Here's the story:
I have a 1957 Stratocaster that I got in 1969. It came to me white, with a 1964 rosewood neck. At the time, I was as unaware as most folks about the future, so in '73 I stripped off the white paint to make it natural. Under the white refin was a dark turquoise blue solid color, some of which still remains on the neck plate. Here are some pictures of the neck plate:
http://s1136.photobucket.com/albums/n48 ... storation/

So, in the '80's, I was at a tower Records store in Denver, and saw a book entitled "The Blue Book Of Vintage Guitars". This was a paperback-style book, maybe 6"x9" or so, and about an inch thick. Not a coffee table book. It had a lot of beautiful color plates of nice old guitars, one of which was a beat-up 1957 Stratocaster. I recognized the color right away! It was the same as mine! The caption read something like "you'd think that because of it's condition, this guitar would not be very valuable, but since Fender only painted 7 in this color, it is extremely rare". I could see better in those days, and I could read the serial number, which was only one or two numbers away from my guitar. I have no idea how accurate the info in the book is, but it is definitely the right color. I am desperately searching for someone who has a copy of this book, and would be willing to sell me the book, take a big deposit for it's safe return, or be able to send me a high-res scan of the photo to help in my restoration.
I have done an incredible amount of paint research over the past 35 years because I used to operate a vintage restoration service in Denver. This is only to say that I'm certain it is not Lake Placid Blue or any of the other regular Custom Colors Fender offered. Originally, I worked with a Dupont employee who had archival paint catalogs with the paint chips, or "compressed color chips", and I was able to find and reproduce all of the Fender colors. Here's a picture of the sticks I dunked in the cans to show customers what the colors looked like. I had some others done with tinted clear to show how yellowed lacquer changes the color.http://s1136.photobucket.com/albums/n48 ... r%20wheel/
It was pretty easy with the advent of the internet to find a couple serious contenders for the color I'm seeking. They are '56 and '57 colors, and are Indian Turquoise, Twilight Turquoise and Tropical turquoise. So I'm pretty close to getting it done, but I would love to see that photo again.
I developed my own "relicing" techniques back in the early '80's to be able to make the re-fins I did match the condition of the neck and hardware, so I have the skills and equipment to make this happen, even without the photo, but I'd really like to see that picture...
P.S.: obviously, I have done exhaustive Google searches on this book, but found nada. So I thought this forum would be a good resource.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

I'm sure you've already covered these, but just in case, try several large bookstores and ask them to look up that book. I've found the blue book of electric guitars, which is likely not what you're looking for.

Also, try your local library.

Lastly, check a vintage bookstore. They would have some of the best methods to find an out of print book, since they make a living doing that.

Good luck. Sounds like a great guitar to be bringing back to what it was born as.

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2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)

Sorry, I don't know about that book, but have you seen

this guitar

at Dave's Guitar (Lacrosse, WI)?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

WOW! That is very cool!! I am not certain about the color, but the S.N. is close to mine. It's hard to be sure about photos when the differences are subtle, but the color in the picture looks like it is more green than mine. He calls it "Taos Turquoise", which is a real DuPont color, but since it was not on a fender color chart in the '50's, how do we know that was the name? Is this name based on the reissue/ Custom Shop color, or because there is some archival information I haven't seen? I remember the color in the book I'm seeking as more of a match to what is on my heel plate, but we all know about memories, so maybe you've got it!
Click on this link to see Tropical Turquoise, which is what I think it is. Maybe.
http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibra ... t-pg01.jpg

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

I've got the Blue Book of Guitars (personally signed by the egocentric editor, no less) - page 37 of the color shots shows the 1957 Fender Stratocaster - Ser # 920869 - Dupont prototype color - one of only 4 known to exist in this color, worn down to the white base coat in many areas.

Page 35 of the book shows a 1965 Stratocaster in Ocean Turquoise, custom color finish. This is a darker, totally different color than the prototype color.

The Chevy 1957 Tropical Turquiose looks close, but not quite, though it can be differences in computer image, printed page, etc. Seems unlikely that a "prototype" color would be found in a regular color chip listing, though.

Good luck. It's anybody's guess.

