Solid brown basses - not translucent

[JIO]

that's one beautiful bass

It's one of the main reasons I own it - that and that it sounds as creamy as chocolate mousse.

 

[JIO]

I'm DOWN w/ BROWN!

+1

 

[40Hz]

Popularity drives cosmetics. Brown is definitely towards the absolute bottom of my color choice scale. So it makes sense to me there's not a lot of brown basses out there. It wouldn't be a deal-breaker if I found a bass I really liked the sound and feel of. But I definitely would prefer almost any other finish. YMMV.

 

[LanEvo]

Years ago, I had a Mercedes 560SL convertible in a light metallic brown with a tiny bit of gold flake in it. I think it was called desert tan or sable (can't remember). I've always thought that would look good on a Fender-style guitar.

 

[Felken]

I seem to recall reading somewhere on TB that Rickenbacker used to have a color called "Walnut", not to be confused with the current natural walnut finishes. The photo showed a solid color in a dark brown.

Check this link out, look at the photo down: Invalid Link Removed

Cocoglo

 

[Klaxxi]

There was also a Montezuma Brown Rickenbacker color

 

[Big Hoss]

No idea why, but it's just the whims of fashion. Same reason we don't see Harvest Gold or Avocado Green appliances in stores any more... Not enough of a market to make it...

You could get a boutique bass in brown, or refinish a mass produced instrument if it's that high of a priority for you though.

We had a Dodge Dart when I was a kid that was Root Beer Brown Metallic that was actually a pretty sweet color...

 

[Arizona Jones]

Sahara Toupe from Fender's International Series circa late '70s - early '80s.

 

[Fender_Bender]

It's a colour that had a run of popularity in the 70's but kind of went away around the same time that disco did. I think it looks better as a metallic colour instead of straight brown.
As evidenced by the popularity of beards now, everything old is new again. My parents bought me a dark brown 3 piece suit around '79-80 and it wasn't too long before I was getting mocked about the colour choice lol.

 

[aldaa]

View attachment 1174730

waaaaaaaaant! Just throw a black or tortoise shell pick guard on it and it'd be perfect

 

[JIO]

Arizona Jones said: ↑
Sahara Toupe from Fender's International Series circa late '70s - early '80s.

View attachment 1174730

I love that colour and have always been a fan - but this example is the hue it is because of the clear coat amber-ing with age. (more golden brown) Stock original Sahara Taupe looks more chalky tan - lighter and sort-of drab actually. You get a hint of it on the worn spot halo-ing the bare wood - looks almost violet surrounded by the golden brown. Still a cool colour but pretty different than the time-altered version. Many of the late 70's/early 80's International Series colours were more aligned with women's fashion (clothing and cosmetics) than the car industry. At least that's my take on them. They had a Teal-ish blue (Monaco Blue) that was pretty nice - I saw a P-bass in that shade recently at my local vintage shop here in SF and it looked sharp. Capri Orange was also a very cool option then.

 

[jaybones]

Quick google search came up with these.

Brown bass

Brown bass

Might be that since Woodstock brown was never a cool color. :***:

And yeah, Fender's mocha brown from the 70's looks pretty brown to me. Especially after the clear has yellowed over the decades.

 

[aldaa]

It's one of the main reasons I own it - that and that it sounds as creamy as chocolate mousse.

What kind of bass is that?

 

[aldaa]

Clearly I'm not the target audience for guitar finishes, haha. I HATE red so much. It's gotta be my least favorite color, unless it's a super dark burgundy. Besides, I generally wear all black or black jeans + brown shirt, so it'd match pretty well

 

[jaybones]

I had to double take, those Reese's Cups look like the belong there.

Give me an idea of using something that looks like minis as knobs?

 

[aldaa]

THIS - it's all about what sells, and in a guitar store with enough stock to warrant an unusual choice like non-woodgrain brown on a bass, that's just not going to call to people in a sea of metallic reds and blues and sunbursts.
Also, by the nature of guitars being wood, people think of woodgrain finishes when they think of brown.

Good point about people associating brown with wood grain. I mean, I love blue/"beach bursts" on quilted maple, but it's just a little too flashy when you wanna hang back and not be noticed, lol.

 

[aldaa]

I had to double take, those Reese's Cups look like the belong there.

Give me an idea of using something that looks like minis as knobs?

I had a Reverend Rick Vito that had white knobs with that similar shape, but they weren't as angled as the side of a reese's cup.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I had to double take, those Reese's Cups look like the belong there.

Give me an idea of using something that looks like minis as knobs?

I thought they were goofy melted knobs at first . I didn't even notice the giant chocolate bar at first either.

 

[aldaa]

I had to double take, those Reese's Cups look like the belong there.

Give me an idea of using something that looks like minis as knobs?

You know how they do those foto flame finishes? Make some knobs with some reese's mini wrappers poly'd on some knobs, sort of like how they pour those super thick tabletops at some restaurants/bars. Then make some pickup covers that look like your favorite chocolate candy bar

 

[JIO]

Well yes, brown = leather. Styles inevitably shift and go in and out of fashion but different shades/hues of brown (suede and leather) never go completely out of style. This was the cool thing about 70's use of brown (a very pervasive colour then) as it's addition to the contemporary pallette grew out of the hippy "earth-tones" and punctuated it with African awareness (red/black/green) to bring it into super-bad prominence.