All the standard Fender colours were printed in Frontline magazine when they regularly put them out and a lot of the colours were far from drab.

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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.

This is a pic I took @ Harrods London:



Guess it depends on the store which colors they buy.

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Harrods being very much a boutique shop to rich people who probably won't actually play the instrument, I understand their reasoning for stocking bright colours.

However as I think Magnatone touched on earlier, shops like my local one in town only have a limited budget and shop space to stock, therefore they have to stock what will sell, and that mostly means middle aged professionals in this town as they are the ones with the disposable income for it, and they are after the more traditional sunbursts and low key colours.
(Of course other locations will vary on target audience.)

As much as I wish it wasn't true it doesn't make good sense to stock your shop for 24 year old ex raving drug users like myself

A beautiful woman doesn't have to wear a shimmering sequined gown to get attention--a well-tailored little black dress will do.

Now substitute "woman" with "Fender guitar"...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I worked for a Chrysler/Dodge dealer in the 60's and we always laughed come the end of the model year. They would take all the remaining stuff seats, carpets, vinyl roofs, etc. and build cars I remember us receiving some barf green cars with blue vinyl tops and three speed shifters on the floor along with other oddities. You know what?, they all sold.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

I dunno...

Nothing Drab about my CAR FSR Am. Vin. '57 Stratocaster Ltd. Ed. -





I love the color !!

Also paired it with a Black/Rosso (interior) Italia Leather Strap and it's an amazing combo !

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Fiesta Red isn't very drab looking to me...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Even if Fender yielded to all the requests for predominantly pastel and metallic colors, there would be yet another contingency of players poised to complain about the line no longer having any inherent dignity because of it. Further, there's always been a huge disparity between who wants to SEE certain colors on certain instruments vs. those who will actually BUY them.

"You can please some of the people..."

As always, the above is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

@Martian: I sometimes wonder if there is a relation between color and price. Seems that Fiesta is more of a Squier color now? Have you seen a non-CS Daphne? Or a Fiesta done in nitro lacquer?

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

I mentioned Candy Apple Red and Lake Placid Blue as two exceptions, even though they aren't as bright as say Fiesta Red or Daphne Blue. The truth is that the Fender section of a guitar store is mostly drab colors. I want an orange, purple, or medium green Jag or Jazzmaster. But I can't get one. I can get an orange Tele from Sweetwater but it will cost thousands. Why not an orange Mexican Standard? Would it hurt to brighten up the colors a bit for these dark days we are in?

There is much truth here, but, If Fender wants anymore of my money, I am not buying anymore sunburst, black, red or any of the same old same old colors. I have them all ready.

You think you've got it bad? Trying being a bassist.

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http://www.reverbnation.com/casanovafrankensteinandthevoodoomachine
https://www.facebook.com/CFandtheVM

2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

The way I figure it, the flashier colors are put on a given manufacturer's bottom feeders in order to reel in younger and/or new players. Also, these targets have no conception of 'B' quality instruments.

As to your questions on Daphne and Fiesta, yes, on Pre-CBS Fenders.

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You dig?

Hm: I was about to mention the AVRI in Fiesta, but just went to check the product page and - OMG, what happened to all the nice "custom" colours in the Vintage range?!! Nowadays, black, white or sunburst: that's ya lot. Yikes!

Oh well, there's always CIJ Strats...

Great colours on the EJ Sigs, too.

Cheers - C

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There will always be black, white, gray, and sunburst Fenders for that crowd. It's those who want brighter colors who are left out.