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Ok, I own a brand spanking new fender usa standard strat. I am completely obsessed with hendrix, and want to duplicate his tone. I had to save up for this guitar for 2 years, so i am interested in saving as much money as possible. Unfortunately for me I am pretty sensitive to tone, so I can distinguish pretty small differences in sound (I often wonder why anyone would think a solid state amp sounds as good as a tube amp), and am pretty picky. I saw the 60's fender custom shop reissue pickups and wondered about how they would sound, and if i could get any closer to a hendrix tone with seymor duncans. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To my knowledge, Jimi's Strats were mostly straight-up stock...

If you don't mind a Mexican Fender, and want the look of the Hendrix Strat, I would suggest getting one of these:
from : localhost/and dropping a set of SD Antiquity Surfers in there.

However, if you'd rather spend the big bucks on a US Strat (and I highly recommend that you do), get yourself an American Standard with a maple board instead of the above. Pickup recommendation still applies though.

A big part of Hendrix's tone was that he played a right handed guitar upside down, which means his bridge pickup was reverse angled (i.e. the pickup was closer to the bridge on the bass side). I would recommend getting a new pickguard put into whatever you get and have it routed for a reverse-angled bridge pickup.

I don't know much about the Fender 60's pickups, but I'm sure someone on here does.

Good luck!


Originally Posted by ratherdashingA big part of Hendrix's tone was that he played a right handed guitar upside down, which means his bridge pickup was reverse angled (i.e. the pickup was closer to the bridge on the bass side). I would recommend getting a new pickguard put into whatever you get and have it routed for a reverse-angled bridge pickup.

That was my thought. Pretty much that and a set of lower output single coils.


Originally Posted by ratherdashing

get yourself an American Standard with a maple board instead of the above.

Why maple? Does it make a real difference in tone? I thought he played mostly on rosewood fret board guitars anyway. I read that the reverse headstock gave the bass strings more thump, is this true, or is it simply the reversed pickup angles and the reverse slanted bridge pickup? And my last question is, should I buy a custom surfer or rw/rp for the middle and bridge or just put standard surfers in all 3 positions.

Thanks for all the help, it is greatly appreciated.