Guitar colors

[albertgen]

I wonder if Chet took any part in deciding what colors of finishes for his models. I know somebody at Gretsch picked the Orange color. I don't know about any of the Gibson colors. Al

[synchro]

I'm sure he had some influence on the process but who knows? The walnut and the orange were definitely Gretsch-ish in nature. Wasn't there a red also? I'm sure that marketing had a voice in it all.

[guitarchuck]

I'm pretty sure that Paul Yandell suggested that Gibson use the Gretsch orange color. The Gibson Phasar (modeled after the Peaver) was the first Gibson cataloged with the "Sunrise Orange" color.
Also, I read somewhere just recently that the one thing that Chet insisted
on was that Gibson get the orange color "right". I wish I could remember where I read that.

[guitarchuck]

I just remembered where I read it: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum book - Chet Atkins Certified Guitar Player. Page 66 reads:

He was also about color, as Voltz found out. At Paul Yandell's suggestion, the Country Gentleman got an orange finish as a throwback to the Gretsch 6120, and as usual, Chet insisted on perfection, "The only color he cared about was orange," Voltz affirmed. "Anything else he didn't care about. I painted a couple of oranges before he said, 'That's the one.' We kept that color in the spray booth so we could match it every time, because that color really meant something to Chet."

[Norm]

Paul borrowed some guy's 6120 that had a really pretty orange color and loaned it to Gibson.

"Do that"

They eventually did

[albertgen]

Well he started off with Orange so maybe he wanted to end with Orange. I do know that at that time Leo Fender was coming out with all kinds of colors that really struck a note with the kids. Anyway I loved Gretsch colors more than any other guitar, but I also liked that sunburst finish on his L10 and D'Agelico. Al

[Vidar Lund]

Interesting that Chet wanted that orange colour. He didn´t like the orange finish on his first Gretsch, the Streamliner Special, later the 6120, according to MMAG.

[bill raymond]

He didn´t like the orange finish on his first Gretsch, the Streamliner Special, later the 6120, according to MMAG.

Perhaps he learned to like it over time.