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.
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.
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.
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?
