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by Jim Button October 18, 2021 4 min read
If there's just one moment in rock history that will be remembered forever, it's got to be Jimi Hendrix's earth-shattering appearance at the Woodstock festival on 18th August 1969, where his rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner featured divebombs, screeches, wails and dissonance evoking the horrors of the ongoing Vietnam War.
Hours of delays over the weekend meant that his headline set didn't begin until the Monday morning, when many of the 400,000-strong crowd had already gone back home. But those who hung around for a glimpse of the world's biggest rockstar at the time were treated to a sublime set from a new band which represented a transition from The Experience to the later Band of Gypsies.
Jimi had put together an expanded band especially for the Woodstock festival. It included Mitch Mitchell on drums, Billy Cox on bass, Larry Lee on rhythm guitar, and Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez on percussion. He introduced them to the weary audience as "Gypsy Sun and Rainbows".
The Gypsy Sun and Rainbows had reportedly struggled to come together as a cohesive unit during brief rehearsals, making Jimi's Woodstock appearance even more impressive. That they seemed so at ease on stage together when it counted is surely a measure of their prowess. Jimi even broke his high E string during Red House, but continued to play the rest of the song unfazed with his remaining 5 strings.
Despite this extraordinary musical display, Jimi Hendrix's guitar gear at Woodstock was pretty straightforward and reflected his typical touring gear of the time. As such, it's a pretty simple job to get ballpark Jimi tone - although recreating the magic in his fingers is another thing altogether!
Jimi used Marshall 100W 1959 JTM100 "Super Lead" amps at Woodstock, each perched atop a 4x12 stack loaded with Celestion Greenbacks. These amps were the 100-watt version of the JTM45.
Jimi used a 1968 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster at Woodstock. It has a maple neck and - like his other Strats - he played the right-handed guitar upside down and strung it "left-handed" using a custom set of string gauges: .010, .013, .015, .026, .032 and .038.
Hendrix famously tuned his guitars a semi-tone down, to E♭, which not only gave a heavier sound and helped with big string bends, but also offset potential issues with having longer bass string lengths and shorter treble string lengths as a result of stringing "upside down".
The Stratocaster Jimi used at Woodstock is now on display at the Museum of Pop Culture (formerly the Experience Music Project Museum) in Jimi's hometown of Seattle.
Jimi Hendrix's pedals at Woodstock were simple yet effective. Credit: Allan Koss
Jimi's Woodstock pedalboard was pretty simple: a Vox Wah, modified Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, and Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe with its expression pedal.
Jimi's Woodstock wah pedal is a subject of heated debate: some argue it was an early Vox Clyde McCoy wah modified by Roger Mayer, while others say that it was a Vox V846 Sepulveda wah modified by Dave Weyer.
Hendrix used a red Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face at Woodstock. His pedal technician, Roger Mayer, had begun modding Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Faces for him in 1967 and was infamously dismissive of the unreliable nature of the early germanium-based units.
Although there is no consensus on what was inside the red Fuzz Face pedal Hendrix used at Woodstock and elsewhere, the chances are it was a modified silicon Fuzz Face circuit - although some sources indicate it could have been a modified Octavio circuit instead.
Woodstock was the first public outing for the Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe as part of Jimi's guitar rig, and it sounded immense and otherworldly when combined with his wah and fuzz pedals. It was subject to a light "tune-up" by Roger Mayer but was not modified like his other pedals.
Pretty much any Marshall or Marshall-style valve amp will get you close to Jimi's Woodstock sound, although of course a JTM45 or even JTM100 would be the best choice for accuracy.
The Formula B Super Plexi is a pedal that does a great job of mimicking the sounds of a raging Marshall JTM45. It even features a boost channel that you can drive into the "Plexi" channel, or vice-versa.
Any vintage-style wah should do the job; bonus points for picking up an actual vintage Vox wah.
