Just Hank Marvin Video

[jastreet]

Hi Guys,

I have been looking for a while for the video entitled 'Just Hank Marvin', wherein Hank reveals some of his techniques. I have seen snippets of it on YouTube. It is no surprise that I can't find a copy here in the US, as The Shadows are not well-known on this side of the pond. However, even in the UK, the title seems to be no longer available:

www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/034643/details.html

Any help in tracking down a copy of this item would be greatly appreciated. A Google search comes up with links for illegal torrent downloads, and I am reluctant to pursue that option.

Thanks,

James

[BarryH]

Hello James,

There was a post over on the Shadow Music site a few weeks ago where the original poster mentioned he had recently bought a copy from Leo's Den. Hopefully, they will be able to help.

www.leosden.co.uk/theshop.htm

Cheers
Barry

[jastreet]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the information and the link.

I don't see it listed on the Leo's Den website, but have sent an e-mail inquiring about it. Will let you know what I find out.

Cheers,

James

[philbarker]

I have the video and a "backup" DVD of it. Members of this and similar sites are welcome to "borrow" my backup DVD. Send a personal message if interested. The video was made in 1997 but is now discontinued and extremely unlikely to be re-issued and even less likely to ever be on DVD.

[jastreet]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the offer. I appreciate your generosity.

The guy at Leo's Den confirmed that the product is discontinued, but they are willing to make a copy on DVD and ship it to the USA. Not sure how the copyright laws would relate to that, but I am not asking any questions. He mentioned that it will be a region 0 DVD, and so it should play on my computer, and/or on my multi-region DVD player.

Phil, if things do not work out with Leo's Den, I'll get back to you. Barry, thanks again for the information on Leo's Den.

Cheers,

James

[s4wgb]

There has been someone on the well known auction site selling this copied to dvd,he has been kicked off the well known auction site for selling them but keeps comming back.Goto the well known auction site and put in hank marvin and you might find one.

[BarryH]

Sept 12, 2009 0:14:07 GMT jastreet said:

Barry, thanks again for the information on Leo's Den.

Cheers,

James

Hi James,

I sure Leo's Den will do all they can to help, they're pretty good.

The wait will be worth all the hassle I'm sure, it's a good video.

Cheers
Barry

[s4wgb]

cgi.the well known auction site.co.uk/JUST-HANK-MARVIN-1997-DVD_W0QQitemZ250497214703QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item3a52cc28ef&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[s4wgb]

I have included the link for one of these on dvd on the well known auction site.Obviously a copy as it was never released on dvd,if it was why would we buy the video.

[jastreet]

Sept 13, 2009 15:44:46 GMT s4wgb said:

I have included the link for one of these on dvd on the well known auction site.Obviously a copy as it was never released on dvd,if it was why would we buy the video.

Thanks for the link. Interesting. The seller must be new to the well known auction site, as he/she has no feedback. I'll wait to see what Leo's Den will quote me in terms of cost before I think about bidding on the the well known auction site item.

Cheers,

James

[s4wgb]

He has been kicked off the well known auction site at least 2 times for selling copies as far as i know.Was never released on dvd as far as i know.Dont think Leos den will have it if it was never released on dvd!

[streetboy]

Hi,

3½ years ago I purchased the video from Musicroom.com.

However I could not make it play on my brand new JVC VHS (HR-J638) player. Picture kept dropping out, sound disappeared etc.

I tried to return it for a swap requesting a return number, but with no luck - it was probably my VHS player that was the problem even though it all plays all other VHS tapes (old as well as new ones) perfectly.

Both player and tape are PAL versions (at least the tape is according to Musicroom).

