Interesting article on Jimi Hendrix, guitars, tone etc.

[Punkavenger]

http://www2.gibson.com/news-lifestyle/features/en-us/getthattoneareyouexp.aspx

please disregard the initial Gibson propaganda

[Guest gearwhore]

that just reinforces what I knew....magic..hendrix was magic..I spent whole years worth of money trying to recreate the "sound"....hendrix did so much experimenting and modifying...only he knows the secret recipe of special mix of herbs and spices.

[cmatthes]

I still believe it's in the hands, head and heart.

The gear is such a small component in that equation, otherwise, there'd be a LOT more great guitarists out there!

[Guest gearwhore]

I still believe it's in the hands, head and heart.

The gear is such a small component in that equation, otherwise, there'd be a LOT more great guitarists out there!

couldnt agree more,that is the one part I could never find to buy. and then the assembly instructions..was it shaken or stirred.

[HSB0531]

Jimi+Eddie Kramer (Engineer)+Roger Mayer (Octavia)+Arbiter Fuzz Face+Vox Wah

Jimi had the sounds in his head, the vision and creativity, and both Eddie and Roger were able to make it happen on 2" tape & live.

It was a great collaboration.

[gorch]

I think his tone was more straight than anybody wants to be acknowledged. I think he took to many drugs to dial in anything special. A certain volume setting on a regular amp with a certain pickup varying in quality at the times created something unique very easily. Then comes his playing into play combined with a ton of drugs. That's hard to recreate.

[MCChris]

My takeaway is: thank God for Buzz Feiten tuning systems and effects loops. Until those things came along, electric guitar music sounded like pure crap and wasn't influential in the slightest.

[Guest gearwhore]

My takeaway is: thank God for Buzz Feiten tuning systems and effects loops. Until those things came along, electric guitar music sounded like pure crap and wasn't influential in the slightest.

i missed that memo..lol.

[mattjayworker]

Thanks for the post!

I found the part about swapping out the G string to be rather interesting!

"Hendrix very consciously used a .015 gauge G string rather than a .017, in order to keep the G from leaping out volume-wise".

[DJL]

I've always been amazed by what a basic rig (say .... a Stratocaster and a Marshall) sounds like in different Hands - take Hendrix , Blackmore , Jeff Beck (Beck Ola album), Paul Kossoff (Time away), Uli Roth on In Trance , Gary Moore in the early-1980's , Robin Trower ..... all sound totally individual .

D.~

[Duplex Dave]

"Bone Tone" some guitar players have a lot more than others.

[LucSulla]

One of the only things about my playing I am proud of is that I pretty much sound like me through whatever I play through. I'm certainly no virtuoso, so that isn't bragging. But for better or worse, I sound like me when I play. I think far too many people chasing others' tone kind of miss that whole thing. Even if you can't play every lick in the world, it's comforting knowing you have something that is yours. Conversely, guys like Hendrix... I'm willing to bet a whole lot of us here can play anything he did note for note if we wanted, and I'd be willing to guarantee it still wouldn't have that "it," even if we were playing it note for note through his rig.

ETA: Frigin' doctorate, and I still can't proofread worth a damn.

[Ting Ho Dung]

My takeaway is: thank God for Buzz Feiten tuning systems and effects loops. Until those things came along, electric guitar music sounded like pure crap and wasn't influential in the slightest.

GTFO

[svl]

Always thought the Tele deal on the classics was funny. Argued that with cats for years, always had the "no way, that's a fuckin' Strat, man, nothing sounds like that but a Strat" comment lobbed at me. Dumbassery at it's finest.

Soul's in the digits, and that's where the tone lives...

[tbabinec]

Jimi's tone is in his hands. He is very good at control in the midst of loud amp volume settings.

[dragan]

I still believe it's in the hands, head and heart.

The gear is such a small component in that equation, otherwise, there'd be a LOT more great guitarists out there!

gear is always cool but this is the reallity^^^

My takeaway is: thank God for Buzz Feiten tuning systems and effects loops. Until those things came along, electric guitar music sounded like pure crap and wasn't influential in the slightest.

[Disturber]

Tone is not in your fingers, it's in your wallet. You want to sound like Hendrix, you must have this one. It's 50s tone after all:

http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/65203-psa-nik-huber-rietbergen/

[dragan]

Tone is not in your fingers, it's in your wallet. You want to sound like Hendrix, you must have this one. It's 50s tone after all:

http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/65203-psa-nik-huber-rietbergen/

I wish it were so , I'd be broke but happy tonewise

[Guest gearwhore]

Tone is not in your fingers, it's in your wallet. You want to sound like Hendrix, you must have this one. It's 50s tone after all:

http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/65203-psa-nik-huber-rietbergen/

I spent that wallet twice...I can say first hand money can't buy you love...as in love of a tone..Been There Done That. I would give $500,000 if you can set me up a rig that I can play and sound painstakingly jimi as I part your hair with the volume and gets me revered for cracking the code ........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh oh it was a dream darn

and the oh other bitter reality if it only cost $500,000..I would be way back in the line because someone with deeper pockets would have been there first.

[HSB0531]

I've been told I have carpal tunnel tone.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

How does SRV's tone on his covers of Jimi's songs compare? Did SRV nail the tone?

Or is SRV's tone (even on Jimi's songs) clearly unique?

[velorush]

My favorite example on this argument is our own Brooks.

Brooks has what I'd term "chops of doom," and from what I can tell, gigs successfully as much as he'd like in a number of different genres. I've never seen Brooks post a NGD with any boutique instruments or amps (there was the Axe Effects trial that ended in a sale). His instruments are humble, run-of-the-mill affairs (no offense meant); his amps and effects are decidedly utilitarian (wasn't he using a Power Block at one time?), but what tone! What chops! It's in the hands, ladies and gentlemen!

http://youtu.be/pqi25iW0Neg

Jimi didn't start playing in '67. He paid incredible dues and just so happened to be extremely talented and was into psychoactive recreational pharmaceuticals. These combined to tap into some outrageously interesting original music and great versions of existing tunes - but at what personal cost?

[dragan]

How does SRV's tone on his covers of Jimi's songs compare? Did SRV nail the tone?

Or is SRV's tone (even on Jimi's songs) clearly unique?

srv reprisents jimis voodoo child tone, (as oppossed to burning the mid night oil or purple haze or other of his tones) but its the way he played it made it convincing & enjoyable

[Guest gearwhore]

How does SRV's tone on his covers of Jimi's songs compare? Did SRV nail the tone?

Or is SRV's tone (even on Jimi's songs) clearly unique?

I can totally tell the difference of jimi and stevie...on the same track...stevie comes close at times,but its still stevie

And yes Jimi payed his dues working up the ladder.

[Punkavenger]

Jimi used drugs as a release from all the pressure that record companies put on him. At one time he was playing 300 gigs a year plus recording. It's not like he was a f'ed up drug addict that just happened to be good at playing guitar. Could anyone here just even travel to 300 different locations in a year without being a nervous wreck? Let alone playing perfectly every night and pleasing millions of fans? Recently I had to travel out of town for a month to restore a mural and just had to deal with ONE really picky unreasonable person. I'm still recovering