Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

FENDER JIMI HENDRIX
STRATOCASTER
£689
A new way to Experience a timeless classic
Bottom-string riffs have a
huge amount of presence
SOUTH
paw Jimi
Hendrix
created a legend when he fl ipped
over a right-handed Fender
Stratocaster, switched the strings
round and then went about the
business of becoming the greatest
guitarist of all time. It was the late
60s, and he was only reacting to
a dearth of decent left-handed
guitars, but Jimi’s iconic
compromise subtly altered the feel
and sound of his Strats. The
tension in his low E, A and D
strings increased, making it easier
to tune down to Jimi’s favoured E
b,
while the high E and B became
easier to bend. The angle of his
bridge pickup was reversed, too,
infl uencing the guitar’s tone.
It’s these details that Fender has
replicated with its new Mexican-
built Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster.
Slipping the guitar from its
padded gigbag, you’ll spy a classic
alder body wrapped in a gloss
polyester Olympic White fi nish.
Black is your other fi nish option.
In a twist of irony, there’s no
left-handed version of this guitar.
You could always buy a right-
handed Strat and fl ip it over – let’s
face it, it’s been done before…
Moving on, the non-reversed
chrome ‘Synchronized’ vibrato
unit stands guard over a trio of
American Vintage ’65 single-coil
pickups, with the bridge unit
reverse-angled like Jimi’s. The
gloss polyester-coated C-profi le
maple neck is bolt-on, of course,
and features a maple ’board, rear
skunk stripe and chrome vintage-
style tuners. That’s where the
old-school stuff ends. This neck has
a defi nite modern set-up thanks to
its 9.5-inch radius and 21 medium
jumbo frets. And then there’s the
way it looks…
Some of us shudder at reverse
headstocks and the memories of
bad hair metal, all-satin spandex
and conspicuously placed root
vegetables associated with them.
Joking aside, fl ipping the head
makes it tougher to reach the
tuners, especially the low E.
‘Ergonomics’, they call that.
Annoying is another good word for
it. The sacrifi ce better be worth it…
Fortunately, this guitar is a
dream to play. The action is set low
– with a set of 0.010 to 0.046
strings – yet there’s no danger of
any buzzing or choking for those
with a light touch. That said, the
heavy-handed might want to crank
the string height up a notch. The
increased tension in the bottom
strings, most noticeably the low E,
gives this guitar way more spank
than a regular Strat, and that tonal
punch intensifi es thanks to the
angled bridge pickup. The single
coil’s bass-side polepieces sit closer
to bridge saddles than on a
standard right-handed Strat,
which adds some serious twang to
the lower strings clean. Dropping
in some overdrive gives bottom-
string riffs a huge amount of
presence, and a staggering level of
sustain. Conversely, the treble side
of the pickup is further away from
the saddles than it should be,
which adds a little sweetness to the
thinner strings.
The Fender single coil has
popped up Forrest Gump-style
throughout the past 60 years of
music history, and these American
Vintage ’65 pickups are some of
the best examples we’ve had the
pleasure to amplify. Our
Photography: Joby Sessions
JANUARY 2016 73
FENDER JIMI HENDRIX STRATOCASTER GEAR
AT A GLANCE
VIBRATO
FENDER has chosen not to
reverse the vibrato unit,
which keeps it out of the way
of your picking hand. A wise
decision, we think
HEADSTOCK
REVERSING the head
elongates the low E, A and D
strings, which adds to the string
tension. The reward is
improved tonal punch and
impressive sustain
PICKUPS
LIKE Jimi’s fl ipped Strats,
this new model has a
reverse-angled bridge pickup
pumping out enhance bass
and softer treble
BODY: Alder
NECK: Maple, bolt-on
SCALE: 648mm (25.5")
FINGERBOARD: Maple w/
241mm (9.5") radius
FRETS: 21, medium jumbo
PICKUPS: 3x Fender American
Vintage ‘65 Gray-Bottom single coils
CONTROLS: 1x volume, 2x tone,
5-way blade pickup selector
HARDWARE: Classic
Synchronized vibrato,
vintage-style tuners – chrome
LEFT-HANDED: No
FINISH: Olympic White
(shown), Black
CONTACT: Fender GBI 01342 331700
www.fender.com
TGR275.gear_lead.indd 73 02/12/2015 23:54