Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster
74 JANUARY 2016
FENDER JIMI HENDRIX STRAT
REVIEW
The neckplate bears
Jimi’s visage as a
mark of authenticity
Jimi’s signature
adorns the back of
the fl ipped peghead
In addition to the neck,
the bridge pickup is
also fl ipped around
Back when Jimi Hendrix was plying
his trade, Fender guitars came
spec’d with a 7.25-inch fi ngerboard
radius. This curvy profi le was
perfectly fi ne for fretting chords
and banging out riffs, but it made
it diffi cult to achieve a low action
compared with the fl atter 12-inch
’boards of Gibson Les Pauls and
SGs. The basic idea is the higher the
number the fl atter the ’board, and
you’ll fi nd many modern rock guitars
boasting a 12-inch to 14-inch radius.
These days, Fender supplies most
of its guitars – including its Custom
Shop Time Machine models – with a
9.5-inch radius fi ngerboard that, as
demonstrated by our Jimi Hendrix
Stratocaster, allows a low action
without the worry of string bends
choking out above the 12th fret.
Installing fatter frets also improves
the string-bending performance.
You can only imagine that Jimi would
have loved the feel of these 9.5-inch
radius guitars, but he did pretty
damn good with what he had.
bridge unit is bright and bold yet
never shrill, even with the amp’s
gain whacked right up. The classic
‘in-between’ sounds are so
iconically glassy, you can almost
smell the Windolene. The real star,
however, is the middle pickup. Run
solo, it produces a thick addictive
bark that works great for clean and
lightly overdriven rhythm parts.
While some have grumbled,
we’re glad the vibrato arm position
wasn’t reversed. Hendrix-mad
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a fan of
that modifi cation, but we reckon it
works best where it is. As for those
harder-to-reach tuners, it’s a small
price to pay for the tonal treasure.
Besides, this Strat never lost its
tuning once, and we played it a lot.
Knowing how George Best laced
up his football boots won’t make
you a genius on the pitch, and even
this guitar’s smart tweaks won’t
magically transform you into Jimi
Hendrix. But don’t dismiss this
latest repackage of a 61-year-old
design as a cynical marketing
exercise. The enhanced punch of
the bottom strings combined with
the lighter tension and softer treble
in the high E and B, delivered
through those exceptional
pickups, might just turn everything
you think you want from a
Stratocaster on its head.
Ed Mitchell
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
Grading on
a curve
How we learned to love
a fl atter Strat
FENDER CLASSIC
SERIES
’70S STRATOCASTER
£659
If you don’t fancy
all the reversed
malarkey of the
Hendrix Strat, try
the more traditional layout
of the big-headed 70s bruiser. It’s
available in a choice of fi nishes,
including Olympic White with a
maple or rosewood ’board.
SQUIER VINTAGE
MODIFIED
70S STRATOCASTER
£290
Despite its modest
price tag, the
Vintage Modifi ed
model has all
the cool of the
big headstock-era Strats.
It comes loaded with a trio of
Duncan Designed single coils.
FENDER DICK DALE
SIGNATURE
STRATOCASTER
£2,709
The King of the Surf
Guitar’s Custom Shop
model is remarkably
close to the spec
of Jimi’s Strats.
TGR275.gear_lead.indd 74 02/12/2015 23:55