Some Jet Questions

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Some Jet Questions

Postby MMStingray54 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:19 am

These aren't going to cause most if you any trouble but I would really like to know:-

1) When did Jet first start to use a Precision bass
2) When did Cliff bring the fiesta red instruments back from the US
3) When did the more general post war import restrictions from the US cease and Fender instruments (particularly basses) start to get imported
4) What happened to the fiesta red Precision? Was it repainted white for the changed look - if so roughly when?

Many thanks for anyone's help.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby cockroach » Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:58 am

Not sure of exact dates, but I'm sure there will be folk here who would know for certain..

1. Jet got his Precision bass (sunburst) the day after his Framus bass was knocked over and damaged in a theatre dressing room - late '59 or early 1960?

2. Cliff ordered and privately imported only one guitar for Hank(the 'original Red Strat) direct from Fender in the USA, as Fenders were not yet generally available in the UK at the time...late 1959.

3. I think the import restrictions were lifted by the UK government not long after..again late 1959/early 1960..

4. IIRC, the new Fender lineup (red Strats with rosewood fingerboards and red Precision bass) were supplied to the Shadows by Jennings Ltd as part of an endorsement arrangement in 1961.. the red P bass used by Jet was then provided to Licorice Locking when he replaced Jet in 1962...I would suspect the all white Fender lineup (including a white P bass) which the Shads used in late 1963 (before they changed to Burns) were similarly an updated new set of gear supplied by Jennings.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby JimN » Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:56 pm

cockroach wrote:Not sure of exact dates, but I'm sure there will be folk here who would know for certain..

1. Jet got his Precision bass (sunburst) the day after his Framus bass was knocked over and damaged in a theatre dressing room - late '59 or early 1960?

2. Cliff ordered and privately imported only one guitar for Hank(the 'original Red Strat) direct from Fender in the USA, as Fenders were not yet generally available in the UK at the time...late 1959.

3. I think the import restrictions were lifted by the UK government not long after..again late 1959/early 1960..

4. IIRC, the new Fender lineup (red Strats with rosewood fingerboards and red Precision bass) were supplied to the Shadows by Jennings Ltd as part of an endorsement arrangement in 1961.. the red P bass used by Jet was then provided to Licorice Locking when he replaced Jet in 1962...I would suspect the all white Fender lineup (including a white P bass) which the Shads used in late 1963 (before they changed to Burns) were similarly an updated new set of gear supplied by Jennings.


The received opinion is that 34346 arrived at 100 Marylebone High Street in about May 1959. It was the only Fender used by The Shadows for some time (probably about five months). Jet continued with the Besson/Framus and Bruce with the Vega guitar previously the property of Hank.

The other Fenders (sunburst Jazzmaster and Precision Bass) were delivered later in 1959 and were more or less the standard set-up for The Shadows until about March 1961. Sometimes though, during that period, Bruce can be seen playing a Telecaster and sometimes a Gretsch 6120. There is also a 1960 photo of him using a sunburst R/N Stratocaster (probably belonging to Chas McDevitt). The Gretsch was seen, for instance, in a TV programme broadcast on 31st December 1960. It was later seen the movie "Summer Holiday". Bruce once told me that the Jazzmaster was not a loaner and that it belonged to him. I would assume that this means that the sunburst Precision belonged to Jet. This would pre-date any loan deal with Jennings.

A Youtube video currently referenced on the Cliff Richard website shows an unusual combination: Hank with 34346, Jet with the FR Precision with his initials on and Bruce with a Telecaster. The bass means that the video must be March 1961 at a minimum. The adhesive initials on the red bass indicate that it wasn't a temporary loan pending service or repairs on the sunburst example. Why Hank was still using 34346 is a puzzle. Perhaps the red guitars arrived one by one rather than all three at once. And perhaps the Telecaster was a loan against the still-to-arrive Stratocaster.

There is never going to be any firm data on the issue of the supposed "import ban". Selmer were importing Gibson guitars (and probably their amplifiers) during the 1950s, which tends to militate against the usual suppositions.

Whatever the ownership of the first Fender guitars (34346 and the sunburst models), it seems that the eventual deal was between JMI and the Shaows' management company, which is why and how the basses could be passed from bassist to bassist.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby MMStingray54 » Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:04 am

Thanks guys - this fills in a few blanks.

On import restrictions, this is quite a good article (just found it)

https://reverb.com/uk/news/the-british- ... g-american
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby cockroach » Sat Sep 08, 2018 5:24 am

Thanks JimN for the details which I wasn't sure about..

It has often amused me that once they got the Jennings Fender and Vox, and the later Burns/Baldwin endorsement deals through their management, they got all those beautiful new guitars for nowt! :lol:

I always imagine Hank's dismay when the Burns got stolen and he had to go to Barretts and buy a Strat with his own money after all those years of freebies including Cliff paying for his first Strat! Schadenfreude! :twisted: :D
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby MMStingray54 » Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:39 pm

What was the point at which the 'white look' Fender instruments started (presumably Brian Locking) and also the start if the Burns era - was this also him - what point did Rostill take over - presumably using Burns?

I'm sure I've seen an article or interview where Hank referred to having instruments (Fenders) resprayed white? I have also read that the importers arranged the respray of, presumably sunburst Strats to fiesta red because that's what people wanted to buy - to emulate Hank. I wonder if this extended to P basses?
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby Iain Purdon » Sat Sep 08, 2018 5:31 pm

I think the white Fender set was supplied in Spring 1963, in time to promote Foot Tapper. The white P bass was handed on to John in November 1963, in time for him to appear with it in the movie Wonderful Life. The white Burns set was supplied early in 1964, in time for The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby JimN » Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:11 am

Iain Purdon wrote:I think the white Fender set was supplied in Spring 1963, in time to promote Foot Tapper.


I can remember a Shadows appearance on "The Billy Cotton Band Show" (TV version!) where they played Foot Tapper... on the red Fenders. The white set were in use by about May or June when Atlantis was released and were certainly used during the Blackpool summer season and on a TYLS appearance where Granada was promoted.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby MMStingray54 » Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:56 am

Thanks guys - great info as always.

Do we have any pictures of these basses? I didn't know Jet's initials were on the FR one.
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Re: Some Jet Questions

Postby JimN » Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:23 am

On the video referenced below (Mumblin' Mosie), a unique combination of Fenders is seen:

Bruce - blonde R/N Telecaster
Jet - red Precision Bass with his initials attached
Hank - 34346.

It was cited on the Cliff Richard Official Youtube channel a few weeks ago. It was apparently recorded on 23 March 1961, and it also features the fawn AC30/4s with the TV front design.

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