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More on Dupont Fiesta Red (this relates to your Thunderbird story, Didier).

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/what ... 960/page-3

abstamaria wrote:...what is Hank’s basis for saying 34346 was Roman Red? Unless the precise name of the color appeared in an invoice or other literature accompanying the guitar (which doesn’t seem to have been Fender’s practice) or in the brochure they pored over (it doesn’t seem to have been the case), Hank’s statement might have been a conclusion formed some time after.

Andy

Perhaps the finish is noted against the serial number in Fender's records (if they still exist)?

Hank has had a fair bit of contact with the company over the last thirty+ years.

I thought it would be good to compile materials here.

The very first Fiesta Red Fender:

http://iheartguitarblog.com/tag/george-fullerton

That Fullerton had Fiesta Red mixed at a local paint shop is probably myth. The story that Dupont mixed it for the Cadillac, was rejected, and eventually settled on selling unsold stock to Leo Fender and then to Ford is far more believable and has tangible proof - the ‘56 T-Bird.

[/quote]

Perhaps the finish is noted against the serial number in Fender's records (if they still exist)?
Hank has had a fair bit of contact with the company over the last thirty+ years.[/quote]

Yes, that is possible, but research by Hank probably would have taken place some time after 34346 was delivered, when the Shadows were already well known to Fender. In the early years, the Shadows didn’t seem to attach much importance to the color of 34346. It was resprayed at least twice with little regard to matching the original color.

I assumed, as the rosewood-board Stratocasters were (probably) identified as Fiesta Red, and since they looked similar in color to 34346, that Hank’s logical conclusion would be that 34346 was Fiesta Red as well. So Hank‘s assertion that 34346 was Roman Red is surprising. Maybe, as Jim suggests, he did call up Fender st some point and was told that 34346 was in fact “Roman Red.“

Perhaps Fenderplucker or someone else here who knows Hank can ask him how he knew 34346 was that color.

(Fiesta Red and Roman Red look very similar to me, at least in pictures; maybe they are identical with different marketing names, one for Ford and the other gir GM.)

https://reverb.com/news/the-mystery-of-fender-selmer-refin-guitars-solved

In this article of Martin Kelly....Roman Red is mention as a possibility ....
Some-one brought Hank up to speed about Roman Red apparently(not by Fender), because the 50th Shadows strat has a car colour not named by any-one of the insiders of that project.
But created by memory of some of the original folks who saw the 34346 up close when new....

They tried to find any info in every possible way at Fender about the 34346 and also other guitars.....bottom line zero!
Because there isn't any archive from that time....it never exist, dozens of times mentioned by several authors on Fender!

So assuming Hanks name would get that info from Fender....

My original 58 red strat has bin called Flamingo-Cimaron-Fiesta-Dakota-and now Roman red....

Live is short....enjoy your guitar in every shade and keep playing instead of loosing sleep on the above topic please !

Cheers Rob

bor64 wrote:
Life is short....enjoy your guitar in every shade and keep playing instead of loosing sleep on the above topic please !

Cheers Rob

Here here!

I've never been able to get so worked up about guitar paint colours..!?

If you have a guitar and want it to be a specific colour, then repaint it yourself, or get it done by someone who knows how...problem solved!

If people spent as much time perfecting their art form as they do discussing this crap, it would be a major step forward.

Dave my thoughts exactly
That Roman Red pops up just recently, never in the past 45 years, sins the first book about Fender...it wasn't mentioned by any author.
Now sudden it's Roman Red in the spotlights....

Lets face it, what would people do now.... if it's Roman Red for real on that 34346 when it was new....all anoraks run to the paint store/repair men and let repaint all their "wrong coloured" guitars and die happy ?????

Tin hat in place

Cheers Rob

Different shades of fiesta red sampled with professional tools from various guitars by a friend who used to work in the paint industry (now retired) :



Didier

Hello, Rob. I didn’t know for sure whether Fender kept any records on their guitars pre-1960, so thank you for confirming that they didn’t. It’s beginning to seem that whether 34346 was “Fiesta Red” or “Roman Red” will be a matter of conjecture, even if from a source such as Hank. You’re lucky to have an original ’58 Strat. I was going to say that your guitar would be a good standard for what red was in 1958, but, as red paint changes over the years, that wouldn’t be so.

By the way, Rob, John, I don’t think any suggestion was made here to change the color of one’s guitar to chase after 34346’s original hue. I certainly won’t want to respray mine. The only query here was an academic one, “does anyone really know what the name of the original color on 34346 is?”

Best,

Andy