Guitar reviews for you 1960 Rosewood board Stratocaster - A re-creation of the Hank Marvin 1960 Stratocaster

Building a re-creation of Hank Marvin's second Fiesta Red Stratocaster 

from 1960, using a Hosco neck on Fender Mexican body and Fender USA parts

The Shadows at Abbey Road in 1961 with Fiesta Red instruments -

(L-R) Bruce Welch, Jet Harris, Hank B Marvin

I was looking to create Hank's guitar from this picture.

This wasn't a guitar that I intended to build as I have owned a number of Rosewood board Stratocasters and tend to prefer all Maple neck ones. But a Mex 50's body came up for sale and I decided to give it a go.

In the past I have built Hosco bodied guitars with Fender necks and they have turned out very well. This time, I will be using a Fender Mexcan 50's Fiesta Red body with a Hosco Rosewood board 7 1/4" vintage radius neck to recreate a version of the guitar that Hank Marvin guitarist with the Shadows used from 1961-63. 

Here are some detail pictures to start with:

Basis of the 1960 Stratocaster guitar project - 

An Alder body from a used 2002 Fender Mexican 50's reissue in Fiesta Red

It has been foil shielded which is a bonus. Generally good with a few signs of use.

Hosco vintage radius 1959-62 slab board Rosewood on Maple neck.

Rosewood board necks are difficult to get so probably my last chance 

to build a guitar with one. This one is from Hosco and made in Japan and came from Axecaster in England whom I have bought Hosco parts from before for my projects .

Unlike the recent Fender Mex 60's neck, this Hosco version replicates the 1959-62 neck better, with a proper 'slab' board, not a 'veneer' board as the Mex 60's uses which 

also has the narrower 12th fret dots fitted. This Hosco is stock 1959-62.

I have used Hosco bodies which are very well finished. This neck is no exception and the wood is quality with some light flaming and Birdseye in the grain.

Single line Kluson machines to original 'single line' text pattern.

I could have used Fender stamped ones but these are just like the originals.

I greased them before use. There is a hole in the rear cover that you can push the grease in using a plastic syringe without the needle on. 

A 1.5mm drill is required for the screw holes and be careful and mark your drill bit with tape so you don't drill through the headstock! Check and mark carefully!

Single line patent number decal used until 1962

A nice quality repro decal with gold ink.

Aluminium antiference shield with wiring as fitted on mid 1959 onwards guitars.

This shield came from Charles guitars and is a practical and attractive feature.

It was also pre-wired so I only needed to solder on the pickup wires.

The Fender Fat 50's pickups fitted.

They really do give that authentic sound with a bit more power.

They are not 'too powerful', but have a bit more go in them than 57-62s.

I have a set of 57-62's in another Hosco guitar and they sound good.

The inclusion of a 5 way switch is a useful bonus here.

I chose a Parchment 62 guard and rear plate from Custom World

guitar parts in Holland, I have used their parts in previous builds.

Many use the 'Mint Green' tint white guards, I chose Parchment to look like the guitar

was near new and from 1961-2 era of use. Colour pictures of Hank's guitar from the time (on EP covers) show the guard as white and not 'mint green tinted' as some guards went due to the nitro-cellulose plastic material's reaction.

The control knobs were Parchment shade too. I like this shade as it is not too 'bright' and suits the guitar body colour too and I achieved the look I wanted. 

Hosco Bone nut fitted along with Kluson machine head bushes.

I used the Dremel with a sanding band to get an 'interference' fit on the bush 

holes in the neck so that the Bushing ferrules just pushed in and stayed in place by themselves.

The neck is very nicely made and finished for the price, 

I carefully hand-sanded the edges of the fingerboard to take off the 

sharp edge which improved the playing feel and made it feel like a well played guitar. 

I oiled the neck Rosewood board with three applications of D'addario oil and also used Renapur Beeswax to 'feed' the wood before buffing with a soft cloth for a nice shine.

The critical part of the build was to get the neck perfectly aligned so that the strings aligned over the pickup pole pieces correctly. 

In past projects I'd used small G clamps to hold necks in place, but recently saw on the BBC Repair Shop program use of Irwin Grip Clamps, so I bought a couple of those. They allow better access for the drill than the small clamps I previously used which had cast iron bodies.

Irwin Grip used to hold the neck

I needed to place 4 strings on the neck for alignment over the pickups and used the wood packing block and 2 wooden coffee stirrers as packing for the neck so that I didn't mark the fretboard when holding the neck in place with the clamp. The strings passed over the wood easily, so I could see exactly the string path alignment.

