TV Yellow Mystery

[newey]

When I last ordered something from Warmoth, I forgot to tick off the "Don't Spam Me" box, so their newsletter regularly shows up in my inbox. I love a good historical mystery (don't we all?), so their recent story on the origins of the "TV Yellow" color was intriguing.

Basically, there are two competing origin stories, although the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as Warmoth's article notes. The color first appeared on the mid-'50's Les Paul Jr. "TV model". Theory number one is that the color was taken from a particular finish used on early TV sets known as "limed mahogany". The competing theory is that Les Paul himself developed the color for use while playing on live TV, as in the early days a pure white color would cause a "white out" effect due to the limitations of the early tube-based TV cameras.

blog.warmoth.com/2016/02/09/tv-yellow-faded-origin-classic-guitar-color/

The first theory strikes me as more likely, as the finish does resemble the old TV set pictured in the article. The second theory, if true, would be a much cooler explanation, though!

[reTrEaD]

Feb 12, 2016 6:33:59 GMT -5 newey said:

The competing theory is that Les Paul himself developed the color for use while playing on live TV, as in the early days a pure white color would cause a "white out" effect due to the limitations of the early tube-based TV cameras.

Disclaimer: Much unsubstantiated speculation ahead ...

While I consider the possibility the name of the color was based on the "white out" issue to be fairly strong, I believe name may have come after the fact. And I rather doubt Les Paul developed the color for this purpose. I would guess Ted McCarty had far more to do with this color.

It seemed obvious to me that by 1961 that Leo Fender's success made an impression on Ted and affected some of the product decisions he made. The student models and this color may have been one of the early times when Ted took a cue from Leo.

The Esquire/Broadcaster/Nocaster/Telecaster was already a success. It was simple in construction, inexpensive to build and the blonde/butterscotch finish hid many ills in the grain of the wood beneath. The price was affordable and it gained popularity quickly.

In my estimation, the first giant step in the "affordable" direction was the introduction of the student models (Les Paul Junior and a year later the Les Paul Special). Compared to the parent models, these were much thinner and lighter. Not carved, just simple slab bodies. A transparent red finish was fine for the bodies that happened to have nicely grained wood. The nearly opaque sunburst finish did a fine job of masking the poorer grained units.

But the sunburst finish required extra steps, and steps cost time and money. A finish similar to the blonde/butterscotch Leo had used would seem an easy sell, as the market had already embraced it. Of course calling it "Telecaster Yellow" would not be an option.

It would seem unlikely Les Paul strongly embraced the student models but perhaps he was lukewarm to them. He might have warmed up to the fact that young players would start with a student model with his name on it, then later be inclined to purchase a "real" Les Paul. In any case, I doubt he envisioned himself or anyone else playing a student model on television. Ted might have used the name as a marketing tool, though. Let the kids use their imagination. Or perhaps theory #1 is closer to the truth. Idk.