P.S. The guitar shown on Dave's Guitars site seems to be the very same guitar in the Blue Book - same serial number, less the leading 9, and the exact same wear and tear, especially on the fret board. Interesting. Wonder where he got the color name?

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

I guess I do have the book in question -- mine is the 5th edition (1998) "Blue Book of Electric Guitars." There is Dave's guitar on page 53 (with the serial number typo-no way was there a 9 first digit in 1957). It doesn't mention the color's name.

I don't know about the name of the color of Dave's guitar, but some time ago (a year at least) he had Fender make him some reissues in that color, so I would bet Dave and Fender have the color name correct. These reissues come up for resale from time to time.

I would call Dave and talk to him about it!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

That Strat looks like the same guitar depicted on The Fender Forum home page -- indentical wear pattern on the fretboard and everything.

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

Can either of you post a scan of that page? If it is the same guitar and text that I remember, I could get that publishing info and it would help me in finding my own copy. Thanks!

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

Well, I was close on my memory of the S.N...-20869 on the Taos, and -20725 on mine. Close enough to be in the same batch of 4, given the way the plates were chosen. I think it's funny how memory can drift from reality to desire over time...I was sure it was a -207xx number. Anyway, you guys have gotten me closer to the finished resto than I've gotten over the past ten years. Thank you thank you thank you!!


When I have posted pics of my Strat Plus here, the color (Bahama Green) looks brighter than the actual guitar does in person. When people inquire, they ask if it is Taos Turquoise. So it may be the same with all the Taos Turquoise guitars I am seeing. Maybe that is the original color of my '57.
I didn't think Taos Turquoise was the color; it looks too green. But the paint on my plate is what I'm going by, and I'd need to see the real paint in person. I hope to get it down to two possibilities. I don't want to buy more than two quarts, since I'm only going to use a small amount of paint.



I'm assuming that the prototype color was a regular off-the-shelf DuPont Automotive color, because all the others were, with the exception of a few off the wall colors, like gold flake. I like to imagine that they walked out in the parking lot after work one day, and saw some employee's new '57 Chevy. "Let's paint a few that color". I wonder if they were making a few special guitars for an upcoming trade show? The fact that the paint is stuck on my heel plate means it was assembled before the paint was completely cured, so there was a rush for some reason. Of course it can only be speculation...too bad we all can't find out the details on the construction of our old guitars.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

If you have a sufficiently-sized sample of the uncorrupted color available on the back of the neck plate you might try comparing that to Munsell's color-scale chart then cross-referencing that sample chip to the then-available automotive paints of 1957.

HTH

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

if anybody could answer these questions in great detail
it would be george gruhn of gruhn guitars in nashville.
thats who fender would send him to, as i too was once sent.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Okay, so now, instead of thinking about the job at hand, I've had about 6 hours to think about this while I was playing a gig tonight...so let me get this straight...the guitar that orvilleowner posted from Dave's has the same s.n. and the same wear pattern as the one in the *&%^$#@$^ book that I have been trying to get a hold of for 20 some years? And crguitarman looks in his book and says yep, it has the same s.n. as Dave's, same wear...looks like the same guitar. So all I have to do is call Dave and he actually has that guitar? I... am.....words fail me. Unbelievable. I love the internet. And yes, I would marry it.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

I sent an email to Dave, who very graciously invited me to come to LaCrosse and see the Stratocaster. I was hoping to find, at best, a copy of the book I've been seeking for 20 years. Now I have access to the actual guitar that was in that book! It can't get better than that for a correct restoration. I'm a happy guy! Thank you to orvilleowner and CRGuitarman for your comments, links and suggestions that led me to this. I hope to get up there in June, and will post some pics of the resto process as it progresses.

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"There's an arse for every chair"

5 guitars
7 amps
4 dogs

You are welcome. Your guitar's story reminded me of Dave's turquoise '57 guitar, so I put up that link to it. I wasn't aware that Dave's '57 was the one in that Blue Book. That proves that it's a small world.

As I said above, Dave had Fender make a small run of guitars in that color for his store. Of course, restoring yours to that color would be better than buying a recent reissue in that color.

I'm sure you'll let us know how your trip goes.

PS. You ought to ask Dave about the Clay Dots ... what exactly are they?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.