You guys might like this...

[Phil O'Keefe]

Every year at NAMM for the past few years, Fender's Custom Shop has been doing a "color wall"; they pick one model, and then do one of those guitars in every traditional / historic custom color. Last year, I believe they did Telecasters. This year, it was all about Mustangs with nitrocellulose lacquer finishes. No, you don't want to know what they cost (probably in the $6k per guitar range), but FWIW, Fender has now officially made at least one Mustang in every traditional custom color imaginable.



They play pretty sweet too. Six grand worth of sweet? I dunno about that, but just as good as any CS Strat, Jag or Tele I've ever tried. In other words, they're some of the nicest Mustangs ever made.

[Pens]

Oh my....

[Johnny Noir]

sweet!

but why they put white pickup covers on pearl?

[Phil O'Keefe]

I'm not sure why they selected the appointments that they did. It probably just comes down to the designer / master builder's personal taste and selection. They're not meant to be vintage-correct or anything. I've never seen a Mustang with that nice a piece of maple for the neck. Or in most of those colors. At least not straight from Fender. Think of them as a modern, high quality USA custom-built version of the Mustang, made with first rate materials and craftsmanship, and released in very limited numbers.

I think they look pretty cool, but if you preferred it with different covers or a different pickguard, it wouldn't be that hard to change.

Here's a couple more pictures of them I found online. They appear to have been shot with the booth's "mood lighting" turned off (or way down), so they're a bit clearer than my photo.

► Show Spoiler

And here's a close-up of the pickups and guard. Unlike 60s era vintage models (which used a different color pickguard and pickup covers on white guitars instead of the white pickguard / black covers found on red and blue Mustangs), these all had the same pickguards and pickup covers, regardless of the body color. And of course, all of them have custom shop pickups under the covers.

► Show Spoiler

The stock pickguard on my '71 Mustang is pearl, and the stock covers are black. The guitar is red, and the combination looks "right" to me - from the Mustang's introduction in late '64 all the way through the '73 competition Mustangs, all "red" Mustangs had black pickup covers and either white, or pearl pickguards. But some other combinations can look cool too... I've also got a refinished seafoam green '75 Music Master (now a Duo Sonic) with a white replacement pickguard. I've tried it with white pickup covers and with black ones - I slightly prefer the look of the black ones on that guitar, but I've had a few people tell me they prefer the look with the white covers. Everyone's going to have their own preferences, and I suspect that for a lot of people, those may vary, depending on the body color.

I really didn't hate any of the Mustangs I saw at NAMM, in spite of the fact they all had the same pickguards and covers... although I do think the combination they selected "works" against some body colors better than others. YMMV

[robert(original)]

SHELL PANK! SHELL PANK! i like the shell pink!

[Fran]

Not a fan of pearloid but i reckon i could cope for a Sherwood Green 'Stang

[Cymbaline]

This is bullshit. Why can't the rest of us buy these colors. This is taunting the customer. Like dangling a hunk of juicy red meat in front of a starving dog's snout.

[hotrodperlmutter]

good lawd

pink is ruling, but that BMM, OTM and sherwood are currently residents of the land of boner

[gofive]

Fender can be such teases

[stewart]

fuck. the gold one.

[dots]

Oh my....

i don't see any lefty's, though. wtf!

[James]

Might like this? This is what we're all about. God damn.

I think that's the first time I've seen burgundy mist and inca silver mustangs.

[dots]

six grand for a custom shop mustang? that's nutty, but damn, do these things look GOOD.

[James]

Making a custom one from parts would run about a grand. You could get six of these and have your own mini-wall.

[Pens]

Making a custom one from parts would run about a grand. You could get six of these and have your own mini-wall.

Nah, I can build one for about $600 total. It doesn't run that much to do that.

I say oh my because regardless of their incorrect orientation, my eyes are feasting on those colors to try to determine what color I need to paint my next guitar.

Besides, I usually just do this when I see guitars I like.



On that note, what is that color between pink and green on the top row? Is that LPB?

[James]

Yeah, non-faded/yellowed LPB.

[Pens]

Cool. My son's Cyclone is also LPB supposedly but it's way more light blue than that there. I think I'm gonna do the SonicStang in that color there.

[James]

LPB is a colour Fender do a few variations of. Sometimes they do it even a little darker than that, sometimes it's much much lighter and nearer the one second from the right in your flipped image. We're all familiar with it but for me when I think LPB I think of this shade, including a little yellowing just because it's typically seen on older instruments -

[Fran]

I think that's the first time I've seen burgundy mist and inca silver mustangs.

Probably the same for most of us, its a proper droolfest.
Seeing some of these colors actually changes my perception of the model. I like Mustangs but at times its all a bit teh kurdtz with the limited colors usually on offer.

[Bacchus]

They should have done a sunburst one. That would be amazing.