fender's numerous shades of white

[Brad Barker]

hey, guys. i'm graduating college this semester*, and i've decided that my graduation gift is going to be an h-s-s style fender strat.

my favorite look for a fender is maple neck and fretboard, "pure" white body, pearloid pickguard, and gold hardware. looks like a million bucks.

anyway, fender has several shades of "white," and i want to go with the one that would look the most pristine while also going well with a pearloid pickguard.

the candidates, as far as i can tell, are olympic white, arctic white, and (the new?) olympic pearl. i'd always thought that olympic white was a little off-white, but maybe i am misinformed?

i've been to the local guitar store, and they didn't have any of these colors.

anyone with fender experience, help, please.

[KeithBMI]

I've always thought that arctic white was the "most white"

http://www.warmoth.com/paint/paint.c...id_alpinewhite

I think alpine and arctic are the same color.

[Brad Barker]

yeah, from the pics that i've seen on the internet, arctic looks very pristine, but you can never really tell until you've seen it in person. (there are some pics of olympic white guitars that look very similar to some pics of arctic white, and vice versa.)

the olympic pearl also looks very similar to arctic white, but that's only judging from one photo on the fender site.

[tplyons]

Arctic white is whiter. But IIRC it's only available on Mexican instruments, being a polyester finish...doesn't yellow. Oly White has a bit more of a yellow tint and is a polyurethane finish, and will yellow more with age.