How to sound EXACTLY like Jimi Hendrix...
I wish I had a dollar for every video or story produced about getting your gear to sound EXACTLY like Jimi Hendrix.Over the course of his career he used lots of different guitars and amplifiers but toward the end, it was a Fender Stratocaster guitar and several Marshall 100watt Plexi series amplifiers. He also popularized a VOX Wah-wah pedal and some effects pedals like fuzz and Octavia that produced high octaves and distortion.
Here are some essentials the guitarists often miss.
Hendrix was Left-handed and usually played a right-handed guitar with the strings reversed.
He tuned it a half step lower than standard and used mis-matched sets of strings where some of the middle strings had a thinner gauge, yielding a more 'twangy' sound and easier to do note bending.
Finally... (actually not) it was his 'feel' for the instrument as it was said he often carried his guitar to parties and nightclubs, rarely letting it out of his sight. Also important, Hendrix had long slender fingers and could wrap his thumb around the top of the neck playing the bass notes other guitarists couldn't reach. Most of the fast players (Steve Vai for example) have long fingers... it goes with the territory.
So, if you are trying to mimic Hendrix... I suggest 'keep at it' for the next 2 decades as there was only ONE Jimi.
Comments (10)
That's a story that Stills tells..
The Beatles released the Sgt. Peppers Band album and to everyone's surprise, a few days later Hendrix covered it live!
You can have the actual gear that Jimmi used, and you will still sound like you, not Jimmi.
You can have the actual gear that Jimmi used, and you will still sound like you, not Jimmi.
I sometimes follow the YouTube channel for JHS Pedals and Josh explained the perfect example as THE JOHN MAYER PARADOX
Classic mistake: He's right handed playing a right handed guitar.