Who owns it..Hank or Bruce?? read on ..

[Paul Childs]

You couldn't get Levis jeans either.

[Didier]

You couldn't get Levis jeans either.

Neither in France at this time. Now it's easier, they are made in China...

Didier

[donna plasky]

Guitarist magazine did an interview with Bruce some years back, and he told a different story. In short, after reviving Cliff's career in the mid 70's, Cliff asked was there anything he could do for him? Bruce referred to the original strat which Cliff dug out from a cupboard and to Bruce's dismay, had been resprayed white, but he got it anyway ......... and he said he was keeping it.

There was a subsequent article in Guitarist by Cliff, who had a different recollection, so who really knows.

Hi, Alan. I was lucky enough to find a reprint of the Guitarist Magazine article -- on the Shadowmania website. Below is a link, plus I've copied a few paragraphs and pasted them below.

Best wishes,
Donna


http://shadowmania.co.uk/images/imagesrelatedarticles/famousredstrat.htm

"Apparently the guitar stayed hidden for some time, although at some point Cliff must have used it, because when Bruce finally saw it again the instrument had been repainted white. Bruce: "I was producing 'I'm Nearly Famous' and we'd had success with Miss You Nights and Devil Woman and there was a great buzz about the album. We were in a routining session in Cliff's music room in Weybridge and he had just bought either Kenny Loggins' or Jim Messina's Strat, and he was thrilled to bits with it - a natural finished one. And I said to him, Where's the old one? and he said, I've got it here and I said, Can I have it - you know, straight in, and he said, Yeah. This was around 1975 and by then it was white, although I don't exactly know why or when he had that done."

In order to return the guitar to almost original condition, Bruce decided it should be refinished as near to his and Hank's flamingo pink as possible.

"I got Chandler's to respray it pink, around 1980," he continues, "although we never quite got it back to the real colour. But it still looks fantastic and it plays beautifully. I have a friend, Mick Johnson from Reading, who looks after it, sets it up and makes sure it's in tip-top playing condition. It's a fantastic instrument, it's light in weight and has the most beautiful neck to play. I've been using it now for 20 years or so and for 16 or 17 of those it's been back in as near original condition as I can get it - and it's still got its original pickups and wiring. If anyone wants to buy it, the starting price is £150,000!"

[AlanMcKillop]

Donna, I was just looking at the originals a few days ago. Imterestingly, Cliff did offer an apology for what he said in a Guitarist interview, and said his comment was tongue in cheek, so having re-read them, the guitar now belongs to Bruce.