Hank Marvin/Shadows Custom Shop Stratocasters

[Tone]

Hi all

Just to add my two pennorth. I fully support Ian's decision to remove the pdf download facility, particularly after seeing the seller's cavalier response to Ian's request for him to remove the link to the download from his listing but it makes me very angry that Ian has effectively been forced into this position.

As I mentioned in my earlier posting, Ian and I have gone to a great deal of time and trouble over the last few months to make this document available to members. The intention was to share our knowledge with members purely because of our mutual interest in all things Shadows related, and the fact that someone has seized on the opportunity to help with a potential financial benefit really goes against the grain irrespective of the fact that the asking price seems ridiculous and he is unlikely to achieve it.

I, too, have reported the seller to eBay in the hope that the listing will be removed.

Cheers

Tony

[Tone]

Hi Neil

As far as I'm aware, Hank did indeed own the guitar.

Cheers.

Tony

[ScouserJoe]

Hi Again,

Things are progressing and from the number of people who have pledged support to get this guy to withdraw our work from his description, we might get a result yet .. Thanks to all. Tony and I are considering making this work available again once this particular issue has been resolved.

Charlie Hall has made an interesting comment, saying that he thinks he was present when this guitar was given to Hank. If it is the same guitar, then Hank's immediate response to using it was that he didn't like the neck edges - the strings had a habit of 'falling off'. That would explain why it is only lightly marked - which is not what you would have expected had it been in regular use on the 2004 tour.

At some time in the past, someone did say that they knew the serial numbers of Hank's regular Strats. Surely someone here must have had access to that information through friendship with one of Hank's guitar techies ?

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi Tony/Ian. I do hope that none of the above affects the order I placed last friday for the high resolution prints. You have my full support with regard to having the file removed from eBay and finding out who the culprit is.
Regards Geoff.

[ScouserJoe]

Hi Geoff,

You should have received an e-mail to the address that you used when you placed your order confirming that it was shipped to you yesterday, 2nd November.

Postal disputes permitting, you should receive it soon.

As I said in my earlier post, I can confirm that I am still continuing to supply the printed work, albeit at a higher price and via a different method until this problem is sorted out.

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi Ian Thats good news thank you. I was thinking, when did i see the 40th Aniv Edition at a gig, and I am sure the young lady, who Mr Tarrant brought allong to play at the Bristol,you play Shadows day was playing a 40th Aniv Edition Strat. I did get a good look at it.It was the LED lights that got me interested and the ruby in the headstock. Have any other Srats had these details.
Regards Geoff.

[ScouserJoe]

Hi Geoff,

None of the other HM Custom Shop Strats had LED lights fitted to them. One wonders why they were chosen on the 40th. As is detailed in the guide we have published, this work was commissioned and carried out later, here in the UK, and not at the Fender Custom Shop in the USA. I have heard it suggested that this course of action might have invalidated the Fender warranty. The ruby over the 'i' on the headstock is probably one of the most obvious and distinguishing features of this model - again none of the other editions have this.

It's quite interesting really, but it's features such as these - which do not contribute anything to the sound - which seem to fascinate those who get to see a 40th in the flesh for the first time. I'm yet to be convinced that Hank requested these features, I think they were probably more a marketing ploy than anything else.

[Tone]

Hi Ian Thats good news thank you. I was thinking, when did i see the 40th Aniv Edition at a gig, and I am sure the young lady, who Mr Tarrant brought allong to play at the Bristol,you play Shadows day was playing a 40th Aniv Edition Strat. I did get a good look at it.It was the LED lights that got me interested and the ruby in the headstock. Have any other Srats had these details.
Regards Geoff.

Hi Geoff

I think the young lady to whom you referred is Zoe McCulloch who was taken under Pat Terrett's (not Tarrant!) wing after winning a "Young Guitarist" competition at Shadsfest in South Wales in 1997. She is an excellent guitarist who started out doing Shads material but subsequently widened her scope to include other genres. She used to have her own website but a quick check of Google indicates it's no longer there.

She did indeed have a 40th Anniversary but it was subsequently so heavily customised to her requirements that it bore little resemblance to the original instrument (I presume you saw it at Bristol before it had been altered). In fact, my own 40th Anniversary came without its special strap when I bought it and I was lucky enough to purchase Zoe's a couple of years ago - she felt that because of the modifications to the guitar there was no point in keeping the strap.

As regards the LEDs, they were, as Ian says, a marketing gimmick. I never use them except to impress people on the rare occasions I take it out of the house!

Cheers.

Tony

[MeBHank]

Zoe's guitar has been altered heavily. IMO having such work done to such a rare instrument is sacreligious, even if we all do have models we prefer to the 40th series. Her guitar can't be worth half its original retail price now, whilst it is common knowledge that the Hank CS Strats (all models) have appreciated in value since they were made available, providing they are in good condition.

Onto the guitar in question, though. Hank used two Strats on stage during the Final Tour, but not his 40th. However I believe it was always on standby and I am told it was the Strat that stood on a stand onstage before each show started. I was reliably told, though, that it was his rehearsal guitar. I know nothing regarding the serial numbers of Hank's personal guitars, but I do know Hank's 40th was model "00" as claimed, and I have been pictures of it which were taken whilst still in his posession. It is most definitely the one advertised on eBay, identified by the figuring on the back of the headstock.

Joe, it's good news indeed that you may be making the .pdf file available again. I look forward to studying it once more. It's a shame the seller is being so stubborn. He has every right to sell the guitar, quite rightly for a large amount of money IMO, but on reading your request common decency should have told him to do as you asked.

J

[David Martin]

The remark about "strings falling off the edge of the fretboard" is interesting, as this is the reason I rejected the original guitar (number 12) which was allocated to me. It results from a last minute change in spec from "two post" to "vintage" tremelo bridge which has a wider string spacing. Whoever set mine up, attempted to rectify both this, and slight misalignment of neck pocket and trem routs by cutting the string spacings at the nut in an irregular fashion which failed to sort out the drop offs, and resulted in a very strange playing experience...

Interesting too, that there are two variations of this guitar, identified by the setting of the ruby. The original batch (if memory serves me right - but it could be the other way round) had a claw setting for the ruby and featured original spec Kinmans, that later batch - of which I had number 38 - had a solid, cylindrical setting, and post Fender lawsuit Kinmans.

I wonder who has number 38 now? After I sold it, it was returned to Mark Pressling for a major setup, then finished up in Hank's hands on a TV broadcast...

And number 12?