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Post by asimmd on Jun 1, 2011 8:01:46 GMT
Hi All
I was wondering if anyone had an Alan Brason Strat made for them,and if so would they care to comment please.
Thanks
Alan
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Post by 26rednef on Jun 1, 2011 9:24:00 GMT
Hi again Alan.
These guitars seams to be very nice and good made but I don't see it is a professional way to work when puting a Fender sticker on a copy, even if it is really nice done, it is not a Fender.
If it is good it would be equal good with the builders brand name on the headstock, I build my own guitars, copies of Strat's and others and would never put a original sticker on it, and it is against the law if it is not cleared by the brand name owner, just my opinion nothing else.
Kind Regards, 26rednef
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Post by Bojan Drndic on Jun 1, 2011 10:20:59 GMT
One can always buy parts and hardware from Fender, Callaham, Wilkinson, etc, but the really important thing is to have the best possible quality neck and body, and that is where Alan shines. He has first class wood, and his workmanship and attention to detail is superlative. The first "Strat" he made for me has an alder body made out of a single slab of wood and the neck is "AAA" quality bird's-eye maple, "straight as an arrow." You can get that quality and workmanship from Fender's custom shop line, but at two or even three times the price (but that is a whole different discussion). The fact that Alan has an eight-month waiting period says everything about his work, plus the fact that many members of these Shadows forums are his very satisfied customers (eight months ago I made a second order to Alan, this time just a neck and body -- in daphne blue -- and they are due to arrive this afternoon ). Hope this helps, Bojan
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Post by Bojan Drndic on Jun 1, 2011 10:35:24 GMT
Hi again Alan. These guitars seams to be very nice and good made but I don't see it is a professional way to work when puting a Fender sticker on a copy, even if it is really nice done, it is not a Fender. If it is good it would be equal good with the builders brand name on the headstock, I build my own guitars, copies of Strat's and others and would never put a original sticker on it, and it is against the law if it is not cleared by the brand name owner, just my opinion nothing else. Kind Regards, 26rednef Let me just say that Alan DOES NOT put any Fender stickers on his guitars and he always points out why he cannot do that . It is not his fault if the buyer puts on a Fender sticker once he gets the guitar, because Fender does sell those decals freely (unlike Fender, Rickenbacker, for example, also sells its truss rod covers with the Rickenacker logo, but it requires the buyer to send back the old or broken one before selling him the new one). Fender obviously does not have that policy. I'm sorry, for taking the disussion in a different direction, but it is in reply to 26rednef's post. Bojan
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Post by asimmd on Jun 1, 2011 10:40:09 GMT
Hi Bojan
Many thanks for the reply.
I did not think Alan would put a Fender sticker on a non Fender guitar,I am sure I have seen a picture of one of his creations with a Brason sticker on the headstock.
Just need Alans contact details now please.
Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 10:54:31 GMT
Firstly, I think you will find some of his Strats were sold with Fender decals attached in the past. I certainly know of two that were. Whether he is still doing so, I don't know....
Secondly I know the source of the necks he uses and you or I could buy
In my opinion why buy what is really a fake Fender Strat when you can buy the real thing for around the same price or indeed buy all the parts and assemble yourself for less as I have done myself in the past.
Handmade Stratocasters.....Maybe all is not what it seems!!
Jimbo
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Post by asimmd on Jun 1, 2011 11:01:36 GMT
Well it was not my intention to get into a did he didn't he discussion,I just wanted to know if the guitars were any good.
I'm sorry I asked now,maybe I'll just forget it,I don't want to start a war.
Thanks
Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 13:05:50 GMT
Alan, I am not saying the guitars aren't good because they are. Personally I prefer to have the pucker job with serial number etc. Another point to consider is, if you ever want to sell, what will its value be as it is not a genuine Fender? At the end of the day it is up to the individual what he or she buys and what they are willing to pay and how long they are willing to wait....
Jim
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Post by 26rednef on Jun 1, 2011 13:18:01 GMT
Hi.
It is sad that a small plastic sticker is so important for some peoples so they have to put it on a copy, it certainly does not make it a better product, it is maybe a question on self confidence.
Kind Regards, 26rednef
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Post by edwardd on Jun 1, 2011 14:18:47 GMT
Hi asimmd,
A few weeks ago I was surfing through youtube and came across Phil McGarrick playing Shadows numbers. I have to say I was blown away by the tone and timbre of his guitar and how close it seems (to my ears) to the original tone of Hank's recordings. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to the right sound and for me Mr McGarrick's Alan Brason guitar is spot on. This lead to a few google searches and brought me to this forum which I subsequently joined.
I have a 1984 Strat Plus Deluxe and a while back I was able to buy a Custom shop 56 NOS Masterbuilt. To my ears the Strat Plus has almost the right sound and although the NOS has a richer tone it's moving away from the Hank sounds, which I believe is due to the body wood, whatever it might be, ash or alder.
