"Dear Harrods
Too many sparkly green guitars. Could you stock some drab colours, please?
Yours..."

"Dear Harrods
Keep up the good work.
Yours - Fender Custom Shop"

Gosh, I really must pop into Harrods' guitar department again some time. I'll remember to take my sunglasses...

Cheers - C

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bugo wrote:

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.... I can get an orange Tele from Sweetwater but it will cost thousands....

Another wrote: 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. (Harrod's is actually just a General Dept. Store these days)

Has Politics permeated even the World of Fender.. ??

Are we beginning to see Guitar 'Class Envy'.. ??

I'm sure that Fender doesn't choose their colors by merely throwing Darts at a Dartboard... they've been at this now for 66 years, and are sure to have solid Marketing and Sales Data of all sort... they certainly know full well what colors are popular, even to the point of what colors are popular by Region.

The fact that your tastes aren't accommodated likely means that not enough other people share them to cause Fender to react.

Then again, maybe that's why Fender Custom exists... to satisfy those who want something other than the standard Product Line.

Sure, it's for a Price, but there's Truth in the addage: "You gotta Pay to Play".. !!

I'm not saying Color isn't important, but I cannot see foregoing one of the finest, and most Iconic, Guitars out there simply because of Color.

When you're playing, you can't even see the color anyway...

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

I didn't mean any offence by it but the biggest clientele of that place is tourists and rich middle eastern and asian visitors, you can see it as soon as you walk in. The people that would buy a guitar from Harrods in my eyes are probably not dedicated players, I'd imagine a guitarist would rather do their buying from a specialist shop.

I'm not really sure why you're getting at politics here because thats certainly not where I'm taking this

Fender is just playing conservative. They've always been a conservative company, but would some bright colors be too much to ask? I don't want to have to buy a Bullet to get a pastel color. My '50s Classic Series is a nice Daphne Blue, but you can't get that color on a guitar that retails for less than $700.

And I can see the color when I'm playing. The color of the guitar affects the way I play.

You guys get black?! lol

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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

Hi Lightnin MN. Haha - well, I'm not sure about "just", or "these days". Harrods is as it always was, the most expensive department store in the world: their sales pitch is that they can sell you absolutely anything - at a price.

Far as I can see every one of the Fenders in Amerigo's photo is a Custom Shop guitar priced at £2000 / $3300 and up - and that's in their summer sale. Considering their clientele who live in that part of London, what you are seeing in the photo are clearly the bright glittery finishes favoured by Russian oligarchs, Middle Eastern royalty and European tax exiles and their spoilt teenage kids. A little glimpse into other people's lives and tastes.

To be clear, I have no problem with that. It all keeps the wheels a-turnin'.

Cheers - C

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Ceri

I didn't see any sales rep - they looked like an exhibition. And yes, they were all top-notch Custom Shop instruments. Half of them with Abby handwounds.

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."

An exhibition - with price tags!

When were you in town, by the way, David? Another time if you feel like it gissa shout and it would be a pleasure to buy you a beer or some such.

Cheers - C

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damn you Mr. Ceri. it's only 2 pm, i'm at work, and thanx to you, i'm already craving a beer.

Mmmmm - beer...



Cheers - C

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It was in January ... we went to see my wife's sister, she's living in Hackney. I'll ring you up next time, thanks!

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."

+100

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

DRAB?

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

I suppose you can always get a couple cans of Krylon if you don't like the colour of your guitar. But of course, your results could vary with that one. I suppose the thing about classic colours and designs is that they have a tendency to age better. That neon pink BC Rich someone bought in their hair metal heyday (I hope that never comes back in full force) might not fair so well if they want to get rid of it down the road.

Drab? No.

Boring? Yes

Redundant? Very much so.

I don't understand the pushback by some in this thread at the notion of having a reasonable selection of guitars that aren't the same 4 or 5 colors. If Fender is consistently using these colors, it doesn't necessarily mean these are the most desired colors. My wager is on the safety of the sale, just like it's safer for Hollywood to fund a tried formula for creating movies. It's safer to create Transformers 9, Spider Man 12, X-Men 26 (you get the idea) than it would to take the risk at funding a movie that actually has an interesting plot. Why would the same, rehashed movie be a safer bet than something interesting? Because people are sheep. Change, as interesting or beneficial as it may be, is often met with resistance, just as this thread has proven.

Oh, btw... this paradigm of either:

a) the same 4 or 5 colors

or

b) neon and glitter

is nonsense. I know the OP mentioned "drab", but is that really the contention? It seems to be between those clinging to a few colors, and those who would like to see some degree of changing it up. Again, it doesn't have to be neon and glitter to not use the same handful of colors.