Ask any devotee of classic rock who they would put at the top of the greatest guitarists list and you will get an overwhelming consensus that Jimi Hendrix sits on top. His music was like nothing anybody had ever heard. It was profoundly electric (literally) and stayed away from formulaic pop. Listeners had a visceral reaction to his numbers. This was caused in no small part because of the musical equipment of Jimi Hendrix. With this in mind, let's look closer at not only his career, but some of the equipment that made his sound so unique.
Jimi hailed from Seattle, Washington, born in 1942. He served briefly in the United States Army and then proceeded to perform several low paying gigs during the early to mid 1960s. This would not be so for long. Things exploded for him in 1967 with the release of his "Are You Experienced" album. The album is considered among the greatest debut albums in history.
As alluded to earlier, Hendrix created a sound to the stage that was one of a kind. This was in large part attributable to his using some cutting edge musical technology.
First, we will look at the guitar. He chose a Fender Stratocaster. He got notes out of it like nobody else. This guitar was nothing new at the time. But what were new were the things he did with it. If you have ever watched footage from Woodstock, or actually attended the event, you are probably familiar with his rendition of the national anthem. The interpretation of this song was so different from any other.
It is no real surprise that loud is a good thing with rock and roll fans. One of the ways to keep those fans happy is to amp up the guitar. Hendrix' choice to power his Stratocaster was the Marshall lead 100 watt plexi. This brand of amp was also a favorite of other celebrated guitarists, including Pete Townshend.
A lot of his music had a distorted sound. This was a key to his style. A couple of pieces of equipment were used to achieve this. The Fuzz Face fuzz pedal gave the fuzzy quality and the Octavia octave up pedal created the wah-wah sound.
The musical equipment of Jimi Hendrix certainly contributed to his fame. But do not forget his natural playing ability was transcendent. His cuts are still popular with young music audiences today, forty-one years after his passing.
Jimi hailed from Seattle, Washington, born in 1942. He served briefly in the United States Army and then proceeded to perform several low paying gigs during the early to mid 1960s. This would not be so for long. Things exploded for him in 1967 with the release of his "Are You Experienced" album. The album is considered among the greatest debut albums in history.
As alluded to earlier, Hendrix created a sound to the stage that was one of a kind. This was in large part attributable to his using some cutting edge musical technology.
First, we will look at the guitar. He chose a Fender Stratocaster. He got notes out of it like nobody else. This guitar was nothing new at the time. But what were new were the things he did with it. If you have ever watched footage from Woodstock, or actually attended the event, you are probably familiar with his rendition of the national anthem. The interpretation of this song was so different from any other.
It is no real surprise that loud is a good thing with rock and roll fans. One of the ways to keep those fans happy is to amp up the guitar. Hendrix' choice to power his Stratocaster was the Marshall lead 100 watt plexi. This brand of amp was also a favorite of other celebrated guitarists, including Pete Townshend.
A lot of his music had a distorted sound. This was a key to his style. A couple of pieces of equipment were used to achieve this. The Fuzz Face fuzz pedal gave the fuzzy quality and the Octavia octave up pedal created the wah-wah sound.
The musical equipment of Jimi Hendrix certainly contributed to his fame. But do not forget his natural playing ability was transcendent. His cuts are still popular with young music audiences today, forty-one years after his passing.
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