JIMI HENDRIX’S UPSIDEDOWN STRATOCASTERS

THE AXE

Truth be told, there’s nothing too special about the Stratocasters that Jimi got his hands on; he had more than the average collector could ever dream of piling up, but they were mostly stock builds, fresh off the factory line and straight into the hands of one Mr. James Marshall Hendrix. The unique part comes in how Hendrix played them – despite being left-handed, he always swore by right-handed models, restrung and played upside-down. Because the angle of the bridge pickup was reversed, the higher strings would sit further away from the bridge where they pass over the pickup

(and vice versa for the lower strings); this allowed Hendrix to unlock more summery, mellow tones on the high strings, and a crunchy, biting grunt from the lower ones. The upper horn placement also made it easier for Hendrix to strap his Strat on lower than typically possible, making it a breeze to fret along the higher notes.

THE STORY

Hendrix eschewed the rulebook wherever possible – it’s one of the key reasons his name is inextricably linked to the guitar itself. Left-handed guitars were difficult for Hendrix to find in his early days of playing, and rather than wait around or waste his days hunting one down, he adapted to circumstance and chose to modify a right-handed strat to work for himself. Even once he was able to afford virtually any guitar he wanted, Hendrix stuck with