John Farrar Telecaster

[George Geddes]

The old grey matter is clearly starting to fail...

I can find several pictures of John Farrar playing a Fender Telecaster Thinline (bought from Barratt's of Manchester and fitted with Palm Pedals); however, when I wrote an article about Shadows guitars for SCOFA back in 1988, I also mentioned a black Telecaster Custom (humbucker at neck, single coil at bridge) but I can't find and photos of this guitar. I know I didn't make it up - I must have had some written or photographic evidence, but I' blowed if I can find it. Google doesn't help much.

George

[51 Relic]

I have seen that as well in the past but this is the only listing i could find

Guitars

Fender Stratocaster (white) - w/The Strangers (early 60's)
Maton El Toro (Electro Longhorn lookalike) - w/The Strangers (mid/late 60's)
Rickenbacker (both 6- and 12-string) - w/The Strangers (mid/late 60's)
Epiphone Casino - w/The Strangers (mid/late 60's)
Martin D-28 - w/Marvin Welch & Farrar(1970–72) & w/Marvin & Farrar (1973)
Les Paul - w/Marvin Welch & Farrar(1970–72) & w/Marvin & Farrar (1973)
Fender Telecaster thin-line with 3 Bigsby pedals - w/The Shadows (1973–75)
Klein - solo

SFX

Schaller Rotor-Sound (The Strangers, The Shadows)
Vocoder (The Shadows)

Amplifiers

Arbiter (head)+post-Jennings Vox Amps(cabinet) (The Shadows)

Cheers

[JimN]

I can add a mid-sixties Gibson Melody Maker to that list (Hank sometimes used it too). This type:

http://www.usedgibsonguitars.co.uk/Gibson-Melody-Maker-Original-1965-p-16191.html

JN

[StuartD]

HI

I remember Hank using the Melody Maker, as Jim states, for slide on 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'.

I saw them a lot in that period and I don't remember John using anything but the Les Paul, Telecaster Thinline and Original Strat.

He also used a lot of Maestro effects

Regards

Stuart

[StuartD]

HI

Further to that I am sure the melody Makers was a two pickup version like this:

http://www.mainstreetvintageco.com/cata ... 289098.htm

Regards

Stu

[JimN]

I'm pretty sure that there was one of each (the early sixties and mid-sixties double-cutaway versions), Stuart.

Bruce told me that they belonged to John, even if Hank was seen playing one of them.

JN

[StuartD]

Yes Jim, they were definitely John's guitars.

Regards

Stu

[Established1958]

I can add a little to this one.
The Thinline Telecaster was a 69 and was modded by Barrets for John. the Palm Pedal is Bigsby but was a two lever and the third lever was made by someone else and John bent it to suit himself. The bridge is the three saddle original with the front cut off ( Brian had to trawl his own collection of photos for that detail as in every pic I could find on the net has the bridge covered by his hand). The Humbuckers were Gibson ones as opposed to Fender. The black scratch plate was again made for John and the original is I believe still in the possession of Brian from Barrets with an interesting historical footnote. Brian was staying with John in Malibu CA and John was out somewhere when a call came through to tell John that Elvis had died. Brian wrote the message on the back of the pick guard in marker pen.

John also had the use of Bruce's White Burns for a while and because Bruce had long since lost the term bar, if his guitar ever had one, a small hole was drilled and tapped in the term plate to allow the use of a Fender Screw in term bar.

I was lucky as a teenager to see the Shadows line up with John Farrar at the Southport Theatre. My father had arranged for a back stage visit after the show and John Farrar was very kind to me, taking me onto the stage to see his pedals and amps.
He was using a stereo amp set up which had been custom made at Rokas and the pedals were a Morley Drum Echo / Volume to which he had gaffa taped an MXR Blue Box and a Distortion Plus. There was also a Phase 90. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a photo of the set up but the opportunity to get a photo with John and with Hank, who was more than generous with his time was too much of a distraction to a bunch of teen guitar enthusiasts.

I have a long term project to make myself a Farrar Telecaster and one day I'll get round to it. Though I doubt I will master Johns open tuning and palm pedal technique.

Howard

[GoldenStreet]

The old grey matter is clearly starting to fail...

I can find several pictures of John Farrar playing a Fender Telecaster Thinline (bought from Barratt's of Manchester and fitted with Palm Pedals); however, when I wrote an article about Shadows guitars for SCOFA back in 1988, I also mentioned a black Telecaster Custom (humbucker at neck, single coil at bridge) but I can't find and photos of this guitar. I know I didn't make it up - I must have had some written or photographic evidence, but I' blowed if I can find it. Google doesn't help much.

George

George,

I assume this is Tele you refer to, although it's the reissue version, not the 1972 original. The gentleman in the demonstration video is quite illuminating, as well! Efforts to locate a picture of John Farrar playing one, though, have so far proved fruitless.

http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/electric_ ... 0615141229

Bill

[George Geddes]

Aye, that's it. I must have either seen a photo of JF with one, or read about it somewhere...

George