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Post by trickytree on Apr 6, 2011 4:31:58 GMT
Hi All, forgive me if this has been answered someplace else on the forum but I cant find an answer, the strats that hank uses are they actually 56 NOS custom shop ones or is it a case of his team ordering a custom shop strat to there exact specs which I tend to think would be the case. I think ive read that the 56 strat has a AA Birdseye maple neck whereas I was of the understanding that his guitars have AAA Maple which leads me to the question is there much of a difference with the different grades of Birdseye?
Ian
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Post by peterbower on Apr 6, 2011 7:45:50 GMT
Hi Ian
I don't have all the answers, but back in the 50's you either had a straight maple neck or deluxe birds eye. There were no various grades of birds eye then and some examples were nicer than others. It was a bit hit and miss.
Hope this helps a little.
Peter
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Post by rogercook on Apr 6, 2011 10:11:04 GMT
I think I've read somewhere that Hank prefers a fingerboard radius other than the standard that Fender supply with the '56 guitars.
There are various theories about figured maple. It is said that the greater the figure the less stable the neck, so AA could be more stable than AAA, but it will depend on other things like grain orientation and timber density.
Roger
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Post by peterbower on Apr 6, 2011 11:24:07 GMT
Hi Roger
How was your Aussie trip.
You are quire right about the Birds Eye maple necks and to give you a good example. When Hank wanted very heavy strings [not sure of gauge] fitted to one of his Strats, the neck bent like a banana, so Mark P his UK guitar tech fitted a standard maple neck to that guitar because its much less springy, every thing was OK after that. Hank likes the neck width down at the nut slightly narrower than standard, but not sure what radius he likes. Mark had to reshape the new standard maple neck to Hank's liking and then re varnish in 2 pack poly with an added vintage stain.
I actually saw this neck being customized by Mark when I was round his workshop once, so I can vouch for the authenticity and reasons behind the mod.
Peter
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Post by trickytree on Apr 6, 2011 16:28:42 GMT
Thanks for the replies Peter & Roger, I had not thought about the Birdseye being weaker than plain maple but it does make sense. I just checked and the 56 nos has a V profile neck whereas the custom shop 40th and 50th anniversary shadows strats have a C profile so I assume that Hank uses this shape neck.
Ian
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Post by peterbower on Apr 7, 2011 8:38:23 GMT
Ian
On the very early custom shop Hank Marvin signature Strat, the one on sale to the public, the neck's back profile was a 'C' and as I said the finger board was narrower at the nut than a standard Strat. I think Fender later changed these dimensions just slightly to make the neck more playable to a greater number of people, it was just sensible marketing. I do know that Hank did not like the 'V' necks and he commented on this when he first saw the MIJ signature Strat. I still cannot remember what finger board radius he liked, but i think it was slightly flatter than vintage "7/1/4 but not as much as the modern "9/1/2/10
Peter
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Post by s4wgb on Apr 7, 2011 10:36:31 GMT
Intresting thread ths. With a AAA or above birdsey maple neck what would be the heaviest strings you would use? 11's/12's ? What about new necks with this type of wood? I did read somewhere that this wood is used by furniture makers as it was classed as a sub-standard wood but looks very nice.
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Post by peterbower on Apr 7, 2011 14:34:17 GMT
You are quite right re the furniture makers and birds eye maple. Its just too springy and not 'rigid' enough for furniture frames.
I guess that if the truss rod can successfully keep the neck in its correct configuration with heavy strings then all should be fine.
Try it and see.
Peter
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Post by Tone on Apr 7, 2011 15:29:22 GMT
The HM 40th Anniversary Strat has a Birdseye maple neck which is probably AA grade and a slim C profile. I'm aware that there were quite a few problems with the necks moving on these guitars although this was attributed to the routing that was needed to fit the LED marker lights along the edge but, in the light of the discussion above, it could also have been due to the inherent features of that particular batch of wood. The narrower nut width also meant that in some cases the top E string tended to 'fall off' the fingerboard although mine doesn't seem to suffer this way.
I remember only too well that not long after I acquired the guitar I picked it up to play and found that all strings were choked up to about the 5th fret because the neck had moved. This was after a period of really hot weather 3 or 4 years ago so it seems that birdseye may be more affected by temperature than other woods - none of my other guitars was affected. However, a tweak of the truss rod put it right and it's been OK since.
Tony
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Post by cwam on Apr 26, 2011 22:20:27 GMT
Hi guys,
I don't post often here but read quite a bit. I thought I'd throw in my bit.
I have three guitars each with diffeerent pickups and string guages. I have 12's fitted to the guitar with a AAA grade birdseye maple neck I purchased from Warmoth and have had no problems at all with the neck; I have been using that gauge of string on that guitar for at least 8 years!
At one time I had a ton of info on Hank's strats because I knew I couldn't afford to buy a signature model but wondered if I could modify a cheaper guitar up to his specs. I eventually bought a Mexican signature strat (these were on sale in 2000) and modified it by replacing all the hardware with Fender gold plated parts (Sperzel tuning heads), fitted Kinmann CV-HMS pickups, had VML do the Constant Tension Tremelo modification and fitted one of their Easymute arms, and finally the Warmoth neck I referred to above.
The neck was 22 frets, 9.5" Radius and I think that was to match what I had read somewhere about the type of neck on the HM custom shop signature models, but I don't know how accurate that information was.
