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Let's assume that one wanted to refin a guitar in Charcoal Frost yet didn't have any access to reranch colors - you just have to describe it to someone. How would you do so?

I'd take a stab at it although I've never seen one in person. Is there a slight sparkle to it? Is it enough to describe it as extremely dark grey, not quite black but close? How else would you describe it?

And from the technical side, how were these finishes applied? Sealer and finish, or did it have a gold or silver undercoat?

Yes, it's metallic, it has a slight sparkle. I think most people would call it "dark charcoal gray" on a car or motorcycle (etc).

When I did mine, I didn't use nitro. I took a color sample to the auto paint store and matched it up in the DuPont polyurethane catalog. I'm not sure about the original nitro, if it had an undercoat or not.  I sprayed the poly over yellow primer, so if it chipped eventually it might look authentic. But that poly was rock hard!

It's very hard to photo, the flash makes the metallic content stand out, and the charcoal takes on a slight bluish or burgandy hue. It's really a great color, especially in natural light.

i'm really thinking of doing a jazzmaster in charcoal frost coming up [it's either that, or a lighter more pewter metallic]. i thought about matching up a dupont color. i can get any dupot finish sprayed for super cheap by a close friend. but i wanted to go away from poly. ilovesharinfoo suggested using auto lacquer.

doesnt reranch NOT have charcoal frost anyway? i was looking for a dark pewter and i didnt notice that they had anything.

Thanks, guys. So I could explain to folks that it's a "dark candy apple grey" and go from there.

The guy who I think will do the deed (although we had talked about olywhite and black before - my interest in charcoal frost piqued just a few days ago) has done CAR finishes so that frame of reference should help. Is it a bit less "sparkly" than CAR, or about the same?

(I almost wrote "is the density of the sparkliness the same" and then I realized that it sounded a bit...well...odd.)

Printing out and taking along lots of pics would help too I guess.

Is it a bit less "sparkly" than CAR, or about the same?

I would say less. While it may or may not have the same amount of metallic content, it does not have the 'flip-flop' quality that a candy finish has (provided by the undecoat).

I liken it more to LPB or BMM (or any other of the standard metallics) as far as "sparkliness".

I've never seen it in front of me,

to me, it appears to be a lighter shade of black....more black than silver...really dark silver

in some pics, it appears to have a green hue to it...in others it seems grayscale.

I personaly absolutely love the colour...lemme see if I can dig out some pics.....

*off to go through HD*

mezcalhead wrote: Printing out and taking along lots of pics would help too I guess.

I always do this but I only have a few photos, and each one has its own "bias" (original quality of photograph, shading, lighting  etc).

zhivago wrote: I've never seen it in front of me,

to me, it appears to be a lighter shade of black....more black than silver...really dark silver

in some pics, it appears to have a green hue to it...in others it seems grayscale.

I personaly absolutely love the colour...lemme see if I can dig out some pics.....

*off to go through HD*

I'm guessing that the greenish hue is a time-based effect like OlyWhite yellowing.

Any photos you have would be greatly appreciated  as I can add it to the few that I already have.

The technical details are:

Color                 Charcoal Frost metallic
Paint Type     Lucite (DuPont acrylic lacquer)
Paint Number   4618L
Fender Years   1965-1969
Car Years     1965-1966
CarMake              Lincoln

ok...i've posted this one before....



this it's the one at that shop (huge pics):

http://www.againstperfection.net/guitar ... faguar.jpg

http://www.againstperfection.net/guitar ... arcoal.jpg

$trat:





JM headstock:



another $trat:



these are pics I took from the Warmoth site years ago...dunno if they're still there, but I uploaded them onto my server..they show how hard it is to take pics of it...excuse the body shapes....









that's all I got...for what it's worth, I like the hue on the 1st Jag and the complete $trat....

Thanks for those. I also found this one, which has the guitar contrasted against a black hardshell case:

Here's what I came up with for my refin:





It looked darker in person, the flash brightens it up. It was actually a pretty good match for that $trat on the black case...

mjet260 wrote: Thanks for those. I also found this one, which has the guitar contrasted against a black hardshell case:

that's totaly my idea of charcoal frost

glad to help with any pics I have, Michael

Doug,

Those photos of the Jag are a game-set-match for me. I'm asking about this for my Warmoth Jag project.



I now have to decide whether to go for a matching headstock or just have the current one veneered after the extra tuner holes    are patched up. I'm leaning towards the matching headstock, though, with a clipped Fender logo.

mjet260 wrote: Doug,

Those photos of the Jag are a game-set-match for me. I'm asking about this for my Warmoth Jag project.



I now have to decide whether to go for a matching headstock or just have the current one veneered after the extra tuner holes    are patched up. I'm leaning towards the matching headstock, though, with a clipped Fender logo.

my vote's for matching headstock...it would look HOT!!!