Hank interviews

[dave robinson]

Thanks cochroach - as they say in court, "No further questions" . Hank remembers more than people give him credit for, as I discovered when I chatted with him back in the 70s

[JimN]

OK, that picture of "Clay Nicholls and the Blue Flames"...

Concentrating on the white or blond guitar held by a player captioned as Tony Harvey, it is possible that this is the mystery guitar. Only "possible", mind, certainly not definite (though I ask myself how frequently players were able to change guitars in that era and am also open to the possibility that the guitar was borrowed.

https://anonimag.es/image/JT9sDGo

Even more so than Paul Day, I am not familiar with every guitar on the market in the late 1950s, but that guitar, though it might (and equally, might not) be referred to on the associated web-page as an Egmond, does not look like an Egmond to me. Egmond guitars were renowned as being cheaply made, cheaply appointed, relatively unpleasant to play and generally of lower quality. It is no exaggeration to say that contemporary Japanese production - especially by the company turning out Antoria / Guyatone models - was of better quality than Egmond were able to do at that time.

Turning to the guitar in the picture, that does not look like any Egmond I have ever seen (with the proviso that I cannot claim to have seen them all). It looks very German, with its typically-Bubenreuth-styled fretboard markers (think Hofer Verithin) and the three pickups, a feature common on (say) Framus. The tailpiece is definitely German. The pearloid (or similar) inlay on the headstock is a feature seldom seen on any guitar not made in Germany. I think that inlay looks hideous, more suited to an accordion, but that's another point. Headstocks of that sort look best in black with the maker's name inscribed in pearloid - as near to the tasteful standard set by Gibson in the 1900s as possible.

The same model of tailpiece was used on the Hofner President and associated models as well as on other German brands and even on the Harmony H75 / H77 (made in Chicago). It wasn't made by Hofner and would have been available to other makers as OEM (in fact, it was), but it will have been - in wholesale terms - an expensive component to buy in. And Egmond were perfectly capable of producing tailpieces. Of all the criticisms of the Lucky 7 that I have heard over the years, not one of them has ever been about its tailpiece, which was perfectly serviceable.

So... bearing in mind that at the time, the Gretsch White Falcon was a single-cutaway guitar, this guitar - whatever it is - has to be in the frame, though the Grimshaw SS (which has the added bonus of looking more like the d/c White Falcon and of probably being available more readily as a loan because it was in Bruce's keeping for a while) is still, I suggest, also in the frame.

PS: If you want some real b******s to read about guitars, try this Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoria

[cockroach]

JimN

Please see attached links- which show a two pickup dark coloured version of Tony Harvey's 3 pickup Egmond- note similar tailpiece, control buttons on scratchplate , body shape etc etc

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/imag ... IIRUkw4qeA




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUdIL5Y_ocw

[dusty fretz]

This is more like it! Thanks to the combined efforts of Iain, Stephen, Jim and John, it would appear that the guitar Hank played on Living Doll can be identified with confidence as a three-pick Egmond of the era. I enjoyed exploring the links provided to previous threads and internet sites etc., all of which duly contributed the confirmatory evidence I was hoping for, rather than having to rely on recollections alone. The apparent mention of Japanese manufacture is what was confusing the issue and it certainly threw me, hence my reasons to refute this, but did Hank actually state this country of origin in interviews? Whether he did or not, I feel his "Gretsch White Falcon copy" description was still more than a mite wide of the mark, as apart from its colour and single cutaway shape, that Egmond bears very little resemblance to the real thing! Anyway, such carping is immaterial, because the mystery has finally been laid to rest, certainly to my satisfaction, and it'd be good if relevant errors on some Shadows-related websites could be corrected accordingly. Congratulations to all those concerned, as the end result nicely demonstrates what can be achieved via collaborative thinking, rather than indulging in confrontational comment.

[Iain Purdon]

Steady now, we can't have an outbreak of peace here!!

