Cool sparkle or metallic finishes?

Hodgo88

Tele-Afflicted
Ad Free Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Posts
1,311
Location
Eastern Oregon
I just got my finished shot from Marty Bell, so soon I will have a sparkly guitar to show off too!

IMG_7122 (1).jpeg
 

ping-ping-clicka

Doctor of Teleocity
Ad Free Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Posts
10,137
Location
left coast
I have a guy who does refinishes and charges a flat fee regardless of how weird and intricate is the work. He seems quite keen on sparkle finishes and my first experience with him doing a holoburst strat was a delight. I'm ok with other options like regular metallics and just cool/unusual colours. Olympic White looks great but ultimately not too interesting for him and could be bought more cheaply from a factory.

I'm now thinking of sending in a tele body. It won't be a very traditionalist instrument. I'm ok with it being a bit loud and gaudy! It's a MIM body, likely to be used in a H-S setup (or a miniH-S?). Either or full rosewood or a very nice birdseye maple neck is available but could potentially source something else

Options that I keep thinking about: 3 (or maybe 2?) tone flake sunburst, surfburst, and maybe one of those Novo-like finishes where you can see a bit of the wood gain (though not sure alder has as much of a pattern). Any advice and cool options appreciated!
 

naneek

Tele-Holic
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Posts
867
Location
PNW
advice and cool options appreciated!
my all time favorite metallic sparkle finish is fender carribean mist. it's a fine metal flake deep blue-green finish that flip-flops between blue and green. I used to have a 1994 anniversary strat in carribean mist and it was really beautiful.

Fender hasn't made that color in years. I would go for carribean mist. Maybe with a more intense metal flake than the original fender color.

It could look nice as a burst with a metallic blue, but the color is so deep and complex, it would probably be best on its own.

Here are a few photos from the internet to show how the color changes depending on the light:
blue-green
gl5mW4H.jpeg

green
345668-SH-167-1567%20(8).JPG

blue
pl8bqzsjoqeicfilpi9h.jpg

surf / seafoam
IMG_9474_240d1b1c-af54-4acc-b3b0-c2de76b04255.jpg

and back to green
img-3958.jpg

these are all the same paint color, just different angles and lighting
 
Last edited:

ping-ping-clicka

Doctor of Teleocity
Ad Free Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Posts
10,137
Location
left coast
I have a guy who does refinishes and charges a flat fee regardless of how weird and intricate is the work. He seems quite keen on sparkle finishes and my first experience with him doing a holoburst strat was a delight. I'm ok with other options like regular metallics and just cool/unusual colours. Olympic White looks great but ultimately not too interesting for him and could be bought more cheaply from a factory.

I'm now thinking of sending in a tele body. It won't be a very traditionalist instrument. I'm ok with it being a bit loud and gaudy! It's a MIM body, likely to be used in a H-S setup (or a miniH-S?). Either or full rosewood or a very nice birdseye maple neck is available but could potentially source something else

Options that I keep thinking about: 3 (or maybe 2?) tone flake sunburst, surfburst, and maybe one of those Novo-like finishes where you can see a bit of the wood gain (though not sure alder has as much of a pattern). Any advice and cool options appreciated!
o.k I really like the topic. or
niucey-nice.jpg
 

tm1303

Tele-Meister
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Posts
215
Age
40
Location
Wales
All three of your original options look lovely but a sparkly Tele is always vastly improved with binding!
 

Attachments

  • fender-magenta-tele-cst-r15209-6-right__wwg.jpg
    fender-magenta-tele-cst-r15209-6-right__wwg.jpg
    227.3 KB · Views: 15
  • Fender-tele-purple-sparkle-cs-2003-cons-full-front.jpg
    Fender-tele-purple-sparkle-cs-2003-cons-full-front.jpg
    70.3 KB · Views: 14
Top