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Has anyone here attended any of these Fender American Standard Tours that are currently in the UK? I went to one in Bristol last night at the Fleece (popular music pub) but only stayed for the first half. I guess I should have read the small print because I was expecting a kind of trade exhibition with the latest gear on show, demos, competitions, that kind of thing. Maybe that's what happened in the second half. Anyway, what they had was a Fender-equipped band on stage - the Fender All Star Band - who played stuff and name-dropped players associated with the various instruments whilst videos of the manufacturing process, etc played on large screens either side of the stage. Couldn't catch all of the band's names but the bassist had played with Jeff Beck for about 5 years.
All well and good. When they came to the Strat section, I was expecting to hear a reference to Hank and maybe even the Shads, bearing in mind he was the first in the UK to play a Strat and inspired many of us to play and more especially on a Strat (when we could afford it!). Well Buddy Holly got an all too brief mention and the didn't play anything of his and Hank's mention was more of a private joke between the two guitarists in the band. One said something like "you can't even bring yourself to say the name, can you" to which his colleagues response was to play the opening bar of Apache, out of tune! When you consider what HBM has done for sales of Fender guitars, I thought that was a bit off to say the least. Also, the stuff they played, whilst expertly done was mostly heavy rock and fretboard gymnastics which didn't really demonstrate the instruments' tonal capabilities to the full.
When the break came the time was filled by a band called The XCERTS who took forever to set up and then played with their amps so overdriven that any musicality was lost. My apologies to anyone here who may be a fan of theirs. I guess I'm getting old!
I didn't stay for the second half but maybe I should because the blurb mentioned "a Q & A with the Fender team, a chance to ask any questions about music, guitars, or the world of manufacturing. Guests will also be invited to try out different styles of guitar".
A disappointing and an opportunity lost I thought but if anyone here attended last night I'd be interested to hear their views.

...an all too brief mention and the didn't play anything of his and Hank's mention was more of a private joke between the two guitarists in the band. One said something like "you can't even bring yourself to say the name, can you" to which his colleagues response was to play the opening bar of Apache, out of tune!

You don't have to be a Shad's fan to know that this indicates not only a p*ss-poor understanding of Public Relations, but an overblown imagination regarding one's own alleged 'talent'. I'm pretty sure Fender would not be very happy with that sort of behaviour from anyone supposedly acting as their spokesman. Whether you Iike Hank or not, you have to acknowledge his huge contribution to the popularity of the electric guitar in general and the Fender Strat in particular, in the UK. Stupid , pathetic and unacceptable behaviour.

If this "Tour" is anything like the Custom Shop one done a couple of years back, I can understand leaving at half time!!!
Mostly an opportunity to show egos rather than anything else.
I left at half time for an enjoyable pie and pint or two to drown my sorrows!!!

Mike

If the first half was as you describe, I can't blame you not staying for the second!

(I'd probably have left during the first. Usually when I miss anything like this in Bristol - where I live - I kick myself but I won't bother this time.)


P.S. Of course we oldsters should realise that these things are aimed at Fender's target audiences - i.e. teens and early 20's - who probably regard Hank and the Shads about as relevant as Henry VIII.