Strat hard Case Query?

[dyker124]

Hi Tony,

You are right, it was George Clay's on Broad Street and Jones and Crossland's on Smallbrook Ringway. Gosh, what a memory. I'm not sure, but I think the drum shop at the bottom of Snow Hill might have became Musical Exchange in later years. We always used to go in for a espresso coffee in the not long opened espresso coffee shop next door to Jack Woodroffe's on John Bright Street. Trendy eh!

By the way, that little store behind the shops on Shirley High Street is at the top of my road (Express Music).

Kind regards
Roger

[noelford]

I was born in Nuneaton and that's where my first 'real' group was based. We would often travel the 20 miles to Birmingham in the group's Morris J2, in order to go around all the music shops, like George Clay's. It was there that I got my first look at a Gibson (an SG, probably). I remember being surprised to see it was fitted with 'those cheapo wire-wound strings' whilst my own Burns Sonic had the proper tape-wounds!

[dyker124]

Hi Noel,

We too had a Morris J2 minibus for our band back in 1962. I loved it because it was 'cool' but it was dreadful really. The front kingpins were really stiff and when we hit the cats-eyes it shot off in a different direction. There was also about 2 inches of slack in the steering wheel.

Our rhythm player also had a Burns 'Sonic' at that time. I had the Burns 'Trisonic' which I loved but had to part-ex it a few months later as I couldn't get my fingers into the frets above about the 10 fret as the fret bars were too close together. Happy days.

Kind regards
Roger

[Uncle Fiesta]

I'm still not sure when hard cases started to be imported from Fender, but last year I bought a 1987 American Standard Strat and that came with its original case. I'm wondering if the change of policy came when the Fender management bought the company back from CBS in 1985.

Talking of the J2 van, when my father was in the RAF in the '60s, his section had one as a runabout (presumably in 'RAF blue' with a roundel and serial number on the sliding door), and it had a column gear change with so much play in the linkage that only one of his lads was able to drive it.

[dyker124]

Hi Steve,

You are right about the J2's gears. The gear stick in ours was column change like yours and it was a black art trying to find the gears as there was so much slack in the linkage. The brakes were rubbish too. Back then a friend of mine learnt to drive in a J2 fish van in Scotland which was owned by his father's fish business. He eventually took his test in the same J2. I believe it was the shortest test ever.

Kind regards
Roger

[anniv 63]

Ah yes column gears like a dodgy trem arm at times!!!
When my father got a 1954 Austin A50 Cambridge, my grandfather took it for
a test drive for about 3 miles in 3rd gear. " I canna find 4th laddie was his reply"!!!
Even worse I think were pre-selector gears as fitted to the early 1950s Lanchester Saloons?

Mike

[JimN]

Ah yes column gears like a dodgy trem arm at times!!!
When my father got a 1954 Austin A50 Cambridge, my grandfather took it for
a test drive for about 3 miles in 3rd gear. " I canna find 4th laddie was his reply"!!!
Even worse I think were pre-selector gears as fitted to the early 1950s Lanchester Saloons?

Mike

Around 1974, I bought a 1962 Ford Zephyr 4 (Mk III) from a friend for £60. It had a bench seat and column-change 4-speed. But as noted for the Austin van, the gear change linkage was all over the place. I took it to a little place in a side street in Liverpool who fixed it in an hour for the princely sum of £11. It was perfect after that; every gear clearly indexed and a very taut feel, comparable to an Austin four-on-the-floor change for a Cambridge or an A40.

Shouldn't this be in The Lounge?

[dyker124]

Hi Jim,

I think you're right. We seem to have strayed onto cars.

I think we've exhausted the topic on Stratocaster cases.

[JimN]

Hi Jim,

I think you're right. We seem to have strayed onto cars.

I think we've exhausted the topic on Stratocaster cases.

We ought to steer back onto talking about gear.

[Iain Purdon]

We ought to steer back onto talking about gear

Groan...