I've read loads of stuff about fender guards and there's a lot of different theorys but this is what I got
Up to 65 leo was buying nitrate celluloid from Italy and each batch was a bit different, some with the mint hue ( mint was never an option from fender it was just how some batches of"white" looked )some more amber
Opinion varies about what gives them the mint look, an earlier theory was it was cos the outer layers became more translucent as they age allowing the black middle to show through although this has since been debunked.A company I think called Lashing chopped a damaged one up and found it got less mint nearer the middle and when they cut it back with solvent it got whiter but still mint
So they reckon there were mint/amber in the first place but get more tinted with exposure to light and pollutants
It was this material that warped too which to me is a cool fender vintage look
The fascination is cos up to 65 fender pickguards were nitrate celluloid which looked very different and started aging very quickly , a 2nd hand pickguard would also be shiny, the nitro paint was also totally different hence why that worn look has become such a thing for fenders
Why does every thread about aged stuff get hijacked by people saying you shouldn't do it , it's wrong etc etc
There's some styles of bass that aren't for me so I wouldn't buy one however I wouldn't find a thread about em and say I hate them and so should you
DBs sound great , big smooth punchy but they're heavy
SL I had some and they've got amazing low end for something so light but they don't punch like the DB
GS only for used em once as hired backline, bit weird sounding, not for me
People do it cos it's easy to get a smooth tone and bluff notes a bit but it's cowardly , be strong brothers ,leave those mids in and play with conviction and finesse!
cheers rubis, that mint spitfire looks the absolute business, love the warping, so authentic. I've seen those ebay ones they look really good but not as good as the spitfire and if I can dodge the duty through getting my mate to bring it over the spitfire mint is a bit cheaper
I hadn't realised CS werea different fit though, that may throw a spanner in the works, anyone know how they're different?
Does anyone know if custom colour basses actually came with tort , I thought they were always white and pics in books suggest this but you see CS ones with tort, I wonder if this has become a thing cos it looks cool and sunburst basses got refinished , is pino's bass all orig?
That thread's a bit worrying, the only vintage fender one I've seen so far was over a grand!
I've got my eye's peeled for a 2nd hand spitfire on reverb and talkbass
I'm a massive fender geek and I love the old 60s tort guards to the point where anything else looks instantly all wrong to me
I've got a surf green CS P with a gold anodised guard which is cool but for me it's a 60s looking bass with a 50s guard so a fancy a tort one
Spitfire guards look amazing but are insanely expensive ( although I wouldn't say overpriced considering he's making a bespoke sheet of celluloid to your spec)
I've got a mate in America who comes over a lot so I could dodge duty etc but £230 odd quid for pickguard , am I going mad?
Anyone got one? What do you reckon?