Metropoulos Forum

I've had this guitar since '84. It was origionally a black w/white guard and maple neck, ala 'Blackie'. A Tokai '56 reissue to be exact. It's the best sounding strat I've ever played. I striped it bare back in '87. I alway's wanted a slightly worn cbs era white strat , but the price, you know . And the reissue's just didnt sound good to me, so, I decided to make my strat LOOK like one.

The neck is a Musikraft (I HIGHLY recomend these guy's) maple 'round laminated' fretboard (Like Hendrix's). The back contour I shaved to perfection, which for me is a slightly thin soft V, just like the origional Tokai neck, which is very confortable.


My 'relicee' , Gene, used photo's of Henrix's White '68 strat (Woodstock strat) from the Rock and Roll cafe, to match the color.

I havent bolted everything togather, wird or set up this yet, but When I do, I'll try and get some clips or a vid up.

Now all you got to do is relic it if you want that used vibe to it.

It actually is reliced a bit, I need to get some high res pics up. It has a very faint 'checking' to it. I actually wanted it to have the same amount of wear and tear as Hendrix's did at the time he stopped playing it (Sept. '70). Even though Hendrix only played that white strat 2 yrs., it had a little wear going on. Going by the recent pics of that guitar, the white hasnt 'yellowed' very much, and the neck has only darkened a bit. If Hendrix had lived to play that guitar longer, it would probably have 'yellowed' out to the extent of Malmsteen's 'Duck'.

I'll get a high resolution pic to show detail.

Where are Hendrix's strats these days?

Hendrix only used 2 strats from Sept. '68 thru to his exit. A white '68 and a black '68. Both had maple boards. The White one was bought by the Apple computer guy I think. It is on display at the Hard Rock Cafe or The R nd Roll HOF. No one really knows who has the black one. Monika Danemann, she was with Hendrix when he went on, had it, but she passed in '96 I believe. Uli Jon Roth was her 'friend', as they were very close. It is said that he possibly has it. It is the only known Hendrix gutar to have the same strings it had on when Hendrix passed.

Billy that guitar is soooo kewl , I love the '68 Strats a lot and you are right about the round lam necks being awesome!
It is a pity to me that the upcoing Duck replica will be the usual Fender fare, but no suprise there! After playing Blackie and the Frankenfender, I liked the necks, ect, but for that money, no way!
I strongly believe Uli Jon has the black Hendrix Strat, but for safety, ect.,dosen't talk about it.
Love that white Strat, getting guitar envy, which dosen't happen that often!
yngwie308

Thanks Dave. I actually agree with you about the 'Black Beauty' strat being Hendrix's best. I have just been so influenced by Uli's white strat as well as Hendrix's that I went with doing it in white. I couldnt decide for awhile about which neck type I wanted, it was either 'bullet rod' like Ritchie, Uli and Yngwie, or the round laminated one. I wnt with the round lam. I think if I do another one, it will be black with the 'bullet rod', like Ritchie's 'Machine Head/Made In Japan" era one(like the one he has in that photo above). Malmsteen also used one like this alot in Alcatrazz.

Like this one Billy..



yngwie308

Exactly !

Those R Cool!

I have a Black '74 and a White '75, do those count??? J/K!

- WOT

Oh yeah, they count for sure. I actually think that, wih the exeption of Hendrix, the 3 bolt strats of the 70's are my fav's. Uli Jon Roth's 'white' strat sounded as good as a strat could at times. Blackmore, Malmsteen also proved this.

I gotta get a couple more pics up, to show how cool the 'relicing' looks on this thing. It is damn close to 'Woodstock' strat in color and 'age' aspects.

Does anyone have a real maple board white '68 OR '69 strat ?

I have a 97 "Hendrix Tribute" Strat that I bought new. Ive played it to death. It's already started to look "reliced". If I had known that the prices on them would have shot up like they did, i would have kept it put up.