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Olympic "Yellowish" White..?

#21
Colors can vary quite a bit even within the same manufacturer.

Here's a good little blurb about Oly. White from Reranch.com:

"While very white the color has a slight blue component in the mix. It can be clear coated to give an aged yellow appearance although it is believed that Fender did not clear coat the color because of this very reason."

I think most guitar manufacturers today make the Olympic White a little more yellow than it used to be because we're all used to seeing it on old Fenders.

My Sadowsky is Olympic White and is definately more of a cream color than pure white.
 
#22
Jeff K said:
I disagree. Olympic White is "whiter" than Arctic White. Check out a white pickguard up against these two finishes. There is more of a contrast with the Arctic White because it's not as pure of a white as the Olympic White. I actually prefer the Arctic White. But then again, I love the Vintage White also, and that one is definitely yellowish. My wife used to call my Vintage White Jazz Bass my "banana cream pie bass".
Click to expand...


lol! my wife and I used to call the MIM Jazz V "the bannana bass!" :-)
 
#23
As a painter, by trade... i can safely say olympic white is (in guitar finish) as white as you can get (In actual paint, it's called brilliant white) arctic white is white, but when you start to put it next to other whites, it will look a bit strange.

Antique white is the one that has more of a creamy tint to it. Where i think your getting the "yellowish" from.
 
#24
I have an 'o8 Am St P, Oly white...
I thought it looked white,
the other night I was jamming with a guy who had a white PRS guitar
my bass looked yellow standing next to him
and white when it's by itself...and I'm not even on drugs...
whatever shade it is...I dig it
 
#25
someone say aged white?

100_2785.jpg



most white to aged white: olympic / arctic / vintage
 
#29
IMHO

Fenders Oly white is about as white as it gets.

Everyone else's Oly white has kind of gone the way of what Fenders Oly white looks like after 20 years of aging. Probably because painters got tired of explaining to customers why their paint job didn't come out like they expected.

I think if you take Fenders definition out of the equation, you will find fairly consistantly that right or wrong, as far as instruments go, Oly white is a little aged yellow looking.

If you search Olympic White on google images there's a fairly wide range of shades.

As a matter of fact, if you look at Fenders website. Oly white for new, 62RI and 57RI is different getting progressively more yellow with age.
 
#32
Ok then, let me rephrase. As white as it get's in reference to FENDER INSTRUMENT PAINT. Not copy paper, not governmental manufacturing specification standards not any other nit picking minutia.

Oly white probably has a wider range of "correct" shades than anything else you'll run into.

But what the hell do I know. I never claimed to be a paintologist.

There's plenty of variation in brightness of white copy paper too dude.
 
#34
Steve said:
Ok then, let me rephrase. As white as it get's in reference to FENDER INSTRUMENT PAINT. Not copy paper, not governmental manufacturing specification standards not any other nit picking minutia.

Oly white probably has a wider range of "correct" shades than anything else you'll run into.

But what the hell do I know. I never claimed to be a paintologist.

There's plenty of variation in brightness of withe copy paper too dude.
Click to expand...

Relax, big guy.

We're talking about paint colors on basses.

Perhaps Olympic White is Fender's whitest white, I don't know. I do know that it is not a very bright white. At least not in relation to many other white objects I can compare it too.
 
#36
Everyone seems to be discussing Olympia White and Arctic White and Fender Instrument Paint colors as if they were absolutes. I don't think that has been the case at all.

I have bought, sold and looked at Fender instruments for 45+ years and I believe Fender has changed the color values it describes with these terms on more than one occasion. I think there have even been other whites (Polar White, e.g.).

At some point in time, Arctic White was the clean, pure whitest white and Vintage White was yellowed to look aged. That has changed from time-to-time and probably more often than once.

Because these terms and color values have changed over the years, I don't think reference to a Fender color chart is of any use unless you have a date and title for the publication in which the color chart appears. Even then, the color reproduction on color charts is not absolutely the same as the colors appear on the instruments. They are comparatively correct among the color array then available and reproduced on glossy paper.

Unfortunately, paint color names at Fender have a similar history as serial numbers and model names. They generally follow a scheme, but that scheme has not been followed consistently. It's neither art nor science. It's "...at this point in time...".

Bluesy Soul :cool:
 
#37
This is a futile argument because people often perceive the same things very differently. As far as Fender is concerned, the "whiteness quotient" goes from Olympic White to Arctic White to Vintage White (white to off-white to yellow). In time, they will all age and become more yellowed.

Here's an example of how people see things differently. When my kids were young, I used to have a basketball backboard and hoop in my driveway. The hoop itself was orange. My kids swore it was red, but it was clearly orange. We had to ask everybody who visited what color it was before they'd believe me. I guess it'll be the same with the "Fender White" argument...
 
#40
Jon P. Soifer said:
Really?

I have a 2008 MIA Fender Precision in Olympic White. If I hold a sheet of copy paper next to it, it's obvious that what they're calling Olympic White today isn't nearly "as white as it gets". It has a pronounced yellow or "aged" cast.
Click to expand...

Ditto!

My Fender 2008 P-bass V was Olympic White and it was an off-white, not bright white. Fender artic white guitars and basses that I've seen in person were bright white, much more so than Olympic white.

P-bassV004.jpg


Looks bright white in the photo but in person it's a softer white with a slight yellowish tint.
 

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