My rig:

Classic Player 50s Strat
'65 reissue Super Reverb
Boss Overdrive Pedal and Boss Distortion Pedal

I've been trying really hard to get the same tone that Hendrix had in Little Wing. Like, as close to the album version as possible. I've read that Hendrix had the tone selector in the second position when he recorded it because he liked the "quacky" sound it gave.

When I mess around with the tone knobs, it either gets too muddy or too bright.

Any further advice as far as the tone knobs go? Or the controls on the amp?

Also, I'm trying to find a good tone for the Wind Cries Mary. I was messing around with the overdrive pedal a bit for that one. I'm not looking for anything too faithful to the album version. I'm looking for something slightly overdriven but still mantaining good articulation.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi Rossome: ha! My all time fave Hendrix number [Wind Cries Mary] - and one of my favorite numbers by anyone!

For all that I don't know the specifics of the gear used, but don't worry; there will be someone along who does, I'm sure.

By position two I presume you mean neck+middle? Seems reasonable, though I find myself playing that number just on the neck pickup. Probably depends a bit on the individual guitar and rig - so whatever sounds right to your ears.

I suspect the clue to the amp sound is to set things up cleaner than you might imagine. I think a lot of that sound comes from driving the speakers quite loud and hard rather than pre-amp gain. At most a touch of drive from your Boss Overdrive pedal will be enough. I don't hear a distortion type sound in there.

So a bit of grit - but get most of your attack from volume rather than gain. That's my humble suggestion, for the little it's worth...

Good luck - it's a great sound!

Cheers - C

PS Someone will likely want to tell you not to try to imitate the tone of another guitarist. Don't worry about that: doing this is all part of the learning experience. Though if you find yourself donning an Afro wig and frilly shirts we might have to think again on that...

EDIT: this all refers to Wind Cries Mary. Didn't even notice Little Wing in the title. D'oh!

Here's my setting for almost every Hendrix song...

Strat... neck & middle pickup, tone knobs all the way up, vol on 6.

Amp (I use a Vibroverb which is similar to a Super)... Treb on 6, Bass on 3, Rev 4, vol as loud as you can stand. A Super has a mid eq too so set that to 4.

Overdrive to suit.

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Yes, by position 2 I meant neck and middle.
Thanks for your quick replies, guys!

Your going to have a game getting the littleWing tone. It was a P90'd flying V into a Bassman.

Wind Cries Mary was just a strat into a Marshall. Set to kill then lower the volume of the guitar to clean the distortion out of it. Thats how all of AYE was recorded.

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No no and no

After years of experimenting in the early days prior to his solo career, Hendrix's rig finally settled down to his many Strats, his many 100 watt Marshall Super Leads, the occasional Fender Showman, Vox Wah, Univox Univibe, sometimes a Leslie, Maestro Fuzzbox, Octavia Fuzzbox and the Arbiter Fuzz Face. It was later rumoured (and still is to this day) that he also liked and used the CryBaby Wah.

If you use the tools he used (or reasonable facsimiles) you should be able to get closer to his sound but you may never nail it completely as there is no accounting for personal touch, ie: hands.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

http://areyouexperienced.net/

Above is a link to a pretty interesting page. The author goes in depth into pickups and the usual misconseption that Fender CS 69s will get you every Hendrix Tone. Did Jimi even use vintage 69s?

He owned a 65/66 strat and 68 strat so I do not think so...although 69s should be pretty close to 68s from looking at the specs online. I guess the 69s are in the vein of Hendrix just like the Texas Specials are in the vein of SRV (that is why I replaced them in my SRV strat for a more authentic pu that is closer to what Stevie actually used)

Anyway the author of the page above really does a great job reviewing the Fender CS 65 pickups only found in the 65/66 CS strats, and how different they are to both early and late 60s pickups and 50s pickups. They have a more piano-like, "chorus-y" sound rather than bell-like.

He has posted sound clips to compare so check it out

1+ on the tone is the hands, not the guitar!

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@nikininja - Ah I see. I was told that it was the bare bones sound of a clean strat.

And yeah, one thing's for sure, I don't have Hendrix's huge hands, so I'll never have precisely that sound.

Also, I was thinking about how he strung his guitar in reverse order to make it lefty. That could make a difference with the tone as well.

That has become such an annoying saying lately. Yes most of the tone is in the hands and the artist's ability to play...but only after they have a gear setup that sets the foundation to that tone. A 335 through a spider solid state will sound different than a strat through a deluxe reverb, and furthermore your fingers cannot create fuzz/univibe/etc effects. If one is trying to sound like Hendrix then it should not be so crazy as to play a strat through a marshall through similar effects. Then it comes down to the fingers.

Looking close up on video of Jimi's Strats I have noticed that his pickups were adjusted extremely low, almost even with the pickguard.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

In an interview with Eric Barrett(Jimi's equipment manager) that I read years ago he said that Jimi did Little Wing with a Strat and a homemade Leslie type unit that they had cobbled together using an old record player turntable and a small speaker.They miked it and put it through a compressor to geta fuller sound from the small speaker.I must still have that article around as I never toss any Jimi or Beatle related info,all I have to do is find it among the reams of other technical trivia I've amassed. With The Wind Cries Mary you definitely need a Strat with the switch in position 2 or 4 and a Marshall,not many-if any-other amps could replicate that tone.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I have no clue what Hendrix used, but I've found that the neck position with a heavy mid boost gets pretty close to that sound on 'The Wind Cries Mary'.

'Little Wing' can be done several ways, but I like the same -- neck pup with a mid boost...and no pedals.

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My info is from a friend of a friend who was present at the time, so they say. Personally I dont think it sounds anything like a strat, on any of that album. The Mid honk Mike describes is exactly what I hear and corroborates said persons story. Slightly out of phase but way thicker than a strat on the mids, sounds like a P90 to me.

Said person was also present for Fleetwood Mac's recordings of Need your love so bad, and Albatross. Both of those were recorded on a mid 50's strat, not Greenies 59LP.

Personally I think the best thing you can do to sound like Hendrix is just play with wild abandon and the utter confidence that your a master at what your doing.

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No no and no

I always thought Hendrix used neck and bridge pickups on a Strat. I read somewhere he didn't like the "in between" tones. Guess I'll have to look closer at all the videos out.