I have been told that Fender is using automotive paint for their guitars. What manufacturer makes the new 2012 Jade Pearl Metallic paint for them? Does anyone know the details, as far as if its a Ford or Chevy color, etc., what paint code is it, etc? Any help is appreciated.

In the Leo Fender area , Fender use automotive paint , but today I guess not . Today automotive paint are not the same and they are many kind.

On one of the You Tube videos of the 2012 Vistor Center, they mentioned that they still use automotive paint... I'll have to go find it and post the link. Does anyone know for sure?????? Thanks.

Hi debraehart: yes Fender used automotive paint in the early days. I seem to recall George Fullerton saying they'd step across the road to a General Motors paint supplier and purchase DuPont Duco (nitrocellulose) and Lucite (acrylic) car paints for their "custom" colours. Though they sometimes bought paint from other makers too, which leads to all kinds of confusion ID'ing what's on old instruments.

Rather than me type out a vast essay about it here you can find out all about it on this page:

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html

As regards what they use these days: as we know, Fender guitars are all finished with either nitrocellulose, polyurethane or polyester. Nitro used to be used on cars but not since the early '70s (save a few specialist applications). Car paint these days tends to be acrylic, using either acetone or nowadays more commonly water as a solvent.

All paint is made from three elements: pigment (the colour), binder (cellulose, acrylic, or whatever), and a solvent (acetone, spirit, water, etc). Regardless the formulation the pigment element stays the same. So you can have Fiesta Red nitro, or acrylic, or polyester or polyurethane. Or household emulsion, for that matter.

The paint may or may not be in the same formulation as used on cars, but it can still be the same colour.

None of which helps you find your Jade Pearl Metallic down at your local auto paint shop, which is of course why you really asked the question. Not since the 1950s have Fender quoted paint codes for their colours, and that's what you'd need to order it from a supplier.

However, the likelihood (though not certainty) is that Fender chose their colour from a recent range offered from one of the main paint makers - DuPont, PPG, Valspar or whoever - so if you go looking through their charts you may well find it there. Under a different name, of course - Jade Pearl Metallic is probably (though not certainly) Fender's own name for that colour. Or you could simply go into an automotive paint shop and show them a photo of the finish you are trying to reproduce: sometimes you get a knowledgeable, helpful person and sometimes you don't.

Or you can do what I do and just keep your eyes open as you drive around. Sometimes you see a dead ringer for a guitar colour drive right past you, and once you note the make and model of the car it's easy to ID the colour. Jade Green Metallic looks a bit like Toyota's Cypress, just for example. Or is it Aloe Green? Or Deep Peridot? Or... Or...

Try playing with the "Find a Color" button on this page. Hours of pointless fun, at the very least:

http://www.ppg.com/coatings/refinish/en ... intIt.aspx

None of which really gives you exactly what you want, I know. But it's the best we can probably do: as far as we know Fender don't give out commercially sensitive information about their paint mixes, since they obviously want you to buy their guitar, not paint your own.

Cheers - C

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Thanks!

The new Jade Pearl Metallic looks just like that available on the 69 Mustangs called Silver Jade Dupont 4975L/D

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Thomas Jefferson

I just bought a litre of a Renault cellulose colour for my project. Funny thing was they couldn't sell it to me if it was for a car.

It's interesting how French car makers are currently very fond of pastel metallic colours that I personally think look horrible on vehicles - but might look cool on guitars.

I really like the vintage block colours they're putting on the new Fiat 500s too. Lotta good retro vibe guitar colours to be found there...

Cheers - C

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I'm not convinced that's the same as Fender's Jade Pearl Metallic - but it looks a very cool colour for a guitar anyhow! Tasty.



Cheers - C

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This is the colour. I saw it at a roundabout and had to go all the way round to chase the car to find out what it was

Haha!

Horrible car - neat colour for a guitar!

Cheers - C

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That's a Renault..... driving that I wouldn't be surprised to be called an " Abruti "

" Quelle crotte ".....

The color..... MEH

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

But to get back on topic.....I'll go for the following colors on the next Stratocaster

Imola Yellow.....



Dolphin Grey....



and another Imola Yellow....



All Audi defined colors but....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

The 69 Mustang color is a bit darker and more vibrant. Looks cool, just isn't the same.

That's a gorgeous hunk of vintage iron, Ceri!



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