Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster Olympic White

First the good. Neck is straight, properly fitted, and I really like a set radius as opposed to compound. The D profile feels "right" to me. Set bridge (screws vs pivot) is also a huge plus. Trem bar is a flat profile, where its closer to the body, instead of 2 inches too far out.The bad. Tuning machines are slotted too high, and a little wonky/loose. Fret ends are smooth , but not the cut, if that makes sense. So when you run your fretting hand up or down it'll catch on the burr from not smoothing out the neck side(s). The trem springs are way too loose/springy for an off the shelf guitar. Annnd it's really noisy. I expected some hum from vintage pickups but good god. This is something I'll have to deal with straight away.The gnarly. The sound and playability ... MoreFirst the good. Neck is straight, properly fitted, and I really like a set radius as opposed to compound. The D profile feels "right" to me. Set bridge (screws vs pivot) is also a huge plus. Trem bar is a flat profile, where its closer to the body, instead of 2 inches too far out.The bad. Tuning machines are slotted too high, and a little wonky/loose. Fret ends are smooth , but not the cut, if that makes sense. So when you run your fretting hand up or down it'll catch on the burr from not smoothing out the neck side(s). The trem springs are way too loose/springy for an off the shelf guitar. Annnd it's really noisy. I expected some hum from vintage pickups but good god. This is something I'll have to deal with straight away.The gnarly. The sound and playability is simply ok out of the box. Not near enough "quack" for what its designed for. Namely doing Hendrix tunes. Barely there, really.All in all. I kinda knew it was going to take around 3-500 to get it where I wanted it. But it is a great starting point for hot-rodding/customization purposes. The headstock does take some getting used to!

Beautiful Guitar, Wonderful Service

Overall:I just ordered on a Tuesday and received on Thursday (2 day free shipping). This very nice Olympic White Fender guitar and Fender tweed hard case were packed very nicely. zZounds shipping department clearly made the extra effort to unpack the guitar and case, put the guitar in the case, repacked/boxed the case with the guitar in it for shipping. So when I received my new instrument, it was tucked away nicely in its new case. I just thought there was definitely extra effort put into delivering my purchase to me in a thought out and classy way. It made receiving and unpacking my guitar the special experience I'd hoped it would be. Thank you zZounds!!So, about this Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster. I stretched the strings and tuned it up several times to get ... MoreOverall:I just ordered on a Tuesday and received on Thursday (2 day free shipping). This very nice Olympic White Fender guitar and Fender tweed hard case were packed very nicely. zZounds shipping department clearly made the extra effort to unpack the guitar and case, put the guitar in the case, repacked/boxed the case with the guitar in it for shipping. So when I received my new instrument, it was tucked away nicely in its new case. I just thought there was definitely extra effort put into delivering my purchase to me in a thought out and classy way. It made receiving and unpacking my guitar the special experience I'd hoped it would be. Thank you zZounds!!So, about this Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster. I stretched the strings and tuned it up several times to get it all to settle in. It did that and after a few rounds tuned up easily and held its tune with no problem. It settled in very quickly with nice feel and intonation across the entire fretboard. I plugged it into My Fender '65 Blonde Twin Reverb reissue (also purchased at zZounds), worked my way through the tone knob variations on the guitar and amp to find the magic that I knew was lying in this Strat/Twin combo, and after about 15 minutes it was there in spades. Unbelievable sound started coming out of this guitar! If you love what '65 vintage grey bottom strat pickups and a '65 twin reverb sound like together, well it's the 65 SOUND! This guitar feels, plays and sounds unbelievable. The quality of the build is very, very nice. Made in Mexico is Made Well! This is a high quality instrument. After working with getting the clean revebed tones dialed in, I started adding pedals, boost, fuzz, distortion, modulation and delay and the guitar sang in many different voices, adapting very nicely with all combination of effects, then back to clean and started it all over again. What a joy to play the glossy, fast neck and fretboard. Tuning is a breeze on the reversed, upside down tuners, I actually like the tuning pegs/function on the bottom of the headstock, it's ergonomically easier for some reason. So, I have only great things to say about this Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster and zZounds delivered wonderfully with their affordable payment plans and their fast and well packed shipping of the instrument. I am so happy I chose this Fender Guitar and bought from zZounds, and BTW this guitar is for ALL styles of playing, it doesn't just work for Jimi stuff. It's very, very versatile, which is what the Stratocaster was always intended to be! Cheers!

