Famous Rock Guitars Conclusion

This is the conclusion of the famous guitar series. I want to thank everyone who read these and the response was much more than I ever expected. I hope you enjoyed it. 

This is the last edition of this series. We covered:

Today we feature one guitar…and it’s a big one!

Image result for jimi hendrix at woodstock

Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Stratocaster (Izabella)

This guitar is a 1968 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster, with the serial number #240981, that he bought from Manny’s Music music store in New York. Its body was made of alder and has a maple neck/fretboard setup.

Hendrix played the Strat at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, including on his famous rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Hendrix purchased the guitar in 1968.

Jimi Hendrix gave the guitar his drummer Mitch Mitchell who had been with Jimi since he broke through with the Experience.

Mitch Mitchell:  ‘I had given him a drum kit as a present some time before and I said to him “I’ll have that guitar before you break it up” (I do not think that he would in fact have broken this particular guitar). He said, as was his way “You got it” and he then gave me the guitar. In retrospect I think it was by way of a gift as my daughter had just been born a few days previously’

Mitchell decided to auction the guitar off in 1990. Mitch had kept the guitar in the case and it never left his possession. The guitar needed to be cleaned up. Neville Marten who worked for Fender at the time did the job. This is what he said:

Taking the guitar to my workbench I checked the neck for straightness and it needed a slight tweak of the truss rod. That done, I cut off the strings and threw them in the bin. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? Today they alone would probably be worth £50,000 (with Jimi’s DNA all over them)!

At an auction in 1990, it was bought by Gabriele Ansaloni for the sum of around $300,000. Ansoloni kept it for two years before selling it on to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for a sum believed to be north of 2 million dollars (some sources also say $1.3 million and $2 million).

Paul Allen housed it at The Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, the museum he founded to showcase the history of rock n roll music. And it’s on display there to this day…see below…

below that is Kenny Wayne Shepherd playing it.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd got to play the guitar on the Jimmy Fallon Show.

Woodstock Strat

Fender made an exact re-production of Izabella…it can be yours for around $6000 dollars.

Fender Custom Shop Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster Izabella Limited Edition Olympic White

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

55 thoughts on “Famous Rock Guitars Conclusion”

      3. No he smartly didn’t…he saw The Who and that Pete was almost obliged to smash his guitar every night and didn’t want to fall in that rut.

        What I wouldn’t give to just play a few chords on this guitar!

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    1. Yes I covered about all I wanted to cover. I guess the only one I didn’t do was Lennon’s black Rick but it was a lot of fun and I got a bigger response than I ever thought I would.

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      3. In my case, it is a post from January 2018 about Bad Company and their Live at Red Rocks album. It is still getting plenty of hits.

        Don’t get me wrong, I think the band is great, but I just don’t find anything special about the post. That being said, obviously, I don’t folks keep clicking on it! 🙂

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  3. A great idea and good coverage Max. I saw a book approximately on the topic at Barnes and Noble- didn’t catch the name but basically a coffee table book of famous guitars… you should see if your nearest one has the same . Are there enough famous basses for a series?!

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    1. Thanks Dave…like I said…more people liked it than I thought and I covered every one I wanted to except Lennon’s black Rick…I thought it was a good way to end it…I should have posted a Jimi Hendrix song today instead of John Fogerty like I did though to link these together!

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  5. I would love to go to that museum. I don’t think the Chris Cornell statue outside was life-sized which is a pity but it still looks good, especially how he lined it up with the photo in the background. I will get to that place one day! Jimi’s guitar has GOT to be the numero uno electric guitar in existence. I’m glad you finished the series with it. The story of Jimi giving the guitar to his drummer to honor the birth of the man’s baby girl is so touching. How tough it must have been for him to have to sell it for whatever reason. Someone stepped in and paid a pittance (compared to what it is worth) and then made a hefty profit off of it. Thank goodness the last buyer had the grace to place it in a museum for all to appreciate. Excellent series, Max. I like Dave’s idea of series on famous bass guitars 🙂

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    1. Thank You Lisa…people liked this ten times better than I thought they would. I am thinking about the bass guitars…I did Pauls but that is all.

      Oh I would love to go to that museum…so many things are there. A lot of pop culture treasures like this. The owner of the Colts football team owns George Harrison’s Gibson SG and George gave it to Pete Ham…so both owned it. I would love to strum one chord on this and that guitar.

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  6. Though I know next to nothing about guitars, I really enjoyed this fun series Max, and learned quite a bit. It’s too bad Neville Marten cut off all the old strings that had originally been on Jimi’s guitar. What was he thinking?

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    1. Thank you

      Oh yea…Cobain’s acoustic that was on the unplugged was lost when his daughter divorced and her ex husband got it…he was the last one I would say…never cared that much for him but he was a rock star

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      4. I think she gave it to him before they were divorced…but since they were married I don’t know how that works.
        I was going to do that guitar but I thought I would stop at the best…Jimi

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  10. Pingback: Famous Rock Guitars Conclusion — PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture – Beginner Music Guides

  11. Yeah, I would rather that guitar wasn’t restrung for a rightie, or in fact played at all. Playing Hendrix on that thing, it’s just bound to fall flat….

