Gibson Jimi Hendrix Flying V - Psychedelic Paint

Solid Body Electric Guitars

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the original was exposed:

*Though known for playing Fender Stratocasters, Jimi Hendrix played this Gibson Flying V extensively from 1967 to 1969. He probably used it on his 1967 BBC Radio 1 sessions and 1968’s Electric Ladyland, notably fo...

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1968 Fender Woodstock Stratocaster

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Music Radar mentions Jimi's most famous Strat in this article "Fender's Artist Relations manager said there was one other instrument he'd like me to l...

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Gibson Flying V

Solid Body Electric Guitars

"Custom built by Gibson specially for Jimi in 1969. All hardware is gold plated, and the guitar was left-handed and equipped with a tremolo bridge. Jimi played it during the Isle of Wright concert on “Red House”."

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Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Jimi's first ever Fender Stratocaster was a white 1964 model with rosewood fingerboard. He obtained it in New York, from Manny's Music, with funds from his girlfriend Carol Shiroky. It cost $289. He actually bought it from Jeff Baxter, later of Steely Dan, who was working at Manny's as an assista...

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Silvertone Danelectro Electric Guitar

Solid Body Electric Guitars

In the book ...

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Tony Zemaitis Jimi Hendrix 12-String

Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

Although there isn't much to be found about this guitar, it did clearly belong to Jimi Hendrix. It can be seen in his famous '12-string blues' intro to 'a film about Jimi Hendrix', made 3 years after his dead.

The guitar currently resides in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Clevel...

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Marshall Superlead Guitar Amplifier Head

Guitar Amplifier Heads

According to a Christies auction, Jimi Hendrix used a 1966 Marshall Super Lead 100 Watt amplifier head in several concerts from 1967 to 1969.

According to the auction, here are some of the details of the amp head: "...Serial No. 7026, with black covering, front with white plastic Marshall...

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Epiphone FT-79 Texan

Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

According to this Epiphone article, in the late 1960s Jimi Hendrix acquired this Epiphone FT79 acoustic guitar. The guitar has serial #62262, and was built in NY in 1951 (original source ...

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Fender Dual Showman

Guitar Amplifier Heads

Jimi acquired new Fender Dual Showman amps in 1968. He would typically use three of these 100 watt amps with cabinets containing two 15-inch J.B.Lansing speakers. These amps were used in the studio, and on the 1968 Experience tour, together with Marshalls and Sunn. Source ...

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Univox U-915 Uni-Vibe

Univibe & Rotary Effects Pedals

Vintage Guitar magazine created a "25 Most Valuable Effects" list and coming in at number 3 is the Univox Uni-Vibe pedal. "Vintage" writes in this article "If Hendrix touched it, you can bet it’s enshrined as effects legend. Created to replicate the sound of japanese radios pick...

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Fender Jazzmaster

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Jimi's main guitar for his gigs in Little Richard's backing band. Also used on at least one other occasion for his solo/Experience career. The accompanying picture was taken at the Symphony Hall in Newark, New Jersey on the 5th of April 1968.

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Sunn 100s

Bass Amplifier Heads

In this photo Hendrix can be seen playing through a Sunn 100s amplifier driving four Sunn 100s 2x15" cabinets. In 1968 Hendrix had agreed to a 5 year endorsement contract with Sunn amplifiers.

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Fender Princeton Reverb (original issue, 1963-1981)

Combo Guitar Amplifiers

Hendrix can be seen here playing his Fender Princeton Reverb (68’ Silverface) which was listed on Reverb.

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Gibson 1955 Les Paul Custom Exclusive

Solid Body Electric Guitars

From a Gibson article "Hendrix's Gibson Guitars" written by Daniel Eriksson in June 2014:

"Jimi Hendrix did own a ...

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Supro Thunderbolt

Combo Guitar Amplifiers

In this stage photo of Jimi Hendrix during his days as a sideman you can clearly see a non-descript 1x15 cabinet with no logo or visible controls to his left, partially off camera. It is certainly the Supro Thunderbolt bass amplifier he reputedly used during his time with Little Richard and the I...

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Martin D-45 Acoustic

Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

In Michael Heatley's book "Jimi Hendrix Gear", he discusses Hendrix's Martin D-45, which is said to be used on the recording of The Cry of Love album, on page 106.

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Fender 346 Medium Celluloid Guitar Picks

Picks & Pick Holders

Pick or fingers.Jimi used whatever medium gauge pick he had, and it’s been reported that Experience carried thousands of picks on their tours.

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Fender Mustang Electric Guitar

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Used for the Olympic Studios sessions of Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Lady Land. It was auctioned via Bonhams on November 21, 2004, only to be ...

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Vox V846 Wah

Wah Pedals

Music Radar confirms Jimi's use of this pedal by saying "For anyone too stoned to remember, we can confirm that the original Vox V846 was the wah used by Jimi Hendrix for Voodoo Chile ...

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Fender Jaguar

Solid Body Electric Guitars

There are couple of photos dating circa 1964 of Jimi playing what’s either a dark blue, or a black-colored Fender Jaguar with dot inlays.