Great guitar

Overall:I always think that if you're going to buy a signature series guitar that you should buy it not because of the artist's name on it but because it's what you're looking for in a guitar. With that being said it's always nice when both are present. The Hendrix signature on the headstock is just too cool, the likeness of him on the neck plate and reverse headstock also equally cool. This guitar however has enough going for it to stand on it's own. First off I purchased the olympic white which is aged along with the pick up covers, and knobs.Its kind of a yellowish creme color that's really vintage looking. The neck is a soft C and easy to play and also aged, it is however heavily urethaned and not real fast out of the box but I adjusted to it real quickly.The ... MoreOverall:I always think that if you're going to buy a signature series guitar that you should buy it not because of the artist's name on it but because it's what you're looking for in a guitar. With that being said it's always nice when both are present. The Hendrix signature on the headstock is just too cool, the likeness of him on the neck plate and reverse headstock also equally cool. This guitar however has enough going for it to stand on it's own. First off I purchased the olympic white which is aged along with the pick up covers, and knobs.Its kind of a yellowish creme color that's really vintage looking. The neck is a soft C and easy to play and also aged, it is however heavily urethaned and not real fast out of the box but I adjusted to it real quickly.The reverse head stock also takes a bit of getting used to but again you'll adjust to it. The pick ups I really like, the tone is old school. They remind me of my first Strat say 1979, they have the right amount of power and tone,they're not thick like Texas Specials, and also not thin like regular single coils.The neck adjustment was easy and when set up a bit it plays like butter. I think this is about my 10th purchase from zZounds and as always I received it in 2 days.Bottom line a great guitar regardless of Jimi on it or not.

JMH would like

Custom shop appointments & quality at MiM prices - well maybe a bit more However, unless you want to spend thousands ( then get a PRS ), its everything a custom shop model is. Maybe some very minor flaws but almost perfect Not for every strat cat, as it sounds & plays a little different But if you like being experienced , the tones are there. A 9.5 radius neck helps with a modern feel, but the 60s pickups give it the sound, (as well as reversed neck/ pickups), but ergonomic body make it feel very comfy. All in all a 9 ! Would like to give it a 10 but its not a custom shop USA Fender. If you are gigging its great, no worries about wear & tear or fear of being stolen If one of my Hendrix strats disappeared , I would go get another one immediately! It is not for all ... MoreCustom shop appointments & quality at MiM prices - well maybe a bit more However, unless you want to spend thousands ( then get a PRS ), its everything a custom shop model is. Maybe some very minor flaws but almost perfect Not for every strat cat, as it sounds & plays a little different But if you like being experienced , the tones are there. A 9.5 radius neck helps with a modern feel, but the 60s pickups give it the sound, (as well as reversed neck/ pickups), but ergonomic body make it feel very comfy. All in all a 9 ! Would like to give it a 10 but its not a custom shop USA Fender. If you are gigging its great, no worries about wear & tear or fear of being stolen If one of my Hendrix strats disappeared , I would go get another one immediately! It is not for all strat players, if you are looking for conventional norms & tones of a stratocaster. However a great & unique strat, why did it take Fender so long to come up with this concept - its a great playing Stratocaster at an affordable price, if you need a work horse strat that has that special vibe Played Fenders for over 30 yrs - these are fabulous !!!

Jimi At Woodstock!

Overall:This guitar is modeled after the "Jimi at Woodstock" white Strat, and is a great looking guitar that captures that vibe. But, I also needed something I could gig with. The reverse headstock is great because the longer wound strings have a little more tension, and the shorter G,B, and highE have less tension for great, smooth bends. The C shaped neck isn't super fat, but very comfortable. It gets a lot of attention in a live setting. I actually took mine to Bethel NY and stood on the original Woodstock field, and played "The Star Spangled Banner" on the spot of the original stage with a little battery powered amp. Talk about Bucket List things to do. ;-) A great guitar with vintage tone, easy playability, trem holds tune surprisingly well, not too heavy, and ... MoreOverall:This guitar is modeled after the "Jimi at Woodstock" white Strat, and is a great looking guitar that captures that vibe. But, I also needed something I could gig with. The reverse headstock is great because the longer wound strings have a little more tension, and the shorter G,B, and highE have less tension for great, smooth bends. The C shaped neck isn't super fat, but very comfortable. It gets a lot of attention in a live setting. I actually took mine to Bethel NY and stood on the original Woodstock field, and played "The Star Spangled Banner" on the spot of the original stage with a little battery powered amp. Talk about Bucket List things to do. ;-) A great guitar with vintage tone, easy playability, trem holds tune surprisingly well, not too heavy, and captures that 1969 vibe while being a true gig-worthy guitar. Buy it!

Jimi Hendrix Signature Guitar

Sweetwater did right by me, setting up my Hendrix signature guitar with loaded pickguard with Seymour Duncan signature Hendrix pickups, bone nut, and pleking. Delivered double boxed, and in tune! Wow! Service was above and beyond at Sweetwater. The tones out of this guitar are killer, that is without any boxes! They have made themselves a lifetime customer! I highly recommend Sweetwater to anyone buying the guitar of your dreams! Thank you Sweetwater! You knocked it out of the park on this one!

