It’s Such A Nice Surprise When…

[Chickee]

You go into your guitar arsenal and bring out a guitar that hasn’t been played in what seems like forever? You begin to play things long forgotten, thinking ”wow, how rusty am I” except for muscle memory to carry you through a rough facsimile of that rockin’ lead you used to play in the garage band?

The very first song I played on this Hendrix VooDoo ‘caster twenty five years ago was the Hendrix standard “The Wind Cries Mary”
Janie Hendrix slammed the door shut on Fender with an immediate cease and desist order stopping production of this American Special beauty post haste.

I’ve been playing so much acoustic lately, it felt wonderful to reacquaint my self with this old friend.

[marty bradbury]

Wow! Beautiful guitar. After 25 years it still looks in new condition.

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by marty bradbury

Wow! Beautiful guitar. After 25 years it still looks in new condition.

And the funny thing is marty, its never been handled delicately. It’s an Olympic White painted tank! There are dings in the front and back of the neck, but the body just has scuffs here and there. The bridge saddles are quite tarnished, and the screws attaching the pick guard have turned almost black over the years. They once were bright silver!

[rockabilly69]

Sweet guitar my man, how do you like having the tremolo up top?

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

Sweet guitar my man, how do you like having the tremolo up top?

Hey Rocky! The one oversight Fender committed, only to me I’m pretty sure, was not following through on the total string path design and flipping the trem assembly upside down, as they eventually did with the SRV Stratocaster. Considering they went through all the moves to reverse the pick-up magnets upside down, slant the treble pick-up away from the bridge, even putting a CBS era big headstock lefty neck on a righty body.

They just didn't see it all the way through to the end. The trem arm attachment point should really have been on the top low E string side of the block. And even today, twenty five years after the fact, they don't do that mod on those five grand custom shop versions of this guitar. Who’s running that joint anyway? Bahahaha
frank d.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Chickee

Hey Rocky! The one oversight Fender committed, only to me I’m pretty sure, was not following through on the total string path design and flipping the trem assembly upside down, as they eventually did with the SRV Stratocaster. Considering they went through all the moves to reverse the pick-up magnets upside down, slant the treble pick-up away from the bridge, even putting a CBS era big headstock lefty neck on a righty body.

They just didn't see it all the way through to the end. The trem arm attachment point should really have been on the top low E string side of the block. And even today, twenty five years after the fact, they don't do that mod on those five grand custom shop versions of this guitar. Who’s running that joint anyway? Bahahaha
frank d.

Those Bas*ards Still a sweet guitar Frank. I love they way they slanted the bridge pickup! Do you think the reversed poles makes a big difference? And I like the Olympic White! I usually post about my partscasters but my real Fender built Jaguar is Olympic White.

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

Those Bas*ards Still a sweet guitar Frank. I love they way they slanted the bridge pickup! Do you think the reversed poles makes a big difference? And I like the Olympic White! I usually post about my partscasters but my real Fender built Jaguar is Olympic White.

What a sweetheart that Jaguar is Rocky! And I have drooled over your partscaster builds many time, I must admit, but isn’t there just something special about a plain Jane Olympic White paint scheme?

I have A/B’d a couple of American Specials(my black Strat and my son’s red one) against the VooDoo guitar and here is what we came up with.

Having a reversed neck adds a very soft touch to the strings when fretting and bending. I almost describe it as creamy to the point you can almost overplay the neck(meaning playing out of tune) because of its velvet touch. A really unique feel from other Strats I have played through the years. And very different than the other two Am.Specials. we have in the house.

The guitar is 100% stock as released in 1997. The pick-ups are ‘68 copies according to Fender literature, with the exception of the pole pieces being in reverse order than normal to mimic the way Jimi’s P/U’s would have read the vibrations coming off the strings.
I like the neck pick up best. A great smooth delivery. Middle p/u has a good all around sound. The bridge reminds me of the Pretenders lead guitarist’s sound, maybe even surf city sound, being thick enough but not that spikey, treblely, hard cutting sound. And he, I think played a tele?

