The Guitars of Jimi Hendrix: A Short History

5 watt world is supported in part by truthfinder learn practice and play with true fire [Music] this is Keith Williams welcome to five art World words to help you get the most music from the least gear when I was probably about 10 years old my aunt began giving us albums for Christmas the very first year she did this under the tree my brother found a copy of Jimi hendrix's are you experienced like most kids we grew up hearing our parents favorites in my house this meant a steady diet of beetles Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger and none of it prepared us for Jimi Hendrix the cover in all its psychedelic Glory only hinted at what was inside I just started playing acoustic guitar around the time and I'm not sure it registered with me that this guy was playing the same instrument that I was the truth is he wasn't it'd be another decade before I had listened to enough Hendrix to even begin to appreciate what was happening on that record but you don't forget experiences like that first time I heard it that moment in the dark attic bedroom in the old house when my brother Brian first Put the Needle down and we heard Purple Haze so if you want to know more about the specific guitars that Hendrick used to make history and redefine what it meant to play electric guitar then stay tuned because this is the five part World Short history of the guitars of Jimi Hendrix if you enjoy our videos make sure you subscribe if you've already subscribed grab a hoodie or a stomp preset pack to support what we do here and to become a bigger part of five art World sign up for the friends of 5 Watt on patreon the links are in the description James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle Washington on November 27 1942. he began playing the guitar when he was 15. Jimmy's first guitar was a 1957 supro Ozark that he got from his father which he played in The Rocking Kings in 1959 one of the less expensive models the Supra was built by the valko company had one pickup in the bridge position and a white finish the guitar was stolen and his dad helped him acquire his next guitar a 1960s Dan Electro bronze standard Hendrick said in interviews that the Dano was actually his first guitar implying that he was perhaps borrowing the supro his father is said to have bought him the Dan Electro at Myers music in Seattle for 89 dollars this model was a double cutaway semi-hollow guitar with two single coil lipstick tube pickups check out my Dan Electro history video for more details on these guitars it was this guitar that he owned when he enlisted in the Army at 19. it was in the Army he met frequent collaborator Billy Cox after being discharged he moved to Clarksville Tennessee and began playing gigs on the chitlin circuit in 1962 he was photographed playing a 1960s Ibanez jet King at the pink poodle Club in Clarksville during these years he'd also use both an epiphone Crestwood and a 1961 Epiphone Wilshire guitar a solid mahogany double cut guitar with two P90s and a Bixby like tremolo the Crestwood appears to be his first left-handed guitar in 1962 Hendricks moved from Clarksville to Nashville and formally put together a band with Billy Cox they got a gig playing regularly at the club Del Morocco this was hendricks's first job as a full-time guitarist and he used the Wilshire during this period at an audition in February of 1964 Hendricks then going by the name Jimmy James got his gig with the Isley Brothers O'Kelly Eisley gave Jimmy a 1960s Fender to a Sonic the guitar was stolen within a matter of months but it's often cited as an image of Hendrix with his first Fender guitar the duosonic had been released by Fender in 1956 and had two single coil pickups and it had a 22.5 inch short scale neck he later went on to play in Little Richard's band and he stayed with him until 1965. he then took a gig for a short time with Curtis Knight and the squires and played with them until moving to England in these two bands he used either a Fender Jazzmaster or a different Sunburst to a Sonic the latter having been a gift from Curtis Knight it's believed that Hendrick sold this guitar prior to heading to England and that his girlfriend Carol sharoski bought him his first Stratocaster purchased at Manny's music in New York it was white with a rosewood fretboard Hendricks later broke the guitar while on the Bandstand after the couple broke up Zach Childs reminded me that it was during this time that Hendricks would come in contact with his greatest influences Curtis Mayfield Bobby Womack and Cornell Dupree were all sharing tour schedules with the bands that Jimmy was playing with at the time Cornell Dupree was even in Curtis Knight's band with Hendrix for a Time if you go back upstream and listen to these players you can hear the tremendous influence they had on Hendricks though none of them would ever attain the fame that Jimmy would in the end and a performance with Curtis Knight in New York Hendricks met Linda Keith who was the girlfriend of guitarist Keith Richards she was taken with his playing she bought him a drink and they became friends she pitched him to the Stone's manager and producer but neither saw hendricks's potential she then introduced him to Chaz Chandler the bass player in the band The Animals who were on the verge of breaking up and Chaz was interested in getting into management Chandler was immediately taken with Jimmy's playing and he convinced Hendricks to move to England to launch his career the blues scene in London was at its mid-60s peak with bands like The Yardbirds and John