Also this gives you an idea of how the string spacings will be near to the fretboard edges in reality! Correct alignment in all aspects is vital here. A few moments well spent are better than a lifetime of regretting you didn't get it right! Check before you drill to avoid having problems with holes that are not in the right place!

The Irwin clamp has a micro trigger which allows final and precise clamping, making it easier to do one-handed clamping than when using small G clamps. I put on the 4 strings, lightly clamped up the neck and once the alignment was correct, clamped the neck more firmly but not enough to mark the fretboard.

I drilled the neck bolt holes carefully with a 2mm long drill which I had carefully marked on the shank with masking tape the max drilling depth - to avoid the schoolboy error of drilling right through the board! Always check before drilling! I then drilled the start of the holes with a 2.5mm drill to allow the screws to start and used Renapur Beeswax sparingly to help the screws start.

Delay in the Fender Fat 50s pickups arriving from the USA put me back a couple of weeks but I decided that the neck alignment was paramount, so put off attaching the neck until I had the pickups installed. The neckplate was custom stamped by a guitar parts supplier in Derbyshire.

The neck secured - the trouble taken was well worth the end result 

and it is starting to look more like a guitar.

The fictitious '60162' number on the plate was chosen to cover

Hank Marvin's use of his second Stratocaster

like this one from 1960-62 and is about in the range of 

Stratocasters from that era, my 1961 had a 75--- number.

In early 1963 the Shadows went over to white Fender guitars.

The rest of the guitar was relatively straightforward to assemble as the body had been used before and had holes drilled. Standard Fender chromed parts were used. I did shorten the trem arm buy 1/2" inch to replicate Hank's 1960 one.

I had various Stratocasters to hand to compare with for measuring purposes too which helped in this build. I should have adjusted the neck truss rod 'off' before mounting so that led me having to remove the neck once strung as the relief was too flat, a quick turn back 1/4 on the nut screw plus a tad and it came to the right shape. 

(Always an unknown quantity in this situation & a slight inconvenience on the vintage models that the adjuster is hidden, unlike the modern ones where it is at the nut end!)

Being a new neck and never previously fitted, I allowed the guitar to 'come to' after stringing it to the right pitch for the first time. Having discovered the neck relief was not enough, I then detuned, unbolted the neck, adjusted the relief and again tuned up the guitar and let it rest for a couple of days before checking again. It is best not to rush this process. New wood needs time to acclimatise and also to stabilise.

This adjustment method worked well and I did a first set up after doing the intonation of the bridge saddles. I found that in the 18th fret area I was getting a flat out, it proved to be a fret that had risen, so I carefully tapped it down using a wooden block on the fret crown and a small hammer. Apart from that issue the neck was fine and it is not unknown for this to happen on necks that have been made and in store for some time before fitting.

After a second set up at the nut end, the strings are nice and low without fret buzzing and the guitar sounds nice and resonant and great plugged in too. 

All in all, I am pleased with how the guitar has turned out

It has the look of the 1960 Hank Marvin guitar and also the sound

which is what I wanted to achieve.

For about £450 in parts it is in my view comparable to buying a £1600 version.

The action is nice and low and the sound is right, so I am pleased all round with it.

I find the Hosco parts are good quality maybe I might do a complete Hosco one?

Fat 50's Custom Shop pickups review and upgrade for Hank Marvin style Fender 50's classic Mexican Stratocaster -

 The kit of parts to update the 2017 Fender 50's Stratocaster.

Matching white knobs and switch tip

I recently came across the Custom Shop Fat 50's pickups on the 1959 Custom Shop stratocaster I recently purchased. They sounded very close to the ones on Hank Marvin's original 1959 stratocaster which he used with the Shadows from 1959-61.

I purchased a near new Mex 50's Stratocaster in 2018 and although stock it played and sounded ok. The use of the aged plastic parts on the post 2015 Mexican 50's guitars isn't something I really go for but I left them on the guitar as they were functional. The Mex pickups are vintage type around 5.0 ohms and the Fat 50's set are 6 plus.

I did take the precaution of measuring the pickup covers and pole pieces before purchasing the Fat 50s pickups to avoid any alignment problems, I think this was worthwhile and paid off later.

The knobs and switch tips replaced - 

already improves the look

So, I decided to get the Mexican 50's guitar nearer to an original with this simple upgrade. I was unsure if they used the 5 way circuit board type switch as I am sure an earlier Mex 50's I owned had one, so I purchased a Fender 5 way Oak type switch as a precaution, it also had a white tip which was useful. In this case the Mex 50s guitar had an Oak type switch fitted already as standard.