In total I spent about £1100 (including the price of the original guitar). I don't know how it would compare to a real cutom shop sig model but I do know I ended up with a guitar that plays and sounds really well (duff notes from the guitarist notwithstanding!!) and as far as I can tell it is pretty close to what Hank uses for the older Shadows tracks except that it does not have the one-piece swamp ash body.
I could have obtained one of those from Warmoth as well but I was always convinced that Fiesta Red as it is now is not as pink as the shade on the Mexican Signature strat I have which was described in the adds as Vintage Fiesta Red and definitely is pretty close to pink rather than Orange.
The other info I picked up at the time was that Hank used three guitars which were basically the same except that they were fitted with different string gauges - 12's for old Shadows stuff, 11's for 80's/90's and 10's for Hanks Modern stuff. The guitar with the 12's was fitted with Kinman CV-HMS pickups, the guitars with the 10's was fitted with FV-HMS pickups and I don't think I ever found out what the one with 11's was fitted with (mine has Fender Custom Shop Noiseless)!!
The strings he used at that time were DR's.
Again, I cannot verify this info, that is simply what I found from reading around a bit at the time.
Hope it is of some use
Thanks,
Colin.
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Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 26, 2011 23:15:26 GMT
Hi Colin, Hank only used 10s for tunes that needed more string bending than he would normally use, otherwise 11s. 12s only for the old material as far as I know. DR were used for 10s and 11s, D'Addario for 12s. Regards, Charlie
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Post by peterbower on Apr 27, 2011 8:07:10 GMT
Hi Colin
You have done some excellent research on Hank's Strats. I do know that when Fender decided to do his first custom shop Strat he asked for the neck to be slightly narrower at the nut, now I'm not sure if they did this for the ones on sale to the public. I'm sure some body can tell us.
Its been said by greater authority than me that the first batch MIJ Hank signature guitar had the most vintage Fiesta red/pink of any and was closest to Hanks first Strat. I think Hank even commented on this when he was first shown it at Arbiter. The early Mex one was also a much lighter pinker than the US ones. We can argue all day long and never agree, simply because there is no longer any consistency between the various factories, I.E. Japan, Mexico, USA and now China. The original core colour is a very grey area today and we have to accept that. Any shade of Fiesta red is OK by me.
Be care full with very heavy strings on the Triple A necks, as they are quite 'springy'.
Sounds like you have a super guitar, any picks?
Peter
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Post by peterbower on Apr 27, 2011 11:33:14 GMT
Colin
For what its worth, I heard that Hank had more recently fitted Fender Custom Shop 54's [ not sure if they were fat 54's] to at least two of his Strats. Now we do know that Hank probably like us has made a few pickup changes over the years and I'm sure thats not the last change, although he is hardly playing electric these days.
Peter
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Post by cwam on Apr 27, 2011 18:02:33 GMT
Thanks for the replies guys and the extra info. I will keep an eye on the AAA neck after reading this thread!
I think you are right about Fiesta Red though - we will never get a colour that everyone agrees on as being THE colour.
Isn't the guitar Bruce uses the original one that Cliff bought for Hank? Only - again I remember reading this somehwere so don't know if it is true - it was resprayed at least once to white before Bruce restored it? Possibly it was even black at one stage? If you look at pictures with Bruce and Hank together on stage you can see the different colours. In the end I settled on the one that I liked as, I suppose, we all do.
I should mention, just to put the finishing touch on my pink guitar I have a decal on the headstock with a message from Hank which says "All the best Colin" and his signature! It can never be mistaken for a real signature model because none of those have my name on them, but it does put the icing on this particular cake!
Thanks,
Colin.
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Post by s4wgb on Apr 27, 2011 18:28:18 GMT
Ref the colour.I was told that Bruce has said the closest he has seen is the back of the bass guitar that they use in The Rapiers.Why the back,well its all one colour and no pickguard to reflect any light.Sounds strange but i have seen it first hand and it does make a difference.What do others think?
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Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 28, 2011 10:06:06 GMT
Hi Stuart, I agree that the pickguard seems to change the perceived colour. Regards, Charlie
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Post by asimmd on Apr 28, 2011 16:17:47 GMT
Hi All
I have had an NOS56 for about 10 years,bought it brand new from Coda Music.
The NOS56 is/was not available with a Birdseye Maple neck,only an ordinary Maple Neck,Birdseye was a special order,and of course the price went up accordingly.
The shape of the NOS56 Neck is described a Boat,which is a soft V,It is a very comfortable shape,much nicer than the modern C shape,but each to his own.
I have had a AA Maple neck specially made for the guitar by Alan Brason,and the strings I use are D'Addario 11/49,this give the best of all worlds regarding tone and bending.
The NOS56 pickups are not available to buy seperately from the guitar,they are not 57/62's as most people think.
Alan
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Post by michelinman on May 9, 2011 21:17:54 GMT
Hi All Just to add my 2 cents worth, I have a USA 62 Reissue Fiesta Red Strat and am in the middle of building a 12 string Strat. I eventually found that DuPont Austrailia supplied me with the correct recipe for Fiesta Red which I had mixed at a local paint shop. The colour match is absolutely identical. DuPont say they can go back to the 1920s for colour matching. Ron Farrar NZ
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