When Jimi Hendrix died aged just 27 in 1970, he didn’t just leave behind one of the most revolutionary electric guitar legacies the world has ever seen: he left behind a slew of legendary guitars.
Back in 2010, Kenny Wayne Shepherd got to write another chapter in the history of Hendrix’s beloved six-strings, when he took to the stage with one of his most iconic Strats.
The Strat in question was the one Hendrix wielded at his iconic Woodstock performance in 1969. The guitar was reportedly bought by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $1.3m in 1993. After that, it was sent to the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, Washington, to be put on display. But it’s been more than just a museum piece since.
Through touring with the Hendrix Experience – a group that has also boasted Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson and Buddy Guy on various tours – Kenny Wayne Shepherd was afforded the chance to take it to the stage in November 2010.
Playing the 1968 Olympic White Strat, named Izabella, was a moment to savor for the bluesman.
“When they handed me that guitar, I felt like I was fulfilling the dream of every guitar player on the face of the planet,” Shepherd recalled to Guitar World in 2011.
“What guitar player wouldn’t do anything to get their hands on that guitar, if only just for a moment? And I got to play it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and in my set on the Experience Hendrix Tour later that night at the Beacon Theater [in Manhattan].
"I was the first guitar player to play that instrument in public since Hendrix himself. I don’t know if I can find the appropriate words to describe how much of an honor it was,” he adds. “You could see the wear marks – there’s all these dents on the neck from his jewelry and stuff.”
Hendrix is arguably the world’s most famous southpaw, but he used right-handed guitars, and flipped them the other way around. As a result, the guitar was specially restrung for the performance to aid Shepherd’s right-handed playing.
That, he says, only made him feel less worthy of the honor. The weight of the occasion was not lost on him.
“I spent several hours playing with the guitar before I did the TV show,” Shepherd says. “It felt like I was not only wearing somebody else’s shoes but had them on the wrong feet, too.
“If the guitar could have talked it would have told me, ‘Hey dude, you’re playing me backward. Flip me over, restring me and then things will be okay.’ But the guitar sounded incredible.”
Shepherd is a lucky man, because he’s also played David Gilmour’s uber-expensive Black Strat, too, given his closeness with the late guitar collector Jim Irsay.
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Shepherd also owns Hendrix’s Uni-Vibe pedal, and took Izabella to the stage again in 2024.
Few players have ever found themselves as close to Hendrix through his gear as Shepherd. It’s enough to make most players green with envy.
