Tokai TST50 Stratocaster 1983 in Fiesta Red - 40 years on, the guitar that changed it all for me!

 

The Tokai TST50 in Fiesta Red -

One of my top guitars of all time!

On Monday 19th November 1983, I purchased a guitar that change everything for me - the Tokai TST50 Stratocaster in Fiesta Red for £199 from ABC Music in Surrey. 40 years later, I am still enjoying a couple these fine 1983 guitars, both in Fiesta Red.

For some years starting in the 1970's, I had been making do with unsuitable guitars whilst learning to play and because I had no money to buy a decent one. Occasionally I would be able to get my hands on someone else's guitar to try and to realise what I was missing or what was eluding me.

The controversial Tokai TST50 -

it outclassed the Fender guitars of the day  

I was ideally looking for a guitar suitable for the playing I wanted to do and the sound I wanted to create. In those pre-internet days, that meant looking at guitar magazines, visiting guitar shops and hoping the advice from the shop was good and not from someone looking to offload a guitar.

                                       1985 on stage with the Tokai TST-50 guitar

In 1980 when I was 14, the Shadows released an album called String of Hits and this was the right sound at the right time for me to aspire to playing and creating, for a short time, this was mostly attempted on a Starway Stratocaster copy guitar borrowed from my English Teacher at school. 

                                      1985 at the Hope Pub in Richmond, London 

                                                playing the Tokai TST-50 guitar

The Shadows at that time were recently back on tour and in the singles charts with singles from the string of hits album such as Don't cry for me Argentina and theme from the Deerhunter, I could see on their television performances and hear on the record a guitar style and sound I wanted to perform - that of the Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin.

1983 Tokai TST50 - the equal of the pre-CBS 1959 Stratocaster

The string of hits LP cover had artwork by a studio called Cream, and their album art was a joy in itself to look at, clever, stylish and just outstanding.

By early 1982, I was now playing often in various short lived bands with people at school, I was round my friend Dave Kent's house when he played me a 7 inch single from 1960, called 'Apache.' Like many before me, it had changed their playing and Dave and I listened to this single again and again, the 7 inch record material seemed to give it a special resonance, almost ethereal. What a fantastic sound. Dave purchased a used Musima guitar made in the GDR which was sort of Stratocaster like and had a trem arm.

The Shadows first album from 1961 -

it features Hank's first Stratocaster on the cover -

It would take me 17 years to get the same 1959 year guitar 

After leaving school, some months later I got back in touch with Dave around late 1983, I had only then recently purchased the Tokai, at the time I was working in London on an evening shift for a wine company, so in the mornings I had the time to myself and one Monday in November 1983 went to buy this great guitar so I could try and emulate the Hank Marvin sound I was after, whilst the house was empty.

The price of the guitar at £199 was then for me 4 weeks wages for this new icon and worth all of it. Getting home that day with the guitar in a cardboard box under my arm, which I had walked home 2 miles with, I only had a brief time to try it  out.

I plugged it in and briefly played along with a Shadows record. This was the sound and the right looking guitar. It even looked like Hank Marvin's guitar. This was the start of a journey. 40 years later it is still inspiring me to play.

The Shadows String of Hits album from 1980 - 

I was lucky to find this signed copy on sale

Soon enough with 3 schoolfriends and Dave's brother, we had ourselves a small band going and for a few years made a lot of noise down at the local youth club! I was meanwhile learning the Hank Marvin style and have been doing the same thing since.

Hank Marvin playing his 1958 Stratocaster in the late 1980's

Recently I put a book together with pictures of every guitar I have owned since 1977, it was called 150 guitars later, because that is where I am now, 150 guitars on from 1983.

A barely played 1983 one owner TST50 with rare decal mistake!

One thing is for sure the Tokai TST50 is one of the great guitars I have owned and has been seldom equalled. Nowadays I have 2 of these TST50's to hand, both from 1983. Next to a maple neck 1959 Stratocaster I restored in 1999, the Tokai is on a par with that, not much else is, except the recent Mexican made 50's guitars from 2018 onwards.

Playing eat again on the 19th November 40 years on, it is still one of the best guitars ever.

The shadows first album from 1961 - 60 years later

 

The Shadows - their debut album from 1961

A rare Stereo version, signed by 3 on the back

The first Shadows album from 1961 was eagerly awaited, following the release of their groundbreaking instrumental single 'Apache' in June 1960.

Cliff Richard's backing group The Shadows shot to fame in their own right with their instrumental hit single "Apache" written by Jerry Lordan in June 1960, displacing a single they had written which Cliff had taken to no.1 in the charts. 

Following on from 'Apache,' they released a succession of hit singles -  'Man of mystery,' 'Kon Tiki' and 'The Frightened City' - chart singles that followed in fairly rapid succession and established their success as the leading group of the day.