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  12. Hi Max, I’ll just elbow my way in to an old post again. For some reason I’ve suddenly developed an interest in the guitars used by the Honeycombs in ‘Have I The Right?’ It has a bright lead sound. All the bands guitars are Burns’ but it’s the look/sound of the lead that interests me. Don’t ask me why, it’s one of those interests that comes then goes! Anyways do you, being a muso, know much about Burns guitars- there is one that I really like the look of, the Burns SSJ. I do know Burns’ were popular in the Brit market in the 60s, but that’s about it.

    Now I can’t play a note, even a bum one, but I’m personally taken by the look of the SSJ. I wondered if you have any anecdotes or input on the Burns sound? (This little interest will probably -no pun, seriously- burn itself out, but if I don’t ask I won’t get an answer…) And I realise time is limited for you, so ignore or put this on the back-burner, it’s just a passing fancy of mine at the moment and of no world-shattering importance.

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    1. This is why I refuse to close comments on older posts…this is why I blog…to communicate! Are you kidding? I won’t push this back.

      The reason I heard of them before was because Hank Marvin, The Searchers, and Vic Flick played them some…some models were called Burns Bison and Black Bison models. The bass player had one as well. They have that distinctive horn on the top.
      The sound is kinda close to a Fender Stratocaster….but they had 4 friggin pickups! I just read where after a few flick of the levels…you could get a Gibson sound rough sound…with that many pickups…it was probably used as a guitar where you didn’t have to switch guitars live to get different sounds.

      Im not finished….you are going to regret asking me lol…no I want to look and listen to a few more…great sounding.

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      1. Sorry Max, out doing some shopping so … you know how it goes when she picks up the shopping bags and raises the eyebrow? ‘Yes ma’am!

        Yeah, I get that about not needing a guitar tech to hand you another guitar for the next song. (I imagine the roadies must go crazy when the Eagles do a medley. Yes, another dig, I know you love ’em!) Seriously though it must be hellava versatile for a gigging musician who’s more a traveller in a Dodge Econoline than a Learjet.

        No regrets Max, I’m more than happy to read your views. I just like the look of some of them, some just aesthetically please the eye, I don’t know what they may play like. Hey, I even liked the look of those headless Steinbastards, or whatever they’re called. A coupla years back I picked up a cheap jack crap Peavey at a garage sale just because it looked pretty in bright blue and would cover a couple of nail holes in the man cave wall nicely. My mate who CAN play says its ‘alright’ but it’s not to play, it’s just a wall hanging really, and it looks good enough to me.

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      2. You know…Peavy gets a bad rap at times…their amps are good. The thing about them was…they were affordable and all we could afford…so we felt like big shots when we started to get Fender amps…but not really a big difference. Some Peavy guitars I would not give a nickle for…but some are really good…and their basses.
        I’m going to look more into the Burns stuff…I never thought about them as much…I agree with you…they look really cool and when that kind of talent uses them…thats a good sign.

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  13. I just dragged that Peavey off the wall- its a (C)Raptor Plus. As I say it looks purty, thats enough for me.

    I guess in the 60s in the UK there wasn’t access to the big names, Gibsons Fenders, etc. They were probably seen as exotica, all tied up with the Elvis/Chuck influence… I guess before the Brit invasion and Beatles, Who, Clapton, Greene etc started to influence the US market. But most kids in the UK couldn’t afford a Strat or Rickenbacker or anything they’d seen the big US bands playing, so they went down to Syd’s Music Shop off the High Street and picked something more affordable and available, something locally made. Maybe it was a Burns, I dunno- I’m just surmising. Or rambling???

    It’s like the Brit kids would’ve loved to buy a big old Buick or Cadillac but the funds only ran to a Ford Prefect or a Morris Minor!?!

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    1. Some musicians…and I’m included can be snobs. I’m trying to get out of that because…if a guitar has a good neck (the most important non-hardware) the most important part of the guitar to me…then you have a workable guitar or bass. What many do now…is soup it up.

      What I got with my cheap electric 12 string Danelectro…is a good neck and body…but cheap tuning keys, pickups, and nut that goes on the neck. They were replaced with very good equipment…now my Danelectro…will challenge a Rick with that sound. I’ve seen guitar players get a strat or a tele…and switch necks (can’t do that with Gibson because they are made into the guitar) and they have their dream guitar.

      Oh in the 60s…Hofner was huge over there…look no further than Paul’s Hofner Violin bass…cheap ass guitar period…that is why he got it. But with the right equipment it can sound good. Plus it’s super light.

      After reading…Burns was not a cheap guitar…they were priced just under Fender and Gibson…but not too much. No you are right…Hofner, Burns, Harmony, Univox, and Epiphones…Epiphones was a Gibson cheaper guitar. Lennon played one in Get Back…that big yellow Epiphone Casino.