Tappy Wright who was Hendrix’s roadie at the time owned another Fender Jaguar which supposedly belonged to Jimi, and was given to him by Brian Jones of...

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Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head

Guitar Amplifier Heads

Jimi famously used Marshall JTM 45/100 heads. The 100 watt version of the JTM45. Specially the 1966 JTM 45/100.

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1967 Gibson SG Custom - White

Solid Body Electric Guitars

White 3-Pickup Gibson SG was played by Hendrix in Stockholm 1969. You get a perfect look at it at 0:24 (To avoid errors, click on the link to watch the video).

Also here you can see him play it on the Dick Cavett Show 196...

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Rotosound R10 Roto Yellows Nickel-Steel 10-46

Strings

He used a mix of gauges to create his own “custom set”. Rj Ronquillo has a good youtube video on the specific gauges. On rotosounds website he is listed as an artist, it seems he used rotosounds earlier in his career.

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Beyerdynamic M160

Ribbon Microphones

Used to mike Hendrix's guitar amp and for the vocals on Electric Ladyland, as stated by recording engineer Eddie Kramer in this November 2005 Sound on Sound interview.

When asked about the techniques used to record Hendrix's guitar, Eddie Kramer's response i...

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Neumann U67

Condenser Microphones

Used to mike Hendrix's guitar amp, as stated by recording engineer Eddie Kramer in this November 2005 Sound on Sound interview. Note that the first sentence of the following excerpt pertains to Electric Ladyland.

While Hendrix's amp was screened off in the s...

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Fender Duo-Sonic Electric Guitar

Solid Body Electric Guitars

On page 48 of the book Jimi Hendrix Gear they mention Curtis Knight bought Jimi a sunburst Fender Duo-Sonic as a gift. Knight got the guitar in exchange for refunding an airline...

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Jimi Hendrix Sunburst Fender Stratocaster

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Jimi Hendrix used this guitar at the Miami Pop Festival in 1968. It was burned on stage. Later, the guitar was given to Frank Zappa, who repaired the guitar. The guitar was used on stage multiple times. Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank, now owns it.

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Fender Precision Bass

Electric Basses

Hendrix can be seen in this image with a Fender Precision Bass.

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Sound City One Hundred (L100)

Guitar Amplifier Heads

"In 1967 Jimi started using a Sound City stack for concert performances, it comprised one 100 watt amplifier with two 4x12" speaker cabinets."

-from "Electric Gypsy" by Shapiro and Glebeek, 1992, p. 639

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Electro-Harmonix EH-3003 "Triangle" Big Muff Pi V1

Fuzz Effects Pedals

Electro-Harmonix founder and CEO Mike Matthews reported seeing Hendrix's Big Muff with his own eyes in 1969. There are multiple interviews in which he states this, but the most complete account was sent to Kit Rae for his Big Muff Pi Page's "Jimi Hendrix Big Muff" section.

Si...

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Jimi Hendrix’s guitar tone is instantly recognizable. Hendrix’s musical sound and lasting fame is inseparable from the iconic, warm, and crisp tone he coaxed from his guitars. Over his unbelievably prolific and sadly short-lived career he ran through guitars fast, but he found his heavenly match with the Fender Stratocaster. It was the guitar which he dubbed his favorite and it was this model he lit on fire during his infamous performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Fittingly, according to his girlfriend Monika Dannemann, it was also the last guitar he played before his death.

Hendrix played many Stratocaster models, but he wasn’t above flirting with other guitars on occasion. He played a number of the Gibson Flying V, as well as a Gibson 1955 Les Paul Custom. His first electric guitar was the Supro Ozark 1560s, which he picked up back in 1959. In the mid-'60s, he messed around and did some recordings (including Spanish Castle Magic) with the twelve-string, double-necked Mosrite Joe Maphis guitar. For acoustic instruments, he went through two Martin D-45s and an Epiphone FT79. He composed a lot of his songs on the acoustic guitar before performing on the electric, including his famous cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.

Of course, Hendrix’s greatness goes beyond just his guitars. His iconic sound was tightly linked to his brilliant matching of instrument, amplification, and pedal effects. Limiting ourselves just to his 1969 performance at Woodstock, we can marvel at his twin Marshall 100-Watt Superlead Heads for four-foot-by-12-foot stacks. Before hitting the amps themselves, Hendrix ran his Stratocaster through (in this order) a Vox Wah pedal, a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzzface, a Uni-Vibe pedal, which then sent a split signal out to the two Marshall amps.

An under-appreciated aspect of Hendrix’s sound, according to his friend and collaborator Roger Mayer, was the careful use of custom string gauges to help even out the pickup response across all six strings, while avoiding altering the Strat pickups themselves. According to Mayer, "Jimi was very aware that a simple chain of effects – along with few important options – would greatly free his mind to concentrate on performing and that a lot of control could be obtained from the guitar volume." Those are words to live by for any musician. Hendrix chose the right gear and used it effectively to create an optimal signal flow. Hendrix was an incredibly talented guitarist, and an equally brilliant sound engineer.