Jimi Hendrix

Used to mic Hendrix's guitar amp and for the vocals on Electric Ladyland, as stated by recording engineer Eddie Kramer in this November 2005 Sound on Sound interview.

When asked about the techniques used to record Hendrix's guitar, Eddie Kramer's response is concise and to the point. "I'd stick a bloody mic in front of it and hope for the best," he jokes. "Nah, generally speaking it was either a 67 or [a Beyer] M160 or a combination of both, which I still use today. It might be slightly different, of course, but the basic principle's the same — a ribbon and a condenser, along with compression and EQ and reverb. All that stuff was always added during recording." (...) Hendrix recorded all of his vocals for the album at the Record Plant, and as usual a Beyer M160 was the mic of choice while a three-sided screen provided him with the desired privacy. "He'd always face the other way," says Kramer. "He hated to be looked at. He was very shy about his vocals. The truth was, he had a great style and I loved his vocals, but he hated them. He was so embarrassed by them. 'Oh man, was that OK?' 'Yeah man, it's cool.' 'No, I've got to do another one.' 'OK.' Jimi was not a great vocalist in the classic sense, but his vocal style suited what he did to the nth degree. I mean, it was very emotional and very personal, and I can't think of anybody else doing what he did. He was eminently capable, and the singing was an integral part of what he was doing, because he would often take a guitar solo and sing the melody line in unison with that solo — which is an old jazz trick — and it was wonderful."

Used to mic Hendrix's guitar amp, as stated by recording engineer Eddie Kramer in this November 2005 Sound on Sound interview. Note that the first sentence of the following excerpt pertains to Electric Ladyland.

While Hendrix's amp was screened off in the studio and miked with Neumann U67s, Mitch Mitchell's kit was positioned on a riser within a roofed, open-sided booth to give it depth and miked with a combination of U67s and AKG C12s. (...) When asked about the techniques used to record Hendrix's guitar, Eddie Kramer's response is concise and to the point. "I'd stick a bloody mic in front of it and hope for the best," he jokes. "Nah, generally speaking it was either a 67 or [a Beyer] M160 or a combination of both, which I still use today. It might be slightly different, of course, but the basic principle's the same — a ribbon and a condenser, along with compression and EQ and reverb. All that stuff was always added during recording."

Used as a vocal mic, as featured in this Bonham's auction listing page.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: A Neumann K53 microphone and pre-amp unit, the mic, in original box, stamped KM53a 311, together with a Neumann Type NSM pre-amp unit, Nr.045, with leather handle, inscribed in unknown hand Vocal 1, mic 4½ inches (11.5cm) long

Footnotes

Provenance: Mitch Mitchell. From the Jimi Hendrix Experience equipment and kept by Mitch since September 1970.

Used live as a vocal mic, as is visible in this January 1, 1967 photo of Hendrix, found here as a Sonic Editions print.

Jimi Hendrix performing on stage in 1967. Photo by Tom Copi.

Photo by: Tom Copi

Date: 01/01/1967

Used as a vocal mic for The Jimi Hendrix Experience's February 22, 1967 performance at The Roundhouse, as is visible in this photo and this photo from this page from the official Roundhouse website.

Used for several of Hendrix's gigs throughout his life, particularly the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, as is visible in this concert footage of his performance of "Hey Joe" at 0:09. As discussed in this video by Shure Creators (an official Shure YouTube channel), the Monterey Pop SM56 was not Hendrix's; the McCune Audio company had loaned several microphones to the festival, including a number of SM56s. It is unknown whether or not the SM56 featured in the Shure video is the same as the one used by Hendrix.

Others SM56s can be seen in photos of Hendrix in different concerts, such as the one visible at 1:08 in this video, this photo and this other photo.

Used in the studio as a vocal mic, as is visible in a photo of Hendrix at 0:34 of this video.

Used live as a vocal mic, as is visible in this May 1968 photo of Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix At The Palazzo dello Sport, Bologna, Italy, May 26th,1968 Second European Tour

Used as a vocal mic, as is visible in this photo of Hendrix and this photo from the same session.