So my color samples arrived from the Customshop...

[Brian]

Monday morning I was woken up by Fed Ex ringing my doorbell a dozen times around 8:45am. As I was about to chew him out for not just leaving the envelope in the box I noticed it was from Jackson Guitars. I spared him the earful

Back in August when I placed my order I requested 3 color samples so I could compare colors before finalizing which I wanted for my guitar.

I requested:

Mercedes Silver
Silver Sparkle
Silver Metallic

They said that it would be no problem to provide color samples of each and that "Antonio was on it!"

I received:

Quicksilver
Silver Sparkle



Uh... hehe unfortunately the first thing I thought was, "Oh no. This the beginning of the "Thanks a lot, but it's not what I asked for" list on this order? I certainly hope it isn't, but after all the horror stories online it's hard not to worry.

Anyhow, here's a pic of the two samples I received.


You can see they're almost EXACTLY the same. Those of you who remember the Silver Sparkle finishes from the 90's know that it had much more "Sparkle" to it back then.

The only way I could really illustrate any difference between the two was taking a photo with the lights out and my hand over the flash. Here you can see the Sparkle on the left, Quicksilver on the right.


It has a Sparkle, barely. In person in regular lighting they're very difficult to tell apart.

Unfortunately this didn't help me decide on a finish yet. :ROTF: I've got an email in asking for a couple more samples. Silver Sparkle Metallic being one of them. I'd still like to see Mercedes Silver. I've been told it's the same as Quicksilver, but I have also been told it's different. So confusing.

Anyhow, thought I would share my order process with you guys.

[The Mitch]

Right.
I own a silver sparkle KV Pro and mine has a LOT more sparkle in it.
It is almost a glitter-disco-ish guitar

But as I looked your samples I think the quicksilver looks better

[Mazrim]

It seems that Quicksilver has slightly more mercury tinge to it and reacts more in dim light whereas Silver Sparkle reacts more in stronger light and is more like actual silver in colour. Maybe. :/

But there is very very little difference to them.

What about a Silver swirl sparkle? That would be a bit special.

[Brian]

Silver Swirl is definitely a cool finish. But this go around I am looking to get a Silver KV to replace the one I recently had refinish Black.

The main difference between these two samples in person is that the Quicksilver looks smoother. The Sparkle has more of a grainy appearance to it. But it's very slight.

This is how I always remembered the Silver Sparkle finish.


Horrible picture, but that mid to late 90's Scott Ian JJ that had that finish always stood out to me.

I think the pearls or whatever they use in the finish to create the sparkle effect was bigger or more significant on older versions of that finish.

Here's another guitar from the 90's with Silver Sparkle. This one is a burst though.

[roodyrocker]

If this helps you any, here is my San Dimas era Silver Sparkle Rhoads:

[Brian]

Thanks Rudy.

I caught your pictures in the "Post Your V's" thread.

To me that finish looks almost exactly like the Silver Metal Flake V I had in 2001.





I ultimately sold it because it looked too "glittery" to me. "Disco Ball" effect so to speak. Whereas the Sparkle finish (usually) tends to not have the black/darker specs in it which I like better.

It's been really hard to find quality pics of the Silver Sparkle paint jobs. I've found quite a few of the Japanese Pro KV in Silver Sparkle, but that finish is quite a bit different than the USA finish as well.

[customshopkv1]

Is it a heavier metalflake, or do they add different color flake to it?

[AK47]

Hey Brian,

When I was speaking with Jackson about doing this order I was informed that a few years ago they changed the name of some of the paints because of copyright issues. So they dont have "Mercedes Silver" anymore its under a different name or totally discontinued.

Also in 2003 there was rumors on the board that Jackson had gone to a totally different suplier of paint. I think its House of Kolor. That is why alot of the pointy charvels had issues with the clearcoat on the headstocks that year.

Its hard to get any straight answers since you cant just call and talk to someone at the CS like you could before 2003. Alot of this info is hearsay and what was relayed through dealers.

[Brian]

Hey Brian,

When I was speaking with Jackson about doing this order I was informed that a few years ago they changed the name of some of the paints because of copyright issues. So they dont have "Mercedes Silver" anymore its under a different name or totally discontinued.

Also in 2003 there was rumors on the board that Jackson had gone to a totally different suplier of paint. I think its House of Kolor. That is why alot of the pointy charvels had issues with the clearcoat on the headstocks that year.

Its hard to get any straight answers since you cant just call and talk to someone at the CS like you could before 2003. Alot of this info is hearsay and what was relayed through dealers.

That is pretty interesting because my work order currently states: "Mercedes Silver. Provide color sample for approval."

Initially that was the color I wanted to go with, but upon seeing some of the pictures of it on the internet I requested samples just to be sure.

Nick at Piney Hills had mentioned to me back in August that someone at Jackson had told him that Quicksilver and Mercedes Silver were the exact same finish. However, one of the users here (sorry, the name is escaping me at the moment) who has both a Quicksilver KV2 and a 25th Anniversary KV says they're definitely different.

I will likely wind up going with Silver Sparkle as I like it better than the Quicksilver paint. I'd like it to have a little more "sparkle" to it, but all in all it's nicer to me than a metal flake style finish like my old guitar had.

[Brian]

Is it a heavier metalflake, or do they add different color flake to it?

I'm not entirely sure about the process, but it was explained to me that the metallic and metal flake finishes have small of metal/glitter in it. Depending on how the light hits the flakes it gives off the effect of a disco ball where some flakes are shiny and some appear dark and black until the light shifts.

The Silver Sparkle paint job has pearls in it to give it the sparkle quality. The amount of sparkle depends on the size/quantity of pearl in the paint. This type of finish won't have the dark/light glitter effect usually.

Again, im no paint guru, but this is how it was explained to me.

[AK47]

Hey Brian,

Have you looked at the Dean or ESP Mustaine models to see how their paint compares?

[Brooke]

Go for the sparkle!

[Brian]

Hey Brian,

Have you looked at the Dean or ESP Mustaine models to see how their paint compares?

My Silver Horizon is the same as the ESP DV8. It has virtually no metallic/flake to it at all. It's very smooth. Almost looks white in certain lighting.


As for the Dean. I have seen a few pictures, but it's hard to tell what these Silver paint jobs look like from photographs due to how light/flash reflects off the pearls/flakes etc.

Brooke - That's what I am leaning towards right now. I'd like to see a little more sparkle in the finish though. Like maybe a more liberal application of the paint to get more out of it. I have to see what Jackson says. I have a major tendency to split hairs over really minor details, and I have already got a ton of very specific things going on my order haha. Pretty soon they'll prolly be offering me a guitar to just go away.

[åron]

I have to see what Jackson says. I have a major tendency to split hairs over really minor details, and I have already got a ton of very specific things going on my order haha. Pretty soon they'll prolly be offering me a guitar to just go away.

Nah.. they'll just let you wait a long time for completion.

[roodyrocker]

Thanks Rudy.

I caught your pictures in the "Post Your V's" thread.

To me that finish looks almost exactly like the Silver Metal Flake V I had in 2001.





I ultimately sold it because it looked too "glittery" to me. "Disco Ball" effect so to speak. Whereas the Sparkle finish (usually) tends to not have the black/darker specs in it which I like better.

It's been really hard to find quality pics of the Silver Sparkle paint jobs. I've found quite a few of the Japanese Pro KV in Silver Sparkle, but that finish is quite a bit different than the USA finish as well.

That does look the same from the pix posted. Since you are ordering a CS, why not go to automotive paint places and find the exact silver you like then have Jackson use that. Its the CS, they'll put whatever silver you want on it