Color Inconsistencies (Squier) Common With Retailers??

[DianaBass]

Hi, I lurked on a Squier Bronco Bass in Tahitian Coral for a few months. I tried it out at a few stores when I happened to be in there. Loved the color - it's a coral with a vintage 60s vibe. Imagine my disappointment when I ordered it from my favorite retailer where I have an account. The bass I received is BARBIE PINK! It's like a neon highlighter. Here's a pic of one I saw in GC, and the one I received from another retailer. Is this common? Does Fender/Squier ship different basses from different factories? It was the same price, so it should be the same. I am actually a color expert by profession, and I know the difference. So, is this common??

I'm so embarrassed by this bass. I just wanted a low-priced short scale when I wasn't playing my Fender Aeorodyne. The STORE bass is on the left. My neon pink bass on the right. My bass is also very shiny, as if it were acrylic -- the bass on the left looks more like vintage painted finish.

 

[Minimalist]

I have no actual input other than you should never be embarrassed by your instrument. The ugliest bass is still beter than the prettiest guitar.

 

[jd56hawk]

What makes it so embarrassing?
Other than that, have you seen the inconsistencies in Fender's Sonic Blue basses?

 

[Beagle Bass]

Could it be the difference between basses that were out in the environment versus one that's been kept in its box until ordered?

 

[Nolan Tremblay]

Have you taken it to the store that has another example to compare? If you can and it's different, why not send it back? The photos are hard to judge as there white balance between the photos is unlikely to be the same. I see it all the time in photos I take with a pretty good DSLR - if the white balance is off then the object doesn't look the same in the photo as it does in life.

 

[Bass Viking]

This is why I prefer to buy from a brick and mortar store when I can, you know what you're getting. However, I wouldn't expect the colour to vary like that.

Interestingly, my Squier 50s CV Telecaster has a white blonde finish with a slight pinkish hue to it. I like it but I watched a video review where the guy did not care for it at all.

 

[J Posega]

Lighting and/or photo editing.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

It's always bad when you get something that's not what you ordered.

I have only one bass bought online, a Capri Orange Squier Mustang from CME. Color was good.

Hope you can get it worked out. I know pink is popular with a lot of TB members but I wouldn't want one either.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

What makes it so embarrassing?
Other than that, have you seen the inconsistencies in Fender's Sonic Blue basses?View attachment 5389531

While inconsistencies do occur these two are not good examples.

The one on the left is a FADED Sonic Blue, which is a completely different color that isn't supposed to look like Sonic Blue. The one on the right looked more like Daphne Blue to me so I got curious and googled it. It took me about 30 seconds to find that EXACT bass, listed by a German dealer as a REFINISHED Sonic Blue, which means it's not a Fender finish at all. Either the dealer got it wrong or whoever did the refinish made it slightly too dark.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Hey, Barbie is a big thing now! Start your own barbie-band! excuse to own a pink corvette!

 

[Iridescentone]

Yeah that's pretty fugly. I thought Daisy Rock had the market cornered on little girl guitar designs...guess not. lol

Link Removed

 

[facetsquared]

What makes it so embarrassing?
Other than that, have you seen the inconsistencies in Fender's Sonic Blue basses?View attachment 5389531

Being a pedant, the bass on the left is ‘Faded Sonic Blue’ according to Fender.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I don’t know Fender / Squire’s paint process but colors definitely can vary from one run to another. There's variations in different batches of pigment. Whoever mixed the color, whether at Squire or the paint manufacturer, could have mixed it slightly differently. The color can change depending on the base coat as well. I can’t find it on my phone but at one point I had a picture of three different bodies I had painted with the same blue color coat(s) that ranged from basically purple to a light blue because the base coats were different and the two lighter ones got different numbers of color coats to get good coverage. So, that’s a long way of saying yes, actual colors can vary within what a manufacturer calls the same color depending on a number of factors and that’s not even taking into account if one hung in a store window even briefly or any number of other environmental factors.

