What String Gauges Did Jimi Hendrix Use?

Hendrix’s strings of choice were light-gauge Fender Rock ’N’ Roll sets (gauged .010, .013, .015, .026, .032, .038). However, guitarist/producer Bob Kulick – an acquaintance of Hendrix’s during the Greenwich Village days—remembers him breaking a string in a dressing room, and saying, “Uh oh, I don’t have any extras.” Kulick asked him what he needed, and Hendrix said he used an E string for a B. “That was the first time I’d ever heard of anyone moving their string gauges over like that,” Kulick says.

But, then again, Band of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles insisted that Hendrix used a very heavy E string, a medium gauge on his A and D, a Hawaiian G string, a light B, and a super-light E. This was supposedly not just for experimentation, but something Hendrix did because he thought the mixed gauges would keep the guitar in tune better. (Michael Bloomfield apparently tried some of the Hendrix Strats that Miles owned, and he was also a proponent of the mixed gauge theory.)

For picks, Hendrix chose whatever medium gauge his hand came up with when he stuck it into the drawer at Manny’s. Barrett simply reports that the Experience carried thousands of picks, as well as hundreds of guitar straps—all selected to match Hendrix’s shirts.

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