 

Roysterdoyster

I only like bursts when they are so heavily reliced that all the burst has fallen off. 

thegummy

It's just that it's only economical to offer a handful of colour options so they can be mass produced and since colour preferences are completely subjective, so there are always going to be some people who aren't big fans of what's available.

It makes sense they'd go with safe options though - even though some people might find them boring, it'll be rare that someone absolutely hates white, black and sunburst. Whereas if they went with things like lime green and pink paisley, some will love them way more than the safe colours but a lot of people just wouldn't buy them.

It did take me a long time to get over the conspiracy idea that cheaper ranges had "worse" colours. Even though I knew it's subjective it just seemed strange that I generally preferred the colours of more expensive models to the cheaper ones. Particularly with white - on the Mexican Standards the white is always really bright and to me looks cheap whereas on the American ones it's Olympic White which looks so much nicer to me.

Maybe they do take previous sales stats of various colours in to consideration so that, generally speaking, more people prefer the colours on more expensive instruments even though there will be some who are lucky and prefer the look of the lower end ones.

HAL9000

thegummy said:

It's just that it's only economical to offer a handful of colour options so they can be mass produced and since colour preferences are completely subjective, so there are always going to be some people who aren't big fans of what's available.

Presumably though, the same factory(s) builds US Performers, Professionals, and Ultras so the colour range used for any one of those could easily be used for the others.

Same goes for the Mexicans which include the Players, Vintera, and Deluxe. 

SteveF

I dunno, some cracking colours in the American original series: surf green, LPB, fiesta red, butterscotch, burgundy mist, sunburst. I’m not sure how they could offer all colours without doing them to order

thegummy

HAL9000 said:

thegummy said:

It's just that it's only economical to offer a handful of colour options so they can be mass produced and since colour preferences are completely subjective, so there are always going to be some people who aren't big fans of what's available.

Presumably though, the same factory(s) builds US Performers, Professionals, and Ultras so the colour range used for any one of those could easily be used for the others.

Same goes for the Mexicans which include the Players, Vintera, and Deluxe. 

I wouldn't have thought the bodies for those models were interchangeable, are they?

I.e. Before they're painted, could a particular body be destined for either an ultra or a performer?

mcsdan

I think they've done a fab job with the american originals and other us colours. Far better than previous years.

Taking a liking to Inca silver, shell pink, aztec gold (have one), daphne blue, surf green etc

I'm basing this on the guitars available from Peaches.

https://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/?brand_0=fender&p=1

GuyR

crunchman said:

HAL9000 said:

barnstorm said:

Across the whole standard-production USA range there are always a few colours that I like – at the moment Inca Silver, Surf Green, Sonic Blue, Daphne Blue. They just seem to do their best to make sure the colours I like are paired with a load of features I don't…

This is so true. Huge variety of Strats in particular but I can’t find one which combines the features I actually want. To be fair some do come pretty close though.

It's deliberate.  They want you to shell out for a Custom Shop.

There's a lovely CS in the classifieds for £1395..........

Funkfingers

Somebody I know has an American Professional Jazzmaster in Mystic Seafoam - a metallic pale green. To me, in and of itself, this colour looks fine just not with a maple fingerboard. I'm not entirely convinced by the parchment pickguard either. 

Looking at the five Am Pro JM finish colour options, it looks as if Fender has deliberately elected to fit an unsuitable pickguard colour every time!

Sunburst and Olympic White should have red tort. CAR needs white. Mysfoam probably needs white Moto. Sonic Gray doesn't go well with anything except, possibly, butane or naphtha.

thegummy

Funkfingers said:

Somebody I know has an American Professional Jazzmaster in Mystic Seafoam - a metallic pale green. To me, in and of itself, this colour looks fine just not with a maple fingerboard. I'm not entirely convinced by the parchment pickguard either. 

Looking at the five Am Pro JM finish colour options, it looks as if Fender has deliberately elected to fit an unsuitable pickguard colour every time!

Sunburst and Olympic White should have red tort. CAR needs white. Mysfoam probably needs white Moto. Sonic Gray doesn't go well with anything except, possibly, butane or naphtha.

Sonic grey is without a doubt in my top 5 Fender colours of all time.

Used to walk past a sonic grey Jazz every morning on my way to work and would drool.

Loobs

JezWynd said:

Fender would dip them in chocolate for you if they thought they could squeeze another dollar out of the same old designs.

I mean, they are running a business. Isn't "squeezing dollars out of the same old designs" their bread and butter? Can't see them coming up with another Strat or Tele at this point. 

Loobs

Sonic grey is nice, but a maple-necked JM just looks wrong to me. 

ICBM

UnclePsychosis said:

There is no guitar more dull than a black strat. Although sunburst runs it pretty damn close. 

Other way round...

I don't mind black quite as much, but sunburst and Olympic White are really, really dull.

impmann said:

It has always been that way. The proliferation of custom colours on "vintage" guitars is not a reflection of what was available.

Most people seem to want black, white, red or pooburst. Its "traditional". From experience in shops, the unusual colours can be a pita to sell - for example back in the early 90s, the shop I worked in sold a lot of US Standard strats... mainly in red, black or sunburst. We had a midnight blue and a caribbean mist example... couldn't sell them. I ended up with the CM one.

That's how I got my CM Strat too.

And from another shop I didn't actually work for, a Midnight Wine US Std Tele.

HAL9000

Am I the odd man out here? My favourite Strat colours are black and 2TSB. No doubt has a lot to do with me being a big Clapton fan. I suspect that Hank Marvin and Mark Knopfler help sell a fair number of red ones, and Hendrix more often than not played a white guitar. I guess that had any of those people played a tangerine orange Strat then the shops would carry a load of them and we'd all be bored with tangerine orange by now. The guitars we choose are heavily influenced by our heroes.

thegummy

Sunburst by itself is a great looking finish. It's just that its status as the default colour since the 50s has made it boring to most people.

To me the Jazz, Precision and Strat with rosewood fretboard, 3-colour sunburst bodies and tort pickguards look absolutely iconic.

I just would tend never to buy one for the same reason I wouldn't go to a "we sell 100 different flavours" ice cream parlour and get vanilla. Doesn't stop vanilla being delicious though.

duotone

I had a look at the Guitar village website today (I know it’s post sale now) and there were only a handful of coloured strats that caught my eye.  

Sea foam green/sonic blue £10,999!
Faded Fiesta red £5,199
Sherwood green metallic £3,999 (pre-owned, so doesn’t really count) 
Faded Tahitian coral £3,499
Wine red £8,999 (pre-owned, so doesn’t really count) 
Sienna sunburst £1,349

This one was my favourite in Mystic ice blue £1,131 https://guitarvillage.co.uk/products/fender-made-in-japan-modern-stratocaster-mystic-ice-blue

barnstorm

HAL9000 said:

Am I the odd man out here? My favourite Strat colours are black and 2TSB.

I love a good 2TSB, too (not keen on 3T), especially if there's an interesting bit of wood underneath.

thegummy

duotone said:

Sienna sunburst £1,349

That's the colour and price of my "number one" (as they say). It is a cracker, the beauty defo lasts the test of time.

TforTele

I know not everyone likes black guitars, or, surprisingly perhaps, T-style guitars, but sharing this ‘cos I think it’s a cracker and not Fender: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Lawsuit-1981-Tokai-Breezysound-Telecaster-Spaghetti-Logo-All-Black/153824657705?hash=item23d0aa0129:g:~Q8AAOSwt-hePXxX

I have no association with the seller.  Actually curious if it’s fair price or not, though I’m not in the market...