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I bought this guitar in Leningrad, USSR in 1985-86 from Latvian guitar player of Laima Vaikule's band
During this deal the owner told me that this is guitar from Shadows' musician.
Can anybody help me to find the truth about this guitar?
This is 1964 sunburst Stratocaster.
# L483XX
This is very memorable one, because of this piece of varnish that was chipped off the body of the guitar many years ago.
I'm sure that done before this Latvian Guy bought it because he is very cautious Latvian man.
Thanks

Are you sure it is a 1964 guitar?

It is an important question because The Shadows never had a rosewood fretboard Stratocaster from later than 1963.

The serial number confirms it is indeed a 1964 instrument, which makes things interesting and possibly not true. They were well into the Burns era then and the red Strats were returned to Jennings whilst Cliff retained the original 34346 that Hank had used. We do know that Licorice had his own sunburst Fender P bass, as did John with his white one, but there's no record of a Strat being owned by Hank or Bruce.
That said it could have been one of Mark Griffiths' Strats.

I can' t say that I ever saw the shads using a sunburst strat.Can anyone more knowledgable add any more info ?

I'm pretty sure that Hank did use a sunburst Strat at some point, but I'll leave it to those more knowledgeable than me (that's most of you) to determine when and where!

Uncle Fiesta wrote:I'm pretty sure that Hank did use a sunburst Strat at some point, but I'll leave it to those more knowledgeable than me (that's most of you) to determine when and where!

The only sunburst Strat I'm aware of Hank owning is the Tony Hicks one (he sold it in 2019), and then Bruce got one to match; they used them as a spare set until 1990. The Shads had never been seen playing sunburst Fender guitars until that point.

If Dmitri bought it in 1985/6 then there's no chance it's Hank's or Bruce's, and Mark Griffiths wasn't associated with The Shadows at that point in time. I think there's little chance of it ever having been owned by Jet or Licorice, John Farrar, John Rostill, Alan Tarney, or Alan Jones.

Dmitri, I'm afraid it's very unlikely that the person who sold you the guitar was telling the truth. It's probably never had any any link to The Shadows. But you've owned it for nearly 40 years, so I hope it has brought you some happiness and pleasure over the years. Due to its age it's certainly a guitar you can be proud of.

The only time I saw Hank with a Sunburst Strat on TV back then was the time when George Ford was on bass and I think it was on TOTP when they played Theme From Deer Hunter. That Strat had a maple neck.
Hank says that he also had his black Strat sprayed sunburst before he gave it to Ben.

There are some photos of Bruce with a sunburst rosewood board Strat in the early 60s, but the consensus seemed to be that it was actually Chas McDevitt's guitar. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence of Hank or Bruce using a 60s sunburst Strat. I would be happy to be corrected though...

George

George Geddes wrote:There are some photos of Bruce with a sunburst rosewood board Strat in the early 60s, but the consensus seemed to be that it was actually Chas McDevitt's guitar. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence of Hank or Bruce using a 60s sunburst Strat. I would be happy to be corrected though...
George

The well-known photograph of Bruce using a sunburst Stratocaster (rosewood fretboard, small headstock, etc) was published on the reverse of the sleeve of the September 1960 LP "Me And My Shadows". Obviously, the photograph must have been at least a month or two old when the album was released and this was a time before The Shadows had the two red Strats and Precision Bass. Bruce's own guitar at the time would have the sunburst Jazzmaster.

I don't know that a consensus is needed... Bruce has actually stated that this was Chas McDevitt's guitar and was used for a live performance or two when he (Bruce) broke a string (this was approximately at the same time that Hank started keeping his own Gretsch guitar in standby position for the same reason). Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas frequently shared a bill with the group (and Cliff). Indeed, the first time I ever saw the Shadows live (getting on for fifty-nine years ago), Chas and Shirley were on the bill, though they too had now changed to red Fenders (Strat and Precision).

The only other times I am aware of any of The Shadows using a sunburst Stratocaster were in the mid-to-late 1970s (a 3-colour s/b Strat with the large headstock and bullet adjuster) when it was used on TV maybe as little as once and was photographed with the group (eg, in the programme for the 1978 London Palladium reunion season) and then later (c. 1982 onward), the 1950s model that Hank bought from Tony Hicks.

Other than Chas's guitar, there is no evidence of The Shads ever using a 1959-1965 Strat like that one at any other time.

From memory, I believe I have a photo of Hank with a sunburst. maple neck Strat; it was in one of the tour programmes in the period 1977 to 1989. I used to see The Shadows at least once on every UK tour and I have kept all the programmes. They are somewhere in my loft! I will have a poke around and see if I can post a pic?

Kindest regards,
Christopher