To most people the truth about when Jimi Hendrix got his first guitar and what types of guitars he played throughout his career is somewhat of a mystery. Although, he was unarguably the greatest guitar player ever, and with his fertile musical mind, perhaps the greatest composer of our generation or ever for that matter. No disrespect intended, putting Jimi in company with Bach, Beethoven and the likes. True Genius.
The path that will be described here is what I would consider the most accurate, after a lot of research and a little voodoo-magic. Realistically though, boiling down the mixture may leave some people to disagree with me, and I welcome the input.
The evidence and consistencies suggest that his first guitar was a cheap acoustic his dad gave to him, as early as eleven years old. The story goes as such, that even at a young age of six years, his school teacher mentioned to his dad, Jimi obsesses over having a guitar so much that it may be contributing to some mental health issues. Not to discount todays teachers, but that was a very perceptive statement at that time.
His first electric guitar was bought from Myers Music in Seattle in 1959. Professed to be a white, single pickup Supro Ozark. The next axe that Hendrix played was a red Danelectro single pickup Silvertone, nicknamed Betty Jean. In'62, while doing some gigs with the King Casuals in Tennessee, he traded his Danelectro for an Epiphone Wilshire, which had dual pickups and a glued on mahogany neck with a solid mahogany body, as opposed to the bolt on Fender Stratocaster guitar necks.
In 1964, Jimi would play rhythm guitar for the Isley Brothers. During this nine month gig, he finally got his first Fender guitar, a blond'59 Duo-Sonic. He next played with Little Richard in '65, and briefly played a Fender Jazzmaster. However, he switched back to a Dou-Sonic when he played with Curtis Knight and the Squires. Even though Jimi later returned to the Jazzmaster.
A point of interest is that none of the gigs he had with the bands mentioned above lasted very long, because Jimi's guitar work stole the show. His unbelievable guitar abilities were noticed by all immediately, which took the focus away from the musical-icons he worked for.
Jimi purchased his first Strat from Manny's Music in New York in '66 in the summer. Early on he would use a variety of CBS Strats with rosewood fretboards. While he was staying in Greenwich Village in late '66 and '67 he narrowed down his choices to a '60's era Reverse Fender Stratocasterblack or white Fender Strats using maple fretboards. Which, most likely is the reason the Fender Stratocaster is the most important guitar in the history of guitars and music.
From then on he played Fender Stratocasters with large headstocks. One of his many unusual playing techniques was to play a right handed guitar backwards, or in the left handed position, obviously because Jimi was left handed. In order to do that one must reverse the strings and (bone) nut so the low E was still on the top. My understanding was that he preferred the controls on the top of the guitar. Apparently he could work his magic easier with the voluminous amount of tricks he performed, partly by messing with the volume control knob. Jimi was not much on tone controls or guitar setup. Mostly Jimi spent the bulk of time modifying his tremolo to do things like lower the pitch more than usual and create trem sounds otherwise unheard of.
Naturally Jim Hendrix had purchased and played a tremendous assortment of guitars in his lifetime. During my fact finding mission, this is the list of the other guitars Jimi most likely owned and played; a Gibson ES-330, a Gibson Firebird, a Mosrite electric resonator guitar, a Guild 12 string acoustic, a Black Widow Spider acoustic, several Rickenbacker's including a bass Rick, a double neck Mosrite, a Hagstrom 8 string bass(it was the on played on Spanish Castle Magic from the Axis Bold As Love album', a '67 Gibson Flying V, a '67 Gretsch Corvette, a lefty Guild Starfire Deluxe, a Hofner electric, a '55 Gibson Les Paul, a Gibson Dove acoustic, a Martin acoustic, a '68 Gibson SG Custom and a black lefty Flying V. Wow!
It is not surprising that Jimi owned so many guitars. The depth of knowledge and pure unadulterated playing style was not limited to just electric guitars and Stratocasters. His unique abilities allowed him to play any guitar with the deep soul jarring vibes that were all his. It would be unrealistic to think he was limited to one style of guitar. Or for that matter, one type of music. Jimi's interest in music extended to the world of classical music as well.
Lost to many, is the fact that Jimi was one of the best rhythm guitarists ever, most folk know him for his lead and solo guitar work, he was also an adept bass player too. And last, he was a master at the acoustic guitar, using chords in a manner unknown to mankind at that time. This combo of skills and abilities produced the man who will be forever the patron saint of rock guitar.
A long article to read indeed. A true joy putting the info together. It turned out to be a long path to find the truth. Enjoy it.
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What’s a “Shimmy” and how can you use it to raise the plastic support bridge on an acoustic electric guitar?
I just bought a really cheap Acoustic Electric guitar off of Ebay.
I knew it was cheap when i bought it but my guitar was recently destroyed, i’m strapped for cash, and i just can’t go any longer without playing.
I read a review of the same guitar on Amazon and someone said:
“The guitar is playable but I would definitely recommend:
1) Stripping/sanding and repainting or stain the fret board.
2) Remove the cheap decal around the hole and put your own design or just clear coat it to make it match the rest of the guitar.
3) Use a shimmy to raise the plastic support bridge a few millimeters near the 6th string.
4) Use harder strings unless you like tuning every time you pick up the guitar.”
Now i’m not concerned so much with the cosmetics of the guitar, i can improve that later. However, several people have said the plastic on the bridge is so low, the string hits the other forward fret dividers and makes a ding sound if not pressed fully. I had this problem with my very first guitar eleven years ago and it drove me crazy. So, this person says that can be fixed by using a shimmy to raise the plastic support bridge, and i’d like to know exactly how to do that.
