The Quest for Tone: Jimi Hendrix

Aged 20 with my 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom

Over the last 12 years, Ive played alot of guitar. I've owned and sold tons of guitars and amps as well. Buy. Sell. Trade. And trust me I've gone through more guitars and amps than any 23 year old should. Last count it was 20 guitars and 13 amps and cabs. I started out, at age 11, like any youngster with a very cheap set up to get you going and went from there. I started out thinking that "Oh I just need a Gibson Les Paul and everything will sound like Jimmy Page and a white Fender Stratocaster flipped upside down and strung reverse and I'm Hendrix." Easier said than done. Many factors go into creating and sculpting what is to be the tone that many people spend their lives chasing.

Jimi Playing Fender Amps

Turns out that how you play stylistically goes a long way. Once you master the licks, master the style, and then copy the bone tone (yes the bones in your hands come in to play with the tone as well) you'll sound just like Jimmy or well...Jimi! Basically There is not a chance at getting spot on...you can get pretty close. You can start by listening to some old Curtis Mayfield as that influenced Jimi alot during his Chitlin Circuit days and during the time that he played in Curtis Knight and the Squires. Trying to be or sound anything like Jimi Hendrix is just otherworldly. There are ways to try to get a close approximation to where he was coming from, but like any equation there are a ton of variables involved. Amp of all kinds, modded effects (courtesy of Roger Mayer of course) and an endless array of guitars.

Sound City Head Through Sunn Cabs

The man played loud. Marshall 100 watt plexi stacks cranked. He also was know to use Fender Showman and Twin Reverb amps these are 85 watts each as well. In the Studio anything goes. rumor has it that Jimi loved to use a Fender Bassman. Jimi knew that the tone was him. He could plug into anything and sound like himself. Jimi played gigs using all sorts of non Marshall amps. Now these amps are almost going to be entirely clean. A Stratocaster with single coils doesnt break up anything like a humbucker would through one of any of these amps. Jimi knew this. Many times he would jump the channels on his Marshalls to get a little bit of grit to them and adjust the volume on his guitar to adjust the gain. Back then amps didnt come with a gain knob....if you wanted distortion you cranked your amp. Jimi used Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face pedals during much of the Experience era. He used Mosrite fuzzes and various others earlier during his Curtis Knight sessions. Many of these Fuzz Face pedals are available these days using 2 different types of transistors. Germanium and Silicon. The Germanium Fuzzes will work best for earlier Hendrix material and the Silicon for the later. Hendrix used these as a way to drive for more amp distortion. Most always these pedals were in the on setting and he used his Volume on his guitar as a way to increase or decrease the gain. Also add soul, sweat and swagger.

Over time I've heard many people try to say they've nailed the Hendrix tone and it's just highly unlikely. His tone changed from note to note, phrase to phrase. You may have found one of those tones reminiscent of the man. There are many other elements that go into his tone like the gauge 9 strings and the fact that the poles on his pickups are reversed and out of phase, but remember Jimi sounded like Jimi when he plugged a Gibson in as well. I leave you with a video from the Monterey Pop Festival 1967 in which the Jimi Hendrix Experience played it's first US gig. This is the famed gig in which Jimi burned his hand painted guitar. If you look closely at the back line, you'll notice 1 Marshall left of the drums followed by 2 Fender stacks to the left of that Marshall. Also to note, Noel Redding is also playing Fender amps.

P.S.  -
Adding a coily cable to your guitar with a Marshall stack can cut some unwanted highs.
Good Luck on your quest for great tone!