What is the Most Durable Fadeproof Color?

Minutes ago I ran this question past a local guitar store owner who provided me a detailed technical answer (as usual) but here is the translation which my tiny brain can understand.

Basically, he said that sunlight was the main culprit. Obviously sunlight is the strongest and most abundant source of light in our world so his explanation focused on that. He said that simply hanging a guitar on the wall where abundant sunlight illuminates that room on a daily basis (even if it is not direct sunlight) is sufficient to quickly fade the finish of the guitar. The way to remedy that situation would be to have the shades pulled closed and basically leave them that way. (I presume he is talking about blackout rated curtains.) As it so happens, it seems that I have been doing this one thing right in recent years. I have blackout rated curtains in the room where all my PRS guitars have been hanging on a wall, 24/7 since 2011. None of my PRS guitar finishes have faded.

This guitar store owner also mentioned the technical name for the dye that PRS uses (which I forgot) and explained that it had nothing to do with being environmentally friendly but rather that it looks a lot better the the fake plastic looking stuff they could use if they really wanted to protect against fading from sunlight. (Think of the horrible clown burst finishes that Gibson used during their super crappy finishes era of the big corporation influence of the 70's. That stuff didn't fade but it looked like plastic and didn't blend well with other colors.)
 
Minutes ago I ran this question past a local guitar store owner who provided me a detailed technical answer (as usual) but here is the translation which my tiny brain can understand.

Basically, he said that sunlight was the main culprit. Obviously sunlight is the strongest and most abundant source of light in our world so his explanation focused on that. He said that simply hanging a guitar on the wall where abundant sunlight illuminates that room on a daily basis (even if it is not direct sunlight) is sufficient to quickly fade the finish of the guitar. The way to remedy that situation would be to have the shades pulled closed and basically leave them that way. (I presume he is talking about blackout rated curtains.) As it so happens, it seems that I have been doing this one thing right in recent years. I have blackout rated curtains in the room where all my PRS guitars have been hanging on a wall, 24/7 since 2011. None of my PRS guitar finishes have faded.

This guitar store owner also mentioned the technical name for the dye that PRS uses (which I forgot) and explained that it had nothing to do with being environmentally friendly but rather that it looks a lot better the the fake plastic looking stuff they could use if they really wanted to protect against fading from sunlight. (Think of the horrible clown burst finishes that Gibson used during their super crappy finishes era of the big corporation influence of the 70's. That stuff didn't fade but it looked like plastic and didn't blend well with other colors.)

Not to be too picky, but isn’t that pretty much what I said?
 
I’ve got a Purple Hazel Cu22 that was Royal or Whale Blue. PTC refinish 2 years ago. It looks awesome. Hangs in a bedroom that gets a little ambient sunlight. Lately I’ve been asking myself if the finish is beginning to change. Personally, I can’t wait to see how it evolves. I love some of the old 90s blues that have faded to a yellowish type of color. I think it looks rad as f!
 
I’ve come full circle; years ago, I didn’t like to see fading. Now when I see some of the colors faded a bit, it looks kinda cool. On other colors, not so much.

You just never know.
 

Yeah, it’s kind of a cinnamon color now. It was sold to me as Red Tiger but that was nonsense and PRS confirmed it was made in Black Cherry back in 2008. When my local guy set it up, he took a pic with the bridge off and it was obvious. Doesn’t matter because as much as I love black cherry, this is cool too.

In bright sunlight:
JbpytAe.jpg


In gloomy Rochester-in-winter lighting:
mnNz1M7.jpg
 
Yeah, it’s kind of a cinnamon color now. It was sold to me as Red Tiger but that was nonsense and PRS confirmed it was made in Black Cherry back in 2008. When my local guy set it up, he took a pic with the bridge off and it was obvious. Doesn’t matter because as much as I love black cherry, this is cool too.

In bright sunlight:
JbpytAe.jpg


In gloomy Rochester-in-winter lighting:
mnNz1M7.jpg

Whoa! Beautiful.
 
Yeah, it’s kind of a cinnamon color now. It was sold to me as Red Tiger but that was nonsense and PRS confirmed it was made in Black Cherry back in 2008. When my local guy set it up, he took a pic with the bridge off and it was obvious. Doesn’t matter because as much as I love black cherry, this is cool too.

In bright sunlight:
JbpytAe.jpg


In gloomy Rochester-in-winter lighting:
mnNz1M7.jpg
I really like that fade!
 
1. I agree with LSchefman said. PRS uses photosensitive pigments to enhance the wood grain and stunning appearance which the brand has been known for for three decades. But this kinda pigments fade out easily over time.

2. Blue Matteo gets faded quickest. See the sample pics I collected from the net below. Each picture consists of one same guitar shown in before/after its fading. The last one is an ME1 which almost completely faded out.

Other colors with blue pigment in it tend to fade too, no matter how expensive the color charges you, Northern Lights per say. But surprisingly, recently I met a WL McCarty owner finished with Bonnie Pink. Believe me or not, this color also fades slightly after less than 1 year of using. We knew this by unscrewing the pups ring to see the difference of color.

Yes, you can slow down the fading by keep your blue PRS in case when not in use. But to my thought it's hillarious to keep casing/opening/casing/opening/casing bla bla bla to maintain a $6000 worth guitar to looks as beautiful as the 1st day of possession. I hope PRS addresses this problem seriously.

As far as I see, the colors with least tendency to fade are amber, yellow, tortoise shell, black cherry, emerald green, etc.

l6MESrp.jpg


BNm3pnA.jpg


IkhXcX3.jpg


z1NBp0A.jpg
 
Last edited:
1. I agree with LSchefman said. PRS uses photosensitive pigments to enhance the wood grain and stunning appearance which the brand has been known for for three decades. But this kinda pigments fade out easily over time.

2. Blue Matteo gets faded quickest. See the sample pics I collected from the net below. Each picture consists of one same guitar shown in before/after its fading. The last one is an ME1 which almost completely faded out.

Other colors with blue pigment in it tend to fade too, no matter how expensive the color charges you, Northern Lights per say. But surprisingly, recently I met a WL McCarty owner finished with Bonnie Pink. Believe me or not, this color also fades slightly after less than 1 year of using. We knew this by unscrewing the pups ring to see the difference of color.

Yes, you can slow down the fading by keep your blue PRS in case when not in use. But to my thought it's hillarious to keep casing/opening/casing/opening/casing bla bla bla to maintain a $6000 worth guitar to looks as beautiful as the 1st day of possession. I hope PRS addresses this problem seriously.

As far as I see, the colors with least tendency to fade are amber, yellow, tortoise shell, black cherry, emerald green, etc.

l6MESrp.jpg


BNm3pnA.jpg


IkhXcX3.jpg


z1NBp0A.jpg

In your first and last photographs, I actually like the faded result.

I feel for the owner, but that’s just my personal preference.

The figuring in that top is stunning and the pale blue accents look almost iridescent!
 
In your first and last photographs, I actually like the faded result.

I feel for the owner, but that’s just my personal preference.

The figuring in that top is stunning and the pale blue accents look almost iridescent!
I personally like the last one too. This guitar was for sale long ago with asking price of sub $5000 which is a steal for a nice flamey top ME1 since the current price of ME1 (with less fading) is between $6-7000 now.

No wonder why the price of this ME drops such drastically - because of fading condition.
 
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