Remember that time Jimi played his Strat through a raging PRS amp?

[Jeff]

Yeah, me neither.

https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/reviews/prs-hx-50?utm_campaign=post-teaser&utm_content=1k4r94z3

I get the sentiment behind it all, and I guess it's no different than other amps that aim to re-create an old amp circuit with modern reliability. It just seems really weird here, with PRS doing it. Also, really get tired of the Hendrix estate putting their name on everything but feminine hygiene products.

[Budda]

My issue is didnt they already make this?! What else was the HXDA?

[Adam]

This is pretty cringe. It's like the ultimate blues lawyer amp.

[Budda]

This is pretty cringe. It's like the ultimate blues lawyer amp.

100%.

Gonna go play my used PRS into my used axe fx

[Drew]

By way of explaining the deviations from vintage-plexi architecture, Sewell says, "This is not a painstakingly historical recreation of the amplifier Hendrix used, but a snapshot in the development of a series of modified amps he came to use on tour and in the studio. Consideration was given to reliability, compatibility with his effects and guitars, the tones he achieved, and the feel and response of the amp."

So, they had the opportunity to do an EXACT replica of Jimi's Woodstock amp, but instead made a big deal about getting access to the circuit, then went with an "inspired by..." design.

Gotcha.

[Budda]

So, they had the opportunity to do an EXACT replica of Jimi's Woodstock amp, but instead made a big deal about getting access to the circuit, then went with an "inspired by..." design.

Gotcha.

I think they already did the circuit in a previous version.

[Randy]

"PRS Takes on Hendrix"

Two men enter! One man leaves!

[Cameron]

The Hendrix Family is notoriously greedy. Im not surprised that they would seek and approve something like this just to get a few more bucks coming in the mailbox.

Source, the Gibson Strat

[Drew]

The Hendrix Family is notoriously greedy. Im not surprised that they would seek and approve something like this just to get a few more bucks coming in the mailbox.

I'm REALLY conflicted on Jimi's family, and I'm sure I don't know the whole story, which makes this complicated and makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't have an opinion.

But I started playing guitar right around the time Jimi's family wrested control of his catalog back from Alan Douglas, so a lot of my early recollection here is his family - and to a degree the press and fans - talking about the Douglas era and how loose he played with a lot of the original material - having then-modern session players overdub percussion or new bass/drum tracks, heavy remixing, splicing takes and performances together, ignoring what surviving evidence there was on Jimi's artistic vision, etc. And, some of those original posthumous releases really were crap, and I think it's fair to say they probably suffered for his involvement. Even the excellent Jimi: Blues, which I really wish was still in production, featured some heavy-handed moments, not the least of which splicing the "Electric Church Red House" intro onto a completely different take of Red House from a different session, and then talking about it in the liner notes about how Jimi was exhausted by that point and how it came across in his free time guitar/spoken intro and the final ending cadenza the band half-missed at the end of the song, like it was a single take from a single point in time.

So, I'm pre-disposed to have a problem with the very free attitude Alan Douglas had, even if he was a broken clock and had his occasional high mark, as well. But, I can't honestly say a lot of the releases his family has done since are necessarily much better - their re-creation of his "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun" he was working on at the time of his death was probably a lot truer to Jimi's vision than what Douglas did with the various bits and pieces he released, but in other ways his family was just as bad as Douglas in inserting their own meanings and agenda into the music - I remember clearly a section in the liner notes about, one of the earlier tracks, I think Freedom or Isabella (just hit play now), where someone in/associated with the family was talking about a particular guitar part, and opened "this was just a guide track Jimi cut that he intended to go back and replace, but I think it really ties the song together because of the way the guitar tone changes and the part does this, etc etc etc. And I think as time went on and subsequent releases came out, they got spottier and more and more of the high points were performances Douglas had already released but in edited form.

So, I guess the one thing they've unequivically done right is taken a little more of an archival approach - tried to present what was really there, rather than hired other musicians to "finish" unfinished material. But, in doing so, they seem to have shown a little more of a willingness to release pretty much anything and call it an album, where a lot of the material maybe should have been saved for some sort of a "studio outtakes and works in progress" boxed set if they wanted to be maybe a little more honest about what they were doing.

Idunno. Again, I'm conflicted here, and there's a lot I can't say I know.

[jacksonplayer]

"First Rays" is the high point of the Hendrix family's oversight of Jimi's music, and "The Jimi Hendrix Concerts" is the high point of Alan Douglas' era. The latter was my first Hendrix album, and I believe some of those tracks have still never been reissued on subsequent releeases.

