Members hippityhoppity Posted December 8, 2021 Members Share Posted December 8, 2021 1. wanted to mention that i bought a 2020 tommy thayer electric blue in september 2020 from sam ash and now about 50% of it is purple. i searched epiphone forums and found two people with similar experiences with epi/gibson guitars made in china. one person said epiphone told them it was "dye trouble" and there was nothing they could do for him [not covered by warranty] another person said their blue LP turned brown and another said his turned grey. these seem like very isolated episodes but i just wanted to mention the reality of it as i had a hard time finding any info on the web or in forums about it and quite frankly most folks don't believe its possible. the very odd thing is that the color change happens underneath the final finish [i cleaned the guitar as if it was "varnish yellowing" - no change] but if you take off hardware the original color is still there. i honestly have no idea how this happens or is possible but my guitar is really purple now on the front - still mostly blue on the back and for the most part the "sparkle" is unaffected. its likely i'm keeping the guitar - modding it a bit and hoping that it doesn't turn grey or brown and hoping that in the future these "dye trouble guitars from china" become wildly popular collector items. 2. also wanted to mention i bought a squire strat 2020 from music go round that was actually a factory reject "gold tag" refurbished by MIRC in tennessee and music go round didn't tell me that before i purchased. the "gold tag serial number" is a MIRC number and is not a squire/fender serial number - and therefore the guitar has no resale value anymore. i returned the guitar and music go round refunded my money less shipping. music go round also sells some LP style guitars like that as well with the "gold tag" on the headstock. just wanted to share some experience knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted December 8, 2021 Members Share Posted December 8, 2021 Without pictures, there's no proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 8, 2021 Moderators Share Posted December 8, 2021 exposure to light can affect pigments. I would venture to guess that this is not uncommon, because in my past experieince I learned Chinese factories are notorious for altering things like chemical compounds, pigments, finishes, etc., to try to 'save money', but they don't bother testing first. I changed factories in China frequently because of this type of stuff...they don't care what your contract says [yeah, good luck winning in a Chinese court]. If they can cut their costs, it is a win for them...too bad for your customers....and your long term business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hippityhoppity Posted December 9, 2021 Author Members Share Posted December 9, 2021 best photos i could get at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted December 9, 2021 Members Share Posted December 9, 2021 Electric Blue looks like the new Electric Purple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted December 9, 2021 Members Share Posted December 9, 2021 That's kinda typical of the three I have seen. Nothing you can do about it, unless you want to have it refinished, which loses the value, and is why you probably bought it in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hippityhoppity Posted December 9, 2021 Author Members Share Posted December 9, 2021 i honestly bought it for the blue and the sparkle. now i'm just hoping it doesn't turn any more colors like brown or grey. i will say i bought from the 2019/2020 production run and supposedly they did a separate 2021 production run. as far as collectible......chinese made 8 to 900 dollar guitar?, i pretty much got what i expected [build quality etc] save for the finish changing. i mostly posted in case anybody was thinking about buying one. mine was 100% blue when i got it and it looked great. i was thinking about going to some brick and mortars next year to see some in person and to see if they are holding color. i'm not really a collector even though i keep what i buy. i only ever paid 2500 or more three times. i generally buy guitars in the 300 to 1000 range and then upgrade the electronics and put in pickups that i want to work with. from this experience what i learned was a guitars "finish or appearance" is not covered under warranty - which i should have realized but hadn't ever considered before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 9, 2021 Moderators Share Posted December 9, 2021 was the guitar left out of its case most of the time? That is light-induced pigment change, for sure... very clear since the parts that were covered retain their original hue. I've seen worse... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hippityhoppity Posted December 10, 2021 Author Members Share Posted December 10, 2021 (edited) no - it came with a sweet case and its been in there. it was a guitar that was about a year old [so older new stock] when i bought it new in 2021 from sam ash [i guess these guitars didn't sell too fast]. on other forums i found two people with LP chinese guitars that changed color and they contacted epi/gibson and were told it was a "dye problem" in china and the dyes that they used were defective and therefore would degrade [change color] no matter what. mine was in the case and since i have other guitars i don't see them all every day. this one went about a month in between me getting it out and....... it was purple. if it had turned purple within the return time limits of sam ash i could have returned it but it has happened after i've had it about 90 days. the limits are 45 days and 60 days. it will always be ironic to me that the headstock says "electric blue". i agree with you about underneath the hardware and "light" - i absolutely see that logic. then i wondered if it was sprayed with something in the factory with the hardware on? only thing i can think of besides "light". Edited December 10, 2021 by hippityhoppity misspell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 10, 2021 Moderators Share Posted December 10, 2021 3 hours ago, hippityhoppity said: no - it came with a sweet case and its been in there. it was a guitar that was about a year old [so older new stock] when i bought it new in 2021 from sam ash [i guess these guitars didn't sell too fast]. on other forums i found two people with LP chinese guitars that changed color and they contacted epi/gibson and were told it was a "dye problem" in china and the dyes that they used were defective and therefore would degrade [change color] no matter what. mine was in the case and since i have other guitars i don't see them all every day. this one went about a month in between me getting it out and....... it was purple. if it had turned purple within the return time limits of sam ash i could have returned it but it has happened after i've had it about 90 days. the limits are 45 days and 60 days. it will always be ironic to me that the headstock says "electric blue". i agree with you about underneath the hardware and "light" - i absolutely see that logic. then i wondered if it was sprayed with something in the factory with the hardware on? only thing i can think of besides "light". it may well have been out on display at the SA store for many months under fluorescent light... 'Defective dyes'? Like I mentioned before, the Chinese have a bad habit of making unauthorized substitutions of chemical components to try to cut costs...this does look like a prime example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.