Fender Color Historian needed

[Jeff MacDonald]

I acquired a rare "White" Steel by Fender. It had been repainted, and the logo was removed to do so.

I've sanded it down to the wood.

I'm going to have it painted professionally by Pat Wilkins.

I'm hoping to get more clarity on the exact color (name) they were painted.

I've heard Desert Fawn. Like the Champ. ?

Thanks in advance.

[Ron Simpson]

There are two White steel guitars on Ebay at the moment. Both appear to be the same color as the Fender Champ.

[Mark Roeder]

I think Reranch paints has some original fender colors on there site

[Jack Hanson]

If it was my instrument, and the original finish had already been painted over or sanded off, I would paint it one of the numerous Fender "Custom Colors" of that era. No matter what you choose, it won't be original, so why not create something that's a little different?

Lake Placid Blue?
Sea Foam Green?
Candy Apple Red?
Shoreline Gold?

I'd finish it anything other than White, if it were my White!

[Stephen Cowell]

I'd take the opportunity to put a nice color on it... personally, I'm fond of kandy-kolor tangerine metal flake... Harley has a nice one, called Tequila Sunrise, includes the kandy in it already.

[Steve Branscom]

Call the Fender museum in Fullerton or Corona and ask the curator. I would think he'd have access to the details. He's also a guitar collector himself having just sold Stratocaster #1

[Michael Lee Allen]

Deleted

[HowardR]

I'm going to have it painted professionally by Pat Wilkins.

Here's a D8 that he did for me.......

[Alan Brookes]

I put almond color on a Stringmaster that I once restored. It looked good, and so I used the same color to respay my Guyatone D8.

[Garry Vanderlinde]

No, they were not the "Desert Sand" color of the Champs.
More of an opaque pure white is the best way I can describe it.
Don't finish it to look like a Studio Deluxe, you'll reduce it's value.

[Scott Thomas]

If it was my instrument, and the original finish had already been painted over or sanded off, I would paint it one of the numerous Fender "Custom Colors" of that era. No matter what you choose, it won't be original, so why not create something that's a little different?

Lake Placid Blue?
Sea Foam Green?
Candy Apple Red?
Shoreline Gold?

I'd finish it anything other than White, if it were my White!

It's a '50s steel, and those are custom colors of the '60s era, but then so is my suggestion: Olympic White. It seems wrong to paint a "White" anything than, well, white. But then, I like vanilla.

[Erv Niehaus]

www.ReRanch.com has a Fender blonde among it's colors. When I refinish Stringmasters, I follow up the blonde with a tinted clearcoat but for the "White" model I'd forgo the tinted clearcoat and just leave it white.

[Scott Thomas]

www.ReRanch.com has a Fender blonde among it's colors. When I refinish Stringmasters, I follow up the blonde with a tinted clearcoat but for the "White" model I'd forgo the tinted clearcoat and just leave it white.

Erv, I was curious...will the white blonde spray become opaque white with extra applications? My guess is that in the 50's they used the same white/blonde color as the other mid 50's model Stringmasters, but perhaps sprayed with less thinner. I don't see any wood grain showing through on the "White" model.

[Tommi Toijonen]

Here's some info on the Fender colours. One would think it applies to steels too.

Since you seem to like white... There's a variety of whites there, basically the choice is between clear coated white that turns yellowish in varying degree and then there's white that keeps white since it's not clear coated.

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

But if you want to be peridiocally correct and are not fixed into just white it's good to notice that custom colours were not standardized until 1960. So before that ithe colour was a real choice of a player. Just pick any colour from automotive catalogue of the era.

[Erv Niehaus]

Scott,
The white nitrocellulose lacquer is usually clear coated afterwards. It is the clear coat that eventually turns to sort of an amber color. When I refinish a blonde Fender, after I apply the Fender blonde I follow up with a tinted clear coat. I apply the tinted clear coat until I get the right vintage look and then follow that with some more clear coats.
Here is an example:

[Jack Hanson]

Here's some info on the Fender colours. One would think it applies to steels too.

Thanks for the link, Tommi. That is a great article.

[Jeff MacDonald]

Hi all, thanks for all the great info.
I'd like to take a pole. If it were your steel, would you go stock or custom?

A Classic Car repainted seems to hold it's value.
Not sure on a steel.
I'm going to keep and play it but somewhere down the road I'll sell it and would like to at least get the $$ back I put into the paint.
The custom paint job Howard posted here looks so sweet.
And the Stock paint Erv did looks great.
And then there is the missing logo part?

Here is my naked White Steel

[Doug Beaumier]

...would you go stock or custom?

I would go stock. Custom finishes are very nice and very tempting, but I would go with traditional white/cream on a Fender White. Just my opinion.

[Steve Branscom]

Seriously, what do you care if it holds its value. If you think the White model will appreciate and that's important to you, you'll paint it Fender White. If you're the only one that's going to play it and you don't care about collectability then paint it any color you want.

[Jack Hanson]

Jeff, since you have already removed the finish, can you tell what type of wood the body was built from? Also, is it a single piece of wood, or was it laminated? From the photo, it looks like it could be three or more pieces of wood.

[Doug Beaumier]

As far as value, it will never again have full value because the original finish is gone. Pick a color, any color. My personal preference would be white.

[Alan Brookes]

This is your opportunity to have a Stringmaster in a different color to anyone else's and stand out. I was really impressed by Howard's two-tone red/black one that he illustrated. Why would you want a copy of everyone else's? As Doug says, the fact that it has been resprayed will affect the value to collectors, but a player could well be attracted to a one-off that he cannot buy elsewhere. I certainly would.

[Clete Ritta]

According to the 50's Dupont chart its #356 White. Nothing special really. Michael's pics look like that or aged Olympic White, which started in the 60's? Both are very stark white. Its the clear nitro topcoat that yellows with age and light exposure as Erv said. The aging is also like Vintage White (a much more modern Fender opaque color) that looks similar but maybe a bit more yellowed.

You may be able to get a custom repro waterside logo decal made for it, but it will be expensive! The yellowing of the decal will be nearly impossible to recreate unless its in the decal itself as a background color. You would need to apply it between clear coats and then carefully sand smooth before a final clear coat and buffing.

Since the value of an original finish is already gone you may as well do whatever you really like! It can always be refinished again, especially to opaque white. There's some nice grain on it. Its probably alder and looks like two pieces. Blond is off-white enough to look aged, even without any amber tinting as Erv suggests, but thin translucent finishes really look best on ash. With enough coats though, Blond will become opaque. Erv did a wonderful job on his!

For a solid color though, I also really love the Surf and Seafoam colors of the 60's. I recently did a sunburst strat over in Seaside (looks like aged Seafoam), then sanded a small worn area off to reveal the burst underneath. It looks incredibly awesome! A couple of guitarists actually thought it was a real Custom Shop relic. I just had to laugh and let the cat out of the bag. No, just a cheap stock Squier, an aged MIM neck and a can of Krylon and Deft clear from Home Depot.

Good luck on whatever you decide, and post some pics when its done!

[Tom Pettingill]

... Since the value of an original finish is already gone you may as well do whatever you really like! ...

That would be my thought too. If the original white is what you want, then thats cool, but if its strictly a value driven decision, then like has been mentioned, there may be more value in something fun and different.