Does Fender's Hendrix range of Strats annoy anyone else?

[stormsedge]

This^^. I had a flipped-over lefty as a science experiment for a while...it was wonky. Fender's current model is a much better arrangement for a right hander. One of these days, I'll probably pick one up (if I don't win the one on a sister site next month ).

I didn't win it...BUT I just picked up a pool route body, so I think I'll build one on the cheap. The biggest expense will be the neck.

 

[CCK1]

Just the marketing department run wild.

 

[Doctorx33]

I really like Hendrix, but I don't like all those signature guitars and Pedals in general. Which in most cases isn't even period correct. It's mainly modern overpriced stuff. I also hate all that Bonamassa signature stuff.

I once tried a really nice MXR Fuzz. But the Hendrix picture on it was a dealbreaker for me.

All this stuff reminds me of footballshirts with famous players name on it worn by little boys who pretend to be Lionel Messi.

IMHO it looks so ridiculous when fat, balding, badly dressed, mediocre middle aged players (like me) buy this stuff and try to imitate Bonamassa, Hendrix or Stevie

Hey! Who you calling mediocre??

 

[Rufus]

If you were a lefty guitar player (like me), you didnt have much choice but to start with a righty Strat flipped upside down.
the controls were definitely in the way of your picking hand.
If you look at pics if Jimi playing, he definitely curves his wrist around the bottom of the bridge.

I do like a reversed neck (for different string tension, not appearance) and also have a right handed Tremolo installed on my lefty USACG Strat (routed out a little) to have the bar on TOP. Tuning a reverse headstock neck isnt as much trouble as some make it out to be...but maybe because as a Lefty, we are used to making compromises.

It makes me laugh when people get offended by something...if you don't like it, don't buy it...but why try and deny it to someone that might want it?

It all comes down to $$...if Fender makes enough money, they will produce it.

Certain celebs like Hendrix and Bruce Lee do definitely increase magazine sales when they are on the cover...even though both have been dead for 50 years and there is really virtually no NEW info coming out.

 

[brookdalebill]

Nope.
What’s sad is that the man himself never knew the full scope of his impact.
I wonder, had he lived into the Custom Shop era what he might have designed.
Maybe he’d still play “off the rack” guitars, but I expect he’d have several ultra cool signature models.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Only Jimi makes a reverse headstock Fender look cool. No one else, including the late, great Beck, can do so.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

To me, a strat intentionally made backwards so we right-handed guys can look like Hendrix is like people who eat chitterlings in modern times: Hendrix had to play the strat like that because it was all he had, and slaves had to eat chitlins because that's all they were given. No reason to do either of those things in 2023.

 

[aFewGoodTaters]

They did sell a lefty strung right Jimi Hendrix Tribute strat, back in 1997.

View attachment 1065254

I remember this guitar, and got to play one as a I worked at a music store back then that got at least one of these in. A very strange and uncomfortable feeling guitar with the knobs, output jack, and selector switch right where your forearm rests. Obviously this setup worked tremendously well for Jimi, but for us mere mortals it is not ideal.

It isn't surprising to me that Fender wants to capatalize on Hendrix's name by offering signiture and tribute guitars, while making them playable at the same time.

 

[badscrew_projects]

Only Jimi makes a reverse headstock Fender look cool. No one else, including the late, great Beck, can do so.

Agree with that.
This guitar looks stupid

 

[Southpaw Tele]

I’m somewhat baffled by right handed players wanted to play a Strat upside down, but I’m biased. The Hendrix Strat seems like a decent compromise.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Only Jimi makes a reverse headstock Fender look cool. No one else, including the late, great Beck, can do so.

Speaking of Jeff Beck, I recently saw an interview where he commented (and I paraphrase) that Fender makes a bunch of versions of the same thing.

 

[Blues Twanger]

*Hendrix Estate line of Strats.

Jimi hasn't had any input for a while.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

Speaking of Jeff Beck, I recently saw an interview where he commented (and I paraphrase) that Fender makes a bunch of versions of the same thing.

That's true to some degree for most iconic guitars. Thin neck, thick neck, humbuckers, P90s, pickguard, no pickguard, endless wiring variations--I don't even own a Les Paul and yet I know all of those variations are out there. Strats and Teles are no different.

 

[ABetterTelePlayer]

Only Jimi makes a reverse headstock Fender look cool. No one else, including the late, great Beck, can do so.

I don't know about all that. The reverse headstock never seemed to be a "style" thing but rather something that Jimmi needed. It was a crutch and nothing more, as he liked the low action. Functionality over style I guess.

BUT What I do know is that the Seymour Duncan Pickups in my strat sound more like Hendrix than the actual Fender Hendrix line that is/has been put out there.

 

[badscrew_projects]

I see no relation between reverse headstocks and low action?

 

[ABetterTelePlayer]

I see no relation between reverse headstocks and low action?

It has everything to do with action because the strings were reversed.... Which completely changed the tension on the lower strings....

 

[badscrew_projects]

No it doesn't.

 

[thunderbyrd]

they don't annoy me. i played 2-3 of the MIM when they 1st came out and i really liked them. i'll drag one home sometime, probably.

 

[Trenchant63]

They did sell a lefty strung right Jimi Hendrix Tribute strat, back in 1997.

View attachment 1065254

Notwithstanding Hendrix’s adaptability to adjust to this and all of the aura around it, that’d be a nightmare for me to play with controls hitting my forearm as I played.

 

[ABetterTelePlayer]

No it doesn't.

Yes it does lol

But I suppose I shouldn't explain how if you're deadset in that belief. Anyways, there's tons of threads and videos out there that proves it.

they don't annoy me. i played 2-3 of the MIM when they 1st came out and i really liked them. i'll drag one home sometime, probably.

Me either. I'm sure they are a joy to play either way. They remind me of the Epiphone and Gibson Slash Les Pauls, they are good guitars but don't sound too much like Slash's tone - even when running them through a Marshall stack. I mean, they can get there with EQ work but you can find non-signature LP's that get closer right from the get go.