Outstanding Stratocaster that captures the Hendrix vibe!

My wife ordered this guitar for me before they were released for sale in the stores. I use the EC Strats and have used them for 30 years. But i love this Hendrix heavily-influenced guitar! It may not be identicle, but I had the 1997 exact, unaltered Fender Strat for decades and although beautiful, it was not fun to play because of they issues of playing a left handed Stratocaster. I sold it. This altered model is really outstanding and so playable and sounds super. Really does! Great job, Fender! Thank You GC!

Plenty Of Hendrix Mojo In This Guitar,But....

Sound:Fun to play,lacks anything special over any other import.Features:'65 pups are LIMITED to extra clean tones, but they are pristine and perfect for that one thing. They don't "fit" when I plug this guitar into my USA Monterey-styled pedal board. Matter of fact, my Epi Custom w Gibson pups sounded more Hendrixy that this MIM Hendrix model. I am floored at how little this guitar excites me,bummer.Quality:Import specs, import QC, is more like Chinese than MIMValue:I would buy a Classic Vibe Squier before I purchased one of these again.Overall:...it's not worth the asking price. The neck is super sweet, as for everything else, not much better than a top-notch Squier. Apples to oranges,but if you spend the same amount(less,actually) on an Epiphone ... MoreSound:Fun to play,lacks anything special over any other import.Features:'65 pups are LIMITED to extra clean tones, but they are pristine and perfect for that one thing. They don't "fit" when I plug this guitar into my USA Monterey-styled pedal board. Matter of fact, my Epi Custom w Gibson pups sounded more Hendrixy that this MIM Hendrix model. I am floored at how little this guitar excites me,bummer.Quality:Import specs, import QC, is more like Chinese than MIMValue:I would buy a Classic Vibe Squier before I purchased one of these again.Overall:...it's not worth the asking price. The neck is super sweet, as for everything else, not much better than a top-notch Squier. Apples to oranges,but if you spend the same amount(less,actually) on an Epiphone Custom, you will know you are holding a great instrument. You will never feel that with this axe. Having said all that, I upgraded to Texas Specials(the stock '65's are excellent for clean sparkle) ,added a spare USA tremolo I had, and I now have a decent StratoPartscaster...for the price of a USA made Fender. BTW, the neck plays like butter installed on an Eric Clapton USA blackie body, so there's that. This IS a decent guitar, but I was thoroughly surprised at the lack of "special" with this offering from Fender,despite all the added Hendrix-hype and specs. zZounds has plenty of great products,choose something else.

Review of Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster, Olympic White, Maple Neck

A right-hand guitar that brings all the 'oddments' of a upside down left-hand with the playability and comfort of a right-handed.Reverse headstock means greater string travel on the bottom E - which tightens things up offering more 'snap' to the lower end. While the shorter top E makes it easier to bend the higher strings and feels more geared to using a vibrato technique across the top strings.Pickup ups are reversed giving an interesting tonal spread. The B string (normally naturally loud) has a higher string pole giving it even more output. While the A (naturally quiet) has a shorter pole giving less output. It's only a slight difference but you do notice something different when playing.Of course most noticeably on the scratch plate is the bridge pickup ... MoreA right-hand guitar that brings all the 'oddments' of a upside down left-hand with the playability and comfort of a right-handed.Reverse headstock means greater string travel on the bottom E - which tightens things up offering more 'snap' to the lower end. While the shorter top E makes it easier to bend the higher strings and feels more geared to using a vibrato technique across the top strings.Pickup ups are reversed giving an interesting tonal spread. The B string (normally naturally loud) has a higher string pole giving it even more output. While the A (naturally quiet) has a shorter pole giving less output. It's only a slight difference but you do notice something different when playing.Of course most noticeably on the scratch plate is the bridge pickup slanting the opposite way. Again top strings are mellowed and bass strings brightened up due to this change of direction. Personally I'll be using the bridge pickup more often because of this. I'd like to see this one change on all my Strats.One more thing, the tuning pegs on the upside down headstock are reserved grooved so they operate the same as standard tuners. So no tuning up when you were looking to tune down and vice-versa. A nice touch.In all this guitar punches way above its 'Made in Mexico' origins. Love it.

amazing guitar

I did not buy this for the Hendrix angle, but because I wanted a Strat with "something different". Lots of product reviews convinced me this was worth a try. I do not regret it - indeed I have a 1,5 kE US Strat but this one from Mexico feels, looks, and sounds as good if not better. The colour is beautiful, visual inspection did not find ANY fault. Perfect quality. The frets are great, the neck smooth and fast. As per the inverted bridge pickup, look up on youtube for lots of impressions about that, I definitely confirm (I am not a pro though, just home/friends in garage player). Well, I do NOT regret buying this, it is a beautiful and powerful guitar. Might be the best in my 80+ collection ;)