Did Hendrix ever used LesPauls?

[paleo]

I've never seen images of him holding aany LP's or I don't know if any recorded music of him using LP's?

Does anybody know why he never used LP's

Strat biased? to heavy? too fat sounding? already claimed by Clapton? not as easily breakable?

[Boleskinehouse]

Yep. There are pics floating around with him playing an upside down Custom... He played an SG Custom regularly.

[chasenblues]

[paleo]

[QUOTE=Boleskinehouse;1586016]Yep. There are pics floating around with him playing an upside down Custom... He played an SG Custom regularly.[/QUOTE

it must be pretty rare though...
Did he ever comment on the sound of LP's for his recording or live?

[Barker]

<----------

[BMS]

Near the end he was liking the SG.

[chasenblues]

[Broken]

I would have to dig it up but one of the biographies on Hendrix claims that he was using "Gibsons" more for recording toward the end.

The statement was clear about "recording" and not so much with regard to what model of Gibson.

[moreguitars70]

He just couldn't bring himself to set them on fire

[Mr Insane]

Playing a right handed Les Paul upside down...well you try playing solos high up on the fretboard.

[atheos]

Originally Posted by Mr Insane

Playing a right handed Les Paul upside down...well you try playing solos high up on the fretboard.

I've done it, I call it "doing the claw" based on the position of my hand. It looks real funny and makes your hand ache

[dynabite]

Originally Posted by moreguitars70

He just couldn't bring himself to set them on fire

Didn't have to, just called Pete.

[Tassel]

Originally Posted by moreguitars70

He just couldn't bring himself to set them on fire

Everyone knows that if you burn or smash a Gibson you go straight to hell!!!!!!!

[Mr Insane]

Originally Posted by Tassel

Everyone knows that if you burn or smash a Gibson you go straight to hell!!!!!!!

Right on.

[StrangerNY]

Here's part of an interesting interview - Les Paul talking about his first encounter with Jimi Hendrix:

I had come across Jimi sometime before at a roadhouse spot in New Jersey called the Allegro. I know the year was 1965 for two reasons: the Gibson Guitar Corporation and I were in the middle of what I call our divorce, and second, Simon and Garfunkel had a hit on the radio, “The Sounds of Silence.” I came up playing with the best of the best jazz and pop musicians in the 30’s and 40’s, and I believe if you want to stay at the top of anything, you’ve got to remain curious. That’s why I dropped by places like the Allegro. Right now I’m trying my damnedest to keep up with the latest computerized recording equipment.

The afternoon I first saw Jimi, he was playing a Les Paul Black Beauty, left-handed. Man, was he all over that thing! Black was the second color I asked Gibson to make when they went into production on the first Les Paul model solid-body electric guitars in 1952. I’ve found that people hear as much with their eyes as with their ears, and visually, a black guitar really accentuates the movements of a guitarist’s fingers. Jimi was auditioning that day. My son had been helping me distribute some of my records, so he was waiting in the car. But when I walked in and heard this guy wailing — he had that guitar wide open — I decided to stick around for a while. It was the afternoon; the place was pretty empty, so the bartender was watering down the drinks. I never got Jimi’s name. I asked — the bartender didn’t know. Then I realized my son’s still in the car! I go out there and tell him that we’re going to swing back after we finish dropping off records. When we got back to the Allegro, Jimi was gone. I said to the bartender, “Where is that guy? . . . Did he get the gig?”

“Are you kidding?” the bartender said. “He was too loud. We threw him out.” Luckily the guy had snapped a picture, probably because I was interested. I have the photo on the wall. It took me years to come across him again.

- D

[Xavier_32]

Wow. That's quite the story!

[StrangerNY]

Originally Posted by Xavier_32

Wow. That's quite the story!

I love the details Les provides, like the bartender was watering down the drinks. That guy must have been a pisser to hang out with.

- D

[Xavier_32]

Originally Posted by StrangerNY

I love the details Les provides, like the bartender was watering down the drinks. That guy must have been a pisser to hang out with.

- D

Yeah, that's some damn good story telling. He must be quite the convincing liar as well. Those, too, have their quality dictated by their details. I doubt Les ever lied very often though, he was such an honest sumbitch!

[StrangerNY]

Originally Posted by Xavier_32

Yeah, that's some damn good story telling. He must be quite the convincing liar as well. Those, too, have their quality dictated by their details. I doubt Les ever lied very often though, he was such an honest sumbitch!

He didn't have to lie - his life was like a freakin' movie!

Check out this piece. He talks about having Groucho Marx throwing rocks at his window and W.C. Fields riding a swing in his yard.

Groucho's family ended up helping develop his mastering lathe.

What a life the man lived.

- D

[circusboy28]

Jimi bought the Black Beauty when he was in the 101st Airborne, it was the first decent guitar that he owned, and the one he owned the longest. It's never really been made clear if Jimi bought it outright or if he went halves with Army buddy Larry Lee, I've heard both stories. Certainly Larry Lee had the guitar the most even when Jimi was alive.

Jimi pawned the BB a number of times in the early days, other people paid to get it out of hock which may be how Larry Lee came to own it. If you watch the Gypsy Suns & Rainbows Woodstock performance that's Larry Lee at the back of the stage with the green scarf on his head, playing the BB strung right handed. Jimi was very loyal to his old army buddies - Larry Lee had apparently only been back from Vietnam for two weeks when Jimi bought him out to back him up at Woodstock!

After Jimi died Larry Lee continued to use the BB LP right up into the 90's. At one point in the seventies Larry played lead guitar for Al Green. He sold the Black Beauty to the Hard Rock Cafe in the 90's, for US$10K as I recall. Larry Lee only died a couple of years ago.