Cat MacKinnon
Friend of Leo's
Here's a little secret: Fender didn't always use the exact color. If the paint supplier was out of the exact color they needed, they'd often just buy the next closest color so they could get guitars shipped out. Using a different color is part of the reason there's so much variation in those classic Fender colors (along with UV exposure and whether or not a clear coat was used, of course.) If you decide to mix it up yourself and it looks "close enough", it is
.As far as Dupli-Color goes, the PerfectMatch acrylic lacquer is great stuff and lots of us have used it successfully. It plays nicely under most nitro clears, and the Dupli-Color color/Minwax nitro clear is a popular combo.
However, PerfectMatch comes with one big caveat: unless you're looking for various shades of black or white, you're pretty much stuck with more modern metallics. They just don't do the classic pastel colors in the PerfectMatch line, period. It sucks for those of us that love those colors, but tis what it is. You can find comparable colors if you want to do Candy Apple Red, Ocean Turquoise Metallic or Lake Placid blue, but you're not going to find Shell Pink, Sonic Blue or any of the other 50's pastels. For that, you're pretty much limited to a custom mix (either yourself or a paint supplier), or ReRanch, Gracey's or Ohio Valley rattlecan nitro.
Note that when most of us talk about Dupli-Color, we're talking about the acrylic lacquer PerfectMatch line, not enamels. Enamels are tricky to work with and just don't lend themselves to guitars very well: they have a very specific recoat window, and they take a long time to dry. Plus, if you screw up one coat, you're more likely to have to strip it all and start from scratch because of the way enamel paint cures; lacquer is much more forgiving and easier to apply. Also, don't mix enamel and lacquer! It can be done under certain circumstances, but it's best to just not risk it.
One more thing about the Dupli-Color PerfectMatch: the colors are fantastic, but the clear sucks for some reason. Most people that have tried it have not had good luck, and it seems to either not dry properly, or dries very soft. That's one of the main reasons people will go with a nitro clear of some sort. And yes, it's usually okay to put nitro lacquer over acrylic lacquer: Fender used to do it all the time and had color codes for both nitro and acrylic. It's always a good idea to paint a small scrap of wood with your finish before spraying a whole body, but it's usually compatible. You don't need to do anything complicated for test scraps: just spray a coat of color, let that dry overnight, then spray a coat of clear over that. You'll know pretty quickly if you're going to have compatibility issues.
