Hendrix book charts search for his 'Grail Guitar'

A book which investigates whether a second-hand guitar was the one used by Jimi Hendrix to record Purple Haze in 1967 launches in March.

Author and folk-rock guitarist Chris Adams bought the Fender Telecaster in a London music shop in 1973 – but its left-handed tuners and the salesman’s remark that Hendrix’s roadie brought it into the shop sparked his interest.

In The Grail Guitar: The Search for Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze Telecaster, Adams tracks down surviving musicians and people who worked with the rock icon to shed light on the fate of the guitar.

The book also includes a first-hand account from Linda Keith, the woman who discovered Hendrix in 1966 and lent him a white Fender Stratocaster which belonged to her then boyfriend, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

Fender recently paid tribute to Hendrix with a new Stratocaster model that has a flipped headstock and pickup, the way the left-handed axeman set up his own guitar.

Meanwhile, the London flat where Hendrix lived between 1968 and 1969 is opening its doors permanently to the public on February 10.

The Grail Guitar can be pre-ordered on the Rowman and Littlefield’s website.

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.