Hank's First Strat / Tremolo in UK?

[Martin Page]

I wonder what effect Hank used on Living Doll because this was recorded on the White Falcon copy a couple of weeks before the Strat arrived - I'm guessing reverb - and indeed what reverb: the studio's a standalone unit?

Also, it would be have been interesting to hear Hank playing the Strat without echo prior to the Joe Brown serendipitous episode mentioned by Rob, (above)...

Martin.

[JimN]

There are several recordings (in the Cliff Richard EMI canon) of Hank playing the Strat with no echo.

Additionally, there are a number of live recordings where the echo had presumably broken down, eg:



JN

[Martin Page]

...and of course there were later tracks, I think Windjammer is an example, where Hank uses no echo albeit that was a Burns.

Martin.

[abstamaria]

I'm no expert, Donna, but understand that there were several tremolo or, to use the correct term, vibrato systems before Leo Fender's or Paul Bigsby's, such as Kaufmann's.  The 1st Stratocasters, introduced in 1954, already had "tremolo" bars.  Bob Bogle of the Ventures used the bar quite a lot too, and made good use of it in the band's versions of Blue Moon and Lullaby of the Leaves (which I like a lot, incidentally, but are hard to play). Bogle was already playing by 1959, although his 1st hit was in 1960.  

In the interviews that accompany the DVD of the Final Tour, Hank talks about how he came about to use the trem bar. You probably have seen that already.

While Hank wasn't the first one to use a trem bar worldwide or even Europe, it is possible he was the 1st in the UK, although the posts above indicate there was another Strat there, possibly ahead of Cliff's.  In any case, Hank might be the longest term user of the trem bar, as the Ventures gave up using it when Gerry McGee took on the lead role.

Andy  

[Uncle Fiesta]

I read somewhere that the (borrowed) semiacoustic Hank used for Living Doll had a sprung tailpiece that, when wobbled, gave a tem-like effect.
This means therefore, that any guitarist today who plays the solo from that song on a Strat with a trem, is not being historically accurate.
And that includes Hank himself!

[abstamaria]

You are right, Uncle Fiesta. There is an interview recently posted in this or the other Shads forums in which Hank says he used the White Falcon, a Japanese guitar, referred to above and got the effect by pressing on the tailpiece.

Andy