Fender factory colors in 1978

[smcd]

I've been trying for years to get a definitive answer to what factory color this is. I've seen it on many many Fender guitars, but no one seems to know exactly what color it is. Can't even find a color chart for 1978 for reference.


The color is a translucent burgundy. Very much red, and not brown or mocha. It seems to be a color offered only in 1978. I've seen it listed as "Midnight Wine", but I've never seen any evidence that was a Fender factory color.

Anyone??

 

[mpdd]

on my mac book pro it does have a lot of red in it

 

[shrimpflea]

I always thought Fender called that finish Walnut.

 

[smcd]

Walnut Precisions were noticably and very brown.

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[Rob S]

"Trans red wine" is a rare period custom finish. Our very own TripleLutz has a '78 Precision in the sales forum with this very color now with maple neck.

With that said, the bass in your picture looks like a walnut, sometimes called Mocha or Root beer. Walnut basses are sometimes just walnut wood like the rare 1980 Precision Special in Walnut with stain and clear coat.

 

[IPA]

More info on it here, I believe the official name is ash

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/mocha-basses-624546/

 

[smcd]

"Trans red wine" is a rare period custom finish. Our very own TripleLutz has a '78 Precision in the sales forum with this very color now with maple neck.

With that said, the bass in your picture looks like a walnut, sometimes called Mocha or Root beer. Walnut basses are sometimes just walnut wood like the rare 1980 Precision Special in Walnut with stain and clear coat.

Trans Red Wine certainly sounds like what this color would be called.



That Pbass looks more brown than it should. The other photos show the color better. If the light isn't sufficient, the color doesn't show properly. Here's a Jazz bass in that color.

 

[smcd]

More info on it here, I believe the official name is ash

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/mocha-basses-624546/

Interesting thread. It does clearly show photos of "mocha" and "walnut" colored basses, and they look distinctly different than this color.

Strange that TB has so many Fender experts, and no one seems to be able to positively identify this color.

 

[Humbled]

I think Fender's colors and names are a moving target. Here's a 79 Strat (78 pups) same color as the OP's bass. I honestly think at the time, the Fender Catalog called this "Walnut", although it certainly looks like what today would be called "Wine Red Transparent".

 

[FretlessMainly]

I asked a similar question in another thread recently; I believe it was the show your fretless basses, or somesuch. Unfortunately, I've been unable to upload photos to this site for a while.

In any case, my '76 FL Pbass is distinctly brown and you can see the wood grain. It's been described as "Walnut." This color chart is as close as I can get to '78: http://www.strat-central.com/pics/books/color197677.jpg

But I've seen plenty of photos of a somewhat similar brown that is opaque and slightly metallic. The so called "mocha" or "root beer." My guess is that there were variations in the pigments or formulations and we ended up with variability.

 

[Dawntreader]

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Does anyone really know the color? I'm getting ready to buff and polish this one.....(LIGHTLY)
Thank you "smcd" for starting the thread.

 

[smcd]

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See, I find it impossible to believe that color is "walnut" (definitely not mocha). Fender wasn't at the top of their game in those days, but they weren't that bad that they'd mix paint with that much red in it and call it "walnut". Considering that this color is widespread across the entire product line (this thread alone has examples of a Jazz, Pbass, Tele and Strat), it seems to me that this was dedicated factory color.

 

[Dawntreader]

Crimson Transparent? Would I be reaching to say faded Candy Cola??
If you look under where the pickguard was it the color is still transparent ???

 

[BassHappy]

The guy who sold me this 1980's jazz bass from Fender Japan called it "midnight wine" too, but I have never found any verification of that - or any verification that IF the color existed - that this is it.

When I put it next to any other red Fender bass the color was definitely not a match but it is way red for wine in my opinon.

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net

 

[Humbled]

See, I find it impossible to believe that color is "walnut" (definitely not mocha). Fender wasn't at the top of their game in those days, but they weren't that bad that they'd mix paint with that much red in it and call it "walnut"...

I would agree with you except for looking in an original 1976 Fender Catalog that I have, and the "Available Colors" of "Sunburst, Natural, Walnut, Black, White, or Blonde" keep showing examples of very reddish instruments included in the photos that look very much like yours and the Strat I posted. I absolutely also agree that very "brown" "walnut" finishes happened during some periods also.

 

[shrimpflea]

Fender was that bad in the 70's...in fact they once had a magazine ad out that listed the Jazz Bass has having a scale of 46.25".

 

[JTE]

The finish in the first picture is definitely what Fender called "walnut". It looked different over the years due to different formulations, whether it was sprayed over ash or alder, and how the clear top coat has aged. Some were rather red, and there was a later transparent red that was very much red and no brown in it. Both were light stains that allowed the grain to show through.

And they're not the same as the clear finish on the walnut instruments. Those (like the active Walnut Precision Special) were a clear coat on walnut wood and not to be confused with the finish they called "Walnut" in the '70s catalogs. "Mocha" is often used to describe the "Walnut" ones, but Fender used "Mocha" for a short while much later, and it's not at all like the "Walnut" finish.

John

 

[davenumber2]

I say Walnut too.

 

[Shakin-Slim]

Yeah, there's walnut wood and there's the "walnut" finish. Yours looks like the latter.

 

[Lowbrow]

See below for pages from Fender's '76 catalog which has examples of walnut - which I would judge that initial pic to be.

See also some pix of myself with what I believe was a 'wine' pbass, these are late 70s, early 80s. I was not a gearhead in those days and remember that as far as color went, I just walked into Sam Ash and asked for 'the red one in the window.' I do know that I bought it new in 1979 and that it was a dog.

The color was what today I'd call a darker version of what Gibson calls 'heritage cherry.' All pix are obscured by stage lighting; it was no where near as bright as it appears, more burgundy and see thru. IMO rarer still than the finish is a pic of me playing with my fingers.