I replaced the knobs first and then the switch blade, it looked like the size of  a USA one so I installed the white tip which fitted nicely. Then I removed the strings and scratch plate to do the wiring. Luckily this guitar had full size pots and a USA type of 5 way switch, so it was just a small matter of doing a bit of soldering in on the new pickup wires.

The original pickups in the guitar looked like Tonerider construction ones I have used before and had surgical tube spacers instead of springs fitted, the new ones have the same type spacers as supplied.

I noted when I took the scratch plate off how much cruddy dried cutting compound paste had been left in the body cavity, I had to chip the crusty accumulation away in places around the pickup routes which was tilting the middle pickup. However, it is now cleaner inside. Even custom shop guitars have not been clean inside I have found! 

With a quick soldering job done I had the plate back on and with a set of D'addario 9's installed I was soon back in action. A set up of the pickups heights to get the correct sound against the Shadows tracks from the 1959-61 era and for about an hour's work I had a nicer sounding guitar.

The pickups aligned perfectly beneath their respective strings across the guitar. The Fat 50's are higher output than the Mex 50s' ones that were in the guitar, but they are not harsh. Adjusted properly they are just great. 

If you like country style music then these might well suit that sound. If you want that early Hank Marvin 'crash' sound, then they just need getting closer to the strings

The sound quality was good on the originally fitted pickups, if a bit underpowered but the new ones are very much closer to the sound of the original Hank Marvin guitar, a Birdseye maple necked Stratocaster from 1959 with gold hardware.

All white parts for a nice colour match - 

I think this red and white is the best colour scheme

the 1957 Chevrolet Corvette had the same colours

I use a clean sound and on the upgraded guitar the picked notes work really well, the front pickup is warm sounding across the strings, the middle a bit tighter sounding (more treble) and as it should sound, the bridge pickup is incisive without being harsh - you will have to adjust the heights to get the rounded sort of sound you want without the guitar sounding harsh.

I had a template sound to acheive and against backing tracks I was pleased with the result. For a clean sound which is my preference, these pickups are great. Against my template sound, the guitar sounds more accurate to the original sound of Hank's 1959 Stratocaster than with the original Mex 50s pickups, so I would say a good improvement on an already nice guitar.

I find the 2015 onwards Mexican Stratocasters great guitars - 

the neck was retooled for this year and is more comfortable

So I would recommend this upgrade if you want to elevate your 50's Mexican Stratocaster. I have had a number of these guitars over the years and have found the 2015 and later ones with the retooled neck and upgraded hardware in terms of pickups and electrical parts are very good.

Against a 57 USA reissue from 2013 I found it almost as good, for a fraction of the price. 

The price of the pickups I bought was competitive and for the money I would say great value. Being Fender parts, they offer a straightforward installation, although I did check the dimensions first off just to be sure. I don't think you will be disappointed with these.

The genius of Hank B Marvin - a six decade career of twangtastic twangability!

Hank Marvin and the 1959 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster 

Cliff Richard imported for him into the UK

Hank Marvin has a distinctive guitar sound, in the early 1960's it could be heard on Cliff Richard's chart toppers as well as those records recorded and played by Cliff's backing group The Shadows, which Hank was a part of. He owned the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK which helped drive demand for this guitar across Europe and the Commonwealth.

Hank Marvin with Red Stratocaster, Jet Harris and Bruce Welch

1960 was the start of a decade that would define the post war modern world. Things were changing, the rock n' roll stars of the 1950's were either dead, subdued, in the Army like Elvis was, or mired in scandal it seemed. The vanguard that had established the rock n' roll era now gave way to a slicker and more acceptable entity. One which the movers and shakers realised could be modelled into a commodity - The Teenager - who had money to spend.

The Drifters in Expresso Bongo before they became the Shadows

With the skiffle music boom in the late 50's, the music that followed spawned the first showing of youth culture. The established 'powers that be' were shocked. Their grasp on power looked fragile, a new era was coming. Something that Punk rock achieved 20 years later!

The unassuming frontage of the 2 I's coffee bar - where history was created

Out of Skiffle and Rock n' Roll, a venue in London's Soho established itself as the place to be seen and if lucky, be discovered. The 2 I's coffee bar in Soho's Old Compton Street was where legend has it Tommy Steele was discovered.

Cliff Richard and his original Drifters at the 2I's coffee bar - 

Terry Smart, Cliff, Ian Samwell and Norman Mitham

To this place in Soho gravitated Bruce Welch and Hank B. Marvin, a pair of guitarists from Newcastle. Staying on in London after participating in a talent contest, they worked in the coffee bar when not playing on the stage.