It was in 1961, sometime after their initial success in their own right that they released their self-titled first LP. Rather than just go down the easy route of re-releasing their previous hit tracks as part of the new album as a compilation, they took a rather daring and different step.

None of the tracks on the new album were from their chart hits. This was a masterstroke in that it gave the buying public 14 brand new tracks to enjoy and also showed the Shadows had a musical direction and ability.

With 4 tracks on this new album penned by themselves, the Shadows started a path that they would continue to follow during their career - that of mixing the output between established tunes along with a few of their own compositions.

 

From Shadoogie, side one's opener, the classic Blue Star (covered later by the Ventures), Nivram, the jazzy Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Jet Harris theme with a great bass solo, See you in my drums featuring Tony Meehan's drumming talent beyond his years, All my sorrows a nice vocal ensemble piece - compare it to the Drifters (as they were) 'Feeling fine' single from 1959, the studio sound is a world away with 'Sorrows' showing how much they had matured musically and benefited from a great studio set up. Stand up and say that rounds off side 1, with Hank Marvin on piano giving his best Floyd Cramer style performance - Hank had started on piano and banjo before gravitating to guitar.

Side 2 kicks off with 'Gonzales', a rip roaring track that took 58 takes to get on tape - even though this version has a couple of minor errors it still has great energy, Find me a golden street evokes a street scene from some old late 50's B movie, Theme from a filleted Plaice shows the Shadows having fun with the title wording which they would use throughout their career and on this track, the doubled guitar sounds good (a technique that was also explored on Nivram), 'That's my desire' is a quality ensemble vocal, 'My resistance is low' is a great old track given the echo laden guitar treatment by Hank with the notes becoming almost ethereal in the highest part, 'Sleepwalk' has become a Shadows and Hank Marvin live performance favourite for decades and the album rounds off with 'Big Boy' - likely based on the American Steam locomotive's beat - there was a locomotive called the Big Boy in America.

This album is pure quality, even 60 years later the tracks sound fresh, the playing and the studio sound is superb and this lineup of Marvin, Welch, Harris and Meehan lasted a mere year and a half lasted for one album, before Tony Meehan departed to be replaced by Brian Bennet for 'Out of the Shadows' their second album.

(This next line of Marvin, Welch, Harris and Brian Bennet lasted a short time before Brian 'Licorice' Locking joined for about a year until 1964, when John Rostill became the Shadows Bass player until their split in 1968). The early Shadows lineups (pre John Rostill) were drawn from the old 2I's Club in Old Compton Street players - all those had played in various bands in that famous venue. Out of the Shadows featured some Jet Harris and some Brian Locking tracks.

The treat of the first album's colour cover photo is to see Hank Marvin's original mythical Fender Stratocaster guitar in the famous Fiesta Red colour bought by Cliff Richard, looking a lovely pinky shade here. As with many of their future album covers, they were almost an unnofficial advertising opportunity for Fender instruments! The album was mostly sold in the Mono version as few people had proper true Stereo record players then, so the album pictured a 1961 Stereo version is very rare, more valuable being signed by 3 band members. I have one of these Mono LP's signed by all 4 members which is very rare as they were not long together in this lineup before Tony Meehan left not long after the LP's release.

Indeed, many Fender instruments were sold on the influence and sound the Shadows had. Demand for Fiesta Red Fender guitars was driven across the world by the Shadows without a doubt and demand could not keep pace lithesome being refinished in Britain to keep up with the demand. As George Harrison later said 'No Shadows, no Beatles.' 

I came to this album in 1983, I had just purchased a Tokai TST50 Stratocaster as close to Hank's Fender as I could get and ironically copied from the same 1958 era guitar as Hank played on this album!

With a Sound City Valve amplifier and tape echo machine I was well on the way to the Hank Marvin sound. Now I use Vox Valvetronix AD60 or 120 and Tonelab Studio and Stage SE boxes to get that great sound.

I was able to follow the style and technique of Hank Marvin and this has given me a lot of pleasure over the last 40 years! Even today when I hear the tracks on this album, they still sound fresh. I have backing tracks from this album and enjoy playing along to them.

This band was immensely talented back then and remain so. This album is a musical milestone of the early 1960's from a band that helped define the music of the decade that followed.

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.

Hank Marvin and my 40 years of stratocasting

Hank B Marvin - guitar genius

My earliest recollection of seeing and hearing Hank Marvin and the Shadows was in 1976, on a Saturday morning television screening of Summer Holiday. I knew this was the sound I wanted to achieve.

About that time I had a creaky ribbed old Spanish guitar with nylon strings, on which I was learning a few chords. At a party of some people we knew, a group were playing electric guitars and one of their tunes stuck in my head - I would later recognise it as Shindig, by the Shadows. Even at that young age and lack of musical ability, this music stood out.

