Just admit it. You bought it for the color.

It’s aesthetics that make us pick up a guitar in the first place. Anyone claiming otherwise is lying, bar the one in a million exception of coarse.

 

Yes.

 

Pretty much every guitar I have ever purchased.

 

I can say with absolute certainty that were it not for the color I would never have picked up a Fender Classic Series '60s Stratocaster. Heck, I would never have picked up a Strat; full stop.

I was still early into an 8000 mile road trip needing a break so I pulled off the highway and made a pit stop for lunch at a place across from the local GC. Well, you can't stop for lunch across the street from GC and not stop by...

I hated Stratocasters with a passion but the lilac body, so subtle as to seemingly change color depending on the angle of the light, was irresistible.

It was so irresistible that I put it on layaway without even playing it. I was 2000 miles into my trip and wanted to move on to my next National Park. I stopped back in on the return trip, played it for a bit, and it wound up in the backseat of my car for the remaining 2000 mile drive back home.

A few years later I ended up with another Strat (wtf) in a color I thought I hated: white. This white though, "Pearl White", was unlike any white I'd ever seen on a guitar. Luckily it was a Squier, considerably less expensive than the aforementioned Fender, but just as good a guitar in every way.

So, I ended up with two great guitars, of a kind I always thought I hated, purely because the colors sucked me in.

 

I have 3 sets of duplicates. Had a Classic Player 50s Stratocaster in Shorline Gold. They came out with an Anniversary version of the same model, in Desert Sand with an annodized pick guard, a tweed hard case and a nice book. Had to have it but had no intention of selling the other.

Had a Classic Player 60s Stratocaster in Faded Sonic Blue. Awesome guitar, was my first Mexican Strat (had it before either of the above guitars). Eventually spotted an FSR (Fender Special Run) version in Vegas Gold (sparkle/metal flake). Figured oh why not. Hunted for awhile and found a good deal. Exact same guitar.

Gibson had just come out with the Les Paul Studio 50s Tribute. Ordered a Gold Top at GC. Then the factory got flooded. Gibson wrote on their forum that about 40 made it out before the flood (various colors). Production was on hold for the clean up. Months passed, and someone posted about a Honeyburst they got at Sam Ash. Said they had another. A day later I called. My contact had doubts they even had any. Searched 3 different places on his computer, was amazed it showed one in stock. I still have that pre-flood guitar.

After production resumed, GC was known to be cancelling some people's orders. My contact said my order was secure but pushed back and I had low confidence. Then on the Forum, someone said they'd seen 2 being unboxed at Sam Ash N.Y.C. Retail store. Called, and grabbed the 2nd of the two. A couple months later, my GC order came through. I took it out, function checked it and took pics. Listed it on Craigs List, no serious takers. Eventually traded it NIB to a dealer accross the country for a NOS Road Worn Stratocaster from their first year (2008). Those 3 50s Tributes are the front row in this pic. Still have 4 of these 5 guitars (and the Road Worn Strat).

 

Oh, forgot to mention my Classic Series 50 Stratocaster. Fiesta Red, didn't need another Strat (have bought a few more since). But that color! Had to have it. Justified by the fact I didn't have that exact model.

 

yeah. you hear with your eyes first. that's why there is still a tone wood discussion.

 

There is nothing more glorious than Fiesta Red!!!!
...Although, Gibson's Cardinal Red is right up there.
I buy red things...and not just guitars

 

I've turned down because of color, but not purchased.

 

Like @larryb I am drawn to red things, like a moth to a flame (although oddly, I am immune to Ferraris). However, I won't buy anything with gold hardware on. It could be the greatest playing guitar in the universe at a price that's right for me, but I'd never know as I wouldn't even pick it up.

 

I'm so busted! If I had the money I would definitely buy a "man salmon" 5191 to go with my black 5191. I don't need a pink guitar- I need to play my black one more, and with my new TVJ pickups in it it has become my favorite guitar. Maybe it's because I got it used and it's kind of worn looking, but I don't feel as self conscious playing it as I do my orange 6120, so my black 5191 get more use. A sick little voice in my head keeps telling me that the black guitar would look grat parked in the living room next to a pink twin.

 

I absolutely did that with the fairlane blue 5420. The second they were available I bought one and sold my aspen green 5420. It was a great guitar but I sold it this weekend because I’m getting a blue falcon and well, I didn’t need another blue guitar

 

No . Bought the first one because it was a Gretsch, the second one for the Western motifs, the third one because it was rather cheap. But just for the colour, never.

 

There’s a sonic blue Duo Jet for sale on this forum right now that is making me want to rob an armored car.

 

No, not for color alone, but for many other equally suspect reasons, versatility being one of them. I usually decide on a make/model first, and then color jumps right up near the top, ahead of playability and sound in some cases - my brain will often just find a way to make that stuff work out once I spot one that I like in the desired model & color. One of my favorite excuses is telling myself that I won’t really know how it plays and sounds until I get it home, set it up, and use it with my other gear, so why not just shoot first and ask questions later. And you’d think that after five or six electrics, I could go for the occasional killer one-trick pony and stop insisting that each one be as ridiculously versatile as the Swiss army shoe.

 

Nope. Never done it.

 

Bought it for the colour? Dear me, that's a bit sad. Er, went out for a new strap and came back with this. Yeah, I know, it's the colour......

 

Last year I was checking out Stratocasters at a store in Hamburg.
They had a bunch of US standard models and some CS models on the wall.
They were o.k. but none of them was a winner. Wrong neck prifile, wrong fingerboard-wood, all the way too heavy, too-shrill bridge pu, wrong colour...
The only reason I took a MIM model from the shelf was its ultraviolet colour.
It played like a dream. Best Stratocaster I ever had in my hands.
It was that Hendrix signature model. It had a pricetag on it that was on the same level as the US made standard Stratocasters and I considered that to be too much. So I passed on it.

Some weekes later an olympic white one crossed my path and the seller made me a real good offer that I simply could not resist. It was brandnew and even had the foil on all the plastic parts.
It plays just as nice as the ultraviolet one.
The colour is different but marvellous: The creamiest white you can imagine and the plastic parts do blend perfectly with their matching colour.
A feast for the eyes, ears and hands.