When did Hank stop playing his Burns

[neil2726]

I believe Dave Robinson did a gig with some guy who had on of the stolen Burns!

[Uncle Fiesta]

Bit silly to mention it if true, Hank would have been within his rights to simply ask for it back!

(Look at what happened to Peter Frampton's Les Paul Custom that had been assumed lost in a plane crash.)

[Fenderman]

I believe Dave Robinson did a gig with some guy who had on of the stolen Burns!

Really? Wow! How did he know it was that same guitar?
He should have asked if he could 'borrow' it then leg it!

[dave robinson]

I believe Dave Robinson did a gig with some guy who had on of the stolen Burns!

Really? Wow! How did he know it was that same guitar?
He should have asked if he could 'borrow' it then leg it!

Yes indeed it was in Sunderland at the Grindon Broadway Social Club, it was the greenburst six string 'Marvin' and the owner openly bragged that it once belonged to Hank, which was feasible as I had never seen a commercially available one in that colour. I took down the serial number in my diary and still have it to this day. I knew about the stolen guitars and when we got home after our week in the north east, I called Saville Entertainments who were The Shadows management to give them the details and the name of the act that boasted about the guitar, but they weren't remotely interested. Hank had told me about his stolen Burns guitars a few weeks before when I spoke to him at The Cavendish Club in Sheffield, so it was fresh in my mind. He did say that he wasn't fussed about the loss as he was happy to have the Strat again, the one he bought from Barrett's of Manchester.

[Tone]

Anorak question!

In idle moments I've wondered why Hank went to Barrett's of Manchester for that Strat. I believe it was a standard US model with nothing particularly special about it. I think Hank was living in the south of England at the time and there was no shortage of Strats so why Manchester? Was he on tour there at the time and popped into Barrett's for a browse or did he see it advertised?

Does anyone here know?

Cheers.

Tony

[dave robinson]

Anorak question!

In idle moments I've wondered why Hank went to Barrett's of Manchester for that Strat. I believe it was a standard US model with nothing particularly special about it. I think Hank was living in the south of England at the time and there was no shortage of Strats so why Manchester? Was he on tour there at the time and popped into Barrett's for a browse or did he see it advertised?

Does anyone here know?

Cheers.

Tony

It's my understanding that he was gigging in the area with John Farrer and at the time was using a borrowed Strat. He wandered into Barrett's and tried a few out and chose that one. My mate Stuart Duffy may possibly have more info on this.
Hank did tell me about the Yamaha and Martin acoustics that each of them were using at the time, he said that they tried dozens of them - I think in Rose Morris, before they settled on the ones they bought, but he commented on how different each of the same models sounded to each other.

[cockroach]

Well in 1972, a Fender Strat was a Fender Strat! People weren't quite as picky about it being vintage, or a fake etc....as long as it played and stayed in tune and the feel was good for the player, the Fender brand was trusted..

I still wonder if Hank was a little miffed at having to actually buy his own guitar with his own money after so many years of free Strats then Burns/Baldwin guitars!!

[Billyboygretsch]

I thought around that time was when Fender did start to get some quality issues. That also seemed to be the the time of copies starting to appear. I know I had a couple of horror models around that time.
I believe the Strat that Hank purchased included a Humbucker which he wasn't keen on ?

[Billyboygretsch]

Thanks for all the comments which appears to have drifted a little. Does anyone know the last tracks that were recorded using the Marvin and after which performance the guitars were stolen. Cheers

[Moderne]

I believe they were stolen from a van outside roadie Roy Lemmon's house around March 1972 during a MWF residency at the London Palladium. Hank used 34346 (which was their spare guitar) for the rest of the shows and liked it so much he bought his own Strat - as mentioned above. I would imagine Marmaduke was the last song recorded with a Burns Marvin. I think he probably accepted at the time that he wasn't in the 'big guitar company endorsement' league! NB I believe John Farrar also bought hisTelecaster from Barratt's around this time. I'm not sure if he had the palm benders fitted or if they were on it when he bought it. I thought Hank had the humbucker fitted to his Strat to give it a more contemporary sound, as evidenced on RWCL.