The guitar is an all arounder for me. I love Hendrix, but I don’t emulate his sound and certainly not his technique. And honestly, if you took off the Hendrix neck plate, it would be just like Dick Dale’s ‘68 reverse neck Strat.
Stay well Rocky!
frank d.

[Dru Edwards]

Chickee, that's one of the great things about playing acoustic and electric. If you play one infrequently it's fresh when you pick it up again. It's a new source of enjoyment and creativity.

That's a great setup you have. I recall your thread about getting the Weber mini attenuator. How are you liking it a couple months later? Seems like a great piece of gear.

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Chickee, that's one of the great things about playing acoustic and electric. If you play one infrequently it's fresh when you pick it up again. It's a new source of enjoyment and creativity.

That's a great setup you have. I recall your thread about getting the Weber mini attenuator. How are you liking it a couple months later? Seems like a great piece of gear.

Hey Dru. Compared to the CoolCats on this forum I do not have a lot of guitars, only just enough to not get to play them all the time.
It really is refreshing to pick up an old friend and rediscover the fun factor of that instrument.

As far as my learning curve with the Weber Mini MASS attenuator, it’s been pretty easy getting reasonably good sounds from very low volume. I have learned each amp has its own character when heating up the tubes and getting a higher level of fidelity from the speaker(s). The Blackstar head pictured runs a great grind at full channel volume with the master volume set at 8 with the Mini Mass at about 20% volume. Great sound. House friendly!

In the drive channel with gain at 7, channel volume full and master volume at 7 it gets almost a Marshall roar thru the 12” Celestion Ruby speaker in the MojoTone cab. Really interesting. Again, really house friendly.

My son would say while laughing at me “was that mini Mass the best $200 bucks you ever spent, Pop?”
You betcha, Dano. It was a steal!
Take care Dru.
frank d.

[Glennwillow]

What a great looking guitar, Frank! And after 25 years! Very cool!

- Glenn

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

What a great looking guitar, Frank! And after 25 years! Very cool!

- Glenn

Yeah Glenn, my children were beginning to grow up and this guitar ushered in the second chapter of my musical life after a hiatus of getting married, developing a career, home ownership, you know that thing people say all the time…about life getting in the way.

I haven’t stopped playing since.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Chickee

You go into your guitar arsenal and bring out a guitar that hasn’t been played in what seems like forever? You begin to play things long forgotten, thinking ”wow, how rusty am I” except for muscle memory to carry you through a rough facsimile of that rockin’ lead you used to play in the garage band?

The very first song I played on this Hendrix VooDoo ‘caster twenty five years ago was the Hendrix standard “The Wind Cries Mary”
Janie Hendrix slammed the door shut on Fender with an immediate cease and desist order stopping production of this American Special beauty post haste.

I’ve been playing so much acoustic lately, it felt wonderful to reacquaint my self with this old friend.

Very cool guitar BUT
Did you get it at discount with because somebody put the headstock on backwards ?

Seems to you should learn some Cream songs as well

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Very cool guitar BUT
Did you get it at discount with because somebody put the headstock on backwards ?

Seems to you should learn some Cream songs as well

Don’t you have a reverse neck guitar Kevin? I’m positive I’ve seen something interesting on your posts?

What Cream songs would you recommend? You’ve piqued my interest.
frank

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Chickee

Don’t you have a reverse neck guitar Kevin? I’m positive I’ve seen something interesting on your posts?

What Cream songs would you recommend? You’ve piqued my interest.
frank

Ha you mean the reverse me in some of my music videos .




Well over in the Show and tell there is an acoustic solo version of White Room so maybe that one

And then the classic

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Ha you mean the reverse me in some of my music videos .




Well over in the Show and tell there is an acoustic solo version of White Room so maybe that one

And then the classic

Strange Brew is right in my wheelhouse, and i bet this ole strat would do it justice too.
Thank you for the recommendation Mister Wind!😹😂😹
frank