Fender Jimi Hendrix Tribute Stratocaster

The Fender Jimi Hendrix Tribute Stratocaster

Fender Guitar Corporation

The Fender Corporation is an American manufacturer of electric guitars, basses and amplifiers, founded by Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender in 1946, with Its headquarters in Los Angeles California, and Ensenada Baja California, Mexico, best known for their Telecaster and Stratocaster.

History Of The Stratocaster

The Fender Stratocaster or Strat is an electric guitar designed between 1952-1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares.

Strat Design

It’s a double cutaway guitar with the top extended horn for balance and comfort, and along with the…

• Gibson Les Paul
• Gibson SG, or
• Fender Telecaster

The Strat is still one of the most often copied electric guitar shapes, with other manufacturers sometimes calling it “S Type or ST-Type guitars.”

Innovative for the time and now an iconic body shape, the 3 pickup design offered the player more tonal variance over the 1 to 2 pickup configuration electric guitar manufacturers were putting out during the same period.

Along with the vibrato arm design integrated into the bridge plate, which marked a significant design improvement over other existing vibrato systems.

The easy interchange components made making modifications to the instrument easy.

Over the years, models and minor features will change; however, the original archetypical design has remained constant.

The instrument’s popularity quickly became a standard making the Fender Stratocaster one of the most iconic electric guitar models of all time.

As recognizable as this guitar is, more impressive are the early and modern brand champions that embraced this instrument.

Artists like…

• Eric Clapton
• Jeff Beck
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Yngwie Malmsteen &…

Jimi Hendrix

Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an  American guitarist, singer, and composer.

Hendrix started playing guitar at age 15 and was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues.

Early Gigs

In 1962 he joined the Isley Brothers backing band, then later Little Richard till mid-1965, followed by Curtis Knight and the Squires, before moving to England in late 1966, where he would release a solo project called the Jimi Hendrix Experience, earning 3 Top 10 hits…

• Hey Joe
• Purple Haze
• The Wind Cries Mary

3 Albums

The Artist released 3 studio albums…

1. Are You Experienced,
2. Axis: Bold as Love, &
3. Electric Ladyland (Double LP.)

New Sounds

Taking the sounds from an amplifier that would be set at high volumes causing overdrive and feedback, this was where Hendrix would like to explore his musical voice and fluid expression with control.

Also, he was one of the first guitarists to use “phasing” effects in his studio recordings, and guitar effect peddles to alter tones such as…

• Fuzz distortion
• Octavia
• Uni-Vibe
• Wah-wah

Fame In The US

The Artist achieved fame in the US after performing in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Final Album

He reached his first number 1 in the US with his 3rd and final album, Electric Ladyland, making this double LP the most commercially successful.

With headline performances at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, he became the world’s highest-paid performer.

Gone To Soon

Every generation or culture creates legends.

And if lucky, one might get a glimpse of one…

• Kungfu had Bruce lee
• Pop music had Michael Jackson
• Rock n’ Roll had Elvis Presley

And like legends, they shine brightly, are ahead of their time, then gone too soon.

This Artist was one such star, Jimi Hendrix, who passed in London from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, gave us only 4 years to experience his genius.

In this short career span, with only 3 albums and 4 years to his body of work, Jimi Hendrix managed to change the course of what was then a new force rising to become one of the most influential guitarists and musicians in the history of popular music and to this present day.

Accolades

• Melody Maker readers voted Hendrix Pop Musician of the year in 1967.
• Billboard voted him Artist of the Year in 1968.
• In the same year, Rolling Stone declared him Performer of the Year, ranking the band’s 3 studio albums among the 100 greatest albums of all time and ranking Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and 6th greatest artist of all time.
• Guitar Player Magazine named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year in 1970.
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and being described by the R & R Hall of Fame as… 

“Arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music.”

Guitar

The Fender Jimi Hendrix Tribute Stratocaster 

As part of their Artist Series Line, Fender has created a Stratocaster with custom modifications that genuinely capture the spirit of this iconic artist.

 

With signature touches and appointments distinctive to having a ‘Flipped over Strat,” this guitar debuted in 2015 and ran until 2019.

Hendrix’s flipping of his guitars over to accommodate his left-handed playing was fundamental to his style and distinctive sound.

This unique tribute guitar touches on that distinctive Hendrix Strat look, including the reverse headstock and bridge pick-up, and captures some of that tonal difference.

(Read on)

Technical Specs

Body

The body material for this guitar is Alder (not heavy wood,) one of two mainstay kinds of wood used throughout the history of the Fender company to create electric guitar bodies.

