Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
I did some (and probably not enough) research on Custom Colors but cannot figure out what the deal is with Blonde or White Blonde.
First, is it actually called Blonde or White Blond? Or are these two different colors? Or what is sometimes referred to as See Thru Blonde?
Secondly, was White Blonde actually a Custom Color or just something they used on Strats after they started using it for the Tele since 55?
Do we know when the first factory-blonde Strats came out? 57/58 like the ones Gene Vincent and
Johnny Meeks had...
Thanks a lot!
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
there may have been white and butterscotch but everything got discolored so quickly back in the day it's hard to say what was what or what came first.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
As far as I've read about this and asked Fender's crew (when I bought my first Fender I was very into this stuff), Fender's "domestic" paint options back in the the 50's and very early 60's were Sunburst, Blonde, and a bit later Candy Apple Red, so yes, blond was a color you could order or have available back then.
All other colors originated directly from the cars of the time, and most of these colors were from General Motor's and Ford's cars.
Anyway, both Fender and Gibson would always do pretty much whatever the customer ordered, paying a plus, of course. Especially Fender back in the early times.
I've opened a thread about Fender's custom colors with lots of cool images, I'll try to find it and link you to it.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
I have a really old book called Coloring, Finishing, & Painting Wood by Newell & Holtrop (1961). There is a chapter devoted to this finish we recognize as "blonde". It was definitely a thing in the '50s. Often called "picked" or "limed" finish. Depending on the wood, it is also referred to as "bleached" & "platinum".
Technically not a custom color. But at some point any Fender that wasn't sunburst was considered a custom color by most in the vintage guitar community
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
btw, once I built a Tele from scratch using a nice slab of ash. I used the formula provided on that website & NAILED IT.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
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Originally Posted by
Cogs
Technically not a custom color. But at some point any Fender that wasn't sunburst was considered a custom color by most in the vintage guitar community
Exactly! Even black.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Wow, thank you all! These are indeed great resources. The best car-guitar comparison I‘ve seen so far. Really tells the story of these custom colors.
I came across this article which mentions Blond as a kind-of custom color coming from the Telecaster. http://www.vintageguitar.com/24640/f...-in-the-1960s/
So that fits right with what you said, Sergio, that it was an in-house custom color at least on a Strat.
Really interesting stuff with these colors. As much as we‘d probably like to have a definitive chart representing everything that actually was done back in the day, it‘s more fun the way is.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
I forgot I had an e-book copy of Tony Bacon‘s The Stratocaster Guitart book.
Regarding the 1958/59 catalogue, he writes:
„And one fact in particular, tucked alongside a snap of a Blond Strat, might have cought your eye: ‚The Stratocaster is available in Custom Colors or Blond finish at an additional 5% cost.‘“
Man, I’m so late to the party, but I just love this early Fender stuff.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lpthomas
Wow, thank you all! These are indeed great resources. The best car-guitar comparison I‘ve seen so far. Really tells the story of these custom colors.
I came across this article which mentions Blond as a kind-of custom color coming from the Telecaster.
http://www.vintageguitar.com/24640/f...-in-the-1960s/
So that fits right with what you said, Sergio, that it was an in-house custom color at least on a Strat.
Really interesting stuff with these colors. As much as we‘d probably like to have a definitive chart representing everything that actually was done back in the day, it‘s more fun the way is.
Yes, as a matter of fact, most of these car-paint custom colors were so frequently produced that they were like "custom pero no mucho", I mean, they were almost like standard colors. Fender never really made a point of having "stock" colors, they always made the guitars in many colors, it was part of the company's style.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cogs
Very nice!
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
It looked great. Weighed a ton, though
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
interesting subject! I love all the colors including the white blonde! And thanks Sergio for the old thread! Good info, and great reading material! I've never seen anything like that before!
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
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Originally Posted by
Cogs
It looked great. Weighed a ton, though
Teles and Lesters should, in my book :yah:
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cogs
It looked great. Weighed a ton, though
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
Teles and Lesters should, in my book :yah:
Not in my book. I love the weight and feel (and looks) of my 2016 Magnificent Seven White Ash Telecaster (6 pounds, 7 ounces).
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
Teles and Lesters should, in my book :yah:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OldStrummer
I like them light, too. A friend of mine recently bought a '64 RI Tele that can't be more than 6 & 1/2 pounds. As he put it, "the best ones have a lot of air in them" LOL
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
Very nice!
Thanks for saying so. I'd like to try again w/a lightweight Strat or Tele body from USACG, but I'm afraid to find out that the finish turned out so good by accident!
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Maybe I'm just weird but I like my strats light and teles heavy. Go figure.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
Maybe I'm just weird but I like my strats light and teles heavy. Go figure.
My Tele barely weighs 6-1/2 pounds. I love it!
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
I had a Nash T-63 that weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces. sold it to buy an even lighter strat hardtail. but I wish I still had that tele. Unfortunately Nash and Dano both took off just after I sold mine and now they're even more expensive than USA fenders. The light Classic Vibes were apparently only in the early years of the run and now they routinely run well north of 8 pounds, like my avatar at 8 pounds 8 ounces. Still light by comparison to every fender I've owned in the '70s, '80s and '90s when the light ones were like hens' teeth.
Once I get squared away with the strat and the pickup situation and get my bass assembled, I'll turn my attention to getting a lightweight tele body. That's about the only way I'll ever get one under 7 pounds without paying over 2 grand for it.
Re: Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
Maybe I'm just weird but I like my strats light and teles heavy. Go figure.
It's all personal taste, imo. I know folks that want a Les Paul to be around 10 lbs! I think that heavier guitars sound "tight & focused", & for a lot of modern/rock that's what you want
