Alternative to butterscotch?

[gotfiddle]

I want to build a traditional looking tele, and I would really like a butterscotch finish. I'm wondering if vintage tint over ash would get me close enough or if I would be better off sending an unfinished body to MJT or something.

If anyone has any pics for reference, that would be awesome. Thanks.

 

[Hendrix]

it mean to be TV Yellow , not vintage tint

When you watch some of those old shows, if you see guys with sunburst or black guitars, or any other colour, it just kind of looks like a ‘thing’, but the blonde, blackguard Teles always popped out. I don’t know if it was intentional or accidental, but it seemed like everybody picked up on it, and once TV started happening you started seeing a lot of blonde guitars.”

https://www.musicradar.com/news/historic-hardware-fenders-blonde-electric-guitars

 

[cromulent]

I love the butterscotch too and am waiting for it to return before I build another one.

Vintage tint over swamp ash looks pretty good to me: https://unofficialwarmoth.com/threads/swamp-ash-mooncaster-bass.33934/

 

[Michaelga]

Vintage tint over alder gives a nice caramel color that I personally like.

 

[DuckBaloo]

Vintage Tint over Ash is going to give more of an aged original '70s ash Tele and Strat look, like this real deal...

Nice, classic, and rustic (natural wood tones were very "in" in the 1970s), but not the same as Butterscotch, which is usually semi-transparent. People all have different opinions of what a good Butterscotch Tele should be. Butterscotch Blonde wasn't a real finish, the originals were a white blonde when they left the factory, then they "butterscotched" over time as the clear coat yellowed and the non-color-fast white pigment faded away. So there no one shade of yellow or one degree of transparency, each one aged unique. These days Fender just uses a "Butterscotch" color coat (which varies depending on factory and type of finish used). Gibson's TV Yellow is the same, there was no such thing as TV Yellow in the '50s, it was the "TV Finish" which was a white "limed" finish popular on furniture (and TVs), it turned yellow as the nitro yellowed.

Just know that MJT doesn't offer "as new" finishes, they all have some degree of wear.

 

[cromulent]

That tele looks great

 

[jay4321]

I've done that natural finish or had it done at least 4 or 5 times now. Find a good looking ash body and just do that and you'll never regret it, especially on a Tele.