Jimi Hendrix 1967 Fender Stratocaster (White)

This is the guitar Jimi switched to after his first 1967 Strat. The new Strat made its stage debut on February 2, 1968, in San Francisco, US. Essentially, the two guitars were identical, aside from the wear on the original one, which by early 1968 had become quite noticeable, especially around the upper horn of the body. However, this new guitar already had a small cigarette burn on the headstock, indicating it had likely been used before February.

Jimi played this white Strat for most of 1968, possibly all the way up to the TTG Studio sessions in mid-October that year. Although photos from the period are somewhat limited, it seems the guitar appeared at nearly all gigs between February and October, assuming it was the same guitar throughout and not a series of identical ones. The last known photos of Hendrix using this particular Strat seem to date to late October 1968.

It’s possible that this is the guitar that Jimi gave to Harvey Gerst, a representative from Acoustic Control Corporation, in exchange for the Acoustic/Bartell “The Black Widow”. The dates of when this Strat disappeared and the Bartell appeared match almost exactly.

Some of the most notable performances on this white 1967 Stratocaster include The Fillmore East on May 10th and the Miami Pop Festival on May 18th. However, the Strat seen at Miami Pop doesn’t have the cigarette burn on the headstock, suggesting it might have been a different guitar.

It’s worth noting that during this period, Jimi also used other guitars alongside the white Strat. These included a Les Paul Custom, seen at both Miami Pop and Fillmore East, and several sunburst Strats, most of which were likely used for destruction at the end of his sets (one can be seen at Miami Pop—refer to Ken Davidoff’s website for photos from the festival). For simplicity, and due to the challenge of tracking every single Strat used, these will be omitted for now.

Electric Ladyland Sessions

Electric Ladyland was recorded during the time Jimi primarily used this Strat, making it likely that the guitar was featured on the album. Specifically, the work done at Record Plant Studio in New York between April and August 1968 was probably completed with this Strat at least part of the time. This assumption stems from the idea that Jimi had a favorite guitar he gravitated toward, explaining why he relied on it throughout much of the year, rather than simply using whatever was available in the studio.

Eddie Kramer, Hendrix’s recording engineer, recalled Jimi using a white Stratocaster on “Voodoo Chile,” which further supports the likelihood that this guitar was used on other tracks from the album as well.

Everyone talks at length about the bold new sounds Jimi created on Electric Ladyland, but you also captured some incredible straightforward guitar tones and performances from him, like on “Voodoo Chile.” 

I remember that Jimi played a white Fender Stratocaster on that song. Surprisingly, the amp he used on that song was not a Marshall stack. It was actually a Fender Showman top with a huge cabinet with eight 10-inch speakers in it. You can hear it rumbling around on the floor of the Record Plant when you listen to the beginning of the song. He’s standing right in front of the amp and singing into the microphone, which was a Beyer M160—a ribbon mic that I always used on him.

Guitar Center interview with Eddie Kramer, webpage is now taken down