This 1970 Fender Stratocaster was purchased by Jimi Hendrix on July 14, 1970, at Manny’s Music in New York. Around that time, Jimi was spending a lot of time at Electric Lady Studios, which was still under construction. When the studio officially opened on August 26, an opening party was held. According to Noel Redding, Jimi played this guitar during the event, though no photos of the performance exist (refer to the auction page for source).
The following day, on August 27, Jimi flew to London. It’s believed that he left the guitar at Electric Lady Studios, as it wasn’t seen at any of the shows he played between August 27 and his passing on September 18, 1970.
What happened to the guitar afterward is unclear. At some point, Noel Redding signed the guitar, possibly when it was first sold.
In 2010, the guitar appeared at Julien’s Auctions, where it sold for $187,500 (LOT 128 OF 562: JIMI HENDRIX FENDER STRATOCASTER, Julien’s). However, this wasn’t its first auction appearance. Mentions online suggest it was auctioned at Christie’s in 2009 and possibly even earlier, in 1995.
It seems, however, that this was not the first time it went on the auction, as there are mentions online of an auction held at Christie’s in 2009, and possibly one way earlier, in 1995.
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I can remember learning that Hendrix used a sunburst maple neck Strat with the big headstock in the studio. This info came from Richie who ran the famous guitar shop We Buy Guitars in New York. I would see him at the guitar shows starting in the 90’s.
He told me that he bought a guitar like this from Velvert Turner who was a friend of Jimi’s. Richie knew Velvert and the guitar for many years before he finally bought it. It may have been presented in one of the guitar mags like Guitar World or 20th Century guitar back in the day.
Why is one of them 2-colour sunburst and one 3-colour? Did he own 2 different one?
It’s the same guitar, but for some reason, the red on the top faded away, while it’s still present on the back. It’s possibly because the top was more exposed to sunlight. You can see more photos here: https://www.julienslive.com/lot-details/index/catalog/3/lot/129
This turned out to be a fake.
What’s the source? Was that published anywhere?