One of the earliest photos of Cliff, Hank and Bruce

Hank was one of the great young guitarists of the era which included Jim Sullivan, Tony Sheridan, Joe Moretti, all names who would find careers in music later. When Cliff Richard started to become famous, it was not long before his original Drifters backing group were replaced by inmates of the 2I's club who possessed greater musical ability. 

By 1960 Cliff had his own show on ATV

These were Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan who then became the Shadows in 1959. Later still, Brian Bennet and Brian 'Licorice' Locking from the 2I's fold would later become Shadows when Meehan and Harris left.

New shirts, new Guitars - at a Soho tailor's shop 1959

Hank Marvin's guitar abilities became honed by his extensive playing in the 2I's coffee bar and touring with Cliff Richard. By early 1959, Cliff purchased a guitar that would change musical history for the 60's as well as for himself, Hank Marvin and the Shadows.

Early record sleeves often feature the Fender guitars of the Shadows

The 1959 Fiesta Red Birdseye Maple neck Fender Stratocaster with gold plated hardware Hank was gifted was a sensation. To look at, it was futuristic and made other guitars look out of date, sonically, Hank Marvin was able to use it to create a unique sound that was to influence guitarists for decades.

The Vox AC15 in the style of the early ones used by the Shadows - 

because of the Shadows, the AC30 was created, 

leading to making the Vox name famous worldwide.

The sum of the parts was the Fender Stratocaster, the Vox AC15 (later AC30) amplifier and the echo machine - all helped create possibilities in Hank's mind which he had the talent to translate into sound.

The Shadows onstage with Cliff Richard 1961 with Vox AC30's

Hank was shown a Meazzi echo machine by Joe Brown in 1959, Joe didn't really get on with the machine, Hank suddenly realised he could and purchased a Vox badged version of it.

A 1960 performance

Plugged in to the Selmer Truvoice Hank originally used, the Stratocaster sounded fabulous. It was not long before the Vox AC15 was adopted and amazing sounds found their way onto records which still sound fresh and outstanding today. At a stroke, many groups ditched their singers and became instrumental groups, emulating Hank's style and glasses, needed or not!

A foray into films jointly boosted the careers of Cliff and the Shadows

A promotional still from 'Summer Holiday' which the Shadows wrote music for

Hampered by heavy strings, Hank made extensive use of the Stratocaster's vibrato arm, (called the tremolo arm, erroneously by Fender). The echo machine combined with the intelligent use of the studio's surfaces allowed dynamic sound to be created.

As many groups came and went from the music scene, Cliff and the Shadows endured. Changes of guitars, amplifiers and line-ups did not diminish the Shadows. Hank Marvin's playing has improved year on year. But go back to his early work with Cliff and you can hear the talent and ingenuity there.

Into the 1980's the Shadows career enjoyed a resurgence

Hank's solo tour in 1990 seemed to denote the end of the Shadows as a unit, his move to Australia in 1986 made touring and recording more difficult. His solo work was interesting, but the 'unit' of the Shadows and Cliff Richard seemed to work very well. 

Although Hank's solo playing is very good, it seems to lack the feel of the Shadows line-up. It is probably as they were really good musicians that they worked so well together. There was probably a 'three way unit cohesity' in the totality of the music of their collective input that was perhaps not as achievable in Hank's solo work.

Perhaps those solo years of the 90s allowed Hank to arrange and play the music he was doing in a style away from the Shadows and for his own satisfaction. It certainly was quality music nonetheless, without any doubt. He was able continue to invent great musical renditions of existing music and compose some really catchy new material.

The final tour 2009 - we never thought we'd see this!

To many the Shadows or the Cliff and the Shadows unit is where Hank is best known either as the 'unit' of the Shadows or with the Shadows and Cliff Richard. Hank Marvin has such a distinct sound, one that he has managed to use over six decades of performing and recording. 

The reunions of the Shadows in 2004 and 5 and with Cliff in 2009 are things we thought we wouldn't see again. It is great we were able to have this experience. The reconvening of these performers showed that they were still great, perhaps at a greater leerl than we could have hoped for. 

Cliff's generosity has helped provide us with this great musical legacy. Hank's playing has prompted many now famous guitarists to pursue the gift of music. And buy Fender Stratocasters in Fiesta Red!! Of which I have owned many.

Big glasses and red Fender Stratocaster - 

unmistakeably the great Hank Marvin