I am hoping that once the weather gets warmer I can spray paint the body of my '65 Strat that was ruined by an "experts" poor restoration attempt-not me.I want to paint her Sonic Blue but whereas I live in Canada I can't order anything in a spray can due to postal and shipping regulations.What I'm going to have to do is go to an auto supply store and buy the paint there.I know that Sonic Blue came from a paint colour offered by the big 3 but don't know which one or what their name was for it.Does anyone know what car company it was and what their colour code or name was for it?It has to be Sonic Blue because that goes along with my plan to collect replicas of all the Beatle guitars.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hi guitslinger: I went on a similar quest a few years ago. I can't help you directly because I couldn't track the color down as an auto-finish, at least in the European paint catalogs. I presume it was local only to North America - though I stand to be corrected.

In the end I chose a 1959 Ford Europe color called Pompadour Blue (I'm old enough to remember seeing cars that color as a kid. ) I didn't choose it to be an exact replica of Sonic Blue - which as we know can look different from time to time in any case. But I think it's kinda pretty.



So supposing you can't find a paint code for the real Sonic Blue to have made up in an auto shop, just take a stroll through some period car paint sample books instead (plenty to be found online) and choose one you like.

Then it's your blue Strat rather than someone else's.

An option, anyhow.

Cheers - C

PS: though with your Beatles tastes I do completely understand why genuine Sonic Blue is on your menu.

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That's mighty close, Ceri (or a dead-nutz exact match)!

Very nice.



Rawk on!

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Ha - nice work, Nevin! Paint code and everything.

With the code an auto paint shop should be able to make it up in any formula you want - acrylic, nitro, whatever.

...Though is there a problem with nitro in Canada? I've read Forum user Twelvebar more than once on that subject.

Oh, and thanks, Arjay!

Cheers - C

EDIT: d'uh - come to think of it, those are Fender's color codes rather than DuPont's, aren't they? So presumably those codes won't work at our local auto paint shop...

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That's great info Nevin,thanks,now I'll be able to get it matched up.Thanks for your input Ceri,Re Pompadour Blue I have an old Corgi Toy diecast model of a British Zephyr Estate Car-Station Wagon here-and it is Pompadour Blue and Navy Blue.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Oh Lord: I'm ashamed to admit I remember the real thing! Help - I feel SO old...

Hey though: Pompadour Blue on the front, a cream binding round the edge and Navy on the sides and back would be a damn fine livery for a Telecaster!

What a great thread this has suddenly become.

BTW: just look at all the other famous colors on Nevin's chart. What a totally crucial chart that is, guitarwise!

Good luck with it, guitslinger - C

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Indeed!

I'd love to build a vintage-spec Strat in every one of those colors. I have several of the metallics covered (CAR, LPB, Firemist Gold) but I've been jonesing recently for a Sea Foam Green '50s hardtail. Someday......



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Sea Foam is an incredible color...I've been Jonesing for a Tele in that color for a long time.

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Current Gear: Ron Kirn Barnbuster Tele,
Marshall: 1971 SuperLead 100>1997 1960-TV, bunch of pedals
and a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe named Veronica

Ceri, since 9/11 it is difficult to say the least, to ship nitrocellulose lacquer across the border with the USA. You need special permits and such. This makes it pretty much impossible for anyone but large companies to afford to do so.

This means we don't have access to premixed aerosols sold by companies like The Guitar Reranch (whose sonic blue is dead on by the way,) or Stew Mac.

There are some companies that do stock Behlen's in aerosol, but where I live you need to be a licensed contractor to buy the spray cans with Nitro lacquer. i can buy the cans of lacquer and spray them with a rig, but not the rattle cans. This might be a regional (provincial,) restriction, i am unsure if that applies to Guitslinger. he lives as far away from me as you can, yet still be in Canada, though I am not as far away from him as can be yet still be in Canada!

I don't know if he wants to just use a period correct colour, or if he wants to do a period correct refinish. If he wants to use the period correct finish then he'll need to use a compressor and guns as his guitar was among the last to use a nitrocellulose colour coat and clear coats. He would then either have to pay for a paint store to mix the colour for him (one by my house will do that with a large variety of media, from Nitro lacquer through modern urethanes, latex house paints etc.) Or he could mix his own colour (this is something I could give him advice on, as Sonic Blue is in fact a colour I have mixed in the past, and I am certain I still have the final recipe.)

Starting in '63-ish Fender started sealing the bodies with Fullerplast. But they didn't switch the top coats to urethanes until 67-68.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Hi Twelvebar, thank you for all of that.

I now completely get the bit about shipping nitro across the border. And just so that I finally have it all crystal clear in my head, in Canada can you go to an auto paint shop and have a color/colour made up as nitro if you want?

In other words, you can still get nitro in Canada, it's just the shipping that's the issue? Or is nitro itself fundamentally hard to find?

Cheers man - C

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I don't think it would be easy to find an auto paint store that still uses Nitro. I can't imagine it's used for much aside from period correct restorations, so you would need to seek out a specialty supplier, and thus incur the associated (over)price of those kinds of places.

i go to a more general kind of paint store not far from my house. they'll mix anything they carry (for a price,) this ranges from your various house paints, latex, water based etc. through various lacquers and urethanes.(this store just gave me the white pigment I needed to make the primer on the stripey strat, when they found out what i was buying supplies for. I had to promise to show the salesman some pictures of it when I am done-I showed him the progress so far--people love guiitar projects, you'd be amazed what people will offer if you do something they think is cool)

This store will use their computer scanner to match paint chips too.

Nitro is pretty easy to find, but only clear. And preloaded into a spray can is rare.it is near impossible to find any premixed colours outside of stuff like behlens amber tinted.

it's pretty easy to make tints and shaders with Nitro so it's no big deal. But unlike products i see available in the USA or the UK you can't just look for an off the shelf spray can.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I like the color blue in any hue :

http://www.primequip.net/products/Proje ... hoices.htm

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Mike that sounds like a Love song.