My love for guitars first started about six years ago when I was searching for an instrument to keep me busy during college. Naturally everyone played the guitar in the dorms so I thought it’d be a good instrument to learn so that when ever you see one laying around you can pick it up, bust out with some song and use that to start a conversation with the nearby people.

Since then, anyone of my close friends will tell you that my love has turned into an obsession. When I first got into electric guitar, my natural role model was Jimi Hendrix. I mean, what electric guitarist doesn’t follow Jimi Hendrix to some extent? After a while I started reading up on the history of Jimi’s playing: his pioneer usage of the fuzz pedal, the Marshall stack, and studio effects. The one thing that stood out the most was the guitars he used, primarily the strat that he painted and played (and burnt and smashed) at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival.

Here’s a snippet from Wikipedia concerning the significance of that performance:

From Wikipedia (Monterey Pop Festival):

The festival may have become legendary because of the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix (who was booked on the insistence of board member Paul McCartney) and the Who. Jimi Hendrix huddled backstage before the Monterey Pop Festival with Pete Townshend, Janis Joplin, and Brian Jones. When Townshend insisted that Hendrix headline over the Who that day, Hendrix said, “I’m going to have to pull out all the stops.” Hendrix then blazed through a 45-minute set capped by setting his guitar afire, then smashing it and throwing the remnants into a delirious crowd who were watching Hendrix’s first-ever American show.

Popout

Of all the stratocasters I’ve always wanted (no, make that of all the GUITARS I’ve ever wanted PERIOD), the Monterey Pop strat was it. Today, my little dream of owning one was realized as three years of collecting parts and supplies came together, assembled by a magician of sorts (Chris at K-Line Guitars) arrived in a humble Fedex box this morning at work. I couldn’t believe it when I took it out and to tell you the truth, it came out BETTER than I had expected. The neck was finished beautifully and the fret work was impeccable. The body looked as good as it did when I sent it to Chris and even better with all the hardware put together on it.

I played it tonight and at first I was trying to not expect too much since I didn’t want to be let down if it didn’t sound right. However, a combination of the light 2pc Alder body and the solid, quartersawn maple/rosewood neck paired with the unbelieveable Jason Lollar Tweed pickups, I soon found that it was the best strat I’ve ever played. Not only did the neck play effortless but the tones coming out were bell-like and crystal clear.

Am I happy? You bet, this project couldn’t have gone any smoother and I want to thank Chris, the guys at Musikraft for such a killer neck, and Paul who did the extraordinary artwork. Thank you all for supplying the necessary parts to finally give me my dream guitar.

During those 3 years I had lost hope that I would ever own a Monterey Pop strat because I had never had the time to finish one for myself. Now, I’m in love with this guitar all over again.