The Fredric Effects DuoFace is a solid and cleverly packaged interpretation of the classic Fuzz Face. It incorporates both germanium and silicon circuits so that you can easily switch between the two types of transistor. The DuoFace is a great pedal for playing around with the two different circuit types to really nail down Jimi's Woodstock tone.
The Formula B Vintage Vibe MkII is one of our most popular pedals, and it's easy to see why: it's a rock-solid Univibe-style pedal in a much more pedalboard-friendly package. Handmade in Italy, the components are top-notch and it sounds fantastic. It even features an input for an expression pedal.
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Best prices on the net, in stock and fast delivery. Would buy again. Great sounding pedal and exactly as I had hoped. This one should be on my board for a while!
Really like this pedal. Good fun and easy to use and well made. It has a really hypnotic tone and feel to it. It is very reminiscent of old tape echo units.
Really personable service with exemplary communication and swift shipping.
Had a few vibes, absolutely loving this one, check the YT demos, lovely satisfying vibe with all the swirly goodness you could hope for. Beautifully made and reasonably priced. Highly recommended - and Jim at Boost is a top guy
I came across the Formula B Fuzz Rangers via online demos on Youtube, and they all sounded so good that I had to get one. Looking online I found the Boost Guitar Pedals website via the Formula B website as a listed UK stockist. Jim was excellent and the pedal arrived when he said it would and it was perfectly packaged. I would have no hesitation in buying any other product from Boost.
As for the Fuzz Rangers, it is a great pedal. I had to work at it a touch to get the sounds I liked from it, but it seems to react really well to different guitars and different amps with adjustments to volume and tone on the guitar and different amp settings. I found it works best into a slightly cranked amp, and volume roll-off on the guitar offers a great variety of sounds from clean to classic fuzz. Thoroughly enjoying the pedal. Well done Jim, great website and a great selection of interesting brands and pedals..... Which one next????
Having used a number of univibe clones over the years this one truly nails the sound for me, it comes with some clever additions in a pedal board friendly size and is excellent value for money. If you want the true sound of the original this pedal delivers.Special thanks to boost Guitar Pedals for putting this deal together so quickly..
I'm still working my way through all the sounds, but so far I'm loving them all.
Each time I think I've got a fav sound I flip the diode switch and there's another one. Great value for a four-in-one fuzz pedal!!
Not writing a long review but this is the best vibe I’ve owned. Do yourself a favour and get one on your board
Both modes really useable. The first can get a wooly or starved/wolly sound or more nasally raw sound depending on how you dial it in.
Mode two can be more mid focused and with both switches down it's just a real nice deep, warm wall of fuzz. Great stuff.
Awesome pedal. Does everything from short slaps, to long endless delays, or echo-verb. The infinite delay feature on the button hold is interesting, though if you need a certain sound out of it like that, you have to be okay with the sound that those settings create when the infinite hold feature is off. I’m sure it will be great for recording some interesting textures, but I don’t think I’d use it live, as the infinite hold sounds glitchy and cuts off very quickly at some of the shorter, more subtle delay settings that I use. The art on the pedal is nice, and the build quality is solid. Comes with a carry bag, for some reason, but I can’t complain. A great unit by any standard, but especially good quality and features for the ticket price.
Well made and sounds exactly as advertised
Brilliant service, great pedal.
Delivery was fast, packaging was great. Only used at home at the moment, but does exactly as I hoped - BOOST!
This pedal is simply fantastic.
Great fuzz with a good sweep of control with the guitar volume pot. Cannot get an unlikeable sound through any pickup selection single coil/humbucker.
Added benefit of the Rangemaster included is just lush. I am preferring boosting into the fuzz and use the boost into other drives along the chain.
I am praising this as 2 great pedals in one comfortably sized housing. Amazing!
I have held myself back from purchasing a vibe for years now but I took the plunge on this and I am extremely happy.
The size of the unit is great on my board and pairs with my drives and fuzz amazingly well. I am preferring the flavour of keeping it pre-gain stages on the board.
Simple controls with the added benefit of 2 speeds.
I highly encourage anyone else who was on the fence like me, go for this!