- Style: Transition 1965 CBS (worm route) Body for Fender Stratocaster
- Wood: Two-Piece Swamp Ash or Alder
- Finish: Fiesta Red with custom Jimi Hendrix design (white with vines, hearts and floral design)
- Routing: 3 Single Coil (other options on request)
- Weight: approx. 4lbs (1.8kg)
- Price: £440 (alder body); £535 (body, pickguard, backplate and sticker)
On the third and final day of the third and final day of the Monterey International Pop Festival (Sunday, June 18, 1967: The Summer of Love), the bill that night included: the Who, Buffalo Springfield, the Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin. But before the Who took the stage, a (then) relatively unknown 24-year-old guitarist delivered a feast of sight and sound which in an industry whose marketing departments today churn out "legends" monthly, is nothing short of mythical.
The Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix was playing that day (which he smashed into the stage and amps before setting alight at the end of the set - see here for the video on YouTube) was a "transition" 1965 Fender Stratocaster - built under CBS control and with the larger, bolder headstock decal but still using predominantly pre-CBS stock and with the smaller headstock.
The guitar was Fiesta Red nitrocellulose which Jimi Hendrix had personally painted (he was also a visual artist), with the top half over-painted in white and with intricate drawings of vines, roses and love hearts adhorning the scratchplate, upper horn area, and lower curve around the jack cup.
The Fender Custom Shop released their own limited edition (210 gutiars were produced) version of this guitar in 1997 - the thirty year anniversary of the Summer of Love (and the Monterey Festival). Pamelina H who had been at the festival (although seven years old at the time) was tasked with reproducing Jimi's artwork from the guitar, but later changed it under pressure from Fender to smooth out the graphics and including the "backstage pass" sticker featuring a photograph by Ed Caraeff of Hendrix burning the guitar - certainly not part of the original guitar.
Designed from Hendrix's hand-painted Stratocaster from the Monterey Pop Festival, and built to be as close to the original as possible, we are proud to be able to offer this body and guitar parts to the UK.
We offer either the body alone, or as part of a kit which includes the body, scratchplate, back plate and the Monterey Pop Festival "backstage pass" sticker, all you then need is a '64 (before the introduction of big headstocks) CBS neck, suitable aged plastics and your choice of electronics! Since each one of our Jimi Hendrix Monterey Pop Stratocaster bodies is created by hand, each and every one is slightly different and unique.
We also offer a complete Tribute Monterey Pop Stratocaster, and all the parts you need to build this guitar as a seperates kit so that you can mix and match to your heart's content.
Our bodies are built to an extremely high standard specifically for vintage guitar restoration and cloning. They are built and aged with careful study of original vintage guitars so that their contours, shapes, tones and markings are as close as (if not closer than) any other vintage reissue or replica on the market today.
All of our bodies are finished using nitrocellulose and where possible, using original paints and formulas to ensure boutique quality and 'road worn' feel. Many guitarists have struggled to tell the difference between our replica parts and pre-CBS vintage originals: our parts are of just as high a quality as the authentic items that were coming out of Leo Fender's workshop forty years ago.
It goes without saying that our parts are fully compatible with original and replacement Fender guitars and parts, as well as original vintage hardware. If you are at all unsure about compatibility with other parts you already own, or may be considering for your guitar project, please send us a message and ask and we'll be happy to advise.
We are also able to offer a complete customisation service so if you don't see the finish you want, or the routing you want, just drop us a line and our team will be happy to discuss your requirements and options with you.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Buying custom items online and unseen can be a daunting proposition, especially when it comes to such personal tastes as artificially aged and reliced guitars. For this reason we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee: if for any reason you're not totally happy with your items upon receipt, you just have to return them to us for a full refund. That's how confident we are of the quality, craftsmanship and authenticity of the guitars and parts we sell.
£440 two-piece alder body
£535 Monterey Pop Kit (body, pickguard, backplate, and festival pass sticker)
available to custom-order
enquire nowWe can provide all of the hardware, parts and plastics you need to complete your custom relic guitar, either as separate items or in kit form. Use the button above to send us a message and enquire now.
