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Origin of The Colour Name "Pelham Blue"


capmaster

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Being curious about the origin of the Gibson metallic colour denomination, beside others I found this thread here: http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=55998

 

Funny that it was started by a Guitarnoise member from Moscow with the forum name Kopfschmerzen meaning headache in German...

 

Our Bob aka Notes_Norton brought the Cadillac finish into play, but the car makers also must have had any idea or reference I guess. But whatever would that have been? Most pelhams - the horse bits - don't have a hue like this.

 

Any ideas or references?

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I hate that color on guitars. Just me.

I have none bearing it and guess it will stay that way. One of my Strats is Lake Placid Blue, her hue interestingly is very close to Pelham Blue and matches her nicely. My son said at the guitar store he loves it, and so we went with it.

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I think its simply from the Cadillac colour charts.

Why at Cadillac? - who knows, could someone's surname who worked there maybe?

In the 1970's our most popular family car produced by GM could be (and was by some) purchased in a pink/purple metallic colour officially called 'Barney's Shirt' - why? - because some dude named Barney in the GM styling dept office wore a shirt that particular colour one day and they liked it. [mellow]

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Being curious about the origin of the Gibson metallic colour denomination, beside others I found this thread here: http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=55998

 

Funny that it was started by a Guitarnoise member from Moscow with the forum name Kopfschmerzen meaning headache in German...

 

Our Bob aka Notes_Norton brought the Cadillac finish into play, but the car makers also must have had any idea or reference I guess. But whatever would that have been? Most pelhams - the horse bits - don't have a hue like this.

 

Any ideas or references?

 

 

I have none bearing it and guess it will stay that way. One of my Strats is Lake Placid Blue, her hue interestingly is very close to Pelham Blue and matches her nicely.

 

 

I think its simply from the Cadillac colour charts.

Why at Cadillac? - who knows, could someone's surname who worked there maybe?

In the 1970's our most popular family car produced by GM could be (and was by some) purchased in a pink/purple metallic colour officially called 'Barney's Shirt' - why? - because some dude named Barney in the GM styling dept office wore a shirt that particular colour one day and they liked it. [mellow]

That Gibson color (pelham blue) is the very same color as a Fender color. I can't remember for sure which one, but I think it IS lake placid blue.

 

As for the Cadillac reference, many popular guitar colors ARE Cadillac colors. But also, a lot of General Motors colors used within the company are the same colors, but they use different names.

 

Just a theory, but I think why the reference to Cadillac might have something to do with the fact they just used more colors. Caddy's, especially 60's and 70's Cads, came in LOTS of colors.

 

But either way, point I am making is these colors are more often than not, the same paint itself. Gibson might not be getting the paint from the same supplier as the originals, but back then they all got these colors from the same paint manufacturer. So the same color for a Gibson, a Fender, A Cadillac, and a Buick would each have a different name.

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Could it be named after the color of one of the lakes in Pelham Bay Park in Bronx, New York?

 

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/pelham-bay-park

 

 

17693.jpg

 

 

 

Notes

Very good idea! [thumbup] Looks rather likely to me.

 

Taking a look at this picture of the Mirror Lake near Lake Placid reveals a fairly close match to the finish of my Strat:

 

Lake_Placid_-_Mirror_Lake.jpg

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Naming colors has to be one of the most absurd things on this planet, and there is often almost no rhyme or reason whatsoever. It's like bad poetry, but funnier. If there is a place called "Pelham," that's a good guess.

[biggrin] Perhaps I'm spoilt by more "reasonable" names like tea burst, cherry red, candy apple red, honey burst, tobacco burst, ebony, root beer and so on. [rolleyes]

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Naming colors has to be one of the most absurd things on this planet, and there is often almost no rhyme or reason whatsoever. It's like bad poetry, but funnier. If there is a place called "Pelham," that's a good guess.

Almost as difficult as naming bands. ;)

 

Back to colors.

 

Fact: Women see colors better than men. Females have many more cone cells in their eyes, and men have many more rods.

 

That makes women better at seeing color and men better and seeing shape and movement.

 

IMHO that's why if you go to the store, you will see 2,247 different shades of red nail polish. As a male, I see 3. Dark, medium and light red.

 

And yes, I'm jealous, I want the shape, movement, and colors. ;)

 

Notes

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... Fact: Women see colors better than men. ... That makes women better at seeing color ...

 

Notes

In photographic laboratories making colour prints has always been a women's business. Their abilities in quickly evaluating negative (!) hues make them way better and faster in setting the filters than men.

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It's all just marketing. Aztec Gold? Dakota Red? Pelham Blue? Buy! Buy! Buy! :rolleyes:

 

Right on! I have a new Amer. Stand. Strat in "Mystic Aztec Gold"...the only thing mystic about it is how they arrived at that name!(?) It's metallic gold to me...but I'm hue color blind most of the time and metallic gold is so...boring? I guess.

 

I haven't held it under full moon light in October tho...

 

Brian

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Right on! I have a new Amer. Stand. Strat in "Mystic Aztec Gold"...the only thing mystic about it is how they arrived at that name!(?) It's metallic gold to me...but I'm hue color blind most of the time and metallic gold is so...boring? I guess.

 

I haven't held it under full moon light in October tho...

 

Brian

The next October full moon will be in about two weeks. Perhaps a chance to catch a glimpse of the mystic part of it. ;)

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