Hi, I new here so be gentle with me! I'm a hobbyist guitarist and have been playing for over 40 years but still learning.
I was interested in the thread on Mexican made (MIM) Strats because I have one for which there is very little information on the net and i wondered if anyone else on this forum owned one or had any more information.
It is a Hank Marvin Signature model. In case anyone in the US doesn't know, Hank Marvin is the lead guitarist with a famous British band called the Shadows. They specialise in guitar instrumentals and are similar to the Ventures. Hank was the first player in England to own a Stratocaster and his unique style promoted the instrument in the UK and he was the reason why many young men (and women) took up the guitar. Sorry if you already knew that!
The guitar I have is serial no. MN 9391884 and appears to be a standard Stratocaster with Hank's signature on the tip of the headstock. It appears to be a copy of his original and is in what in those days was called (I think) Fiesta Red but is in fact more of a Flamingo Pink. It has the "Easy Mute" tremelo system. There are plenty of reports on the Squier HM Signature and others but not the MIM. The few reports I've found say that only a limited number were made back in 2000. Some say 200 were made and others say 250.
I bought it in Nov 2008 on Ebay from a guy who had bought it new in 2000 but had never played it! It came as brand new with all tags and labels intact, even the tremelo arms were still in their sealed polythene pack. It had a "Buy it Now" price of £525 but I started bidding and got it for £470. I have since seen one other advertised for sale by an Ebbay dealer at a "bargain price" of £799! It is well set up and has some great tones.
Does anyone else here own one or can anyone tell me more about this model, e.g. quantity produced, current value, etc?

Thanks in anticipation!

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"When words fail, music speaks."
Guitars: Fender Stratocaster Hank Marvin Signature, Epiphone Casino, Epihone EJ160 John Lennon Signature, Burns Double Six. Amp: Vox AC15 Custom Classic. Effects: Boss RE20 Space Echo, DOD FX52 Classic Fuzz.

Welcome, is it fiesta red and can you post pics?


http://www.mijfenders.com/frmIreview.htm

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Hi Mikey.
Theres a fair few people using these forums that know a fair bit about HBM.
Unfortunately aside from listening to my dads old records, im not one of em. There have been plenty of HBM strats made since 92 from various factories. There is also a lot of confusion cos at times it seems everyone with a fiesta red strat for sale labels it as a Marvin. If were lucky collecter extrordinaire and guru of most things hank, user Alain LaFrance will see this and offer advice.

Sorry i cant be more help mate, but treat this as a gentle bump.

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No no and no

Yes i think that's the colour although it looks more like a Salmon pink! I have a couple of pics but it doesn't look as if i can upload them directly. Happy to e-mail them to you. My address is mike.crocker@blueyonder.co.uk.

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"When words fail, music speaks."
Guitars: Fender Stratocaster Hank Marvin Signature, Epiphone Casino, Epihone EJ160 John Lennon Signature, Burns Double Six. Amp: Vox AC15 Custom Classic. Effects: Boss RE20 Space Echo, DOD FX52 Classic Fuzz.

Thanks. I know of Alain from the Shadowmusic site to which I belong. I'll try him!

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"When words fail, music speaks."
Guitars: Fender Stratocaster Hank Marvin Signature, Epiphone Casino, Epihone EJ160 John Lennon Signature, Burns Double Six. Amp: Vox AC15 Custom Classic. Effects: Boss RE20 Space Echo, DOD FX52 Classic Fuzz.

Hi Mikey, welcome to the Forum.

Yes, Alain is your man - and he has already talked about the various HM signature models, particularly in a post half way down the second page of this old thread:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=17576

Seems the Mexican version was made in 2000 and around 200 were produced...

Cheers - C

+10......If you can reach him through Shadowmusic fine. I will have him look at this post. That's major mojo for him.
Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

Welcome to the Forum
You're lucky I owned one (Noboby will believe that on this Forum )

They were released in 2000in a Limited Series of 200 if my memory is still OK.
They were basically Classic Strats; here is the ad:


Regarding the colour is was Flamingo Pink , some kind of Fiesta Red mixed with white.
This, in fact is the authentic colour of HBM Strat 34336 , not so reddish as we can see Fiesta Red now.
Last year I was chatting with Bruce Welch, the present owner of that Strat and he told me that Flamingo Pink was the actual original(it has been refinished several times in-between) colour
Here is a photo of mine:



Regarding the price you made a good deal; I sold mine for about £ 800 but I had it retrofitted with Kinmans pups. £ 800 seems a good value presently. I rank them better than the Japanese ones.
I'm sure you enjoy it specially at the price you paid !

Alain

£679 for a MIM???? WOW. That should stop all the price rise moaners.

Very informative post Alain, thankyou.

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No no and no

That's £ 80 for the EasyMute Trem and a decal of HBM sig

i thought MIM's went for around the £450 mark nowadays. You could get one of those lovely award session amps for the remaining £230.

Wish i'd been more clued up about guitars in the 90's and hadnt wasted all that time and money on a exwife.

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No no and no

They do tend to depreciate in value, don' they.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I was taken in by a salesperson extrordinaire. She was worthless from the begining sir.

Thats a long and winding tale for a different occasion though.

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No no and no

see below

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"Another day in paradise!"

They seem to have all attended the same preparatory school. [/quote]

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"Another day in paradise!"