Johnny Allen Hendrix, born in 1942, was a left handed boy with a dream of being a guitarist. In his youth, Jimi would run
around his house playing a broom acting as if he were the lead guitar player for B.B. King. In his teenage years, Hendrix was arrested for riding in stolen cars. He was given a choice
of enlisting in the Army or spending time in prison. In 1961, on May 31st, he joined the Army. He was placed in the 101st Airborne
Division and stationed at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky. Hendrix was said to be a horrible soldier, showing no interest in being there. He
was known to sleep while on duty and someone always had keep an eye on him. Not soon after, his commanding officer requested that
Hendrix be discharged from the military and, after only serving one year in the Army, Jimi was released. His time in the service
was not a total loss, while he was there he met a man by the name of Billy Cox and together they formed their first band, "The King
Casuals". They became rather popular in the UK, but Jimi was beginning to branch off into a different direction.
After Jimi's discharge he and Billy Cox moved to Clarksville, Tenessee. There they started playing small gigs, but the
money wasn't enough for Jimi and the rest of the band. Then one day, the band picked up and moved to Nashville and
made their home on Jefferson Street. This was not only the heart of the black community, but also the Rhythm and
Blue's scene. They soon became the house band at " Club Del Morocco ". Eventually, Billy Cox would only use Jimi
when needed because of his wild style and need to be in the lime light. However, along the way, Jimi met many
others and from 1962 to 1964 he played guitar bits in a number of different bands.
In 1964, Jimi was up and moving again, this time it was to New York. There he got a lead role in the Isley Brothers band. Together
the band traveled on a nationwide tour, it wasn't until
October, of that year, Little Richard hired the guitar player to record and tour with his band, "The Royal Company". It has
been reported that Jimi and Little Richard had many differences and, in 1965, Jimi was left in Washington DC. He then floated
from band to band until 1968 when he released his first hit single, "Hey Joe", which marked the beginning of the "Jimi Hendrix Experience".
Jimi was considered to be one of the best guitarist of his era and, to this day, continues to influence younger musicians. His style of playing with high gain and treble, bending strings and use of feedback started a new sound that was said to be "indescribable". In 1969, Jimi headlined the Woodstock Festival and in 1970 the Isle of Wight Festival. On September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix died in london. The cause of death was asphyxiation (choking on his own vomit, while sleeping). In 1992, Jimi Hendrix was accepted into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2005 the U.K. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Actual guitar that Jimi played the Star Spangled Banner @ Woodstock
Jimi Hendrix Gear
Guitars
Most known for playing a variety of Fender Stratocasters mainly the 1968 Strats
Jimi used a ton of different guitars. Here's a list of some others he used:
Fender Jaguar
Fender Jazzmaster
Gibson Flying V
'59 Hofner Club 40
Epiphone FT79 Acoustic
'67 Gretsch Corvette
Gibson Les Paul Customs
white Gibson SG Custom with Maestro
Ibanez Rhythm Guitar
Mosrite Guitars
Fender Telecaster
Amps / Cabinets
Marshall 1960A Slant Cabinet / 4x12
Marshall 1960AC Vintage Cabinet / 4x12
Marshall 1959SLP 100Watt Super Lead Plexi Head
Fender Twin Reverb
Fender Dual Showman
Actual pedals that Jimi used
Effects
Vox 847 Wah
'Axis' fuzz
Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
Mosrite Fuzzrite
Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz
Roger Mayer Octavia Fuzz/Octave
UniVox UniVibe
