Fender color consistency? Is this all daphne blue?

[etype]

I have been looking for a Duo-sonic and a few daphne blue ones caught my eye.

This one I like:

This one, not so much.

They are both 2017 editions in daphne blue. In the same room would they look the same? Or does Fender color vary that much over a model year?

 

[Boreas]

Hard to tell without them being side-by-side in the same light. Cameras are not as good as the eye because ambient lighting can throw colors way off - especially blues. Note the "purple/blue-tinted" pickup covers on the bottom photo.

 

[Killing Floor]

Daphne and sonic and Olympic white vary a ton at Fender. This is 2020 Daphne.

 

[etype]

Daphne and sonic and Olympic white vary a ton at Fender. This is 2020 Daphne.
View attachment 960467

That's a beautiful color! Thanks for posting a pic!

 

[DougM]

Camera's white balance isn't to be trusted. You have to see them in person to be sure. However, Fender is known for using different shades of some colors and calling them all the same color. They seem to favor faded and yellowed versions of custom colors instead of what they actually looked like when new in the 60s. I complain about this so much that even I'm getting tired of it. Here's how much darker LPB and Daphne looked like in reality back then, 'cause these are real 1965 guitars that haven't faded over the years like many have

 

[moosie]

Daphne and sonic and Olympic white vary a ton at Fender. This is 2020 Daphne.
View attachment 960467

Oh, I don't care for that. Each to their own color, but jeez, words have meaning, Fender! And the word for that is not 'daphne'.


Now, this is daphne. It's an MJT body that unsurprisingly I ordered to be painted 'daphne blue'. That lighting is flattering in that it hides the slight yellowed look they use to imply age. But this is the general look, regardless of lighting. I call it robin's egg blue.

This is my build, painted with a Stewmac rattle can that says "Sonic Blue". The natural lighting is pretty accurate here. To my eye, it's a bit in between Sonic and Daphne. A lot of the Fender Sonic I see is so washed out looking. I like this, though.

 

[middy]

Olympic white is the worst, it can be anywhere from yellowish to stark white to bluish white (the original color).

 

[moosie]

Olympic white is the worst, it can be anywhere from yellowish to stark white to bluish white (the original color).

Well, with that color, it's all about the clear coat. Same as with other colors, but a white (blue-white) background simply cannot save the clear from looking like custard and eventually banana pudding.

I like the Oly where it's white, but the painter ate something blue for lunch. Just a bit of it. Also dig the custard, if only it would stop there...

 

[middy]

Well, with that color, it's all about the clear coat. Same as with other colors, but a white (blue-white) background simply cannot save the clear from looking like custard and eventually banana pudding.

I like the Oly where it's white, but the painter ate something blue for lunch. Just a bit of it. Also dig the custard, if only it would stop there...

True, but some of the modern Squiers and Fenders “Olympic white” is yellowish even under the clear coat.

 

[moosie]

True, but some of the modern Squiers and Fenders “Olympic white” is yellowish even under the clear coat.

Yeah I guess they think people associate the aged look with "correct", and who wants to wait... ah well.

I would have loved to see how Fender color history differed if they had had CAB lacquer available back then. Essentially non-yellowing nitro. I use it whenever feasible. It still melts in like nitro.

 

[etype]

Oh, I don't care for that. Each to their own color, but jeez, words have meaning, Fender! And the word for that is not 'daphne'.


Now, this is daphne. It's an MJT body that unsurprisingly I ordered to be painted 'daphne blue'. That lighting is flattering in that it hides the slight yellowed look they use to imply age. But this is the general look, regardless of lighting. I call it robin's egg blue.

View attachment 960500


This is my build, painted with a Stewmac rattle can that says "Sonic Blue". The natural lighting is pretty accurate here. To my eye, it's a bit in between Sonic and Daphne. A lot of the Fender Sonic I see is so washed out looking. I like this, though.

View attachment 960506

I love these too! Neither one though is as saturated at the one in the OP. I think what I really want is Sonic Blue, but they have not done that for the Duo-sonic.

 

[DougM]

Yeah I guess they think people associate the aged look with "correct", and who wants to wait... ah well.

I would have loved to see how Fender color history differed if they had had CAB lacquer available back then. Essentially non-yellowing nitro. I use it whenever feasible. It still melts in like nitro.

I for one, hate the fake aged and yellowed look, as much as I hate relics. Fender Japan doesn't seem to do that, and makes all the classic custom colors in the original non faded/non yellowed hues that we had in the 60s. I see it on Japanese Fenders on Ebay, and they all look so much nicer.