There are all kinds of modifications you can make to the Fender Stratocaster in your life to have it just the way you like it. You can block off the vibrato, switch up the wiring, swap out the saddles in the vibrato. But Richard Fortus has identified two of the biggest changes that can be made to a Strat and he credits Jimi Hendrix with finding them.
In a recent interview with Total Guitar, in which the Guns N' Roses guitarist waxes lyrical about the influence of Aerosmith’s Joe Perry on his sound, Fortus says Leo Fender missed a trick when it came to the Strat – and it was Hendrix who was responsible for fixing it. By flipping the right-handed body upside down, thus reversing the angle of the bridge pickup, and reversing the headstock, Hendrix improved it.