As for the amp, can anyone really listen to Jimi's Woodstock tone and think that's the one to aim for? Other than the Star Spangled Banner, it was an awful gig.

Like a lot of people, he relied on Marshalls live for their power but recorded in the studio with a huge variety of gear, including Fender amps.

Anyway, this isn't even a recreation of the actual Woodstock Plexi, but just sort of inspired by an inspection of it.

[Soopahmahn]

Even the excellent Jimi: Blues, which I really wish was still in production, featured some heavy-handed moments, not the least of which splicing the "Electric Church Red House" intro onto a completely different take of Red House from a different session, and then talking about it in the liner notes about how Jimi was exhausted by that point and how it came across in his free time guitar/spoken intro and the final ending cadenza the band half-missed at the end of the song, like it was a single take from a single point in time.

I always wondered about how weird that sounded and never knew the background on it. Thanks!

[Drew]

"First Rays" is the high point of the Hendrix family's oversight of Jimi's music, and "The Jimi Hendrix Concerts" is the high point of Alan Douglas' era. The latter was my first Hendrix album, and I believe some of those tracks have still never been reissued on subsequent releeases.

I'm actually not familiar with the "Concerts" release - what was on it? I'd put "Blues" up there as well - it really is spectacular, and his instrumental take on "Born under a Bad Sign" taught me a HUGE amount about blues lead from the first couple choruses alone - though with the Scorsese documentary release maybe that's a little less pressing - but either way the era at least wasn't a complete wash.

I always wondered about how weird that sounded and never knew the background on it. Thanks!

Yeah, it's... not SUPER obvious something is different, the guitar tones are close enough you might not notice, the mix is even throughout... but the band sort of kicks in all at once on the downbeat of that first true chorus, so it's a real zero-to-sixty version. The decision to cut that intro onto a second take of Red House where Jimi forgot the lyrics and just lauynched into a solo, and then his band mostly missed his ending cue, was... interesting. The decision to then talk about it like it was somehow related to the intro from a different take, and not mention the edit in the liner notes, was, well, straight-up dishonest. Still, there's another version of Red House earlier in that, and there's some true gems - Born Under a Bad Sign, the trwo versions of Hear my Train a'Comin, acoustic and electric, that bookmark the album... It's some rpetty awesome stuff.

[jacksonplayer]

I'm actually not familiar with the "Concerts" release - what was on it? I'd put "Blues" up there as well - it really is spectacular, and his instrumental take on "Born under a Bad Sign" taught me a HUGE amount about blues lead from the first couple choruses alone - though with the Scorsese documentary release maybe that's a little less pressing - but either way the era at least wasn't a complete wash.

I'm not a huge fan of Jimi as a bluesman, so that's probably why I never got into the Blues album that much.

The wiki for the Concerts album has all the information (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jimi_Hendrix_Concerts). Most of the tracks have been used in subsequent releases, notably the Winterland box. The "Are You Experienced" here is the best I've ever heard, and it's included only on a bonus disc of the Winterland box. The San Diego and Royal Albert Hall tracks remain currently unavailable, I believe.

[Drew]

I'm not a huge fan of Jimi as a bluesman, so that's probably why I never got into the Blues album that much.

The wiki for the Concerts album has all the information (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jimi_Hendrix_Concerts). Most of the tracks have been used in subsequent releases, notably the Winterland box. The "Are You Experienced" here is the best I've ever heard, and it's included only on a bonus disc of the Winterland box. The San Diego and Royal Albert Hall tracks remain currently unavailable, I believe.

Ah. To no suprise at all, I'm sure, I am.

Thats cool - I'll have to do some poking around. Thanks!

[desertdweller]

PRS as an amp maker still has a way to go, and I'm not sure who wants this cheap plastic-looking amp. The Archon hasn't impressed me at all, and while I loved the general sound of the gain channel on the MT15, I had a new one that had a loop problem. The same look problem a lot of MT15 owners have. I talked to PRS, they did a warranty repair and told me they rebuilt my effects loop for me. I get it back, same 60Hz hum with anything in the loop.

So yeah, they make killer guitars that a lot of people enjoy, but their amp division is in a weird place. This new amp honestly looks like it should have a Crate logo on it.

[Chris]

The MT15 sounds badass in every clip I've heard of it, but fuck all is it shitty looking.

That kind of thing matters. It's not the most important thing obviously, but it would be nice if PRS at least gave half a fuck about the aesthetics.