I owned an old SG that had a dull metallic green finish. I’ve seen one other SG with the same color, and also a Firebird. It occurred to me that this color might be the result of a tarnishing or discoloration of the original finish. Anybody have any information?
Maybe an old/faded Goldtop?
Back in the day when they used nitrocellulose laquer it was apt to change color quite a bit.
Fender had a color called Olympic White that would turn bananna pudding yellow after a while. People liked the resulting color enough that Fender started selling guitars painted in the banana color but called Vintage White.
They had a couple shades of blue that go green over time. No UV protection in those old paints.
Gibson was probably using the same style finishes.
I think Gibson had a finish called Pelham Blue. Perhaps that’s how it started and eventually went green.
That’s all I got.
How old was the SG?
ETA: Do a Google Image Search for Gibson guitar Pelham blue. Some of the examples look quite green.
My ebony 2001 SG Special is still black 
Pelham blue looks right.
The first SG I saw was in 1976, and with a single pickup, so I’m guessing late 60s maybe early 1970s. The SG that I owned I’m guessing same era. The Firebird was a really strange one: 12-string nonreverse body. Early 60s?
The second-gen, “non-reverse” Firebird was from the second half of the 60’s - the body change happened in '65 or so.
Pelham Blue - I pay attention to it because I live in a town called Pelham - is a pearlescent light blue that was introduced as a custom color - along with Raspberry Mist and a few others - in the early 60’s. Currently, Elliott Easton’s signature SG is available in PB and Dave Grohl’s sig model (link to Musician’s Friend), based on a Trini Lopez 335-type guitar with diamond-shaped F-holes is also in PB.
PB fades to an ugly lime green if left in the sun - so you’ll see listings for old ones where it appears to be a different color than the normal PB. Gibson even released one recent guitar in that relic’d color - no idea why since it is so damn ugly.
Oh, and hereis a thread on a Gibson forum on Firebird XII’s
PB fades to an ugly lime green if left in the sun - so you’ll see listings for old ones where it appears to be a different color than the normal PB. Gibson even released one recent guitar in that relic’d color - no idea why since it is so damn ugly.
Oh, and hereis a thread on a Gibson forum on Firebird XII’s
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The Gibson color chart initially made me think it was the Inverness Green, but after checking out the link, PB faded has me convinced. But I’d be hate pressed to call that “lime.”