The guitar most closely associated with Jimi Hendrix is the 1968 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster – affectionately l named ‘Izabella’ – most famously used by the musician for his era-defining performance at Woodstock in 1969. The guitar is so connected to Hendrix that Fender have even released a copy model, complete with the reverse headstock, allowing fans to live out their dreams by possessing suchan instrument. However, by all accounts, this axe was not the ‘Purple Haze’ mastermind’s favourite. The musical apple of his eye was another Fender Stratocaster, the 1968 model that he labelled ‘Black Beauty’.

‘Black Beauty’ is a 1968 Fender Stratocaster with a black finish, white pickguard, and maple neck. One of several Stratocasters that the Seattle native owned, the guitar is storied as it is widely accepted to have been his favourite of the collection, as evidenced by the accounts of those closest to him. On the afternoon of September 17th, 1970 – the day before his death – Hendrix’s girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, took photos of him drinking tea and holding ‘Black Beauty’. He was in the garden, clutching it close to his chest, conveying utter devotion to it. ABS Stimulator

Famously, in 1967, the year of his meteoric rise, Hendrix described the Fender Stratocaster as “the best all-around guitar for the stuff we’re doing”. He then commended the “bright treble and deep bass” it offered, so there’s no surprise that he amassed such a collection and became one of the players most closely associated with it. He’s even considered by many – including Far Out – as the finest Fender player of them all.

‘Black Beauty’ was manufactured in 1968, three years after CBS purchased Fender. Somewhat ironically, fans and collectors deem guitars from this era less alluring, as the new parent company introduced changes to the model, considered as lessening the potency of their earlier iterations. For instance, the 1968 Fender Stratocaster came with a new Fender logo and headstock. The former featured thicker lettering in black with a gold outline, changing the gold with black outline scheme used in the transitional period between 1964 and 1968. As for the new headstock, it became larger to accommodate the new logo.

Jimi’s favourite axe also has a two-piece maple neck comprising the fretboard and body of the neck, with a truss rod fitted between them. This differed from the Stratocasters of the 1950s, as they boasted a one-piece maple neck with a walnut stripe on the back, affectionately known as the ‘skunk stripe’ by fans. Another fascinating spec on ‘Black Beauty’ is that it features the “F” style tuning machines instead of the Kluson tuners found on older models. Schaller and not Fender manufactured these. Photos also show that the guitar had various burn marks from the cigarettes that Hendrix would place between the string and headstock. 

‘Black Beauty’ was first seen live with Hendrix at the Civic Auditorium in Bakersfield, California, on October 26th, 1968. After, it was featured on the TV show A Happening for Lulu in January of the following year. He then played it at The Royal Albert Hall in February, Madison Square Garden in May, Fillmore East in January 1970, and Atlanta Pop Festival in that July. 

‘Black Beauty’ was used consistently throughout the last two years of Hendrix’s life, with it also featured on the cover of the March 1970 live album, Band of Gypsys – recorded at Fillmore East two months prior. However, Hendrix’s most iconic performance with the guitar was at the Isle of Wight Pop Festival on August 31st, 1970, less than a month before his untimely death.

After Hendrix passed away on September 18th, 1970, the guitar wound up in the possession of Monika Dannemann, the last person to see him alive. He spent his final hours at her apartment in The Samarkand Hotel in London’s Notting Hill Gate. Interestingly, ‘Black Beauty’ remained in Dannemann’s ownership until her passing in 1996. At the time, she was married to Uli Jon Roth, guitarist of German hard rockers Scorpions. Although this led many to believe that Roth is the current custodian of the instrument, when speaking to The Metal Voice in 2019, he maintained that it belongs to Dannemann’s estate, with there no plans to sell it.

He said: “A lot of people were after that guitar. Paul Allen, the number two in Microsoft, I remember one day he offered like a million dollars, but Monika turned it down. There was one guy I remember who called me one day and said it was like some kind of Arab dealer or whatever, offered like seven eight nine million dollars. I said well, tell me a good reason why we should sell this guitar; you know the guitar should stay with the paintings.”

Adding: “It’s not my guitar, it belongs to the Dannemann’s estate, but it’s in a vault. There were too many people after it, but one day, I think it’s going to be exhibited as it should, you know, it should be exhibited with Monica’s paintings.”

Enjoy footage of Hendrix shredding ‘Black Beauty’ below.

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