The guitar Jimi Hendrix owned longer than any other is to be put up for auction, according to Guitar World.
The late axeman’s Epiphone FT79 acoustic was purchased for around $25 in August 1967 during the Experience’s first tour of the US before he brought it back to England. It’s expected to be put up for auction via the Bonhams website in due course.
According to documents, Hendrix owned around 30 guitars in his lifetime, and most of them only stayed with him for a year. But Hendrix used his acoustic Epiphone for three years – during a time which could be considered his artistic and creative peak.
The Epiphone became his go-to instrument while in his Upper Berkeley Street flat, as neighbours had complained about the noise from his amp. He would use it to write riffs and arrangements – including his reworking of Bob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower.
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A video of Hendrix playing Elvis’ Hound Dog on the guitar at an after-show party in London can be viewed below.
Close-up shots of the vintage instrument can also be seen at the 20:30 mark inside the Handel And Hendrix Museum. The guitar will reportedly be put up for auction via the Bonhams website in due course.
A Hendrix 10-inch vinyl called Morning Symphony Ideas will launch as part of Black Friday’s Record Store Day event on November 25.
The Hendrix release is described as an official ‘bootleg’ which focuses on Hendrix’s songwriting and his unique approach toward developing new material in the recording studio.
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