Mayall and the Blues Breakers packing them in at the Marquee Club it was Chandler that suggested he changed the spelling of his first name to the more memorable j-i-m-i Jimmy on September 24th 1966 Hendricks arrived in England with just one guitar an Olympic White 1963 Stratocaster that was given to him by Linda Keith it's been speculated that Linda borrowed the guitar from her boyfriend and gave it to Hendricks Hendricks later said interviews that Linda bought the guitar for him in New York the 63 Strat would be the guitar that Hendrick used to play all the club dates that Chandler put together for him early in his career very soon after arriving Chandler convinced the guys in cream to let Jimmy sit in with them so on October 1st he took the stage plugging directly into Jack Bruce's bass amp and proceeded to tear through a version of Howlin Wolf's kill and floor [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] whether he knew it or not it was a tune that Clapton had struggled to learn and decided to not attempt live in his autobiography Clapton said that he was completely gobsmacked and Eric left the stage in the middle of the performance two weeks later Clapton would appear at the Marquee club with a frizzy afro-perm letting his guitar feedback wildly as Hendricks had done that first night they met that white 63 Stratocaster had all the classic appointments small headstock a laminated Rosewood fingerboard and the last of the black bobbin pickups that were slightly hotter than those of the 50s guitars and even the earlier 60s guitars this is the guitar that Hendricks used on the groundbreaking album are you experienced which was released in the UK on May 12 1967. upon arriving in England Chandler had helped put together a band to Showcase Hendrix which they called the Jimi Hendrix experience with drummer Mitch Mitchell and guitarist Noel Redding who would play bass with the group starting in February 67 Hendricks was also photographed playing a 64 Sunburst Stratocaster the dating of the guitar is based on evidence in the photos the spaghetti logo along with the position of the screws in the pickguard which changed in the early 60s Hendricks burned a different Sunburst Strat on stage that night at the Astoria theater March 31 1967. that would be the first but not the last time he burned a guitar on stage the guitar that got burned that night was reportedly a 65 Stratocaster that seemed to have been there specifically to be used as a prop to be burned on stage dubbed the Astoria Strat because of its place in the history there doesn't seem to be any evidence that Hendricks ever played the burned guitar live this seems strictly pecant given the fact that the guitar was sold at auction in 2008 to an American collector for 575 thousand dollars another famous guitar burned by Hendricks was at one time owned by Frank Zappa and is now owned by his son diesel on June 18th 1967 Hendricks appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival at that show he predominantly played a 65 or maybe a 66 black Stratocaster with a Rosewood board when CBS bought Fender there was a long transition period where parts were used up and small headstock guitars had been found from as late as 1966. at that show he played Killing Floor foxy lady like a rolling stone rock me baby Hey Joe can you see me and the Wind Cries Mary given the importance of this appearance this should be considered one of the three most historic strats that Jimmy ever played but one of Jimmy's best known guitars was the hand-painted guitar referred to as the Monterey Pop Strat which was either a late 63 or early 64. the hand-drawn design was added by Jimmy just the afternoon of the day before using nail polish after playing much of the set Anna's blackstrat he switched guitars and launched into a cover of wild thing it was this guitar that Jimmy burned at the end of the performance it seemed that it started Life as a red Strat with a Rosewood fingerboard and Hendricks was first seen playing it on March 31 67 on top of the pops TV program prior to Monterey he used this guitar on a short European tour along with another red Strat with a maple neck this hand painting has been so influential that Fender has released several guitars with design that second red Strat with the maple board seems to have gone on to be hand painted as well referred to as the sergeant pepper Strat because the same week that the Beatles record came out Hendricks would cover the title song from the album at a show at the Seville theater he later cracked the guitar body down the center smashing it on stage during a gig the body is shown in the current state today I reached out to True fire to be my sponsor because I've used them for years with over 2 million users worldwide whether you're a beginner intermediate or advanced level player TruFire has lessons to enhance and Inspire your playing get 35 off courses using a promo code 5 watt 35 or like I do sign up for the all access pass to use the entire TruFire catalog I really like TruFire and I think if you give them a shot you'll like them too sign up now to start your journey to being a better guitarist I'd like to thank TruFire for their support in making this video a white 67 Strat with the new large headstock would replace the 65 black Strat and was first seen at a whiskey a go-go date later that July he used this white 67 for the rest of the summer tour by that fall Jimmy had a couple of other new white strats both as backups and they seemed to rotate as his main guitar according to basis Noel Redding with the experience in the summer of 67 Hendricks