The Guitars of Jimi Hendrix

To most people the truth about when Jimi Hendrix gotreason the Fender Stratocaster is the most important
his first guitar and what types of guitars he playedguitar in the history of guitars and music.
throughout his career is somewhat of a mystery.From then on he played Fender Stratocasters with
Although, he was unarguably the greatest guitar playerlarge headstocks. One of his many unusual playing
ever, and with his fertile musical mind, perhaps thetechniques was to play a right handed guitar
greatest composer of our generation or ever for thatbackwards, or in the left handed position, obviously
matter. No disrespect intended, putting Jimi in companybecause Jimi was left handed. In order to do that one
with Bach, Beethoven and the likes. True Genius.must reverse the strings and (bone) nut so the low E
The path that will be described here is what I wouldwas still on the top. My understanding was that he
consider the most accurate, after a lot of researchpreferred the controls on the top of the guitar.
and a little voodoo-magic. Realistically though, boilingApparently he could work his magic easier with the
down the mixture may leave some people to disagreevoluminous amount of tricks he performed, partly by
with me, and I welcome the input.messing with the volume control knob. Jimi was not
The evidence and consistencies suggest that his firstmuch on tone controls or guitar setup. Mostly Jimi
guitar was a cheap acoustic his dad gave to him, asspent the bulk of time modifying his tremolo to do
early as eleven years old. The story goes as such,things like lower the pitch more than usual and create
that even at a young age of six years, his schooltrem sounds otherwise unheard of.
teacher mentioned to his dad, Jimi obsesses overNaturally Jim Hendrix had purchased and played a
having a guitar so much that it may be contributing totremendous assortment of guitars in his lifetime. During
some mental health issues. Not to discount todaysmy fact finding mission, this is the list of the other
teachers, but that was a very perceptive statement atguitars Jimi most likely owned and played; a Gibson
that time.ES-330, a Gibson Firebird, a Mosrite electric resonator
His first electric guitar was bought from Myers Music inguitar, a Guild 12 string acoustic, a Black Widow Spider
Seattle in 1959. Professed to be a white, single pickupacoustic, several Rickenbacker's including a bass Rick,
Supro Ozark. The next axe that Hendrix played was aa double neck Mosrite, a Hagstrom 8 string bass(it
red Danelectro single pickup Silvertone, nicknamedwas the on played on Spanish Castle Magic from the
Betty Jean. In'62, while doing some gigs with the KingAxis Bold As Love album', a '67 Gibson Flying V, a '67
Casuals in Tennessee, he traded his Danelectro for anGretsch Corvette, a lefty Guild Starfire Deluxe, a
Epiphone Wilshire, which had dual pickups and a gluedHofner electric, a '55 Gibson Les Paul, a Gibson Dove
on mahogany neck with a solid mahogany body, asacoustic, a Martin acoustic, a '68 Gibson SG Custom
opposed to the bolt on Fender Stratocaster guitarand a black lefty Flying V. Wow!
necks.It is not surprising that Jimi owned so many guitars. The
In 1964, Jimi would play rhythm guitar for the Isleydepth of knowledge and pure unadulterated playing
Brothers. During this nine month gig, he finally got hisstyle was not limited to just electric guitars and
first Fender guitar, a blond'59 Duo-Sonic. He nextStratocasters. His unique abilities allowed him to play
played with Little Richard in '65, and briefly played aany guitar with the deep soul jarring vibes that were all
Fender Jazzmaster. However, he switched back to ahis. It would be unrealistic to think he was limited to one
Dou-Sonic when he played with Curtis Knight and thestyle of guitar. Or for that matter, one type of music.
Squires. Even though Jimi later returned to theJimi's interest in music extended to the world of
Jazzmaster.classical music as well.
A point of interest is that none of the gigs he had withLost to many, is the fact that Jimi was one of the best
the bands mentioned above lasted very long, becauserhythm guitarists ever, most folk know him for his lead
Jimi's guitar work stole the show. His unbelievable guitarand solo guitar work, he was also an adept bass
abilities were noticed by all immediately, which took theplayer too. And last, he was a master at the acoustic
focus away from the musical-icons he worked for.guitar, using chords in a manner unknown to mankind
Jimi purchased his first Strat from Manny's Music inat that time. This combo of skills and abilities produced
New York in '66 in the summer. Early on he would usethe man who will be forever the patron saint of rock
a variety of CBS Strats with rosewood fretboards.guitar.
While he was staying in Greenwich Village in late '66A long article to read indeed. A true joy putting the info
and '67 he narrowed down his choices to a '60's eratogether. It turned out to be a long path to find the truth.
Reverse Fender Stratocasterblack or white FenderEnjoy it.
Strats using maple fretboards. Which, most likely is the