[dusty fretz]

I notice I didn't mention Clive Webb as one of the contributors to solving the case of the 'mystery' Hank Marvin guitar. Sorry Clive and the omission is now duly rectified, along with my appropriate thanks. Just trying to keep the peace!

[cockroach]

This is more like it! Thanks to the combined efforts of Iain, Stephen, Jim and John, it would appear that the guitar Hank played on Living Doll can be identified with confidence as a three-pick Egmond of the era. I enjoyed exploring the links provided to previous threads and internet sites etc., all of which duly contributed the confirmatory evidence I was hoping for, rather than having to rely on recollections alone. The apparent mention of Japanese manufacture is what was confusing the issue and it certainly threw me, hence my reasons to refute this, but did Hank actually state this country of origin in interviews? Whether he did or not, I feel his "Gretsch White Falcon copy" description was still more than a mite wide of the mark, as apart from its colour and single cutaway shape, that Egmond bears very little resemblance to the real thing! Anyway, such carping is immaterial, because the mystery has finally been laid to rest, certainly to my satisfaction, and it'd be good if relevant errors on some Shadows-related websites could be corrected accordingly. Congratulations to all those concerned, as the end result nicely demonstrates what can be achieved via collaborative thinking, rather than indulging in confrontational comment.

Thanks Paul!

I'm sure Hank described the guitar as a 'Japanese copy of a Gretsch white Falcon'...probably because back when he said that any cheapo crass copy of a classic American guitar was assumed to be of Japanese manufacture..which was a common assumption and epithet before the mid '70's when Japanese made gear really started to improve and rival US made brands. Like many people equate Chinese made gear with cheap rubbish today in fact!

I've found through simple research that there was a huge amount and range of guitars etc made in other countries apart from the USA, UK, etc- many of which were never imported or even seen in the USA or UK back then - so because the borrowed guitar in question was an earlier model Egmond not seen or imported to the UK, and obviously wasn't a Rosetti/Egmond Lucky 7 or similar, which were known in the UK, it was not familiar and not on many peoples' radar, so to speak!..

[dusty fretz]

John, I agree with your assumption. Presumably it wasn't until the '70s at least that Hank was asked pertinent questions about this particular session and the instruments employed. This decade heralded the boom era of imitations originating from the Far East and the term 'copy' became almost invariably prefixed by 'Japanese', so I assume Hank quite naturally applied this common terminology to the guitar he'd played, never imagining the later confusion it would cause!

As you say, there's no shortage of info available on the internet these days, although as always great care needs to be taken concerning accuracy. Annoyingly enough, I used to have relevant info on the Egmond brand, but unfortunately this wasn't retained when I disposed of the bulk of my archive material not too long ago. I'd amassed a huge amount of catalogues, literature etc. during the past 50 years, spanning over 3,000 brands, but decided that, as I wasn't being employed to write anymore, all this paperwork was now superfluous to requirements - little did I know! I was therefore aware that Egmond made more upmarket instruments before concentrating on the beginner market and lowering build quality accordingly, but my memory wasn't jogged until I saw the photo of Tony Harvey and his fancy example, hence my appreciation to all who helped.

[dave robinson]

The problem is that people assumed that Hank said it was a Japanese copy. The fact is, he didn't, he described the guitar as a White Falcon copy. It is others who have confused the issue. I read, enjoyed and understood what was written and at the time guessed that the guitar would have probably been European, as there were quite a few around at that time as everyone will know. As Jim pointed out, the Hofner style trapeze on the one in the photo is a massive clue, but these days the far eastern companies are using that very design, it's a minefield trying to identify some instruments accurately.
Good to see that the subject reached a satisfactory conclusion.

However, I. do have a question that someone may be able to answer.
Back in 1964 we worked a full week with Val Doonican and I was interested in his guitar, an archtop with no recognisable name or logo. I have just had a look at it by viewing 'images of Val Doonican' and it's there, but I still can't figure out what it is. Does anyone know ?

[phil kelly]

hi Dave,
its a Clifford Essex guitar, circa 1958, he later gave it to martin taylor who still has it,
Phil.