For the Hendrix Buffs out there...

[AliveTilDawn]

This may be an impossible question to answer but which new single-coil p/u's are similar to those used by hendrix?

[KATMAN]

I thought that the sound the pickups he got was having the strings switched backwards. I read this somewhere,but it seems to make sense,in a strange way.

[jerry_picker]

Hmmm... CSM is the resident Hendrix biographer, so he might know specifics. I seem to recall that he kept all sorts of unmodded off-the-shelf guitars in every room so that he could always pick up a guitar. I'm not sure that there was "one" Hendrix-specific pickup. However, I'd *guess* that the specs on the Strat he torched at Monterey were not identical to the one he played at Woodstock.

[jack harper]

fender cs 69 will get you as close to it as you can

 

but

 

anyone can get hendrix tone. dont BUY into the BS of it can only be done with this strat or that pedal and amp.

 

Fuzz, Wah, Strat, Volume its that easy, take a lot of time to play around with settings and volume knobs.

 

if i can do it with a partsocaster, boss BD2, sunface, and a fender hotrod.... anyone can do it

[csm]

Yep, CS 69s are probably closest to the brand-new bighead Strats he played from '68 onwards, and any decent early-60s-style PUs will approximate the rosewood-board pre-CBS Strats he played when he lived in the UK. The reverse-stringing is also something of a factor, particularly on the bridge PU sounds ...

 

Beyond the caveat of avoiding excessively overwound 'hot' units, I'd say that the way you play and your choice of amp are far more important. Any decent Strat with reasonable PUs will get you the rest of the way there.

[dman11]

I'd say the Abigail Ybarra sig CS '69 pups are the closest possible and an authentic fuzzface is a must as well as a Superlead Marshall full stack ,Vox wah and a Uni-Vibe you're in the ballpark IMHO. Hendrix-esque chops will get you there as will an Oly white strat...oh and lots of pot..

[AliveTilDawn]

I thought that the sound the pickups he got was having the strings switched backwards. I read this somewhere,but it seems to make sense,in a strange way.

 

 

I figured that had something to do with his tone.

[IamBurnout]

He still sounded just like Jimi with a flying V.

 

Tone is not in the pickups.

[Mel Cooley]

My Fralin Vintage Hots are definitely doing the job for me.

[photon9]

I heard somewhere that he would tinker with the windings on his pups to get his tone as well. Can't remember if he (allegedly) unwrapped some or overwrapped but taking out windings seems more reasonable. Has anyone else heard this?

[Crimson_Raven]

He still sounded just like Jimi with a flying V. Tone is not in the pickups.

Glory be the V.

[jerry_picker]

I heard somewhere that he would tinker with the windings on his pups to get his tone as well. Can't remember if he (allegedly) unwrapped some or overwrapped but taking out windings seems more reasonable. Has anyone else heard this?

Sounds like a good way to ruin a pickup.

[blingdogg]

From what I've read, Hendrix used usually stock Strats with stock pickups, so any pickups based on his time period should work.

 

But... I also heard he was a tinkerer too, liked to mod his guitars and gear. CSM, do you have any info about that?

[RogerF]

or you could use a Gibson SG Custom to play Machine Gun...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRTC9NeGOYE

[YOUTUBE]QRTC9NeGOYE[/YOUTUBE]

[Doctor49]

The reverse-stringing is also something of a factor, particularly on the bridge PU sounds ... .

 

"The 1997 Hendrix Tribute Stratocaster was the first right-handed Fender to introduce the 'feature' of Jimi's own '69 Strat, which was right-handed and simply strung and played upside-down: the relationship between the bridge pickup and the strings that is the reverse of the norm. This changes (reverses) the traditional relationship between vibrating string and pickup pole. For example, the low E string now vibrates over the pickup pole that otherwise would be below the high E string, and vice versa. It is believed that this reverse relationship produces different tone characteristics - a somewhat brighter bass and warmer treble, a difference that some believe contributed to the "Hendrix tone". Slightly less obvious (and much less audible, if at all!) is the fact that the treble strings now have the short length past the nut (to the tuner), whereas the bass strings have the long length."

