Hank's Guitar Preference

[Twangaway]

Despite the dissatisfaction with the early Fenders and the sway of a signature styled guitar we know as The Burns Marvin, is it purely commercial interest that lead us to seeing Hank using his namesake model on tours ? When in private he always plays Strats especially in stage or combo situations.

I suspect that after 50 years he will always be known as Mr Strat, as that appears to be his choice electric guitar, and virtually always red/white with a few exceptions over the years. So are we to assume that Leo Fender was master and genius in designing the most perfect ergonomic designed guitar the world has ever seen. Hank being probably the most consistent Strat playing guitarist with more guitar miles than a British Airway Captain with air miles perks

I can only think of the Crickets guitarist who has played one for as many years. Maybe not consistently as Hank. So probably Hank is the oldest Strat Veteran by a mile. Could we get this on Steve Wright show as a factoid maybe .

What I would like to know is how many individual notes has Hank ever played since his first Strat, now that is mathematical challenge simply waiting to be analyzed as a trivia side of Steve Wright show and probably another record too. I have lost count how many times in my life I have heard Apache or even played it.

David

[cockroach]

There was a well known western swing player called Eldon Shamblin who knew Leo Fender well ,and Leo gave him a very early example of the Strat (a gold painted one)which he used pretty much exclusively until he passed away years later..Dick Dale has also been using a gold Strat for at least as long as Hank too- and he didn't change to Burns for a few years in between like Hank did! I'm sure there are others.

I would suspect that Hank can afford to use whatever he likes and he does. These days his personal preference is acoustic gypsy jazz guitar, so his electrics are probably stored away now the final tours are over.

The Strat design has become probably the most copied, most sold and used electric guitar since the late '50's -early '60's, with maybe the Les Paul style in second place.
It's looks, ergonomics and versatility in sound make it so popular all over the world. It's also able to be copied and built cheaply as well , meaning almost anyone anywhere can afford one,

As for the number of notes Hank has played, it would amount to a sum known to Australians as 'shXtloads'

[Twangaway]

I saw a documentary on TV last year that showed David Gilmour with a creamy Strat that he proudly owns and I think he showed the camera that it was serial no. 1

So he must have the most rarest guitar by age, if not by value, given the Cliff bought Strat, and Hendrix Strats

Forgot to ask how many plectrums Hank has broken and gone through, and how many strings broken, and how many sets used.

Another interesting Factoid could be how many total hours of Shadows music has he played in total ? probably 10 years worth as a wild guess and how many $$ or ££ is that of his reputed wealth per hour as a guitar tradesman ?

How many pares of specs has hgone through ? you have to be kidding

Are there any photos of Hank without glasses ?

David

[stratmantd]

Although Dave Gilmour's strat is no. 0001 and was made in 1954 it is not the first strat made. Fender have never used sequential serial numbers.

I think that if you could see the documentary again it would explain this and to my knowledge, Mr. Gilmour has never suggested that it was the first strat, only a very early one.

He does know how to get awfully nice noises out of one though.

[Twangaway]

Hi Tom

What do you think it's worth then ? and where does he live these days
David

[dusty fretz]

Mr. Gilmour's 0001 Strat certainly isn't what it may seem, as it's actually a 'Bitsocaster' that was apparently assembled many moons ago by a certain Seymour Duncan, who also applied the serial number. Vintage value therefore doesn't come into it, but famous artist association obviously helps redress the balance.

[Twangaway]

That's interesting, so where is the universal source of this information, if fact as the TV documentary suggested some kind of authenticity even if implied. Not doubting you, but must agree the serial number was so full of improbables when I saw the prog that I too had my suspicions, based on it's improbability that it survived to even exist in this 21st century from such humble early beginnings. Bearing in mind that Fenders and Gibsons were abused and treated as ordinary tools without any knowledge of their future monetary value, or design and technical spec appreciation. No-one would have dreamt up the word quality or Custom shop perfection given the methods used. It was just a job to those guys making them with so many corners cut to get them out of the door. Still interesting story if substantiated.

[dusty fretz]

The relevant evidence has appeared in various guitar magazines and books in the past, but TV programme producers don't consider this particular truth as exciting or interesting and prefer to perpetuate the original myth about DG's Strat being the first/earliest etc. Apparently, the owner himself gets somewhat huffy about the subject and tends to avoid emphasis on any status-affecting adverse aspects.

Referring to your original topic, Hank's preference for the Strat has been pretty consistent over the years. Back in the '60s, he wasn't the Shadow experiencing 'problems' with this model and was content to carry on using it, but circumstances decreed a change was necessary. Burns was the only company that could supply a viable Strat-style alternative of comparable quality and this obviously did the job until fate and light fingers intervened a few years later, after which HBM happily reverted to his Fender first love.

[Twangaway]

I thought the Marvin guitar and Shadows change was born of salemanship flattery by the Burns lot to sway them to a British Guitar and probably was an ego thing like merchandising in it's early form. I don't think there were issues with Fender Strats in that period until the 70's with those 3 screw plated tilt neck strats. A gimmick that didn't last. Besides who would trust a guitar with three bolts instead of 4 LOL.

[dusty fretz]

I wasn't actually referring to the build standards of '60s Strats. The Shadows' switch from Fender to Burns was prompted by the perceived problems a certain member of the band was experiencing with his Stratocaster. Employing other examples of this model apparently didn't improve matters, so a move had to be made and, as matching instruments were by then a major part of the band's image, a change for one member meant a change for all, presumably regardless of personal preference. I don't think the lure of a signature guitar meant that much to Mr. Marvin at the time, as he was happy with the Strat, but something had to be done to alleviate the situation affecting his playing partner and back then Burns was simply the only maker able to offer an instrument of equivalent quality and performance, in the UK or otherwise.

Fenders from the '70s deservedly earned a bad reputation, due mainly to money-led manufacturing shortcuts. The three-bolt neck was actually a perfectly sound idea, as proved by Leo's later G & L instruments, but some bright spark at Fender also decided that enlarging the body holes for the previously tight-fitting neck fixing screws would speed up production. This seemingly minor amendment caused major problems - it duly saved some assembly time, but now of course the neck could move around in the body pocket, regardless of how many screws were used!