Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

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FENDER JIMI HENDRIX STRATOCASTER
14
Guitarist february 2016
For example, the longer bass string travel to
the farthest tuners meant greater tension and
better tuning stability when drop tuning, as
Jimi did, and the consequently slacker treble
strings meant smoother bends and vibrato.
Also, the ‘wrong way round’ pickup served to
moderate the treble for a slightly thicker tone
on the top strings and marginally more twang
one on the lower ones. And actually none
of this makes the guitar look weird, as we’d
predicted it would.
Fender has sensibly chosen not to switch
the vibrato block round (Jimi’s upside-down
Strat’s arms protruded awkwardly from the
top), while opting for modern-style headstock
truss adjustment is a concession that makes
real sense.
Two elephants in the room, though: the
smaller being that the body is right-handed
and not upside down; the larger is that a
tribute instrument to the greatest left-handed
guitarist ever, is not available left-handed! The
latter of these is surely due to economics but
seems, well, strange; the former makes tons
of sense, as we’ll see.
Feel & Sounds
Anyone who’s watched Hendrix play will
have noticed that his reversed Strat offered
little upper-fret access. In fact, he didn’t play
up the dusty end much at all. Our guitar’s
right-handed body solves that problem in one
fell swoop. The neck’s shallow ‘C’ shape is
mega-comfy in the hands and Fender’s other
modern twist – medium-jumbo frets on a
flatter, 241mm (9.5-inch) radius ’board – adds
greatly to the experience. Our guitar’s action
was too low to dig in like Jimi, with the top
string almost choking off when going for big
bends, but a quick adjustment of the first and
second strings’ bridge saddles and playability
was restored. The vintage vibrato works well,
coping with Jimi-style excesses and returning
to pitch admirably. It’s a joy to try all those
great riffs, chords and solos on an instrument
that seems much more grown-up than its
meagre price tag suggests.
Plugging in, our Hendrix Strat instantly
shows its mettle. The selector’s five settings
bring out a quintet of recognisable tones
from these fine-sounding ’65 USA Vintage
1. Available in white or
black (Woodstock or
Isle Of Wight!), the body
and neck are perfectly
fi nished in polyester
2. Tinted pickup covers
and knobs contrast
nicely with the white
’guard, while a vintage-
style vibrato offers
reasonable wobble and
divebomb capability
3. The large, post-’65
Strat headstock looks
cool when fl ipped over,
especially with the
60s-style Fender logo
the right way up. Some
say the added mass
even adds something
to the tone, while
the modern truss
rod certainly makes
adjustments easier
GIT403.rev_fend.indd 14 17/12/2015 16:14