Question on Hanks Different Strats

[zager]

Hi Ian, dont know about the rest of the guitar but the neck plate is genuine.Fender artist series have Corona Cafornia on them. Regards Tony

[Deleted]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for that piece of useful information; I stand corrected ! However, what that does confirm for sure is that it doesn't belong on this guitar then !!

This is what you get when you're not consistent in the way you brand-stamp your products. It makes it harder to spot real from fake.

I also think that it's totally misleading to put official logos - like the Fender Spaghetti logo - on a guitar when it is not a Fender. Half the guitars produced in the world today probably are Strat look-alikes, but any honest builder will put their own name on them, not Fender's.

Cheers

Ian

[russjsmith]

Picking up on Charlies comments about his August 62 strat having a curved veneer type rosewood board- my June 62 strat s/no 81467 has the flat slab rosewood board. I find it most useful for rythmn playing and rock/blues styles. My maple neck mexican strat is better for the shads type instrumentals where generally only one note at a time is played.
When I bought the 62 strat in 1971 it was a sort of dark translucent green- I have since then changed it to red.
Would it have originally been green or would it have been sunburst and refinished here by the importers?
Another strange thing is that the transfers on the headstock are "Fender" and "original offset body" but there is no mention of "stratocaster"

Russ

[Tone]

Hi Russ

Your Strat sounds very interesting - and valuable! A quick check of Duchossoir's book (what a useful work of reference it is) has revealed the following.:

The serial no. is consistent with June 1962 production.
At that time Fender were offering two green finishes - Foam and Sherwood. From your description I would think yours would be Sherwood.
The curved rosewood board replaced the slab board in July 1962 i.e. just after your guitar was made, assuming, of course, your date of June 1962 is correct. There could also have been some production overlap around the time of changeover. However, the build date should be rubber stamped on the body end of the neck (you'll have to loosen or remove the neck to see it). The stamp takes the form of 3 letters for the month plus 2 figures for the year. In addition there is a prefix number for the model and a suffix letter for the nut width, in your case 2 (for Stratocaster) and B (for standard nut). So your neck should show 2 JUN 62 B assuming it has a standard nut width.

The headstock decals seem rather strange. Apart from "The Strat" model of 1980, the words Fender Stratocaster has always appeared and, up to 1969, the additional small logo "Original Contour Body" - not "Original Offset Body" which, as far as I can see, has never officially appeared on a Strat. A 1962 model would also have "with synchronized tremelo" underneath Fender Stratocaster and beneath that again various patent numbers. "Fender" should be in the "Spaghetti" script.

I am unable to account for the decal variations on your guitar but it's possible that the headstock may have been damaged at some point before you bought the guitar and the decals were replaced with what you have now.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Tony

[russjsmith]

Thanks Tony,
I am sorry but I got the wording wrong the logo says OFFSET CONTOUR BODY.
The other thing with it is thatI still have the ashtray bridge guard which I have never used(absolutely useless if you are doing palm mutes).
Russ

[Charlie Hall]

I think the wording "Offset Contour Body" might have been used on the Jazzmaster and Jaguar models. Never seen it on a Strat before.
Regards,
Charlie

[nivram4me]

OK I just joined. I'm a little green and I live in Ohio. No one here that I know has ever even heard of the Shads so I became a recent fan of Hank's and now I'm playing catch up. Question, 1989 Farewell Concert rise and fall of Flingel Bunt I could swear Hank's Strat has silver/nickel hardware. Anyone know anything about this break with tradition?

[Gary Allen]

Hi NIVRAM4ME and welcome to the site,The strat in the 89 concert is a 58 strat he bought in 1980.In 89 it had a neck on it made by Roger Giffen.His no.2 guitar on that tour had gold h/ware which was used as his no.1 guitar on the following tour in 1990..hope this helps...Gary

[paulnic]

this has been a good thread thanks guys ...... oh, and just out of interest, I wonder where Hanks rosewood board strat is? I'd love to know what became of it???

[Charlie Hall]

The Shadows had several rosewood Strats supplied by Vox. As they became worn they were exchanged for new ones. I don't know what happened to the last ones, I imagine that Vox took them back.
Regards,
Charlie

[paulnic]

thanks charlie wish i had one of them worn strats ha ha

regards
paul

[peterbower]

Hi all

Just a word about the Fender Spaghetti logo being put on Strat type guitars that are not Fender in origin.
A mate of mine who worked for Fender UK [No names mentioned] scratch built a 'Strat' from parts other than Fender. The neck and body were Warmoth and other parts from independent suppliers.
The long and short of it was that a beautiful guitar had been made that required a logo on the head stock. The guitar builder told the new owner if he wanted a Fender logo fitted, he would have to fit that himself as he refused to do it. This was because the builder was keeping loyal to the company who employed him. My hat is raised to this honest person.

Peter