by sgstandard » Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:30 pm
I recently bought 2 Hank Marvin Signatures. The Shadows White "Marvin 1964" is pretty faithful to the original, with Van Ghent tuners, rosewood fingerboard, etc. The same model in Fiesta Red has a maple fingerboard, straplocks, Sperzel locking tuners, etc. They sound VERY different, with the Fiesta red one sounding livelier. The Rez-O-Tube vibrato is HEAVENLY on both, but more responsive on the red one. It's a unique, shimmering sound, that sounds kinda Hawaiian. Strumming gives you a very warm, acoustic sound. Individual notes have great clarity, especially with the maple fingerboard. The notes are bright and musical, without being piercing. Either guitar will encourage you to use little or no gain, although, with proper EQ, it's certainly OK. Each guitar was around US$1,200 (shipped across the pond)- not bad for such an exotic beauty. I'll post some pics later, but according to Barry Gibson, these new red ones have an anomaly. My neck backplate should say "Marvin - 1964", but instead, it's white, with the Shadow's silhouettes, and it says, "The Shadows". It's the same logo that's on the vibrato plate on the Legend Custom Deluxe. These were made in error. But trust me, I'm not sending mine back!! My only gripe is that they removed the thin slab of wood at the bottom of the neck pocket, making it more Strat-like. No big deal, but it sure looked better before. Buy one of these - you will never regret it - If you buy the Club Series Shadow, you'll probably always wish you had waited and gotten the Marvin. Life is very short.