All answers will be appreciated, i’ll give the Best Answer to the person who’s instructions actually work, or explanation makes enough sense for me to figure it out myself.
Has anyone bought that really cheap(price) guitar capo on ebay?
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Quick-Change-Clamp-Key-Capo-fr-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar_W0QQitemZ280322672432QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item280322672432&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1308 thats the link. with shipping its only 5 dollars. is it bad?
I think you’re referring to a “shim.” A shim is a thin piece of wood or plastic that you put under the bridge saddle to raise it up.
Let’s back up a little. Before making any adjustments to your guitar, it’s important to determine exactly what’s wrong. Just because somebody else bought one of these guitars and had to shim the bridge, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you need the exact same adjustment. You only need to be concerned about the string if it’s either too high or too low on YOUR guitar.
If the string is too low, first check the neck to make sure it’s straight or has a teeny forward bow. This is called “neck relief” and is adjusted with your truss rod. You can google “truss rod adjustment” and find detailed instructions on how to check and adjust your neck relief.
Only after you’ve set the neck relief should you think about adjusting the string height. If a string is too low, it will give you fret buzz. Since your guitar is a cheapo, you may want to check that none of the frets have lifted. Acoustic guitars don’t generally have adjustable bridges so you raise or lower them by working on the saddle.
Your bridge is made of wood with a white plastic “saddle” which the strings pass over. To lower the strings, you file the saddle. It should lift out of the slot and be filed from the bottom. If you file the top, you risk changing the radius of the saddle. If the strings are too low, you need to “shim” the bridge saddle.
To shim the saddle, you remove it and put a very thin wood shaving in the slot at whichever end needs to be raised, then put the saddle back, string the guitar and see if you raised it too much…or not enough. With a little experimentation, you’ll get the correct height. You want the strings as low as possible without getting fret buzz.
Here is a source of shims: http://www.guitarsaddles.com/SaddleShim.asp
Shims are easier than making a new saddle…but a new saddle is better. Here are some instructions: http://www.frets.com/fretspages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/MakeNewSaddle/newsaddle01.html
yea i bought it its prity decent considering the price
How you make an Acoustic Guitar Electric too?
I found a guitar pickup on Ebay for a really cheap price, and then realized i probably couldn’t just put it where it would go on a normal guitar, and then my dad said i would need a microphone. Please help. also i really don’t want any answers that say buy an acoustic electric.
Mercury Acoustic Guitar?
I’ve decided i want to learn an instrument, and im keen on learning the guitar.
I’ve been looking online (Ebay) to find a cheap acoustic for a beginner, but a number of people have suggested I avoid those cheap $60 toys.
I’m trying to keep it under $200. Its my first instrument so i dont want to fork out too much. I’ve found a couple for around that price, but i’m not sure. Some come under the brand Mercury. Is that a quality brand?
Here’s the links, along with some others. Im open to any suggestions.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-Package-Pickup-/280647933473?_trksid=e17002.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D748553018404518069
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Beginner-OM-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-Package-/270737643712?_trksid=e17002.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D748554658276718642
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230635938339&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230636147117&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1123
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Takamine-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-EF291M-BS-/280697041032?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item415ad8f088
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Cort-AD810-steel-string-guitar-/200618373575?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item2eb5c971c7
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EPIPHONE-DR-100-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-/270768277310?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item3f0b0c073e
Is this a good electric acoustic guitar?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270862864283&category=47066&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619 my budget is under $100. any ideas? and is an electric acoustic or an acoustic better? im a beginnerr/intermidiate guitar player. ive tried to learn on a cheap cresent brand acoustic guitar. But the qualities not great. i would like the best quality i can get. a little over my budget is ok. so please send me links to good guitars and brand names. and an electric acoustic or acoustic! I would like a long lasting guitar that can still be played good as i improve. PLEASE answer(=
Well, the thing is that most likely the guitar pickup you bought on EBay is a pickup built for an electric guitar, because if you just search for “guitar pickup” on EBay the ones that pop up are all replacement or aftermarket pickups to be installed on an electric guitar. Electric guitar pickups have a completely different design then acoustic guitar pickups, so most likely you’re not going to be able to use the pickup you bought. To add pickups to an acoustic guitar so you can run it through an amplifier, you need to get a pickup specifically made for an acoustic guitar. There are three kinds – the first is a pickup that you slide in to the sound hole of the acoustic so it fits under the strings. They look like this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Lace-California-Acoustic—Acoustic-Pickup-Female-104612320-i1391932.gc and there are a bunch of different kinds at different prices. The second kind is something called an under-bridge transponder, also called an under saddle. This is a single pickup that is inserted underneath the bridge, right at the bottom of the strings. This is the sort of pickup that is most common on factory made acoustic-electrics. There are kits for you to install one of these at home, but it can be EXTREMELY difficult if you’re not an experienced guitar technician. The kits look like this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fishman-Matrix-Infinity-Acoustic-Guitar-Under-Saddle-Pickup-309393-i1424016.gc The third type of pickup is having a small microphone installed inside the guitar, but really that’s only possible to do while the guitar is being built. I’m not aware of any aftermarket kits to install interior mics on an acoustic, but I could be wrong.
The first option, the pickups that you stick in the soundhole under the strings, is probably going to be your easiest and cheapest solution.
You are always better off buying a guitar at a music store.
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