Warmoth Surf Green vs. Fender Surf Green

[ddd]

Hi Everyone,

Looking at the showcase bodies, it looks like warmoth's Surf Green is much brighter than Fender's...
Attached are the Warmoth surf green and the Fender Jeff Beck Surf green.

From the Gallery pics, its hard to tell since many are done with reranch or other non-warmoth/non-fender greens..

Thanks for any comments here. I really like the Fender color better and I'm hoping the warmoth is closer than it looks in the pictures.

Thanks!

DDD

 

[drewfx]

I would say the Fender picture you posted is a little more muted than my recollection of it in person.

But I think the Warmoth version is in fact a little more saturated than the Fender's are.

My Warmoth '72 P/J is a little bit darker/more saturated in person than this picture shows it:

 

[Ace Flibble]

Fender's version definitely is a little brighter itself than that first picture shows. That looks more like a slightly fake-aged surf green, or that particular photo came out a little desaturated. I've seen Fender's current Surf Green a fair few times on vairous models (on two different JB strats in fact, amoung others) and it's definitely a slightly brighter colour than that. That said, it was also still not quite such a vivid colour as every photo of Warmoth's Surf Green seems to be.

Seems to be a running theme though, every photo I've seen of Warmoth's finishes make them look brighter/more saturated/more vivid than the Fender equivalent. That's judging photos vs seeing the real thing in person though, of course there are many factors to consider (lighting, computer screen colour balance, etc)

 

[Alfang]

Heres a couple thoughts, Photograph equipment and lights are a huge deal in a photo,

Secondly and most important, when a certain color gets invented ( if thats possible ) then given some name by the inventor, be it surf green, olympic white or whatever, there must be a color code or a color mix or whatever it's called, a recipe i guess to define that color, so when one deviates from that recipe, it's a diferent color. So if the guys mixing surf green follows the correct recipe, the colors should be an exact match. But perhaps thats living in an ideal world.

I wouldn't totally depend on a couple photos to determine they are not the same color, Warmoths may look more vibrant or vivid because they know how to apply a good finish.

That's my 2 cents, go ahead and rip it apart, I don't care, your not gonna change my mind

 

[llmtelecaster]

I don't think think I've ever seen two surf green strats, either in pictures or in person, that looked the same. I think it's just one of those colors that every set of eyes perceives a little differently. I've got a Warmoth surf green strat I'm currently putting together and it looks pretty close to what drewfx's bass looks like, maybe a little lighter.

 

[Tonar8352]

Alfang I'm not going to "rip it apart" but I would like to add to your information from the perspective of an old time paint salesman. By the way this will be very boring.  :tard:

Colors are generally "formulated" in labs by chemists who match what a color design specialist decides from a marketing stand point will be popular in the world for the next 10 years.  The company I retired from in 2009 paid over ten million for the process to come up with a new color system including all the marketing materials back in 2000. The chemist designs a base material that is to receive colorant to mix the color called for. The bases are different depending on the depth of the color in order to receive the appropriate amount of tint.  Lighter colors have more paint in the can because they take little colorant and dark colors less paint because they will get filled up with colorant. The next factor is the colorant that is used. Most companies use Universal Tint Colorant or as it is know in the industry UTC, we used both Color in Oil and UTC. Different companies have specifications for the strengths of their colorants so not all colorant is made equal. The last factor in the equation of mixing is the machines that disperse the colorant into the bases.  Many companies use computer controlled dispensers these days that are fairly accurate in the amount of colorant they can dispense but they need to be calibrated on a regular basis or the color "drifts" from the standard. One other factor that can play into "color drift” is air in the tint lines. This is really critical when extremely strong colorants are being used.

All of these things factor in to the making of a color but there are several things that can influence the accuracy of a color. The first thing is tint base batches. I have seen the exact same color formula shot into two different batches come out slightly different.  Next, colorant is made in batches and there is a possibility of drift from batch to batch. Also color samples or color cards are made in batches that can drift and fade. I have matched color chips from a competitor that were brought in which had faded from UV exposure. We always tried to match wet samples from the competition because we were matching what was coming out of their can, which could very well not have matched their own color card. And lastly there is an incredible amount of change once color is applied due to UV fade or resin yellowing.

See I told you it would be boring.  I'm sure Warmoth's material supplier matched a good sample of Surf Green and they were very accurate to that sample.  You may want to look at the ReRanch Surf Green and see if you like it, at a glance it seems to be close to the picture you posted.

Ok; everybody wake up now and go play your guitars which is much more fun than this.  :guitaristgif:

 

[richship]

Colors of old Fender guitars are a moving target since the color fades and yellows over time. Your ideal color might have been the result of sitting in a shop window for a year.

 

[lafromla1]

Ok; everybody wake up now and go play your guitars which is much more fun than this.   :guitaristgif:

Tonar has spoken..... :headbang:

 

[bagman67]

Ok; everybody wake up now and go play your guitars which is much more fun than this.   :guitaristgif:

Tonar has spoken..... :headbang:

Careful with that - the last time Tonar spoke, Mrs. Tonar knocked him down a peg.

 

[stubhead]

If it comes out too bright you can just take it to a tanning booth for a month or two, right?  :icon_scratch:
Better use of them than turning politicians orange in February, that's for sure. :blob7:

 

[Mor Paul]

Ha, at least you're not matching Fender's "Blonde" color, using a 1950's tele.

 

[photoguy]

Hey all. It's Rob. I'm the photographer here at Warmoth. For what it's worth, there are a couple colors that are a little tricky to photograph :kewlpics:. For instance, sunset orange, when i shoot it, has a lot of red in it. It is the nature of that color, this camera, this lighting. I end up having to hold the body up to the image on my monitor and dial down the red until it is a little more correct.  Surf green is one of those. It shows a pinch more yellow in its photos than in real life. In the photos below, the first shot shows Surf Green as it comes out of the camera. The second is brightened for web. The third is unyellowed just a bit. The fourth is brightened just a hair more to pop.Images three and four are Surf Green as it appears to me in my eye in my photo lighting. For those who wonder: Canon 40d DSLR camera, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. Lighting is rated at 5500 degrees Kelvin which is roughly daylight balanced. I shoot in manual mode 1/20 at f/7.1. ISO is 200. White balance is 5500 degrees Kelvin. The colors , as far as paint batches go, are very very consistent to my eye. The paint crew here does a fantastic job of getting the colors right.   

 

[ddd]

Wow! Thanks for all the great replies!!

And Rob -- there's one more factor -- my monitor! (which is even harder for you to correct for!!)  :icon_jokercolor:

As long as the Warmoth color is close to the Fender (which i think you said it is), I should be good to go!

Thanks again!!

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Thanks for the great explanation Rob.

 

[Disco Scottie]

I can't make any sense out of what you guys are talking about. They all look the same to me.

What's that? Oh, yeah... my computer monitor is black and white. So what's your point?