Vibe Firebird
The Guitars of Jimi Hendrix
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.
About the Author
For more information about Guitar Players Center Guitars of the Great Players or Guitar Players. Feel free to visit our website, ask questions, share it with others, make comments or simply enjoy.
The Guitars of Jimi Hendrix
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.
About the Author
For more information about Guitar Players Center Guitars of the Great Players or Guitar Players. Feel free to visit our website, ask questions, share it with others, make comments or simply enjoy.
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03-05 Pontiac Vibe Question?
I'm looking to purchase a used Pontiac Vibe for my 1st car. I've read some reviews but am curious as to what everyone has experienced with these. (Problems, repair, gas usage, misc things breaking.) I know it's built by Toyota so I guess it should be good. My friend has a '03 Firebird and another girl from work has a '98 Grand Prix and the windows are junk on both of them. Are the vibes window motors Toyota made or Pontiac Made?
We bought a 2004 Vibe in August of 04 and I only have one complaint which is true for all front wheel drive cars and that is they eat the front tires. Do your homework on tires and buy a decent tire with good tread life and you'll be good to go.
As to other posts, the Vibe is built by NUMMI in Fremont, California. NUMMI is a joint operation between GM and Toyota and they've built some great cars in Fremont (Vibe, Corolla and Tacoma currently). In the old days the motors came from Japan as well as some of the electronics but I'm not sure if that is still true.
The Matrix is made in Canada not Fremont. Seems to be a bit cheaper new and I never did figure out exactly why.
I know exactly what you mean about window motors. Pontiacs that I have or have had:
76 Sunbird
86 Grand AM
97 Grand Am
01 Grand Prix
04 Vibe
Interestingly enough it always seems to be the front passenger window. Maybe they put more stability in the driver side as the door opens/closes a lot more often than the passenger side. Just my guess but we've had absolutely not problem with the Vibe since day one.
I drove all of the different Vibe models at a GM in Motion show a couple of years ago and couldn't get enough of them. It's just a fun car to drive. Only real complaint I have about the Vibe is that the wife won't let me drive it unless she wants me to wash it or change the oil.