Building Hank Marvin's guitar - Alegree Idolcaster S1 E1

Hank Marvin is famous for his work with The Shadows in the 50s and 60s. As a one of the original pioneers of the Britpop movement, Hank Marvin is an early guitar legend, and an apt starting point for our new Idolcaster series.
In this video we aim to recreate Hank Marvin's iconic Fiesta Red Stratocaster out of our parts available at www.alegree.co.uk.
A massive thanks to friend of the channel Matt Appleby for featuring as demonstrator and providing us with backing tracks for the build. Please see the links below to explore his work.
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[@knebworth1986]

The original was definitely a 1959 model with gold hardware and a Birdseye maple neck. If I was going to build a replica, I would want it to be just like that.

[@cwam1701e]

Incredibly hard (and expensive) to find a high quality birdseye maple neck these days!

[@knebworth1986]

@@cwam1701e yes I agree. So why do they try and call it a Hank Marvin strat? Just call it a Strat.

[@davechapman7735]

correct , and Cliff was the owner and still is although Bruce Welch has it in his possession

[@EdVanMeyer]

I've done about 3 like that

[@TheShadows50]

Toda la razón. El color no era Fiesta Rojo, sino Flamingo Pink. @@EdVanMeyer

[@brad3507]

very nice, thanks for sharing.

[@Richard00UK]

Was an early ‘59 Strat not ‘56 that was imported for Hank.

[@shadoogie555]

Hi yep Hank Marvins first Fender stratocaster was a 1959

[@michaelhayman2549]

Sorry mate but it was a ‘59 Fiesta Red with Birdseye Mapel and gold hardware. I’ve got a ‘57 FR reissue from about 1980 albeit without gold and BE.

[@worldoftanksaveragaplayer]

I agree!

[@Elmer-hf1je]

I read somewhere that Cliff Richard got someone to paint Hanks guitar white , then later on Bruce got the guitar off of Cliff, and had it professionally returned to fiesta red , but there has been mentioned over the years it had pink look to it , I have seen a clip of Cliff playing a white Strat !

[@bernhardnizynski4403]

Hank's first Stratocaster was a 1959 (or even possibly 1958) with Gold hardware and Birds Eye Maple neck! The one referred to in the photo was his second - an L series with rosewood fretboard and silver hardware!.

[@LittleLouieLagazza]

R-e-la-x 😊😊😊

[@sampaton5460]

They were actually called the drifters before The Shadows

[@angusorvid8840]

I got into fiesta red strats because of Knopfler, but it was Marvin who got Knopfler into the fiesta red strat.

[@stealthracer]

Best to check the neck is straight before drilling the holes in it! Also, I always ditch that plastic gasket thingy on the neck plate - it just screams 'cheap guitar' at anyone within ten feet.

[@susanlloyd1133]

I like the bridge to be gold

[@geoffmower8729]

The original was a 59 model Bruce has it at the moment it was only when Hank went to the Fender custom shop factory in America to order three reissue guitars so he could have them strung in different string gauges. He chose the 56 models. He ordered three custom shop fiesta red Strat's with gold hardware. The neck was birds eye maple. I am lucky enough to own one of these beautiful custom shop fiesta red strats from the custom shop factory with gold hardware and birds eye maple neck. Might of been good to use gold hardware on this guitar.

[@chuckwolfboyer7830]

😎 COOL

[@aaronsharma136]

Great video, looking forward to the next one :)

[@SoloSi2024]

The 59' still belongs to Cliff, but was borrowed by Bruce who never returned it! The hardware was gold plated. Hank bought the 58' later on, in Paris. To be truly authentic, you also need to set her up with 13 gauge strings!

[@cwam1701e]

That was just a joke told by Hank! Cliff gave the guitar for Bruce for his work as producer on one of Cliff's solo albums that turned out to be so successful. I read somewhere that the way it is now is they have agreed that the guitar will belong to whichever of the three of them (Cliff, Hank and Bruce) outlives the other two!

[@umac01]

Love the video but you did not explain where the body and neck came from, the components are easy to read from the labels. I have rebuilt Gibson 335's using CTS and orange drop components wired to Seymore Duncan pickups also added 5 way switches to Strats. An enjoyable pass time show us more.🎸

[@simonkormendy849]

Just so you know, that 0.047uF tone capacitor is in the wrong place, the 250k A CTS pot that's closest to the bridge pickup is normally the volume control on most Stratocasters, it looks like you've got the tone cap connected to the volume control when it really should be connected to the other two 250k A CTS pots which are normally the two tone controls on a Stratocaster.

[@Alegree]

No it’s not. That’s exactly how our wiring is working. We’re very familiar with Strat wiring, we offer harnesses for them.

[@barryhambly7711]

AS said below 1959 used with Vox amp but not Vox ac 15 till they asked Vox to build a more in more wattage and of course the tape delay box was added after Hank tried Joe Brown's delay box.

[@ernielamprell4532]

When you play the actual guitar, that Bruce now has, it is very resonant, and this translates beautifully to the sound we hear in the early instrumental hit records. My experience, is that two Strats of the same model can vary. Some just go back on the rack. The point being that the body, the neck, and the marriage of the two in terms of resonant frequencies, makes a difference. Here, it appears that a stock 2 piece body was used with no further detail. The strat may turn out startlingly good, but equally may turn out average. Lot of work to take a chance. BTW those fret slots look over deep?

