Two questions about the finish on the new American Original '50s Telecaster

Where have you been??


The AV series nailed the look of the originals as far as a production guitar, but it's NOS versus faux tint with faux aging.

 

Funny you should mention LSL...

 

LsL = 2

Fender = 0

 

Sigh....

The AVs did a pretty good job of getting the color of a 52 right, perhaps after it aged just a little (they were nearly white brand new). The old AVRIs were pumpkin. The new AOs are now back to pumpkin.

LSL has always done a good job of these, and they look even better now that the AVs are discontinued.

 

Too bad LsL has gone all shred... It seems like all they're pushing these days are things Suhr has been doing for decades.

But, if it works for them...

 

Because buyers and their preference are all.over the shop. Some want vintage Teles that look like real, new, guitars in 1952, as if they stepped out of Doc Browns Delorean at 51 NAMM and bought .

That would be bodies the colour of banana milkshake and necks so pale they look like raw wood - which is what maple looks like under clear untinted lacquer.

Other people want punkin'casters that look 65 years old with bad fake tan applied. So if you don't like the new ones, there's reams of old 52RIs around in buttermilk with Trump orangeface necks.

Or, heaps of builders that will make you one 'just so'.

There's been so many complaints over the years about ''too orange' or not "orange enough' frankly Fender should paint them all lime green and just flip you all the bird. No-one can say with accuracy what colour they were new either neck or body.

Given the way individual examolex have aged plus refinns plus new builds who could say with authority? No-one .

 

Geez, I just posted this stuff in the grain filler thread, lol.

The original finish materials & info have been published thanks to factory accounting sheets from the early 50's. Thus, you just gotta dig. Pretty simple, necks were clear gloss w/clear sealer, and the bodies were harper's blonde stain over/with white duco primer, natural filler, and under clear gloss.


I'm sure each original body differed a little bit depending on the mix of blond/white & how much was lathered into it but for the most part the color is known and though FMIC didn't do the exact finish they got the color variation right (the colors are a bit different on the new guitars too) on the AV line. Thing about that Harper's blonde is it was all over 50's house decor/cabinets/etc. Pretty much all the materials Leo used were widely available stuff back in the day.

 

I somehow think this whole colour shade thing applies to the Gibson TV Specials of 55 and its various incarnations and reissues.
The grain fillers, undercoats and clear or tinted gloss system was very much like the Fender system.

 

TV yellow was a different issue. They came up with that because gloss white flared on black and white TV under studio lights. Hence Chuck with a TV yellow Byrdland with binding - always been an opaque gloss finish until the faded/studio guitars came out, then Gibson decided to save money with thin finish.

 

It is the color of the AV series different of the AO?
Which is more real?

 

Yes, they are different AV is the most correct.

 

Fender takes a step back to 2012.

 

why?

 

Is this question based on actual guitars seen in the wild or is it based on photographs from the internet?

Digital photographs displayed on monitors or phone screens do not always display colors with 100% accuracy.

 

And even old photos don't.

Kodachrome gives everything a blue cast. Fuji - green. And not only do old pictures fade but the chemicals continue to react to light and atmosphere contamination.

You can't even trust your eyeballs.

 

All AVRI models had a nitro top coat over poly undercoat from 1982 through August 2012. When the most recent models came out in August 2012 they dropped the poly undercoat. So they are taking a step back to 2012 with the finish they are using on the American Originals.

As to why - I would assume it either makes production faster or easier.

 

Always hated the pumpkin colored finish... The AV series finish was a relief and I’m super happy owning one, will never sell it and my absolute no. 1 guitar. Truly wonder why Fender would fall back...