bought a 1951 epiphone ft-79 acoustic guitar while on tour in the states the guitar was bought second hand for about 25 dollars and was brought back to England according to hendricks's girlfriend Kathy etchingham Jimmy mostly played acoustic when writing and arranging at home and this was the guitar that he used Jimmy also owned a handmade 12-string designed and built by Tony zamidis a luthier based in London that built guitars for many of the top players of the era Eric Clapton Ronnie Wood Donovan and Keith Richards name just a few one of the few film recordings of Hendricks playing acoustic is of him playing here might train a comment recorded at Bruce Fleming studio in December of 67 on that 12th Street [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] Mitch Mitchell who played with Hendricks donated a small parley guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe that he said was used during the recording of All Along the Watchtower in 1968. as there's no photos from the sessions this can't be confirmed but the song is so important and Mitchell having been there it seems worth noting the small parlor guitar was probably built as many of them were by the Washburn company though the headstock reads Thornwood the guitar likely dates from around 1900. it was also that summer that while in New York City Jimmy bought a new 67 Gibson Flying V starting Life as a black guitar it got Jimmy's hand-painted treatment and it would be one of Jimmy's favorite guitars from late August 67 to the end of that year using it along with a 67 white Strat on stage one of the white strats that Jimmy had in late 67 included an early 60s white Strat with a very unusual tortoiseshell pickguard still in common today strats with tortoiseshell style pick guards were very rare coming from the factory at that time the guitar appears to be a 64. many knowing collectors consider the 64 to be one of the very best years of Stratocaster production the last year before the sale of Fender to CBS during the recording of axis bold as love the tuned Spanish Castle magic was recorded on a moserite Joe maypha's 12 and 6-string double neck guitar there's debate about whether the guitar was modified it has large single coil pickups that are pretty hot also the guitar currently has much of the original Hardware missing both the moserite Mosley tremolo and the stop tailpiece for the 12-string Knack are gone so we're not sure what state it was in during the recording early in 68 Jimmy began using a second essentially identical white 67 Stratocaster he used the guitar from February to October that year during 68 Hendricks also used a 65 Sunburst Fender Jazz Master on a few gigs in the late spring of that year Hendricks had used Jazz Masters and jaguar guitars on rare occasions early in his career as well also around that time he used a 56 Gibson Les Paul Custom was first seen at an April 5th show at Newark Symphony Hall and as this is just 30 minutes from Manny's music in New York it's always been assumed that Jimmy bought the guitar there a store he'd frequented over the years it was most famously used on May 10 68 at the Fillmore East and at the Miami Pop Festival on May 18th aside from these two gigs he didn't seem to use the guitar often after that electric ladyland was released in October of 1968. the album would rise to number one on the U.S charts staying for two weeks though hendrix's reputation as a musician in death is unrivaled this was his strongest chart performance during his lifetime electric ladyland included Jimmy's cover of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower which would be the highest selling single and his only U.S top 40 hit peaking at 20. most people agree that as Chaz Chandler left producing early in the recording of ladyland that this is hendrix's purest realization of his musical vision and the album stated on the record jacket that it was produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix in October of 68 Hendricks began using a new black 68 Stratocaster the significance of this guitar is that it was the start of him using Maple neck strats in contrast to all the Rosewood board instruments of his earlier career he seems to have acquired both this and an identical guitar in white at the time he would use these two guitars through at the end of 68 and up until his death in 1970. the white 68 purchased at the same time is most likely the guitar that Jimmy played at Woodstock I say most likely because he acquired many guitars and there's no one to verify that this was that specific guitar used it's fascinating that it's this guitar that is most associated with Hendrix due to that headlining appearance at Woodstock my script editor amateur yet fervent Stratocaster historian and part-time Hendrix Enthusiast Perry McManus pointed out to me the irony that we associate this Maple board and large headstock late 60s image with Hendrix when in fact it can be argued that he made most of his most significant music on his early 60s roadwood board stratocasters most notably those from around 1964. [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] regardless there's no question that this is the style of guitar that is penetrated Rock's history's Consciousness and is the one that's presented as the Hendrick Strat today in reissues by the time of the Woodstock festival in August of 69 Hendricks was the highest paid rock musician in the world he moved his performance from Midnight on Sunday to 8 A.M on Monday morning effectively closing the festival the crowd at Woodstock peaked at 400 000 people many of whom had stayed to