 

 

"Guitar players universally agree that Hendrix achieved his signature sound in part because he was a left-handed guitar player who played a right-handed Stratocaster strung left-handed. The reverse bridge pickup angled down towards the bass string produces a unique sound that differs from a standard Stratocaster bridge pickup. The low strings are much brighter and more articulate and the high strings are warmer and fuller. When a right-handed guitar is strung lefthanded, the change in string tension and the reverse staggered pole pieces on the pickups have a direct effect on the tone, which is how Hendrix made his high strings scream and achieved pure, clear tones on his low strings. "

 

 

purely technically, how does that work? Aren't the pole pieces identical and the windings around all poles not individually wound? The pole piece heights are not adjustable, so unless they are set at different heights at manufacture, the pup should be the same even reverse strung?

 

Shouldn't it?

 

Is it merely the angled pup that has any effect?

[akapuli]

He still sounded just like Jimi with a flying V. Tone is not in the pickups.

 

 

+1

 

Talking about rosewood vs maple fingerboard, reversed/angled pickups phone wire cables, this Marshall/that Fender = wrong way of interpreting the man.

 

You could buy similar gear he used (with zillion EUR/USD), you won't sound the same.

 

A very good interpreter from my country:

http://www.youtube.com/user/vintagetom

[csm]

Is it merely the angled pup that has any effect?

 

 

That's what I would imagine, but I'm not a very technical boy ... that bridge PU would 'hear' the low E at a point closer to the bridge than a standard set-up, and the high E further away. How much AUDIBLE difference this would make is highly debatable, and possibly less difference than the point at which you pick the string (ie closer to bridge, closer to butt of neck, and all points in between).

 

As I said before, any Strat which isn't actually rubbish can get you as close as your feel and playing technique will allow.

[jdgm]

He still sounded just like Jimi with a flying V. Tone is not in the pickups.

 

 

The most sensible post in this thread. He did not tinker with or rewind his p/us, he used stock off-the-shelf Strats.

[thick_mike]

That's what I would imagine, but I'm not a very technical boy ... that bridge PU would 'hear' the low E at a point closer to the bridge than a standard set-up, and the high E further away. How much AUDIBLE difference this would make is highly debatable, and possibly less difference than the point at which you pick the string (ie closer to bridge, closer to butt of neck, and all points in between) . As I said before, any Strat which isn't actually rubbish can get you as close as your feel and playing technique will allow.

 

 

Watching Hendrix play, it's always been quite noticible to me that he varies where he picks the string quite widely, often playing over the end of the fretboard to get a softer pure tone. Have a look at this (crap) video of a (great) live version of Little Wing (e.g. from 1:00 onwards)

 

[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

[Kap'n]

Beyond the caveat of avoiding excessively overwound 'hot' units, I'd say that the way you play and your choice of amp are far more important. Any decent Strat with reasonable PUs will get you the rest of the way there.

 

 

This. It's not like Jimi had one strat that was "THE ONE" and he treasured it, and used it for everything. The man owned literally dozens of stock strats in his three year recording career, and would routinely set fire to them, smash them into amps, etc.

 

With some caveats, Hendrix was not the equipment. Hendrix was the MAN.

[jerry_picker]

Gorgeous.

[thick_mike]

Gorgeous.

I think if I could have been in one place at one time in history, I'd like to have been at that concert at the Albert Hall. His playing was as good as it got.

Unfortunately the film of the concert that has leaked out on the internet doesn't match the quality of the playing!

[akapuli]

that concert at the Albert Hall...

 

 

will come out soon on DVD in high quality, according to rumors.

[CoqBelliqueux]

Single-coil.

[blingdogg]

will come out soon on DVD in high quality, according to rumors.

I wish it eventually does. It seems like the Hendrix Estate (Janie Hendrix ...) has been saying this for years. I thought it was supposed to be released this year, but I'm doubtful.