Was White Blonde a Custom Color back in the 50s?

[lpthomas]

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!

[DanTheBluesMan]

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.

[S. Cane]

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.

[S. Cane]

Found it:

https://www.thefenderforum.com/forum...=killer+thread

[S. Cane]

Here's some other cool source:

http://www.guitarhq.com/fenderc.html

[Cogs]

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

[Cogs]

Here's some other cool source:

http://www.guitarhq.com/fenderc.html

btw, once I built a Tele from scratch using a nice slab of ash. I used the formula provided on that website & NAILED IT.

[S. Cane]

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.

[Cogs]

[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.

[lpthomas]

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.

[S. Cane]

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.

[S. Cane]

Very nice!

[Cogs]

It looked great. Weighed a ton, though

[Jeffp]

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!

[S. Cane]

It looked great. Weighed a ton, though

Teles and Lesters should, in my book

[OldStrummer]

It looked great. Weighed a ton, though

Teles and Lesters should, in my book

Not in my book. I love the weight and feel (and looks) of my 2016 Magnificent Seven White Ash Telecaster (6 pounds, 7 ounces).

[Cogs]

Teles and Lesters should, in my book

Not in my book. I love the weight and feel (and looks) of my 2016 Magnificent Seven White Ash Telecaster (6 pounds, 7 ounces).

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

[Cogs]

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!

[S. Cane]

Maybe I'm just weird but I like my strats light and teles heavy. Go figure.

[Don]

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!

[DanTheBluesMan]

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.

[Cogs]

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