Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Did any Hendrix Gibbys ooze to the surface?


humfree

Recommended Posts

I actually liked these, be it not for the obvious Jimmy slight..

Ash Strat with a rear mounted control cavity, reverse headstock, set neck, trem.. tree fitty?

http://gear-vault.com/gibson-hendrix-strat-people-are-pissed/

What happened to all of those body parts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm now noticing that the date in the Gibson HENDRIX Strat story seems to be 2009.....and another story saying Gibson pulled the model from its website back then.

So....anyone know what happened to those boxes of HENDRIX Strats in the photos?

Gibson doesn't seem one to just toss out already built guitars.

Did they throw them into flood waters or let Obama's FEDS seize them, so they could write them off in an insurance claim?

Henry J. sure has some balls sometimes, considering how he sues anyone who even thinks of making anything close to a Gibson design.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best part of a popular artist tragically dying too young is the future everyone decides they would have had based solely on that artist's creations for the short time he or she was with us.

In other words, Jimi could have just as easily ended up a burn out living off his legacy in the 60s and all too willing to that legacy out to the highest bidder as a beloved genius still carrying the torch. But because he died whe he did, we get to invent whatever Jimi we want.

Can you imagine if someone would have shot Micheal Jackson 18 months after Thriller came out? I bet few would have assumed his life would go the way it did.

And that guitar is weird. I wonder what did become of them - maybe reborn as Valley Arts somethings or other?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it looks like a nice guitar in and of itself. I'm guessing that the article surmised correctly, that Hendrix' estate was happy to take the money from Gibson for a run of guitars, as inauthentic as it may be?

I'll reiterate that it takes balls to sue people left and right, then build a Strat that's a lot closer to a Fender product than the PRS Singlecut ever was to a Les Paul. That hypocrisy more than anything overshadows what could have been a decent guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently, they were just cheapies cashing in on the name.

The third offering from this exclusive partnership is the Jimi by Jimi Hendrix "Little Wing" Electric Guitar Package which Gibson engineers and Authentic Hendrix LLC designed with one question in mind: "What if the world's greatest guitarist was still alive today, what guitar would he want to play?" Combining the historical authenticity and more than 100 years of precision guitar making the launch of the Jimi "Little Wing" electric guitar package has been launched.

This "Jimi" guitar package is equipped with three Voodoo Child Inspired by Jimi Hendrix pickups and comes with the new 10-watt "Max Feedback" amplifier so that the musician is all set to recreate Hendrix's unearthly playing style. The package also comes with an instructional DVD, which includes detailed lessons and a walk through of the components of the entire guitar package. In addition consumers will receive a deluxe padded gig bag, a 10 foot guitar cable, a nylong strap with the Authentic Hendrix logo on it and three Authentic Hendrix guitar picks. MSRP $249.99 USD.

http://www.musicradar.com/us/news/guitars/jimi-hendrix-electric-guitar-packages-220786

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In other words, Jimi could have just as easily ended up a burn out living off his legacy in the 60s and all too willing to that legacy out to the highest bidder as a beloved genius still carrying the torch. But because he died whe he did, we get to invent whatever Jimi we want.

See.

Sly.

Stone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Furthermore, I never knew this. How does Gibby win trademark suits over single cuts when Fender was denied trademarks for Strats, Teles, and P-bases?

http://archive.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/04/09/20090409sr-fender0410.html

Because so many makers had used the S, T and P shapes for so many years (without a peep from Fender) that the shapes ceased to be a unique signifier of who made the guitar. The LP shape hasn't been quite as widely copied, so Gibson was able to register the shape as a trademark. But as has already been posted, they weren't able to prove likelihood of consumer confusion in the PRS case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My opinion was that bad marketing/advertising, was the demise of these models. Forums went ablaze when the production of Gibson Hendrix models were announced, approved by the Hendrix Family. Previously Gibson released several Hendrix Flying V models, with no outcries from the fans. Hendrix had been known to play V's and Les Paul's occasionally, and one of the V Gibson models even featured the recreated paint scheme off the V he had played at Isle of Wight. But Gibson releasing a Fender Style Guitar, as a Hendrix Tribute series just hit a nerve with Fender fans.

There was supposed to be a series of guitars,... A budget series bolt on, with amp, tuner, and T-shirt, and a high end model with set neck, active pickups, and Steinberger Transposing Trem.

I was interested in that high end model and made inquiries at the time. I was informed everything was destroyed, as part of a settlement with the Hendrix family in regards to licensing/payment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the problem is also that all of the rights are controlled by Jimi Hendrix's adopted sister, who was a little kid when he died. It's pretty obvious that she is a "professional celebrity" who pretty much makes her living and gets by from all the artistic work her brother did. It's really kind of sad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the problem is also that all of the rights are controlled by Jimi Hendrix's adopted sister, who was a little kid when he died. It's pretty obvious that she is a "professional celebrity" who pretty much makes her living and gets by from all the artistic work her brother did. It's really kind of sad.

on the flip side, if you had an older sibling that became a rock god, and you fell into being the caretaker of his legacy, would you spurn that for a vanilla day job out of some sense of snob artistic integrity? I wouldn't!

I read the press statement from the sister and it sounded fairly admirable - to make budget guitars available to kids, along with a learn to play guitar book. a kid may very well feel a bit more inspired by playing a Hendrix guitar, versus some truly cheap-ass guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the problem is also that all of the rights are controlled by Jimi Hendrix's adopted sister, who was a little kid when he died. It's pretty obvious that she is a "professional celebrity" who pretty much makes her living and gets by from all the artistic work her brother did. It's really kind of sad.

One would have hoped that she could have worked out a reasonable deal with Fender to produce a legacy model. Avarice to the extreme (on either side) would lead to a dealbreaker, I'm confident. There are a few lost opportunities out there for FMIC, regardless of interest or fault. It would have been cool to see the brand market signature models for Jimi, Brent Mason, Steve Morse, Albert Lee, and even Glen Tipton.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve Morse and Albert Lee were snapped up by Music Man in the mid 80's. Glenn Tipton remained loyal to Hamer from that time forward as well. Somewhere in the 80's Fender was floundering and the company was bought cheap.

My point exactly. The timing just wasn't there. Bill Schultz was about four years too late, but for Hamer and MM, that was a good thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The truth? I witnessed the press release of that model within minutes of it being trumpeted on Gibson's website. Within a few short hours, there were HUNDREDS of hateful, mocking and just plain funny posts, lambasting Gibson for even thinking of releasing that abomination. Within 12 hours, the site had crashed twice and every gear site was pointin to it , almost unanimously poking fun at the horse's ass who greenlit that piece if shit. The site was scrubbed clean within 48 hours and all mention of the model disappeared. GONE.

I think the negative backlash was simply too much, and I'll bet some idiot(s) got canned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...