So if I can get my hands on a pirate DVD copy, I wouldn't sleep lousy at night - payed for it once, but didn't get any value for that money.

rgds
Soren

[jastreet]

Hi Guys,

The listing on the well known auction site has been removed. In the meantime, Pat Read at Leo's Den has been in touch again. They will transfer the video to a DVD-R and ship it to the USA for 18.99 Pounds Sterling, which sounds like a fair compromise, since the original VHS version was listed at 16.95.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Cheers,

James

[Scotocaster]

Hi James, yes that dvd was withdrawn. I had the high bid on it and just before bidding closed..... i received a withdrawel notice from e-bay. Well, it was worth the try. Have a great day. Scott

[didier]

There has never been an official DVD, so any existing one is a copy from the VHS video, so don't expect DVD quality...

Didier

[philbarker]

As I don't like seeing members ripped off, I will repeat for the last time;

I have the video and a "backup" DVD of it. Members of this and similar sites are welcome to "borrow" my backup DVD. Send a personal message if interested. The video was made in 1997 but is now discontinued and extremely unlikely to be re-issued and even less likely to ever be on DVD.

The "borrow" time can be of indeterminate length. As mentioned above the video quality transferred to DVD is VHS quality but I have enhanced the sound quality making the backup DVD eminently watchable. The only cost involved is for the price of the DVD/R, postage & packing. I make this offer solely to members. I assume the reason the video is no longer available or ever likely to be released on DVD is because of the extremely limited market.

[jastreet]

Hi Phil,

My DVD is now in the mail from Leo's Den, and so I won't need to take you up on your very generous offer. As Didier pointed out, I am not expecting anything beyond VHS quality in terms of sound or video, since the source is VHS. How did you enhance the sound quality from the original VHS source? If it is not too complex, maybe this is something I can try with the file when my DVD arrives next week.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

James

[philbarker]

I use a program called VideoReDo. I suppose enhance is a bit strong really but the sound on the VHS was very low so basically I cranked it up a bit without it clipping - similar to some re-mastered CDs!!!

Phil

[Amanda Hambidge]

Hi,

When I did my "Backup Copy! " of the VHS tape, I also chaptered it as well.

Let's face it when you buy software you are or used to be recommended to back up the original media in case of accidents!

Amanda

[philbarker]

Yes - my DVD backup is chaptered to the main areas of the video eg echoes, muting etc. I put the actual VHS tape away ages ago as there is no point watching that now at all. When I get a bit a time I might scan the VHS cover and convert it to a DVD sized cover but it's not a priority.

[BradC]

Phil, your backup arrived in great shape thanks Sitting watching it now over a nice glass of Scotch.

As I don't keep DVD disks around the house, if someone in Aus wants me to pass on Phil's backup disc, drop me a PM and I'll pass it on. If you are in Perth and going to the Shads club meet next Thursday I can bring it along.

<edit>
Hey! I've just noticed the Strat he's playing seems closer to candy apple red than fiesta.. but more than that, the bridge is a 2 pole American standard with the sintered saddles rather than the 6 screw vintage with the stamped saddles and a 22 fret neck. Just an observation anyway.

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Brad,
The video was shot in 1997, before Hank changed over to the vintage bridges.
Regards,
Charlie

[jastreet]

My DVD arrived from Leo's Den. It looks like a very professional copy, with fair quality video and sound, considering the VHS source. Also, it is well-presented, with a nice DVD label, and packaged in a DVD box bearing the original cover art.

So far, I have watched about half of it and have already picked up a few useful playing tips from watching the maestro at work. Highly recommended!!

Thanks again Barry, for putting me on to Leo's Den. They went out of the way to help me obtain this item, and I am very pleased with their response.

Cheers,

James

[JohnG]

BradC:::I have PM'd you.

Cheers....

JohnG....

[BarryH]

Hi James,

Good to hear you got a copy in the end, only to pleased to help.

Cheers
Barry

[willpractice]

hi bradc,the guitar that Hank is useing on the Just HM video,is a limited edition guitar which had a short tremelo arm,but Hank never had one on his strat,there were only 50 of these made and they cost £3995,they were know as the autographed series and came with a seperate autographed single ply white scratch plate,Hank then changed to the vintage bridge in 98 when the limited edition 40th anniversarys come out there were only 40 made, they all had standed length tremelo arms not the easymute.and they were all 22 frets and fiesta red.just in case you wanted to know.

