Jimi Hendrix's "Woodstock" Fender Stratocaster

Of all the guitars I have had occasion to write about thus far, I think it is safe to venture that none are more iconic, nor burned into the public mind than the white Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969.

According to Mitch Mitchell, Jimi's drummer, Hendrix purchased this guitar from Manny's Music in New York City in 1968. The guitar itself was a 1968 Fender Stratocaster (serial number 24098) in an Olympic white paint job. The body of the guitar was made from alder wood, while the neck was made of maple; the fretboard was also maple but was a separate piece of wood as evidenced by the lack of the walnut “skunk stripe” that is present on all Fender one-piece necks. Being a left handed player, Jimi was forced to flip this guitar upside-down and reverse the nut at the top in order to string and play it properly.

This guitar was a favorite of Hendrix's and he took pretty good care of it, which was saying a lot for a man who was known to treat his instruments with less than the utmost care. Jimi played this guitar on several occasions both in the studio and on the road. However it is for one gig in particular that this guitar is most well known and highly regarded for.

Jimi Hendrix and The Band of Gypsys took the stage at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival at 9am on Monday, August 18th, 1969. They played for over two hours that morning to close out the entirety of the three days of music that had preceded them. When Hendrix took the stage, the crowd of nearly half a million had dwindled down to well under half that number. The entire performance was captured on film along with the rest of the festival and was released in theaters across America and went on to become a huge success. Of course the undisputed highlight of the film was Jimi Hendrix's indelible performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner". The image Hendrix with his white Stratocaster in hand picking out the strands of America's national anthem has been burned into the minds of generations of people ever since and become to be regarded as a seminal moment of the 1960's.

Jimi Hendrix would continue to play his beloved white Stratocaster well after Woodstock, including at his final live performance at the Isle of Fehmarn in September 1970. Shortly after the show, Jimi bequeathed the instrument to his ever faithful drummer Mitch Mitchell. Mitchell would later recall the circumstances that led to his obtaining the guitar, " 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."

Unknown to most, Mitch Mitchell held onto the guitar for many years after Jimi had passed away until he finally decided to part ways with it at an auction held by Sotheby's in 1990. The guitar was sold to Gabriele Ansaloni for the astronomical sum of £198,000. Ansaloni held onto the guitar for two years until finally deciding to sell it to Microsoft CEO Paul Allen for an undisclosed sum (rumors are it was somewhere in the neighborhood of upwards of $2,000,000). Allen of course decided to house it in The Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, the museum he founded in order to highlight the history of Jimi Hendrix as well as rock and roll in general.

Below is a transcript of Mitch Mitchell's letter of provenance provided to Sotheby's prior to the auction of this world-famous instrument:

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I, Mitch Mitchell of Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:

1.       Between October 1966 and September 1970 I was the drummer of a musical group called The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Jimi Hendrix.
2.       The white Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix came to be mine in September 1970 in the following circumstances:
3.       Jimi Hendrix was always breaking his guitars and getting new ones but this particular white Fender Stratocaster serial number 240981 was a particular favourite of his. He used it at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 playing the now famous “Star Spangled Banner” on this guitar. 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. I think this was one of the last gigs ever played by us.
4.       Jimi Hendrix bought the guitar from Manny’s in New York in 1968. As it was one of his favourites, it was used all the time at both live concerts and recording sessions. A picture of it can also be seen inside the Rainbow Bridge Album Cover and on countless posters and in most books written about Jimi Hendrix.
5.       This guitar has never been out of my possession since it was given to me and it has remained in my possession until I delivered it to Sotheby’s in London for sale by auction.

I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing it to be true and by virtue of the provisions in the Statutory Declarations Act. Declared at 6 Clanricardo Gardens, Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent.

Mitch Mitchell