• Body Material – Alder
• Body Shape – Double Cutaway
• Pickguard – 3-Ply White
• Hardware – Chrome
• Bridge – 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo
• Series- Artist Signature
• Guitar Weight – 5.9 Kg
• Body Finish – Gloss Polyester
• Finishes
  • 3-Color Sunburst
  • Black
  • Olympic White
  • Ultraviolet

Neck

• Neck Material –One-piece Maple Fingerboard 
• Neck Construction – Bolt-on
• Neck Fretboard Radius – 9.5″ (241 mm)
• Neck Profile – “C” shaped

Not totally vintage but more modern-day, this comfortable “C ” shaped Maple profile neck has a flatter fingerboard or playing surface that is ideal for effortless string bending and prevents chording or string bend cut-offs.

• Scale Length – 25.5″ (64.8 cm)
• Neck Finish – Gloss Polyester 
• Frets – 21 medium jumbo w/dot-position inlays
• Nut Material –Micarta
• String Nut size – 1.650″ (42 mm)

Reverse Oversized 1968-1972 Headstock

Not Just Aesthetics

This guitar comes with an oversized headstock; Outside the look, this design also changes the sound.

The “reverse” headstock produces a longer string length for the bass strings, creating a tighter playing feel and easier bending and vibrato on the treble strings.

With the longer string length on the bass strings(EAD), you seem to get more clarity and snap.

While with shorter string length on the treble strings (GBE), you create a tighter playing feel, easier for bending and vibrato.

Controls

• Controls – You have a master Volume and Traditional tone control for the neck and middle pickup but no tone control for the bridge.
• Control Knobs – Aged white plastic
• Pickup Switch – 5-position pickup selector
  • Position 1- Bridge 
  • Position 2 – Bridge & Middle
  • Position 3- Middle 
  • Position 4 – Middle & Neck
  • Position 5 – Neck

In the years of Jimi Hendrix, Fender only had a 3-way position switch, and you would have to carefully lock it between the 1-2 or 2-3 position to get the bridge and middle or the middle and neck pick-ups to engage.

The bridge has a nice tone, but unfortunately, even with the modern 5-way switch, your ability to take off any unwanted high-end is not there.

But it was good enough for Jimi am sure it will be good enough for us.

PowerStation

A trio of Fender American Vintage ’65 Grey-Bottom single-coil pick-ups for that classic tone,  producing unique warm sounds with enhanced upper harmonics and clarity.

Reverse-Slant

The bridge pick-up has been angled slightly to the left instead of a regular Stratocaster, whose bridge pick-up is configurated to the right.

(See the below images)

 

Having a longer distance between the bridge and pick-up on the treble and a shorter distance on the bass, the Fender Jimi Hendrix Model creates more brightness on the low end and softer tones on the high end.

Also…

The middle and neck pick-ups on the Jimi Hendrix strat are inverted, giving you again some different sounds.

Special Features 

Headstock Artist Signature

A large ’70s-style headstock that bears Hendrix’s signature.

(See Image Below)

Neckplate w/Silhouette Of Hendrix

The engraved inscription, “Authentic Hendrix,” leaves no doubt about the inspiration and motivation behind this instrument.

Video

Final Thoughts

Even though Hendrix sounded the way he did from his hands more than anything else, it would be impossible to duplicate the sound or soul created from his playing.

It is not about just taking a regular Stratocaster reversing the nut and you’re done.

But, this has not kept the guitar community from trying to duplicate his gear from guitar peddles, accessories or publications.

This Fender Jimi Hendrix Tribute Stratocaster is not the first guitar built for the memory of this icon, nor is it a replica of any guitar he did play.

Instead, what you are getting from this Made in Mexico instrument is an exceptional “Jimi-like ” guitar and sound for a reasonable cost.

Would You Add This To Your Collection?

Absolutely YES!

The bigger 1970 Headstock is my favourite for the Strat design, and I think the more oversized headstocks not only look better but also give you more resonance, but having the tuning keys reversed might take some getting used to.

The flatter fingerboard or playing surface is ideal for not losing out on the big bends.

Also, the 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo will give you some tuning issues (Pre-Floyd Rose.)

But this will still be a Fender Stratocaster with some extra flair, and every guitar player should have one in their collection.

Did You Like This Article?

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Also…

Leave your comments in the section below if you want me to review a favourite guitar.

As always, stay the course and keep playing.

Feature image of Jimi Hendrix performing for the Dutch television show Hoopla in 1967 courtesy of Wikimedia-Author A. Vente – is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Image Of Guitar In Blog Banner Courtesy of Sweetwater.com

Photo of the back of the guitar in the blog banner courtesy of Amazon

Photo of Jimi Hendrix CTA Courtesy of Amazon