The 50th Anniversary Shads Guitar in action

[David Martin]

I collected mine yesterday...

It met my expectations in every respect - much more so than the Hank Sig 40th Strat I had a few years back. Cosmetically, it's beautiful, and the colour is amazing... different in different lights, but always with a dusky pink element...

The neck feels really good - substantial but not "clubby" in the way that the Masterbuilt 50th Anni Strat feels, and so well made with great attention to detail... and, just like the aforementioned, it s incredibly resonant. You actually have to curb the sustain on some tunes.

And the sound? Splendid... I'll try to provide you with a sound file which does it justice...

And is it worth the money? Well, in my case, I sold guitars to get it... but, yes...if you've got it, get one. It will give you far more pleasure than the cash in the bank, and may even earn more over time. And - sad man though I may be - when I can no longer play, this is the one I will keep and look at on the wall, and bring back all those fabulous memories from age 13 onwards, linked to the music and the people who played it...

[Tone]

I, too, collected mine yesterday (and it was nice to meet you David).

I endorse everything that David has said and I'm so pleased that after looking forward to getting this guitar for over two years I don't have any feelings of disappointment. It has come up to, and exceeded, my expectations in all departments. And that neck! As well as the "right" feel of it, I could gaze at the beautiful birdseye figuring for hours!

As regards the sound, the volume of the pickups is perhaps a bit lower than my other Strats but they have character in spades. The difference in tone between the neck, middle and bridge seems much more marked than on my other Strats. The neck is quite "bassy," the middle is, well, "middly" and the bridge has that classic growl on the lower strings and the "quack" on the upper strings and frets without ever sounding trebly, harsh or brittle. Sorry that this is not a very good description - a sound file will speak for itself and I'm glad that David intends to post one.

This guitar is certainly one to cherish. Even my wife, who knows nothing about guitars, commented on how good it looks and how nice it sounds. Thanks and congratulations are due to Howard, all at Fender UK and the Fender Custom Shop (particularly Greg Fessler) and, of course, Bruce and Hank for giving the project their blessing.

Cheers.

Tony

[nigel]

I collected mine yesterday...

It met my expectations in every respect - much more so than the Hank Sig 40th Strat I had a few years back. Cosmetically, it's beautiful, and the colour is amazing... different in different lights, but always with a dusky pink element...

The neck feels really good - substantial but not "clubby" in the way that the Masterbuilt 50th Anni Strat feels, and so well made with great attention to detail... and, just like the aforementioned, it s incredibly resonant. You actually have to curb the sustain on some tunes.

And the sound? Splendid... I'll try to provide you with a sound file which does it justice...

And is it worth the money? Well, in my case, I sold guitars to get it... but, yes...if you've got it, get one. It will give you far more pleasure than the cash in the bank, and may even earn more over time. And - sad man though I may be - when I can no longer play, this is the one I will keep and look at on the wall, and bring back all those fabulous memories from age 13 onwards, linked to the music and the people who played it...

Good luck David hope it brings many years of enjoyment

Kind Regards Nigel

[dave robinson]

I have seen and played David's guitar today, as well as recording him playing it. I was a little dubious but it really does sound the biz and I want one!

Stand by for David's soundfiles . . . . . . .

[OLDEREK]

I asked yesterday if I could post this for you, and it was YES
David & Howard

DAVHOW.JPG

(129.21 KiB) Downloaded 7376 times

[David Martin]

And thanks to Dave Robinson, here are the sound files.

Bear in mind these are tiny files so as not to occupy much space... if you want higher fidelity, I've opened up an online storage account... let me know how these sound on your system... Please right click the titles and download rather than stream from the site...

Backing tracks generated by the late Roberto Pistolesi from original Shadows recordings.

KonTiki.wma

(648.28 KiB) Downloaded 888 times

Sleepwalk.wma

(1000.52 KiB) Downloaded 820 times

Wonderful Land.wma

(621.92 KiB) Downloaded 881 times

(Subsequent edit: Please bear in mind that these recordings were made the morning following collecting the guitar... no set up, no rehearsals just straight in. Each track has a single drop in - fluffs on Wonderful Land and Sleepwalk, and the first note on KonTiki... there are no clicks to lead into these tracks. Three days later and I've now had a chance to set up my own gear to play the sounds, and this guitar is clearly the real deal... and going back to the sound files again, sure enough they aren't perfect, but I think they demonstrate clearly that CRS'59 has the sound qualities of 34346 in addition to all those other associations that come with it. And it's really good to play. In summary, I'm very pleased I got it, and I hope to share it with one or two folks at Shads clubs as time permits, when members will be able to play it too...)

[David Martin]

Try this for better repro...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/yysfxysmx2w/01%20Track%201.wma

http://www.mediafire.com/file/c2jwzxftjyo/02%20Track%202.wma

http://www.mediafire.com/file/gxyjaasywjt/03%20Track%203.wma

Let me know how well this works please...

[ScouserJoe]

Hi David,

I think you've mixed up the mediafire tracks. None that I downloaded was Wonderful Land and I think you've duplicated the second two (the URL's are the same anyway). I would have preferred to hear the guitar against one of the more familiar banking tracks such as UB Hank. If these are Shadows' recordings with Hank extracted, doesn't that still leave an 'ambience' of Hank in the mix ?

[David Martin]

There is no Hank ambience on these particular tracks ... we chose them deliberately. What you hear is the CRS '59, through an ESE Echomatic IV, into an AC30...

So what do you think?

[asimmd]

Hi David

I would imagine that the sound files were rushed in order to give us a flavour of what the guitar sounds like.

I certainly hope that is true because I was not impressed with the demo's.

No,I am not jealous nor am I criticising your purchase,I know that after the novelty
has worn off you will produce something more in keeping with the guitar,and I really
am looking forward to hearing the next set of files.

I would also agree with Ian regarding using backing tracks most of us use,using original
tracks with Hank removed does not do the sound any favours.

Alan,ducking behind settee.