Sept 25, 2009 16:16:24 GMT BradC said:

Phil, your backup arrived in great shape thanks Sitting watching it now over a nice glass of Scotch.

As I don't keep DVD disks around the house, if someone in Aus wants me to pass on Phil's backup disc, drop me a PM and I'll pass it on. If you are in Perth and going to the Shads club meet next Thursday I can bring it along.

<edit>
Hey! I've just noticed the Strat he's playing seems closer to candy apple red than fiesta.. but more than that, the bridge is a 2 pole American standard with the sintered saddles rather than the 6 screw vintage with the stamped saddles and a 22 fret neck. Just an observation anyway.

[Charlie Hall]

Hank was presented with a 40th anniversary, I was there at the time and was looking at it with him, he was almost immediately picking fault with the neck edges which he was testing by allowing the outer strings to slip over the edge and found that the frets were not accurately finished causing some notes to choke off, and I believe he later sold it.
I am quite sure the ones he plays are still the same earlier ones (he has at least 3 of them, he also told me two of them had one type of body wood, either ash or alder, the other one was the other type of wood, also one of them has a graphite reinforced neck which is used with heavier gauge strings, usually D'Addario12s), the idea of converting the bridges was from Chris Kinman, who did the work and also supplied the pickups around the same time. Ian StJohn White supplied the EasyMute tremolo arms and I think he also fitted special hard threaded inserts to the tremolo blocks. The colour of these guitars is supposed to be Fiesta Red but is a more orange shade than the original Fiesta Red.
Regards,
Charlie

[peterbower]

Hi Charlie
That was interesting about Hank's Strats. Ian St John White is a member of our Watford Shadows club and when i was last round his house he had one of Hank's trem blocks in for modification.

Ian fits a case hardened steel insert into the block arm hole and then taps a small 2-mm hole in the side of the block [under the top plate and accessible with an alen key from the rear of the trem top plate] so a grub screw can be fitted which can then be tightened up against the arm to give the desired 'swing' resistance. I believe he fits a tiny nylon buffer in first which is what rubs on the arm.

Peter

[Deleted]

Hi,

In relation to the information on the HM Autograph Stratocaster, I think you will find that these cost £2995 when they were released - I have an invoice for the one I own showing that as the purchased price. They were also a hybrid (I think that's the best word to describe them) of the earlier Signature model. The actual number of combined Signature/Autograph models intended for sale was in total 200, but I believe only 164 were ever sold. Fender Custom Shop Customer Support supplied me with this information some years ago.

I am hoping to publish a comprehensive fact sheet on all the Hank Marvin / Shadows Custom Shop Stratocasters in the very near future giving all the details of specifications, prices, etc, etc. I am just waiting for confirmation from Fender about some details of the 40th Anniversary model that was finally released to the public, and also some photography of the new 50th Limited Edition.

The fact sheet is double A2 in size and includes illustrations of all the relevant parts of these 4 guitars. I shall publish it on this website, and this website only, as a PDF file with an option to buy a high quality printed version. I hope to have it available sometime mid-November.

Cheers,

Ian

[jastreet]

Oct 16, 2009 13:52:17 GMT peterbower said:

Hi Charlie
That was interesting about Hank's Strats. Ian St John White is a member of our Watford Shadows club and when i was last round his house he had one of Hank's trem blocks in for modification.

Ian fits a case hardened steel insert into the block arm hole and then taps a small 2-mm hole in the side of the block [under the top plate and accessible with an alen key from the rear of the trem top plate] so a grub screw can be fitted which can then be tightened up against the arm to give the desired 'swing' resistance. I believe he fits a tiny nylon buffer in first which is what rubs on the arm.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I have a couple of American Deluxe Fender Stratocasters, and they have the same thing, basically a grub screw at the rear of the tremolo plate that can be tightened against the base of the tremolo arm with a small Allen wrench. It is a great feature!

Cheers,

James