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Tantilising glimpses of Hank's first (?) Burns Double Six - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8tuaoqJ ... re=related

Happy New Year

Brian

Hi, Brian,

I believe that that is indeed Hank's first Burns Double Six - a prototype model which he used on live appearances in late 1963 (especially for Cliff's I'm The Lonely One single). The one he used during the filming of "Wonderful Life" was as distinctly different from that one as a Marvin is from a Vista Sonic.

However, the claim of "!963" for that Youtube video is plainly inaccurate. The combination of the presence of John Rostill on bass and the use of the Burns Marvin and Shadows Bass mean that it has to be (early-ish) 1964 at the very least, and I'm sure that the concert has been previously identified as one which took place in Germany in the spring of '64.

JN

JimN wrote:However, the claim of "!963" for that Youtube video is plainly inaccurate. The combination of the presence of John Rostill on bass and the use of the Burns Marvin and Shadows Bass mean that it has to be (early-ish) 1964 at the very least, and I'm sure that the concert has been previously identified as one which took place in Germany in the spring of '64.

JN

You are absolutely right, Jim. This recording originates from on of the Dutch concerts of the 1964 European Spring tour (Scheveningen/Leeuwarden/Blokker, 6./7. May 1964).

Ulrich

If you look at Cliff's hair, he's not wearing the bountiful quiff of 1964, but rather the forward-combed fringe from 1965 and thereafter. I believe this clip is from Valkenburg in September or October 1965.

To me, the scratchplate & controls look like a sort of mix of Vista & Jazz, but the outer body shape looks much more like the usual Double Six, which in itself is like the Jazz profile (rather than the Vista Sonic), though larger. If you pause the video, you can make out the horn shapes better.
I would imagine this guitar was the one strung as a normal 12 string as used on quite a few Cliff & Shads numbers, and maybe the more familiar shape one as seen in Wonderful Life (albeit minus the uppermost part of the 3 part scratchplate) may have been the one strung in octaves, which I don't re-call hearing on anything other than 'On The Beach' (?) Any thoughts?

In case I haven't already mentioned it already - Happy New Year to Everyone!
Chas.

Sounds to me like it's the Double Twelve with the bass strings- on his first solo, he's getting low notes coming out even when he's playing well up the neck..