see Hendrix before leaving during his performance it was of course during this performance that he played the Star-Spangled Banner that's been so often copied at the start of sporting events since of hendricks's performance at Woodstock pop critic Al aronowitz said it was the most electrifying moment of Woodstock and it was probably the single greatest moment of the 60s the images of Hendrix wearing the white fringe leather jacket redhead scarf headband and bell bottom blue jeans are seen as capturing the Zeitgeist the defining moment of self-awareness that closed out the 60s Hendricks played without stopping for two hours Jimmy also had a 67 Gibson SG custom and famously used on a TV appearance on the Dick Cavett Show on September 9 1969. based on photos he seems to have acquired the guitar in late 68 using it at a gig at the Rhode Island Auditorium on November 27th that year from that point on it seems to be his go-to for humbucking tones likely used for performing Tunes like red house also during this time Hendricks was covering Kareem's Sunshine of Your Love and he'd use the SG for that as well clearly as a nod to Clapton having used an SG to record the song Hendricks would later have a left-handed SG with a natural Walnut finish and a white batwing pickguard that he used for gigs at the uganos club in New York the club featured frequent jams with the likes of Peter Greene and BB King and Jimmy loved going there reportedly the club bought Jimmy this left-handed SG so he'd have a guitar to play when he came in another Gibson Flying V was purchased in 69 though there is little photo evidence of its use one of three flying V's known that Jimmy used in his career Gibson was understandably anxious to put a Gibson in his hands with all the exposure Hendricks had given Defender in the end Gibson built a custom left-handed Flying V for Jimmy that was given to him early in 1970. custom guitar was black with a white pickguard gold painted Hardware with the fully bound neck with split Diamond fretboard inlays it also had a black truss rod cover that read custom likely you'd find on a Les Paul Custom in late 69 or an early 70s Hendricks ordered two left-handed stratocasters through Manny's music in New York not surprisingly one was black and the other was white they were both ordered with Rosewood fingerboards sadly Jimmy would die before taking delivery of the guitars and they stayed at Manny's into the early 70s when Steve Miller bought them both you can see the black guitar on the cover of the album Fly Like an Eagle that was an international hit for Miller to satisfy a contractual dispute Hendricks decided to record a live album of material recorded on January 1st 1970. The Experience group had split up and he put together a trio with bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles the album mixes Funk Rock and rhythm and blues along with exploratory Hard Rock and long jams and would be Jimmy's last full-length release Banda gypsies is the only official live recording of Hendrix that was made available during his lifetime and it was one of his live performances that other musicians have repeatedly mentioned as life-changing the tune machine gun is often cited as the example of Hendricks at the height of his powers and his greatest achievement musicologist Andy allendor wrote that this was quote the premier example of his unparalleled genius as a rock guitarist and that his performance set an entirely new standard for the potential of the electric guitar too often musician's untimely death can result in becoming more of a myth than a man sort of happened with Hendrix morphing from a trailblazing guitarist to the first answer when anyone's asked who's the best guitarist of all time Hendrick certainly has a claim but in a way this takes away from how great he was as a person guitarist and musician Jimmy gave us comparatively little music but it's so much more than just the collection of party tricks songs he left us with and are overflowing with subtly genius playing in between true pyrotechnics and lyrics that mirrored the thoughtfulness of his playing for many people the image in their minds of a guitar is a Stratocaster and for good reason often that mental image is also of Jimi Hendrix if I missed your favorite guitar from hendrix's career be sure to leave it in the comments for everyone to enjoy I need to thank my good friend and longtime collaborator Jeff mcerlane for sharing his playing in Jimmy asked Style on his original 64 Stratocaster the same year on which Hendricks recorded the majority of his famous Studio albums foreign [Music] I need to thank David Grissom for his permission to use a clip of his live performance of hear my train of coming it isn't so much in the style of Hendricks as it is the depth of Jimmy's influence of spirit I find in grissom's playing here as always I need to thank my script editor Perry McManus it can always be counted on for insights and little nuggets of Hendrix Strat history most importantly I need to thank all of you that have gone to the store to buy some merch or a preset pack and in particular I want to thank the friends of five watt on patreon your all five watt world I just make the videos thanks for hanging with me till the end until next time this is Keith Williams thanks for being a part of the five watt world [Music] [Applause]

Channel: five watt world

Views: 172,693

Keywords: five watt world, jimi hendrix, Short history, Fender Stratocaster, woodstock, monterey pop festival

Id: xDhLGa0ZBFg

Length: 24min 1sec (1441 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2022