Anyway this is just my honest opinion of the Alan Brason guitar I've heard on youtube and how it compares to two Fender originals.
All the best, Ed.
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Post by asimmd on Jun 1, 2011 15:30:17 GMT
Hi Jim
I take your point regarding the resale value of the guitar,but If I was going to sell it,I would agree a Fender would be the right way to go.
I was toying with the idea of ordering a Masterbuilt,after hearing them on Youtube they sound amazing,just how I remember Fenders used to sound when I was young.
Then I though about Mr Brason's guitars,same? build quality and 1/3rd the price.
I also found the Youtube clips and thought it sounded excellent.
I have a set of custom wound 60's pickups that I want to put into a guitar. I did think of getting a Mexican Standard or a USA Standard,but it just wouldn't be the same.
Ed,I also thought the clips sounded great as well.My NOS56 is as youi say very close to a lot of Hanks tones,but just not quite there for many of them.
Looks like I will have to ponder a bit longer.
Thanks
Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 15:36:30 GMT
Hi Alan, also you may want to consider.... Last I heard there was about a 9 month wait for a guitar from Mr. Brason, but you would obviously need to check out the current situation.. I have heard Phil McGarricks Strat live many times as he and I played in the same band "Bungleflint" and yes it sounds very good. Big factor is the player himself and then the pickups and the amp...
Jim
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Post by asimmd on Jun 1, 2011 15:49:03 GMT
Hi Jim
I also need to consider whether putting my pickups in an off the shelf Fender, would sound as good as waiting for Alan to make me one.
I am not in a hurry so I think I may as well ask what the wait would be.
Alan
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Post by clivea on Jun 1, 2011 16:30:25 GMT
Hi Alan, What sound / tone are you after? If you gto into Phil McGarrick's website you'll see/hear him playing a Brason with Kinman p/ups. Some great backing tracks and tabs too! www.philmcgarrick.co.uk/Rgds - Clive
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Post by billboy75 on Jun 1, 2011 18:29:57 GMT
Hi all I recently had a Mexican Strat upgraded by Alan Brason, it's fantastic. He is also building for me a 40th anniversary Strat similar to Phil McGarrick's, as regards him buying in necks, in my case I personally chose the birds eye maple for both necks and the one piece of Alder ( not many custom shop guitars?) for the new Strat . Alan is putting his own logo on the new one and if it plays as good as the upgraded one I will never sell it. His quality of work is second to none, better in my opinion than fender custom shop Strats. But as others have said you have to be prepared to wait. I hope this helps you in making your mind up. Regards Billu
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Post by panchodiaz on Jun 2, 2011 8:42:14 GMT
Mr Brason makes their necks from scratch. I know it because he built mine and before of this he sent me pictures of the plain wood for me to choose my preferred one. But that´s not all, I asked him a neck of little different measurements because I wanted it for my Edwards strat which has a longer neck pocket. He did a great job indeed.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 9:23:25 GMT
I tend to agree with Alan... The maker/supplier of the necks is in North America I believe and for those 2 reasons I would think that is why there is a wait.... And why would anyone go to the bother of making a Strat body from scratch when there are so many superb quality bodies available?
I'll stick with my "real" Fenders thanks...
Jim
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Post by 26rednef on Jun 2, 2011 9:29:09 GMT
Hi Tony.
The evidence is my self, I have made several guitars from different parts and it is not a difficult work and the quality of the parts will settle the quality of the result, good parts give a chance to get a good guitar and bad parts the opposite and it is not hard to do if you can use a screw driver and a drill you can do that. I am not a fan of that type of guitar assemblers when they put fake stickers on them we don't like it when the Chinese does that, but If you are happy with the guitar it is good.
To day I don't use others parts, I do it all from scratch and that is a lot more challenging and much much more work. The last one I made a PRS hollow II type guitar, time for that work was 6 month from November last year to May this year, it is much 3D carving on that type of instrument, compared to a Start with just a belly cut and the slant. Right no I am working on a PRS JA-15 type guitar and it will be finished some time next spring.