Fast forward a year and I was taking guitar lessons, I tried a steel strung jumbo an American kid in the class owned and this was totally for me. Immediately, I realised that nylon strings were the wrong sound, I must get a better guitar. This was reinforced when my guitar had to have a new tuning peg and I get to borrow a Levin parlour size guitar, again, this was it!

I hadn't the means to get this back in the 70's

Playing along to music on the radio and trying to work out the songs by ear was a good start. In 1978 to 1980 the Shadows appeared on Top of Pops playing their chart hits, Hank Marvin was playing 'Don't cry for me Argentina' in 1978 and the sound was what I wanted to get. And of course that red Stratocaster. 

Hank's original Stratocaster of the same vintage as the one he often used in the 80's

I wanted one for Christmas but was fobbed off with the line 'when you can play properly,' that 'properly' was never defined and I would have a few years to wait until I could buy one myself. Maybe that perseverance was for a reason? If I'd got one easy, would I have stuck with it?

This album opened my ears to the style I wanted to achieve - the Shadows sound

In 1980, I managed to borrow an electric guitar from a schoolteacher and plugged it into a Sound City 50R PA with reverb, I was getting nearer to the sound I was after but alas no trem arm! The guitar was a Starway 'stratocasterish' type of copy, probably from the late 60's or early 70's. From this I worked out how electric guitars operated.

Again the limitations became obvious, but I carried on. I did get to play a real Stratocaster in 1980, a schoolfriend's brother owned one, but again no trem! My friend Dave purchased a Musima Stratocaster copy from the 1960's in April 1982 when he was 16, This had a trem arm! It was an East German cod copy of a Fender in some ways. 

The Shadows 1960 single Apache - Dave and I would marvel at the sound!

I started work in 1982 and purchased a Hondo 2 guitar that was based on a Gibson Les Paul, I hadn't intended to buy it, it was actually foisted on me by a friend I was at school with who knew I wanted a guitar and thought it was what I was looking for. Sadly it wasn't the guitar I really needed, for a start the pickups sounded wrong, humbuckers when I needed a single coil sound. Time to move on.

The Shadows first album - what a sound

When I got a copy of the Shadows first album it was becoming more obvious that the sound I sought was not what I could obtain with the Hondo, on the first album's cover was the clue - a Stratocaster and preferably in Fiesta red, like Hank's, which Cliff Richard had bought him.

Well, this was much closer - in fact even closer than Fender's then current guitars

In November 1983, I became the proud owner of a Tokai TST50 Springy Sound Stratocaster guitar, in Fiesta red. Plugging into the Sound City, I was now much closer to that sound. These Tokai guitars were a revelation, better made than the Fender guitars that they stole the sales from. Fender had been bought in 1965 and the guitars weren't the same by 1980. 

A somewhat tongue in cheek Tokai advert!

The Japanese with their eye to quality, copied original Fender 50's and early 60's guitars, the result was a shock for Fender, who admitted the copies were better than the guitars they were making.

The Watkins Tape echo - a later solid state one but the same principle as the originals

Echo was the next step for my sound. Hank Marvin originally used a Meazzi and then bought a Vox badged version of it. I managed to get a Watkins Copicat tape echo, a staple of the 1960's guitarists who wanted Hank Marvin type sounds. This was now the way forward.

At the Hope Pub, Richmond in the 1980's

It was in late 1983 that I got back in touch with Dave about starting a band, we had played together since 1980 but after we left school, I started work and he went to college so we were both busy. 

I had started to tentatively write music and starting a band seemed the next logical step. We met up and decided to give it a go. With his brother Will on bass, James a school friend on drums and Mark the singer, we went round to Mark's house to practice.

Us in 1985 with Alan 3rd right, standing a school friend of ours

still using the Sound City (lower right)

It was a bit of a disaster, Mark dried up and couldn't sing, so I had to take over the vocals. At least we got going now. We put together a list of around 20 or 30 songs, some of our own compositions and a load of 50's and 60's songs, early rock n roll, Cliff and the Shadows, Cream, Rolling Stones and similar music that we thought would give us a good spread of material.

Sadly there was a lack of suitable local venues, music was going away from guitar bands to synth bands and we were looking out of step even though we were competent performers. We had hoped to get noticed and perhaps get signed by a record company but we couldn't get any interest from venue owners, which meant we couldn't really be seen. 

I had for a few years been playing jazz, it had been an interest for a while and I first performed live in 1980 and I'm still doing it. Since we had left school, our musical tastes had diversified and although we had some common ground, we seemed to want different things musically. The band lasted about 3 years until I left to do other things. I hoped to get into composing which I saw as a future possibility, in which we might then get me into the industry into which I could involve the band. 

At work I'd frequently I'd often get things come into my head as ideas for songs or instrumental music and I'd write them down on scraps of paper for later and hurriedly when I got in from work, start composing with a guitar in hand. Happy days. For about three years I was having the time of my life doing this. It helped to erase previous disappointments and setbacks, here I was now able to make my own way, on my own terms. Exciting stuff.

