Hello from the Republic of Ireland. Ever since my introduction to Greco guitars, I have fast become addicted to everything related to Japanese guitar. My home is now besieged by and ever increasing amount of guitars from Burny, Greco, Orville, Fernandes et al.! My intention is to use this blog as a window into my growing collection, as well as showcasing some guitars for sale.
Showing posts with label Fernandes Revival Strat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fernandes Revival Strat. Show all posts
The importance of testing your guitar unplugged as well as amplified
Well there a lot of videos online featuring the Fernandes revival. However, I have not been able to find any demonstrating the unplugged tone. This may not seem very important but it is. A guitar that has good acoustic properties such as a natural ringing sustain, is a guitar you'll want to get your hands on. Why? Well if a guitar sounds good unplugged, then those qualities will carry on over into the amplified sound.
So, the next time you are trying out a guitar make sure you spend some time playing it unplugged, and pay attention to its natural acoustic properties. Sure, you can add all the gain you want onto an acoustically dead instrument, however this will not sound or respond like an instrument which has these qualities in its unplugged condition.
With that in mind here is a video I just shot showing the acoustic properties of my Fernandes revival strat. When you get into the habit of doing this, you might be amazed at the difference between different strats, even those of the same model and year.
Back in the early 1980's Fernandes had what was then a very novel idea:- recreate the vintage characteristics of the early strats, and boy, did they go out of their way to accomplish that ----
I could go on with such images but in short - they were very thorough !
So the guys and girls at Fernandes meant business, and I am so happy they did because their efforts back at a time when I was only 3 and not yet old enough to appreciate the merits of a fine vintage speck strat, produced such gems and the one pictured below - one of my first ever Fernandes the revival strats and a left handed version at that, which trilled me no end !
This '64 version just oozes class !
This happens to be a very early version of a Fernandes revival. And how do we know that?? -- The early versions of this guitar had no lacquer sprayed over the top of the decal on the headstock. The result of this that many of these early versions are missing their decals, and sadly I have seen many, many examples of this. Thankfully though, this revival has managed to survive for the last 34 years with its unprotected decals intact.
Notice the wear around "original custom body" and other parts of the decal
Compare the above unprotected headstock above with the protected one below (lacquered version came in around '84) which is taken from one of my right handed revivals:
Later version of the revival series strats had lacquered decals
There are some other ways to get an approximate date on your revival. The first is to examine the neck plate of the guitar. Now, this is not a hard and fast rule, but a 'stone logo' neck plate generally indicates an earlier Revival. These 'stone logo' neck plates were left over from Fernandes strats of the 70's, and unused ones found their way onto the new Revival line of guitars. The first picture below shows the stone logo on my lefty and an 'L series' neck plate from the mid 80's, again from one of my right handed revivals:
Fernandes 'Stone Logo' neck plate
Fernandes Revival 'L' series neck plate
Another way to gauge the age of your guitar is to look at the number that's stamped on the heel of the neck- the first digit of which indicates the year of manufacture. However, while not everyone may agree with this method, I use it until more weightier evidence is put forward. The picture below shows the neck heel stamp from this left handed version. Although somewhat blurry, the first digit is a 2, signaling that this guitar is from 1982.
A 2 at the beginning of this neck code indicates a 1982 year of manufacture
As mentioned in a previous revival review on this blog, I have compared these guitars to an original '64 strat and Fernandes does a highly commendable job, and realistically, there is little between the two at least as far as this blogger is concerned !
Below are two videos demonstrating the sound of this guitar. It's worth noting that the amp in question has a valve preamp and a solid state output section, and an all valve unit improves sound by multiple factors. I will update these videos when I acquire a low wattage all valve amp, but for now these examples provide a hit of whats to come.
This beauty is my early to mid 80's Fernandes 'the revival' strat. I say early to mid 80's as Fernandes guitars are notoriously difficult to date (no not candles and flowers! although this is such a looker, you'd be forgiven!!!). Neck plate codes have so far proven to be indecipherable, and the numbers themselves can not even be chronologically interpreted. For instance, I have seen examples with modified headstocks (when came later) having numbers lower that the ones on my strats. However, there is an L suffix at the beginning, ans so this is what is referred to in the M.I.J community as an 'L series guitar' -- of that we can be sure, which is a good thing !
Typical vintage design but the revival has a five way pickup selector (Click to enlarge)
This is also a custom color which doesn't appear in the Fernandes catalog. It's also a bit of a chameleon sometimes appearing as a light red in some lighting conditions. The above picture was taken in natural daylight to give a true rendering of this six stringed beauty :)
Neck plate denotes an L series guitar
The impetus behind these guitars seems to have been to recreate those classic guitars of yesteryear, and Fernandes have done a masterly job. I can say this with a fair degree of certainty as I have had the chance to compare this to an 1964 candy apply red strat, and to my hands differences were negligible. And how is this possible you may well ask- well take a look at the picture below:
Fernandes literally delves into the nuts and bolts of strat type guitars !
As I have said, establishing a date of manufacture for these guitars can be quite tricky. However, finding which particular model your guitar is based of of is a much simpler task (if you have a Philips screwdriver!), as unscrewing the neck and having a peek at the neck heel stamp indicating model type. Foe example a '57 neck heel stamp means your guitar is modeled after a 1957 strat and a '64 indicates the 1964 version. The image below is taken directly from my own guitar, and indicates that it is a 1964 model.
The stamp indicates a '64 model
But all this is of course redundant rhetoric if the guitar doesn't play well and feel right. Well, I mentioned it compared quite favorably to the original 64', but what does this mean in practice. For starters, if your moving from something along the lines of a modern neck profile, well then give yourself time to become accustomed to the neck. I had played vintage strat in the past, but this was my first vintage guitar to sit down with and attempt a lexicon of licks and runs with in quite a while. Sometimes, I would fret notes incorrectly as my fingers acclimatized to the new environment - and this is not a flaw on the part of Fernandes, but rather something you can expect when making a change from any modern board to vintage.
However, it wasn't long before the neck fit as well as my winter gloves and cords were a pleasure to play, even the more finger stretching and bar variety (purple rain is a standout knuckle buster). There also an air of quality about the fit and finish and this is a serious guitar that's bolted together as well as any!So if you chance to find one of these or indeed any guitar with a vintage strat neck profile, give it some time in your hands and you'll be rewarded.
The guitar sounds great, just like a vintage strat should and that's through a Trace Elliot hybrid amp (valve preamp section coupled with a solid state output section). I'm in the process of getting a low powered all valve amp so I can showcase the tru sounds of the guitars I post here. For now I'll include this video of how it sounds through that Trace hybrid amp - but an all valve amp makes this really shine as this hybrid amp sounds harsh and jagged around the "edges" of the notes.
Notice how the color changes depending on the light - the rear of the body appearing pink the lower horn has a red hue.