Kind Regards, 26rednef
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 9:39:52 GMT
Hi Alan, Referring to your question here's how it occurs to me; I was lucky enough to buy a Brason Strat similar to Phil Mcgarricks about 18 months ago. I had a conversation with Alan some time ago about him making guitars, he doesn't push his guitars at all but he said in so many words...if you want a special guitar making 'to your own specification' I can do it at a reasonable price. I have had two necks altered by him also and they are quality jobs and make no mistake I would class him as a master builder carrying the same view as Bojan (after all we're in receipt of his guitars so we should know and not forgetting I've owned a Masterbuilt guitar by Yuri Shishkov with Abigail Ybbarra pickups). The downside of owning one is that it doesn't have FENDER thereon and hasn'nt a number etc. The point being made re its second hand value is the same as any other in my experience; if you buy a masterbuilt strat for £3000 you may lose several hundred pounds if you sell it, if you buy a Brason Strat for £1200, yes it's second hand value will drop just like any other but overall you wont have lost as much as the Masterbuilt, it's relative. The payout overall on the Masterbuilt is significant though. The Brason Strat will sound different if you put different pickups. Phil McGarrick is using Kinmans and I find his video's and sound including his playing excellent. I have Kinmans in mine at present but it still does the business with the Sliders in for the old sound. So Have two guitars for old sound-nmodern Shads sound. Will the Brason Strat sound better; Not necessarily, but it will sound pretty much like the Masterbuilt all dependent on the pickups, but then again so does my Simon Neal Biffy Clyro Squier at £249 with the Sliders in. Hope this helps, Best Tony
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 9:55:41 GMT
Hi 26rednef, Thank you for the reply and I'm sure you make very good guitars. Tony
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 10:15:50 GMT
Hi Jim, Nice to see you on the slopes again, I've been out of circulation too for a while. You are quite right about the Fenders they are almost always saleable etc. Your soundfiles are always great too by the way. I've been guilty of UPS with loads of stuff but have been settled awhile now with two guitars Vox Ac 4 end Ese Echomatic 6. Horses for courses I suppose. Best Tony
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Post by jimmyc on Jun 2, 2011 11:52:34 GMT
Thanks to the link above, I watched the video of Phil McGarrick playing lady in red. Wow ! His guitar is what I'd call 'proper' Fiesta Red.
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Post by Charlie Hall on Jun 2, 2011 13:17:50 GMT
I have deleted some messages from this thread, the first time since I posted about it in my thread "Changes". Regards, Charlie
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Post by asimmd on Jun 2, 2011 13:20:30 GMT
Hi Guys
Just to put this thread to bed,I have now ordered a Strat to my spec from Alan and as I will be waiting so long for it,Her indoors said she would buy me a genuine Fender to tide me over.
What a result that was,best of both worlds ------He He.
Have a nice day.
Alan
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Post by mac on Jul 25, 2019 20:23:46 GMT
Hi all.... i’ve just acquired an Alan Brason 1962 telecaster... absolutely beautiful.., all proper old wiring.. capacitor etc etc..what a work of art!... i dunno how to attach pics tho!
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Post by sixchannel on Jul 26, 2019 20:47:22 GMT
Hi all.... i’ve just acquired an Alan Brason 1962 telecaster... absolutely beautiful.., all proper old wiring.. capacitor etc etc..what a work of art!... i dunno how to attach pics tho! You can't upload to here. Upload to a free site like imgBB.com and copy and paste the links on here. FWIW - I have an Alan Brason Strat built by him in 2006. Its basically an HBM 40th Anniversary at what would be a fraction of the price. An awesome guitar. Ian
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Post by alanedwards on Aug 24, 2019 23:26:34 GMT
I would love to have an Alan Brason hand made strat, but left it to late as Alan not making guitars any more, Who worries about the reasale value, if youve got one of these you have a better quality guitar than a mass produced strat. strats down hold value anyway unless you've got original 50s 60s just my opinion
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Post by sixchannel on Aug 26, 2019 10:34:32 GMT
I would love to have an Alan Brason hand made strat, but left it to late as Alan not making guitars any more, Who worries about the reasale value, if youve got one of these you have a better quality guitar than a mass produced strat. strats down hold value anyway unless you've got original 50s 60s just my opinion Sad but true, Alan. I met Alan the other week to have a new nut put on my 2006 AB Strat, the one I mentioned in an earlier post. Tried very hard to get him to come out of Guitar Building Retirement as I'd love a Tele to a spec I have in mind but absolutely no dice. Had to smile when I took my Strat out of its case for AB to examine. He took hold of it and said "welcome home". As PhilC and others will probably tell you, not all '60s Strats survived the passage of time too well. Just cos its old, doesn't mean its good. A very Caveat Emptor market from what I can see. Ian
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Post by garyallen on Aug 26, 2019 11:23:10 GMT
I remember having a custom shop strat and I didn't like the neck so I got Alan to make one,birds eye maple,22 frets,med jumbo fretwire.I eventually sold it with the original neck so I then had Alan make me a fiesta red light swamp ash body,just like the next I picked the specs,I then added the easymute block and tremolo with CS 54s,I wouldn't know it's value but it sounds identical to an original 50s strat...regards gary
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desmo
Member
Hi I play an Alan Brason 40th anniversarey Hank Strat and a Classic Player 60,s Strat sonic blue
Posts: 9
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Post by desmo on Jul 20, 2020 17:31:36 GMT
Hi, I have an Alan Branson strat wonderful guitar Mr Branson asked if I wanted his name on the Headstock or leave bare, I told him to leave his Own name on he makes a guitar as good or if Not better than any Custom shop I have played
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