20 years on we reunited for Dave's 40th - it was like we never were apart

During the band years I was avidly writing, also learning and seeking out new and old material. It was really quite bizarre, here I was in the early 1980's about the same age as Hank Marvin was in the 60's starting on pretty much the same musical journey as he did back then. I was fortunate that Hank was a sort of template whereas he made his own style. 

The musicians I was learning to play from - the Shadows and Cliff Richard, were back in the charts again amazingly, so I was able to play both their new and old material. A great musical education. Whilst I learned, I played other styles too so I was not limited. This paid off.

The Shadows in 1984 - presented with Fender 57 reissue guitars - 

Fiesta red Stratocasters may not have been so prevalent without the Shadows

Even then in the early 80's I realised that this was a remarkable thing, almost a destiny to follow. The sounds Hank was making were often out of reach in some case and it was some years before I learned how he attained them. I found some of the new Shadows material too long, at over 4 minutes. By contrast I found some of the old ones too short, a fact Hank also commented on.

Cliff Richard in a Summer Holiday publicity still at Aldenham bus works - 

I was also a massive fan of London Buses and vowed to own one - 

I did get to do this in 2009 and to also drive various Routemaster buses!

The Shadows in this 1980's incarnation had developed their style musically, from beyond their early sound. So they continued in this way until 1990, when Hank Marvin was offered a solo tour, by which time he had moved to live in Australia. This made touring more difficult for the group. 

Hank did some good work musically on his solo tours and recordings, but I felt they lacked something - Brian Bennet and Bruce Welch at a minimum. This combination just worked so well, with Cliff it was truly special even in the 80's and beyond. 

Hank on tour around 2000

The factors of the solo tour and Hank's residence abroad really ended the Shadows as a unit for the time, which was sad. Since their 1968 breakup they had gone onto other things, Bruce produced records and published music, Brian composed, Hank did sessions and television with Cliff Richard. A new dawn was to come.

The reunion tours of 2004 and 2005 - 

fans though that they would never see this band play again live

The 1975 Eurovision appearance got the Shadows back into almost the 'unit'. From 1990, it looked like the Shadows would be just another band gone from recording and performing. Sadly, things had been said around that time that created a bad atmosphere between the group members and there was always the question 'are you getting together again?' For most of us, we were resigned to the fact that it was all over.

The final tour - 2009 - Cliff and the Shadows

They may get together again, who knows?

When the 2004 Shadows reunion was announced, I knew I just had to see them, perhaps this would be my only chance? Luckily the concert I attended was filmed and came out on DVD. Then they did a few dates in 2005 and I saw them again that year. I missed their 2009 tour, but as I had met Cliff a few times in the 1990s and very nice chap he is, I was content with the DVD as a consolation prize!

The Fender Custom shop 1959 Stratocaster - 

not far removed from Hank's original - not cheap but nice! I bought one.

I have continued my playing of the Shadows music since 1980, trying to emulate the sound. I've got close, I use the Vox Valvetronix Studio and their AD60 and 120 amplifiers which look like the AC15 and AC30 used by the Shadows. 

I have been playing through VOX amplifiers since 1985

It has been a long journey about 150 guitars in fact - I now have 2 Tokai springy sounds, I managed to find a 1959 Stratocaster like Hank's which I restored and have a 1959 Custom Shop Stratocaster like Hank's original. So I've achieved my aim in that respect. I play other styles of music but Hank's style is something I come back to time and again.

Cliff driving the London Transport RT Double Decker

In 1983 I bought the Shadows book and found out that I was distantly related to Shadows founder Jet Harris, in that we were both related to music hall star Vester Tilley. Destiny again? 

Mind you, when I was young I lived in London near a Bus garage in Teddington! So the red double decker addiction is part of that journey too, the coincidences and paralells are quite spooky.

In 1983 I was working in London and used to read the Shadows book going to work on the train. It seemed a lot of paths were colliding! Round the corner from where I worked was a Bus stand, so Routemasters aplenty, the same when I worked in the Kings road and also in the City of London. I am glad to have seen these buses in their prime and ridden on them.

Signed pic of Cliff and the RT from Summer Holiday

Thankfully youtube has plenty of videos of how to play their tunes and also original performances from the 1960's onwards. I'd never have predicted that in 1980!

Nearly 40 years on from picking up that first red electric guitar, I am glad that I did. I may have dipped in and out of musical styles over the years but I always come back to the Hank Marvin and the Shadows music.

Thanks to Cliff Richard for buying Hank that first guitar and for pushing Norrie Paramor to give them their own recording slot for Apache! 

And Hank, you've given me a great hobby! I can't thank you enough. And you Cliff!