Rapid fading of certain finishes?

Skeeter

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Hi, I’m looking at a used (a little over 2 years old) PRS in Faded Blue Jean. I was able to find its original listing and the color has faded a good bit since then.

The extremely trustworthy, big time PRS dealer tells me that FBJ finish has a very common fading problem, and otherwise lists the guitar as excellent/mint, and again it’s a very trustworthy shop. So it doesn’t appear the guitar was abused or anything.

I have and have had numerous PRSi with the V12 finish, and none have faded, but haven’t had that color before. Is it true that FBJ, and maybe other finishes do fade that rapidly and continuously?

I wouldn’t want to buy this guitar and have it look like those ME1’s, which are satin, and look practically white by now.

What is the forum’s experience with this kind of color fading? Is it this color-dependent? Is perhaps most of the fading just in the first few years, or should I expect this rate of fading to continue, even if I take great care of it and keep it in its case?

Thanks for all your insight!
 
I believe any core PRS with blue in its stain will fade with light exposure due to the nature of the dye they use.

You’ll also see this in a lot of the purples they do.
 
As others have said blues fade fast but all of their colors will fade if exposed to light all the time.
One example that occurred in less than a year inside a store (not direct sunlight) and a few more examples in earlier pages:
https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/northern-lights-fading.34794/page-7

In short keep them in the case when unplayed however tempting (and it is) it may be to hang them on the wall to admire the workmanship and woods.
 
The blue dyes are notorious for UV fading...here's my '91 CE:
QiEBjCI.jpg


You can see the original Royal Blue under the pickup rings...
f79hUMT.jpg
 
Blue stains seem to fade more than other colors. Here are pics of 2 Royal Blue 86s taken in my back yard. Hard to believe they started life as the same color.

gC0S3qal.jpg

T3emJZbl.jpg


I don't happen to mind the fading on an older guitar but I'd be a little unhappy if this happened right away.

This one is just a few years newer and is much closer to what the original color should have looked like.

yNbm0AGl.jpg
 
Blue stains seem to fade more than other colors. Here are pics of 2 Royal Blue 86s taken in my back yard. Hard to believe they started life as the same color.

gC0S3qal.jpg

T3emJZbl.jpg


I don't happen to mind the fading on an older guitar but I'd be a little unhappy if this happened right away.

Love that second one so much!
 
Blue stains seem to fade more than other colors. Here are pics of 2 Royal Blue 86s taken in my back yard. Hard to believe they started life as the same color.

gC0S3qal.jpg

T3emJZbl.jpg


I don't happen to mind the fading on an older guitar but I'd be a little unhappy if this happened right away.

This one is just a few years newer and is much closer to what the original color should have looked like.

yNbm0AGl.jpg
Man, I love that fade!
 
SYLMC

Here's mine after 5 years out of the case you can compare with my avatar the moment it arrived at my workplace.
gUqSSvU.jpg

also it had some minor modifications, ebony tuner buttons, clear black lamp shades and IRW back plates made by a luthier in Germany.
 
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Here's some outdoor pics of my '95 Purple Custom 24 10-Top in the shade, and one of it out by the lake in direct sunlight.

For me there's such a difference in how the lighting changes the color.

I'm glad for now that the color has faded very little, compared the the drastic fading of some of the other guitars in this thread.

46160675645_19e45c769e_c.jpg
49148416901_133d7e3c2f_c.jpg
 
Something interesting at the 19:35 mark of this video:

Not an apples to apples comparison of course, but it happens.

Like what Docteurseb above advises, best to know it in advance, and then consider whether you’re comfortable with keeping guitars with blue color components in their cases when not playing them.

If you keep them in the cases, it will not fade from personal experience.
 
It comes down to whether or not you want to actively look after the colour of your guitar, whether that is a major importance or not. If you are buying it purely as wall candy, I guess it really matters if it fades but the colour won't affect the way it plays and sounds.

I keep my guitars in their cases - whether Red will fade or not. It offers more than just UV protection. A lot of it may be down to space - having to find a place to store the cases separately but I can only play one guitar at a time and it doesn't take more than a minute to grab a case, open it and take a guitar out. When I take a break, the guitar goes on a stand but if want to swap guitars, I put one away and grab the next out. There is something nice about opening a case and seeing the guitar and I think it doesn't matter if you only saw it yesterday, I appreciate the look of it more than if it was constantly there, constantly on display. If you are showing it off to friends too, its great to see their faces when you open the case. I still buy 'physical' music and have never worried about the 'convenience' of Digital. It doesn't take long to swap a CD over...

I guess if I was recording different parts, wanting different guitars, then I would take out the guitars I think I would need, put them in a rack whilst doing the recording but afterwards would put them back in their cases so they are safe and protected.

I know we buy guitars on looks too - not just the playability, the tone etc but I see little reason you can't look after certain guitars - particularly if the colour is important and prone to fading and the colour is important to you. You can buy racks that hold guitars in their cases too so they are close at hand. It maybe 1 extra step to take a guitar out of a case as opposed to grabbing it off the wall, off a stand or out of a rack - but if the colour is that important to you, then its worth it in my opinion.

As I said, it really comes down to what is important. If the risk of fading is too much, you have the option of keeping your guitar cased, only taking it out to play or opting to buy a different colour - one that may have less risk of fading. UV light will fade everything eventually - just some fade faster than others - but you can significantly reduce that risk. Hanging them on the wall or putting them on a stand will expose the front, a rack may offer a bit of protection if its got another guitar in front of it but could cause the edge to fade more but a case will offer full UV protection.
 
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