Jimi Hendrix Guitar Rig

There never has been a guitarist like Jimi Hendrix. He played the guitar like it was a lover. He twisted and turned with it, played it with his teeth, behind his back and burned it alive on the stage of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He could play left- or right-handed and used feedback like another range of notes. No one compares to Hendrix.

History

In most films of his performances, Hendrix is playing a right-handed Fender Stratocaster left-handed. He did this because he like the volume and tone control knobs on top, rather than on the bottom. As a Strat is designed, the knobs generally would be on the bottom near the cord jack and tremolo bar. The Strat gave Hendrix the feedback he desired because it had three single-coil pickups. Other guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul, use humbucker pickups. These are double-coiled pickups with the wires counter-wound to lower the buzz and hum associated with electric guitars. Since Hendrix liked this feedback, he used the single-coils.

Types

Hendrix also played a few other guitars including the Gibson Flying V, Epiphone acoustic, Gretsches and even a Les Paul now and then, but he preferred the whine and hum of the Strat.

Features

According to Geocities Sunset Strip, Hendrix used light-gauge Fender strings, sometimes switching heavier strings for lighter in different positions on the neck. He also tuned the guitar lower to make it easier to sing with.

Identification

Like many musicians coming from American music, Hendrix often used Fender amplifiers. The Twin Reverb and, later, the Dual Showman were his standards. Later, when power and distortion became widespread in rock, he switched to the legendary Marshall amps used by many throughout the 1970s who followed him. Marshalls have a distinct sound favored by "heavy" guitar players such as Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend and Eddy Van Halen.

Effects

Hendrix used the wah-wah pedal frequently, as well as distortion or "fuzz" boxes on stage and in the studio. The wah-wah, as he once explained, shifted the sound from bass to treble creating the wah-wah effect. This probably is the most distinctive "stomp box" he used and became associated with him. Distortion boxes heightened the "fuzz" of his playing. He also probably used compressors which stretch out the notes without distortion. He liked the swirling sound of Leslie speaker cabinets, too, so he used them on several recordings.

[frederickdrury]

on 8/19/2009 Yet another incomprehensive description of Jimi Hendrix stage and studio rigs. No metion of his use of the Marshall JTM 45/100 shared cathode amps in conjunction with the later 1969 JMP "superlead" head.
His merry-go-round of Fender stacks, not just the Dual Showman but the Bassman and Bandmaster, all those Sunn amps and cabs. Also of no minor significamce to guitarists today was his use of a Sound City combo as well as a Bassman head into a Sound City 4x12 speaker cab for the "Axis Bold As Love" recording sessions.

Leslie organ cabs, Orange amps, all played an integral part in his music, more than any signature or key sound, typically noted by a pedestrian music press.