Hendrix Guitar Might Fetch 900K at Auction but Some Question Authenticity

Whenever instruments of the possible magnitude of the guitar pictured on the right go on the market, there is always a flurry of activity. The people with big bucks can’t wait to get their hands on it, while others seem to come out of the woodwork  investigating the authenticity of the piece in question. That’s actually probably a good thing though. In fact,  back in 2014, someone tried selling a guitar that was supposedly owned by the late Andrew Wood of Seattle legends Mother Love Bone. Once the real owner found out about the guitar, a virtual swarm of hornets was unleashed on the seller and he was forced to take it off the market.

So this week have a rare instrument indeed. And a complicated issue as well.

Pictured is what is reported to be Jimi Hendrix’s 1964 Fender Stratocaster. The auction states that it is the last remaining legitimate Jimi Hendrix-owned guitar out there. A 1964 Fender Stratocaster used by Jimi Hendrix between 1967-1968, given to his brother Leon Hendrix in Seattle, 12th February 1968. There are few guitar players that have had their gear held to such heights as Jimi’s has been. Many guitarists have long worshiped the gear  he walked on (and set on fire) both figuratively and literally. There are many books and websites dedicated solely to document what type of guitars he played and people have spent decades chronicling them in every form and fashion you can image.  And some of these people REALLY know their stuff, so if you are going to sell a Hendrix guitar, you need to get it right. These sites can likely tell you every single gig they were played at and what songs they were used for, because Jimi liked to rotate his stock throughout the shows. You’ll find a few of these sites below but there are several others.

Click HERE view the extensive list of guitars owned by Jimi Hendrix

Another list of stage-used Jimi Hendrix guitars can be found HERE

One thing we aren’t seeing on these comprehensive lists of Hendrix axes however is a R/H Fender Sunburst ’64 Strat. There is an undated Sunburst Fender Strat on the first list but it is a left-handed guitar and the guitar in the auction is clearly right-handed. Of course that doesn’t mean it wasn’t actually Jimi’s Strat but if he did use it in ’67-’68 there surely has to be some photos of it in his hands somewhere. Right? The auction site has this image as the only one showing Jimi with the guitar that is up for sale. DISCLAIMER: They don’t actually say it is the guitar at the auction but this photo was from the auction site, so it is assumed this is the guitar.  A quick search of the image shows that it is indeed from March 2, 1967 during the infamous London Marquee Club TV recording for the  German TV show Beat Club. Jimi is vividly shown brandishing a Sunburst Strat but is this proof enough to spend well over half a million dollars and maybe close to a cool million on a guitar?

Certainly the guitar has plenty of value even IF Jimi did just buy it and gift it to his brother but it certainly wouldn’t nab anywhere near the auction estimates.

Like we stated earlier though, none of that stuff means conclusively it wasn’t a gig-used Jimi guitar and looking back to 2012, the younger Hendrix published an intimate biography of his brother titled Jimi Hendrix: A Brother’s Story. In that book he talks of a much-coveted 1964 Sunburst Strat that Jimi gave him. He also says that he’d been offer a million dollars for it but turned it down. So the guitar certainly does have the Hendrix connection. But the question remains, was it part of Jimi’s collection or a gift?

Leon Hendrix tells this story about how he acquired the guitar from his famous brother,  ‘”’When Jimi came back home to Seattle with his band for the first time in 1968 we all met him at the airport and the same night he played at the Center Arena. A lot of the family was backstage and we were waiting for them to go to their seats so we could smoke some weed and have a few minutes to ourselves. We talked about how Dad and aunt Delores and all our cousins were doing, about girls, and touring, stuff like that, that’s when the picture of Jimi trying on my glasses was taken. He asked me if I was gonna get a band together. I had forgotten I had told him I was thinking about it over the phone and I was kinda shy about it which made him laugh. He had at least three guitars that were ready to go on stage, one of them he was warming up on, and there was another in an open case on the floor. He asked me if I had a guitar and I said no, so he said take that one over there pointing to the one in the open case. It’s funny, at the time, I almost didn’t take it, I said I dunno man, or something like that. He said “Go ahead and take it, you don’t have to learn to play it now if you don’t want to, but I want you to have it.” I’ve always remembered that part because it made me feel like I couldn’t say no, that was Jimi.”

The auction site claims the guitar has been used by Leon Hendrix since then and states the guitar is completely playable (set up right-handed). Included in the auction is the original guitar case Jimi was using to tour with. Auction estimates state that guitar may bring in 594K – 892K

Auctioneer Ted Owen tells the Mirror: “Jimi’s brother Leon has decided to let it go – it is a real one off opportunity for dedicated Hendrix fans. Due to legal wrangles Leon has never received a penny from Jimi’s estate even though he is the only surviving blood relative. Leon is getting on a bit and is not in the best of health – that’s why he’s decided to sell now. We are getting interest from fans in the States, all over Europe and as far away as New Zealand and China. The website is getting 2,500 hits a day with quite a few wealthy fans registering to bid.”

List of Jimi Hendrix guitars by Rikigo

  Here’s a guitar forum with plenty of Hendrix guitar talk going on right now and it always gets interesting when a legendary instrument goes on the auction block. And as you can see on the list above, no 1964 Sunburst Strat and that’s a hot topic at the forum. Jimi Hendrix video from March 2, 1967 – London Marquee Club Stay tuned for what will most definitely be an interesting week in the world of the late, great Jimi Hendrix.