      What many do now also is get cheap Fender Mexico made Fender Strats…what they do is find a better neck and boom…really good guitar. My father made acoustics and mandolins…he hated making electrics because he said they were “2×4’s with strings on it” lol…well I didn’t agree but I get what he is saying…it was much harder making an acoustic instrument.

      Now I’m rambling!

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      1. So customising is a big thing. It makes sense, set up what works for you personally does make sense. F’rinstance I watched a guy on YouTube trying out the JJS and I didn’t like the way the jack plug(?) went straight into the body, it looked ugly. I think it would look better going in the side but there is probably a reason… security of the plug, maybe they can fall/get swept off… Hey, again I’m just half-assed thinking, or rambling!

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      2. No it can be done…that would take some work because you would have to fill the old hole and make a new one…but it can be done! Or you could have a dummy hole…or…and this was done on Ricks in the factory at one time. They had two jacks on a guitar…one was stereo one was mono.

        Just like we are doing to my truck (weather permitting!)… same works with a guitar. Many musicians I know seek out cheap guitars…I mean cheap cheap…because it’s usually something they can use.
        Now you can buy kits…just like kit cars. I like that…because you put it together and pitch what you don’t want. But as long as the neck is good…that is like the foundation to me…then you can make it work. A guy at Gruhn Guitars…an old place in Nashville…told me that Clapton came in the 70s and bought 4 different fender strats…because he liked the neck on one, the pickups on another…etc…and made two or maybe 3 guitars with it…. now that is a rich mans game lol.

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      3. Funny, we have AI and all that stuff but there is something about humans that you can’t put down to numbers or algorithms, you just like it, for some untangable reason I like green, my wife likes red… why? because we’re individuals, nothing more, nothing less.

        Clapton can afford to cobble together axe out of all the best bits. Anmd why not if you’ve got enough of the folding stuff?

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  15. An offering on the demise of the truck Max?

    DesTrucked. So the mini-truck engine transplant task is done? / But the journey to rejuvenation had just begun! / Well, at least you did get to hear the rattly diesel run. / So it’s a a sad and sorry tale of what could have been, / Now no new lease on life for the classic-ish machine, / For there’s FAR more to fix than a cracked windscreen. / Yes, what a sad and unusual way to trucking well go, / A falling tree struck the poor trucks cab a body blow: / Wave bye-bye to the tow truck, with mini-truck in tow.

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    2. Obbverse…the story continues: Well…an update on this…it’s not over yet lol. My friend Greg is a great mechanic…his buddy came by last night which Greg says is WAY above him being a mechanic. He said he had the body of a 1995 S-10 that he doesn’t want and is great shape. Greg and I said…but this is a 1985…he said the parts should fit well. So in other words we can use my old frame and his new body to make it work. Greg told me not to get my hopes up but that dude…said Max get your hopes up…she will fit and I’ll come down and help. Well, I couldn’t in my wildest dreams afford this dude…and Greg told him…Joe…what about your laptop? He has a laptop that is locked up…and I told him I’ll fix the thing no problem…and Joe said ok…deal. I told him that wasn’t fair to him but he waved me off…he LOVES this stuff. Ok Joe…whatever blows your hair back! So this got more interesting. So my 1985 truck that is boxy will soon be a curvy body of a 1995 S-10. I’m still not getting my hopes up but…the adventure continues! These mechanics are a different breed all together. I never asked them obbverse…but wouldn’t the cab be part of the frame????? I guess not.

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      1. OK, so this is my take- engine transplant into ’85, tree falls on ’85, crushing dreams and ’85. cab. New body of ’95 offered up as new home for working engine.
        It could work because trucks (here I go back in time to the way cars once were made, with an actual frame that the bodies of cars/trucks were bolted to) often retained that seperate chassis for strength (like Jeeps until fairly recently) even in the ’90s. So the body maaaay be able to be exchanged. More likely is Joe just gives over the rolling chassis, cab, deck and all. If so you get a ten year upgrade I guess???
        This engine and ever-changing truck body combo is getting more customised treatment than any far-out Foose design!
        Seriously, in another way it’s a win/win for Greg Joe and you. The old barter system, goods or knowledge being exchanged instead of money- so ‘Every 1’s A Winner’ to quote Hot Chocolate.

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      2. We know that engine will fit…and we had just bought a new all metal radiator… so this will be a learning experience for me! Yea that would work as well…I’m not sure what the chassis has on it.
        Yes…everyone wins. You nailed it…those group of guys barter like crazy. I’ve seen Greg driving a cool truck…where did you get that? Oh I traded a tractor I picked up somewhere…I don’t think money ever changes hands…fine with me!

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      3. I’ll go have a look at how the ’95 looks. Some trucks work styling-wise, some don’t IMHO. At least the stylists in the US have a decent size to work with. Trying to do anything with, say, a Morris Minor size flat bed is just going to look utilitarian, there’s not much more you can do to jazz it up.

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