Tele Colour Help: What kind of white is this?

[j. hunter]

Hello folks! As you can see, I'm new around here. I was hoping to draw on some of your collective wisdom, though.

I have a serious hankering for an american standard tele, but I have two problems to overcome: The first is that they don't seem to make them in the colour I want anymore <sigh>...but there's always ebay. The second problem is that I don't know what colour it is that I'm looking for. I've given up trying to figure out what it is. Olympic White? Vintage White? Blond White? Arctic White. White, White, Spam, Baked Beans, Spam and White? I give up, but I figured this would be the best place to ask. This is it:



Thanks everyone!

J.

[Cixelsyd]

I can't be certain as my monitor is really screwed up atm, but my best guess would be arctic white?

[boris bubbanov]

Hello, J!

That is "Vintage White" and it is almost a pale soft yellow to some folks' eyes.

That was an available color for the "American Series" Teles (2000-2007) and I remember seeing more of them back around 2004-2006. Folks have started calling this model "American Standard" but the correct name was American Series and the 2006 Fender Frontline magazine reminds us of this.

[Telemarkman]

Welcome to the forum!

Boris is right! (As a matter of fact he often is ).

I had the exact same guitar, a 2004 model AmSe, but in real life it looked much more yellow (like butter) than this photo. In fact I wouldn't call it white at all.

Both my 60's Classic in Olympic White and my friend's Squier Affinity in Arctic White are much whiter than the Vintage White.

[Cixelsyd]

Oops! Sorry. I didn't mean to give the wrong info.
Time to get my monitor calibrated... Seriously...

[jazztele]

i think it would be helpful to have a Fender whites comparison chart on this page somewhere...like "Vintage White= about the color of a stick of butter"

of course, this would only help on modern fender whites that haven't been treated to smoke and aging...

[Mark Davis]

Artic White is like your refridgerator Vintage White like the guitar in the pic has some yelow to it.

[KevinB]

There are three Fender whites. From Fender's website...



I have a '96 PBass in Vintage White (aka banana pudding yellow) and while it has darkened a little over time, the last example above does seem a little dark to me.

[Cixelsyd]

Ok, something is definitely wrong. Because Artic White and Vintage White look the same to me :(

[daddyopapa]

Originally Posted by Cixelsyd

Ok, something is definitely wrong. Because Artic White and Vintage White look the same to me :(

There must be something wrong with your computer because all 3 of those pics are very different whites. And MIM and MIA Arctic white are different from each other, too, aren't they?

[JimmyJam]

Originally Posted by Cixelsyd

Ok, something is definitely wrong. Because Artic White and Vintage White look the same to me :(

Check your monitor or video settings. That might help.. you may need to set it back to default settings.

This looks vintage white to me.. but there is also Mary Kay white to be considered.

[Telemarkman]

The Arctic White on my friend's Squier Affinity (Crafted in China) and the Olympic White on my 60's Classic (Made in Mexico) are very identical. Both look close to the 80 Arctic White on Fender's website, at least on my computer (very slightly creamish).

The Vintage White on my AmSe (Made in America) was typically banana pudding yellow, rather like the one on Fender's website, maybe a little lighter.

And Cixelsyd, you're computer is seriously ill ...

Originally Posted by JimmyJam

This looks vintage white to me.. but there is also Mary Kay white to be considered.

Mary Kay white is quite transparent with more opaque edges. I don't think this finish has ever been offered on the AmSe. The Vintage White has, though.

[KevinB]

I agree. Mary Kay White and White Blond (or any Blond for that matter) is by definition a translucent, rather than an opaque, colour.

In addition Mary Kay is also more of a white burst, and usually comes with gold plated hardware.

[podboy3]

That Olympic White looks almost too white....... I had a few Olympic White Strats and they almost had a vanilla pudding color, Almost between what is shown as Olympic and Arctic White. My Strats all had white pick guards and the guards were all noticeably whiter then the paint.

[BuddyLee]

The OP Tele looks like Arctic White.

Here is my Vintage White '96 Strat.

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by BuddyLee

The OP Tele looks like Arctic White.

On this photo it does, but the AmSe was never offered in Arctic White, only Vintage White.

[Mark Davis]

MIM std in Artic White

[KevinB]

And the MIM Classic 60s in Olympic white...



I really don't think that Fender's website has the colours down that accurately!

[Telemarkman]

Hahaha, big difference!

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by KevinB

I really don't think that Fender's website has the colours down that accurately!

I agree.

Vintage White evolved from a Banana Pudding color on USA 90's guitars into a pale Butter Yellow on the USA mid 2000's guitars. Very different.

Meanwhile, for those of you with Oly White guitars which look like Arctic White and vice versa, those colors have shuttled back in forth in hue many times over the years and depending which brand or model was involved. No strong "stake your life on it" tendencies on those 2. Then factor in whether they had a clear top coat, and if so, what type of clear coat?

[BuddyLee]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Vintage White evolved from a Banana Pudding color on USA 90's guitars into a pale Butter Yellow on the USA mid 2000's guitars. Very different.

That would explain it.

Delicious banana pudding. mmmmmm

I like that butter color Tele a lot too. I want one!

[68 Shovelhead]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

I agree.

Vintage White evolved from a Banana Pudding color on USA 90's guitars into a pale Butter Yellow on the USA mid 2000's guitars. Very different.

Meanwhile, for those of you with Oly White guitars which look like Arctic White and vice versa, those colors have shuttled back in forth in hue many times over the years and depending which brand or model was involved. No strong "stake your life on it" tendencies on those 2. Then factor in whether they had a clear top coat, and if so, what type of clear coat?

I agree, I happen to have a 60's Tele MIM Classic in Oly White and also have a MIM Std Strat in Arctic White, I can assure you they are the same color. But I can beleive there are other examples that would not hold true.

[Maxwell Street]

I'd call it Vintage White

[cherrick]

Here is the Fender Color Chart:
Click Here

Help yourself. Each guitar is clickable so you can get larger images of each color.

[Cixelsyd]

Hooray. New cable + Calibration = Properly functioning monitor

[Travis in BMore]

What about the mint green hue on vintage white?

[vinman]

J. Hunter's pic looks like the color of my friend's tele he got back in like 1969. I wonder what it was called back then. There were no vintage tele's yet.

[RodeoTex]

Fender's colors have not been too reliable from year to year. Artic white and Olympic white have actually changed places over the years adding to the confusion. Their Mary Kays and vintages whites have so much in common that Fender has also used them interchangable over the last few years.

Personally, I'd call that guitar close to Olympic and just leave it at that. YMMV, FWIW and all that of course.

[Travis in BMore]

Yes, and the confusion is truly confusing....on purpose.

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

Fender's colors have not been too reliable from year to year. Artic white and Olympic white have actually changed places over the years adding to the confusion.

Agreed!

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

Their Mary Kays and vintages whites have so much in common that Fender has also used them interchangable over the last few years.

But Mary Kay surely is transparent (white blond) with more opaque edges like a white burst, while Vintage White is opaque, like a yellowed OW.

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

Personally, I'd call that guitar close to Olympic and just leave it at that. YMMV, FWIW and all that of course.

Fender's Frontline catalogs (2005/2006) call it Vintage White, assuming of course this a Series (2000-2008) and not a Standard.

If, on the other hand, the guitar was a pre-2000 Am. Standard, it would've been Olympic White. (Frontline winter '99)