 

[direktor]

If you're comparing the picture you took when you saw it in person, vs what you got in the mail, colors of things in phone pics can be and ARE all over the place. I work professionally in video, cell phone pictures in last few years are incredibly inaccurate with color because both Apple and the Android makers are obsessed with 'punching up' colors to make people go wow. It works in reverse sometimes too, depending on lighting conditions...the phone may desaturate some colors depending on what's next to it in the photo.

In this instance, my bet is low CRI fluorescent tube in Guitar Center, vs higher quality lighting in your home. A pink won't pop under fluorescents with bad numbers towards red end of spectrum. This is real. I professionally color correct video (and occasionally stills). A (pink-ish) human can look very different under daylight vs crappy mixed lighting.

It's possible Fender is sloppily mixing paint batches.

But it's way more likely what you're experiencing is either differing lighting spectrums, or reliance upon unreliable cell phone pictures.

 

[JRA]

sorry that you're disappointed, OP, but FWIW: i'd be more concerned about the playability/feel than the color. if that pink one is a superb player i could forgive the color. but if it doesn't play exceptionally well, then i'd be disappointed, too, and the color mismatch would just be added frustration.

good luck sorting it out and finding the right backup for your aerodyne!

 

[SharpCat]

If you're comparing the picture you took when you saw it in person, vs what you got in the mail, colors of things in phone pics can be and ARE all over the place. I work professionally in video, cell phone pictures in last few years are incredibly inaccurate with color because both Apple and the Android makers are obsessed with 'punching up' colors to make people go wow. It works in reverse sometimes too, depending on lighting conditions...the phone may desaturate some colors depending on what's next to it in the photo.

In this instance, my bet is low CRI fluorescent tube in Guitar Center, vs higher quality lighting in your home. A pink won't pop under fluorescents with bad numbers towards red end of spectrum. This is real. I professionally color correct video (and occasionally stills). A (pink-ish) human can look very different under daylight vs crappy mixed lighting.

It's possible Fender is sloppily mixing paint batches.

But it's way more likely what you're experiencing is either differing lighting spectrums, or reliance upon unreliable cell phone pictures.

+1 on all the phone image comments. The other issue is that the lenses and sensors on phone cameras are not consistent color and saturation across the frame in the raw image due to the small size and internally varying impingement angle on the sensor within the hardware. This requires image processing to get an image that doesn't look weird and distorted even before the application of further processing as @direktor describes. When I interacted a bit with the phone camera software team at a prior job, they were incredibly secretive about their algorithms even though they needed my team's help to resolve an issue.

 

[Rabidhamster]

I am actually a color expert by profession, and I know the difference. So, is this common??

Maybe ask the color expert lol Sorry but seriously yea it’s common with any paint. Lighting, surrounding environment, differing photo techniques, etc play a big difference in perception of color. You’ll notice the pickguard and even metal is a “different color” in the photos but that’s all environmental.
Then there comes the slight variance in batches of paint. $50k cars have paint variance, a car that’s three weeks old and needs a paint repair will usually still need blended to match between batches without everyone noticing. I’d expect a squier to tolerate slightly more variance.

 

[poochiecheeks]

Bring the barbie bass to GC and see if it still looks too pink?

 

[jd56hawk]

While inconsistencies do occur these two are not good examples.

The one on the left is a FADED Sonic Blue, which is a completely different color that isn't supposed to look like Sonic Blue. The one on the right looked more like Daphne Blue to me so I got curious and googled it. It took me about 30 seconds to find that EXACT bass, listed by a German dealer as a REFINISHED Sonic Blue, which means it's not a Fender finish at all. Either the dealer got it wrong or whoever did the refinish made it slightly too dark.

The thing is, it's a consistent thing, countless barely blue Sonic Blue Fenders and plenty so blue they're almost Daphne Blue.

Being a pedant, the bass on the left is ‘Faded Sonic Blue’ according to Fender.

This one isn't listed as faded sonic blue.
It's listed as Sonic Blue on quite a few sites.

 

[DianaBass]

thank you! That's really helpful. I still suspect that for the online retailers that aren't GC or Sweetwater, the make them in different factories or will lower price specs. I've been chatting with a Fender rep, and he said that I could always exchange it and hope it was different, or go for the white (but I just sold a white bass and don't want another one.) If people start calling me Barbie, I'll have to get it painted.