Words by Chris Dair
Playing Jimi’s guitar is hard to pinpoint exactly. It was maybe around 1998 or 1999, at Noel Redding’s house just outside Clonakilty, Ireland.
Noel disappeared and came back with a guitar case. He opened it and said, “This was Jimi’s.” He asked whether I would like to play it, handed it to me, and I could see it was a Martin that had been strung back to right hand.
I started to play New Rising Sun. I do not know why. Noel asked why I had played that and I said I really did not know. It was extraordinary because it is not a piece I normally play, and usually when you pick up a guitar like that you just move around a little.
When I turned the guitar in the light I noticed the sweat marks and wear on the fretboard were closest to me around the 12th fret, which said to me that it had been played by a left-handed guitarist.
I did many gigs with Noel at DeBarras in Clonakilty. Most of the time Noel played bass, but sometimes he played acoustic guitar and sang.