Active Band Man Chats - Let’s Think of New Paint Job Patterns

Horry, tell me what color your basses are.

That was out of nowhere… Uh… Booby’s is black, Mikey’s is blue metallic, Ram-chan’s is light blue, Torakichi’s is natural wood? Gen-san’s is… what color was his again? (searches) Looks like he’s got a black matte bass. And I think Sadowsky has one in maybe sunburst.

Hmm, I see. My electric guitars are: three in metallic blue, one in sunburst, one in light blue, one in pink, and my Steinberger is white!

Yeah.

By the way, isn’t it hard to tell the difference between Sonic Blue and Daphne Blue?

Where did that come from all of a sudden? Sonic Blue is one of Fender’s popular colors, right? Daphne Blue… I haven’t really heard much about that one.

Really? But Sonic Blue and Daphne Blue are so similar!

Huh… Maybe it’s just a slight difference in brightness or hue? That’s pretty subtle...

According to one theory, Fender guitars and basses have over 100 different colors!

That’s a lot.

Take a look at the Sound House catalog.

Okay.

Here’s the bass in Olympic White! Here’s Polar White! And Arctic White!

R-right…

They’re all just white in the end!

Well, yes… but you're supposed to appreciate the subtle differences…

In that case, I’ve got an idea too!

Hm?

Let’s come up with new color names!

Sorry, what?

First, the ever-popular white tones! “Absolute White”!

Well, it is… white.

Appreciate the subtle differences!

Oops, boomerang (lol)

It is absolute white! Pure white! The knobs and pickguard are white too! Even the screw heads are as white as possible—it’s like an egret standing in a snowy field! Like a rabbit in a blizzard! Wait, where’d the screws go...?

I can’t see a thing! (lol) You’d lose track of the knobs with all that camouflage...this is not great during a live show! (lol)

Now, next up, here’s another classic… black! Ultimate Black!

Ultimate… black?

Yep! Like that super black developed by NASA that absorbs over 99% of light!

Uh, what?

Apparently there's something called Vantablack that absorbs even more! Basically, using that logic, this is the blackest black on Earth!

Oh yeah… I think I heard about that. “The blackest substance in the world”, right?

It's so black that it almost looks like it’s two-dimensional!

Exactly. It absorbs so much light that it loses all sense of depth... that would be so hard to play. You’d lose track of distances. But, honestly, it might be pretty funny to play on stage.

Right… Anyway, that was an insane black!

“Was”? We’re done already?

No, now we’re doing the monochrome series—Fuzzy Gray!

It continues! (lol) Gray is already a fuzzy, middle-ground color anyway.

Ugh, you’re right! Okay, now we’re moving onto color! Juicy Orange! Bloody Red! Deep Sea Blue!

You’re just spitting them out now.

Like Candy Apple Red, Kiwi Metallic Green!

I can kind of picture these.

Mango Jelly Yellow! Sweet Melon!

You’re really into fruit-themed ones, huh? Are you hungry?

(ignoring him) Now, let's move on to the flower-themed ones! Dandelion!

Yellow, huh. Sunflower would work too.

Violet!

Like violet-colored.

Brownie Brown!

Is that a chocolate cake now?

Reincarnation Purple!

Sounds cool, but...

Skinny Pink!

Like a healthy skin tone, maybe?

Green tea!

No you’re just shouting out colors... but since green tea popped up, let’s take a break... sigh, relaxing... Green tea goes well with brownies.

(ignoring him) We’re not done yet! The Geo series!

(It was just a joke…) Geo series? Is this some geology thing?

Sunset Ocean!

A seaside sunset? How would you even express that? The blue of the sea and the orange sky... Maybe it could be done using a gradient?

Let’s use paint that changes color depending on the angle. Now, next up, Sunshine Gold! Moonshine Silver!

Gold and silver, huh.

Metallic Mercury! Venus in Universe!

Hmm, I can’t really picture that... I guess it’s kind of sparkly?

Yeah, let’s go with sparkly. Moving on, now we’ve got the Textile Series!

Hm? What’s "textile"? (searches) Fabric?

Yes! These colors are inspired by traditional fabric patterns! Tartan checks! Houndstooth!

Ah, that could be cute.

Going along with the clothing collab, here we’ve got Burberry checks! Argyle checks!

So, you're not actually using fabric, it’s just paint that looks like it, right?

Yep! Denim (stone-wash) would be nice too. Refreshing!

Maybe different levels of wash, like chemical wash or something?

Speaking of denim, Levi’s!

But I think... someone from Levi’s became the CEO of Gibson and worked on turning the company around, right?

Well then, maybe Fender should avoid denim for now.

Why’s that? (lol)

I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. (lol) Next up… KIMONO!

Kimono?

Yep! Maybe something like Kaga Yuzen? I’m not too familiar with it, but traditional Japanese patterns would probably be popular!

I see. It would probably be well-received overseas. That’s the so-called Japonism!

In that case! Chinese characters too!

Hm? Kanji?

Yes!

Won’t it end up looking like "Earless Hoichi" or something?

It totally would!

Well, it’s a charm to ward off evil, so... is that okay? Now that I think about it, there was someone using a guitar with kanji on it. Dokken’s...

George Lynch. Yeah, the "Kamikaze Guitar." And then...

There’s more?

Simple stripes and borders! Classic styles!

Classic, huh… but for a guitar paint job, that’s a whole different thing. Either way, if the lines run parallel to the strings, it’s going to be hard to play! No, even if they cross at right angles, it’s still distracting…

Focus, horri!

Fine, I’ll just go with regular paint then!

Tch! Well, next up...

You really don’t give up, do you? (lol)

Here it is! The long-awaited Animal Texture Series!

I wasn’t waiting for it, though.

A series inspired by animal patterns!

So, it’s not actual fur, but it’s just paint that gives the impression of animal print, right?

Yep! First up, giraffe!

Giraffe. Like a net pattern?

Next, tiger!

That could be good. It’s the zodiac sign for 2022, after all.

Leopard.

Leopard print, like a Kansai obasan style.

Zebra!

Ah, that could be good too. A white tiger might work well too. I’m not sure, though.

There’s also Peacock!

Peacock, huh? Sounds like something kizuhiko would like.

And the last one for the animal series—calico!

As in a calico cat?

Yep! White base with black and brown patches!

It’s like we went from being in a zoo to suddenly back at home under the kotatsu (lol). But, now that I think about it, animal print paint jobs were pretty common back in the day... like during the LA metal era. I think they call it hair metal now?

(ignoring him) Anyway, next up, this is the last one!

I’m getting ignored a lot today... What’s next? I’m curious!

Fruity Rainbow!

What color is that exactly? (lol)

And everything is…

For love!