[@rogersmith5167]

The materials and electronics were marginally different in the fifties-sixties and the guitars differed in the same model, with modern computorised manufacture the guitars are the same and consistently better engineered and a lot less expensive.

[@ernielamprell4532]

@@rogersmith5167 They differed both then and certainly now Roger. I also think that NC adds to integrity and build, but that in itself won't guarantee an exceptional instrument.

[@philiphurdwell3443]

Great channel, looking forward to more....would love to see a Clapton pewter metallic grey with mid boost!

[@davecooper5951]

It would be useful if you could explain the wiring - pick-ups to switch to pots to jack socket etc with any cap's along the way...

[@mikestrange6969]

A small thing you skipped past was the tremolo arm installation. Ho deep did Hank have his screwed down to the first bend, what profile was it bent to and what height was the tip from the scratch plate? From what I could tell you had it set with the tip very much higher than Hank would have used, some clarity would be appreciated. Also, there is quite a number of Gotoh hardware to choose from and different string spacings; which did you use please?

[@kevintraynor4508]

They started as the Drifters first before they changed their name to the shadows .

[@fenderac3049]

Fenders Fiesta Red is a shade of pink not red!

[@ParaBellum2024]

They started red, but faded to pink over the years. I had a Vauxhall Astra that did that, and I've noticed it on other Vauxhalls, and VWs too. I spent hours T-cutting that car to restore its colour, only for it to become dull and pink a few weeks later.

[@cwam1701e]

It's partly a camera thing; if you see them in person they look pink; if you see a photo or film they look more red/orange. Also, I am **almost** certain Fender changed the formula; when the Hank Marvin Signature Made in Mexico Strat came out around the year 2000 its colour was advertised as Vintage Fiesta Red (as opposed to simply Fiesta Red). I have one of those and it is definitely pink; however, I have never seen an original '56 Fiesta Red Strat in person (I wish!!) so I can't compare them. I'm not sure what colour you get if you get a "New Old Stock" guitar in Fiesta Red - whether it would be the old pink colour or the more modern version.

[@jeffreyprice773]

Hi, i see the centre screws on the back plate are opposite each other, infact aren't they staggered normally.

[@ruckailo88]

Se la jaló con lo de los tornillos !!!!!!!!!

[@RockinJohnny]

Where can you buy them I tried that link but its dead site security threat

[@Morten_Nielsen1979]

I have a Harley Benton HM tribute. Do you think changing the pickups can improve the sound?

[@Alegree]

If you change them to something closer to your taste, probably.

[@kevintraynor4508]

A lot of work gose into making a guitar

[@GABRIEL_CRAFT]

💙Any chance you all could do a Sonic Blue Rivers Cuomo Fender Strat "Cuomocaster" ? Weezer's blue album turns 30 this year! 💙 #weezer #cuomocaster

[@philoshaughnessy906]

I keep losing your audio at times when I would expect to hear it.

[@EdVanMeyer]

I've built number of Hank Marvin st's.

[@vernonsaayman9741]

Should it not be three ply? Glad you have eight screws instead of eleven.leon fender rightly takes a lot of prsise but we must never forget the female body influence from fred tevaras.hope i got the name correct

[@KaosII1968]

The body contours are all wrong for a 58 ..... You need a "Bob" body AKA "Fullerton" body contours. I know they were all a bit different.... But that looks like a 70's body. My favorite thing about Strats with perfect thin contours ...you look down and your guitar is about a half inch thick.

[@GerryBlue]

What brand is that body?

[@Alegree]

It's one of our bodies stocked in our store.

[@helpmehelp3009]

A couple of things Hank never moved down to London till he was nearly 18, I was born on the same street he lived on and knew his brother. He went to Ruderford Grammer school and was a right celebrity. It was all boys, and Hank had a drape in the same colour of school uniform with the school badge on it. He got bollocked loads of times, and he never changed it. He was not flash in any way, and although I never knew him personally, his brother told me he was good to his family. He wasn't born with silver spoon in his gob. But he had real class!

[@59Mrfreeze]

It was a 1959 model not 1956

[@fincaman2]

should be gold hardware

[@DAVEBLISS2007]

Get your guitar history correct. The Cliff Richard purchased 1959 Strat was with gold hardware and a flamed bird’s eye maple neck.

[@EdVanMeyer]

You can't really beat the 50's Fender mex stratocaster

[@francoisBonin-phils]

Alegree strat , but not HBM

[@The170460]

the hank marvin guitar was a 1959 model with gold harware not this shit

[@jonathanpardoe8722]

Ah, the famous Strat ! Some things are born great and others have greatness thrust on them . The Strat is part of the latter . Awkward, difficult to play, restrictive and a tremelo contraption that even Clapton locks down as too unreliable . My Strat was a 69 model and as soon as I got hold of a Hofner Galaxy I sold the Strat at a garage sale . The Hofner is much more playable , and German precision engineering ensures that the generic tremelo mechanism on roller bearings never puts the guitar out of tune . Junk the Strat folks and invest in a Hofner Galaxy or a 172/3/5 or 6 all as good and a fraction pf the price