THE CURVES CONTOURS & BODYHORNS GUITAR COLLECTION
All the Stratocaster Guitars described below were featured in the film or, (and) book of the Curves project. The film has been broadcast in every major territory in the world, including U.S. syndication, and Japan. The book has now been published in Japanese and German, and has just had its' second print run. The Film was also short-listed for an Emmy' Award, and Nominated for the 'Golden Rose of Montreux' T. V. Award. I first conceived and wrote the film in 1992 and went into Pre-production in 1993. The film was produced with my partner Bob Young for our company Schemeglobal, in conjunction with Granada Television and Picture Music International.
To celebrate the Curves Film, and Concert – and obviously the 40th Anniversary of the Strat, I put together the spec for a Stratocaster, and had Fender make a Curves Contours & Bodyhorns Limited Edition run of 40 guitars, as it was the 40th Anniversary – the most exclusive Ltd. Edition they had made up till then, the guitars were only sold to the Artists who were featured in the film, and people who were involved in the production.
The
specifications I gave to Fender were based on the 1954 model. A two-piece
Swamp Ash body, finished in a translucent ruby red lacquer with a white
single ply scratch-plate. Four of the guitars have white Mother of Pearl
plates. They have Birds-eye Maple necks, but here again, three of them
differ by having Flamed Maple necks. The necks are shaped to Fender
No.2 specification – this being an early 50's soft V shape. The
headstocks on all forty guitars bear a 40th. Anniversary Concert Edition
transfer, ( I had Fender do this to commemorate the Curves concert we
put together featuring Rory Gallagher, Sonny Curtis, Debbie Davies,
Hank Marvin, together with members of the Kinks, Bob Dylan's band and
myself), they all have custom gold-plated hardware. The guitar features
two inscribed gold back plates, which bear the commemorative inscriptions:
NECKPLATE BACKPLATE
Curves Contours & Bodyhorns The Concert & Documentary Schemeglobal Production The
serial numbers are consecutive, and are numbered 01 of 40, 02 of 40,
and so on, up to 040 of40.
The number 01 Guitar was sold at Auction, (as recorded in our book Curves Contours & Bodyhorns -The Story of the Fender Stratocaster) for £32,000 to Nick Mason of Pinnacle Records, which makes it one of the most valuable Stratocasters in the world after the Hendrix guitar, and No. 002 of the Curves edition which bears the autographs of all the Artists in the film. Description
of each guitar in the Curves Contours & Bodyhorns Collection.
No. 02 of 40. This guitar was presented to me by Bill Schultz, Fender President, during the filming of Curves in California. It was the first of the limited edition to be made, and differs from the rest in as much as I had Fender make it with Gold Lace Sensors as opposed to the standard pick-ups. The neck of this guitar is a particular feature, the figuring in the wood being particularly heavy and very beautiful. I used this guitar in the writing, and recording of the music for the film. The guitar is featured in the film strapped into a seat on board the British Airways Concorde with a bottle of Jack Daniels for company. There is also a half page photograph of it on page 119 of the book. The original No. 01 guitar of the Edition. There was an accident during the filming of the Chris Rea segment of the film at The Mill Studios near Maidenhead, when the guitar was dropped and dented on the lower horn. This occurred just a week or so before the guitar was due to be auctioned for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. I had to quickly get in touch with John Page at the Fender Custom Shop, to send an identical replacement. This they did, together with a new plate bearing the serial number 002 for the old No.1 guitar. I asked if I could have No. 02 and was told, “yes.” This guitar is the one featured on the cover and dust jacket of the book (English edition), there is a full page photograph of it-on page 3, with the titles opposite, and there is a half page photograph of it with number 3 of the series on page 66. It
is featured being played by Mark Knopfler during Filming at Abbey Road
Studios on page 93 of the book, and is one of the four in the series
fitted with a Pearl Scratch plate. This is the guitar which bears the
scratch plate with the original autographs of all the artists featured
in the film, hence the name. It has been valued at £35-40,000
by Ted Owen at Bonhams' Auction House.
No.
33 of 40 Curves Ltd. Edition This
particular guitar is probably the most beautiful out of all 40 of the
guitars in the Curves 'Concert' Limited Edition, and is still one of
my main stage instruments.
No.
1954 Two-Tone Sunburst Stratocaster It was used widely in the film, for all the 'Slo-Mo' shots, and is also seen on the back of the 'Girl on Roller Blades', at the end of the film. Although Fender made a 1954 Limited Edition for the companies' 50th Anniversary, this guitar was not part of that series. All the serial numbers in that series begin with zero i.e. 01954, 01955 etc. This guitar bears the serial number 1954, and is truly unique. Tile
Gold on Gold Stratocaster This Guitar was one of a collection that Norman Harris (one of the foremost authorities and Dealers in Vintage and classic guitars in the world) put together for me for the filming of Curves. We filmed the collection in the back-lot of his infamous shop in Reseda, California. 'Norm', is renowned by Guitarists in the Rock n' Roll industry everywhere, and if he can't get you what you want, it can't be found. The Gold on Gold was only made for a very limited period in 1981, and this is a beautiful example of this much sought after guitar. I fell in love with it there and then and bought it from Norm, it is featured on page 60 of the Curves Contours & Bodyhorns book. |
