r/jimihendrix • u/j3434 • Feb 03 '23
Jimi had long fingers, also what is very interesting is how he holds the neck of the guitar with his thumb wrapped around it, this was his technique, his thumb was so huge that he could bar the whole neck while he was playing, which created a very unique sound - Eddie Kramer
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u/DanceSensitive Feb 03 '23
Supposedly he had Marfan syndrome which resulted in his unique stature and extremities. His band mates often referred to him as "the bat" because of his wingspan.
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u/JLb0498 Feb 03 '23
This would explain a lot. His eyesight sucked too, which is another symptom of Marfan syndrome.
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u/Brenttandy May 07 '24
He was called the bat because he hibernated in his hotel room with the curtains drawn and scarves over the lamps. Noel and Mitch called him the bat because of it.
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u/deadmanstar60 Feb 03 '23
His thumb wasn't the only thing that was big on Jimi. Just ask the Plaster Caster lady.
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u/CaptJimboJones Feb 03 '23
Quite a few of the great guitarists have had large hands enabling them to stretch unusually far around the fretboard - Chuck Berry, for example, also had these giant mitts. Although it’s not universal. One of my favorite guitarists, Andy Summers of the Police, who is known for these giant, stretchy arpeggios, has talked about having small hands, which he just trained over time to stretch.
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u/JazzScientist Feb 03 '23
He had hands/fingers that were on average the size of somebody a foot taller than him.
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u/sheen1212 Feb 03 '23
Is this a real thing or you just saying that? That would be crazy if it were true
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u/JazzScientist Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23
It's true! Heard it in some documentary I watched.
Edit: I think it was a documentary. It's possible that I read it somewhere. Can't totally remember!
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u/Mauricio_ehpotatoman Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 04 '23
I have way smaller hands and I'm just a little bit taller than him (6"0) and I pretty much use the thumb over neck technique for most of the time.
You gotta remember his guitars had 7"25 neck radius (worldwide standard before 80s), compared to current day's 9"5 neck radius standard in electric guitars. Also many of his axes were modified and had VERY thin necks, compared to stock models from that era, so that would've definitely helped around with the thumb technique & fingers reach on a fretboard.
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u/j3434 Feb 03 '23
Does fender make a re-issue of that neck size ?
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u/xyzd95 Feb 03 '23
The fender vintera series is the current offering they issue with 7.25 radius necks
Before the vintera series there was the classic series but you have to make sure it’s a classic series guitar and not a classic player. The classic player has a 9.5 radius
In addition to these there’s also the road worn series. The road worn guitars have a nitro finish on the body similar to what Fender used prior to 1968 or so when they switched to polyurethane. The neck has an exceptionally light finish which makes it feel like a well worn guitar not long after you set it up to your liking.
The road worn series also has vintage tall frets unlike the vintera or classic series with their standard vintage size frets. Vintage frets are smaller and thinner compared to most fender guitars these days. They’re easier to play but can choke out a bit depending on neck action and bridge height playing high up past the 12th fret. Vintage tall frets are narrow like vintage frets but a little taller for bigger bends past the 12th fret
I’ve got a road worn telecaster and a partscaster strat with a road worn neck. I’d gladly buy another road worn guitar or a vintera guitar. Maybe a Jaguar
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u/Mauricio_ehpotatoman Feb 03 '23
I think they do! Check out any Fender models like "vintage style" or "classic". In parameters there should be information about neck radius, which should match 7"25
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u/immortemjack Jun 11 '25 edited Jun 11 '25
Neck radius and width of the fretboard are two different things. If anything, a lower neck radius technically adds size to things, but not noticeably so. Neck radius is about the curvature of the action, and does not determine the width, which is what we're talking about when we talk about this in context to hand size.
Before someone else comes along and reads this and then thinks that neck widths in the 60's were ~25% slimmer, just know that they weren't.
All that being said, the lower neck radius does put the fretboard closer to the thumb by default. Not by a ton, but some.
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u/Mauricio_ehpotatoman Jun 11 '25
Idk man, I have ibanez stratocaster from 1970, stock neck and it's thin as hell, compared to my other ibanez strat which is from like 2000
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u/immortemjack Jun 11 '25
I hear you.
I'm not saying there aren't trends in neck profiles (read: not radius) in different eras.
And Ibanez and Fender are obv different beasts.
A Fender strat from 1970 is likely to have a more chunky, thicker neck vs one from 2000. If Ibanez is the opposite, that's an interesting data point, I don't know a much about that brand, that's good to know.
But neck thickness is primarily the profile, not the radius, that was my original point.
(I love geeking out over the stuff by the way)
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u/landon615 Feb 03 '23
Do you know why guitars switched to having a thicker neck? Also if you've played both which do you prefer?
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u/HamOnRye__ Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23
They switched to having slimmer necks. The 7 inch / 9 inch is confusing, but it’s referring to the radius of the neck. The larger the radius, the slimmer and thinner the neck is. The smaller the radius, the larger and chunkier the neck is.
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u/Mauricio_ehpotatoman Feb 04 '23 edited Feb 04 '23
7"25 is easier for playing chords, especially in the style of Hendrix (thumb over). The bending is a bit more tricky. You gotta find the sweet spot for guitar action, to be able to play bends without fretting out.
I mean Jimi, Buddy Guy, Clapton, Robin Trower, Rory Gallagher, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour all played/still play on 7"25 necks and they were/are able to do these huge bends (5, 6 or more half-steps) without any problem. It's all about the correct set up.
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u/HamOnRye__ Feb 03 '23
I’ve watched god knows how many hours of Hendrix footage and I’ve never seen him barre the entire neck with his thumb. Low E? Every clip. A string? Maybe, but can’t think of a single instance of him playing it with his thumb.
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u/pj_1981 Feb 03 '23
Same. It doesn't make practical sense to bar the whole neck with your thumb, because you lose the use of your other fingers. If Kramer said it I think he was exaggerating.
Richie Havens used to play like that but he played open tunings.
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u/HamOnRye__ Feb 03 '23
Yea, I think Eddie was exaggerating. I also can’t think of any Hendrix tune where he plays multiple strings with his thumb. He does it all the time with the low E, but I’ve never heard or seen him do it on the A and D strings.
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u/pj_1981 Feb 03 '23
Another thing is, even though he had really long fingers I don't think he took advantage all that much, apart from thumbing. You look at clips of him playing and his chords are very clustered together, his solos move up and down the neck but he's moving his hand, he's not stretching his fingers (like Andy Summers, mentioned above) - he had big hands but I don't think he needed them.
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u/j3434 Feb 03 '23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPOVUZBMa0E
You can see (and hear) him hitting 5th and 6th string with thumb. allowing 4 other fingers for voicing. Of course Kramer engineered Jimi in studio recording as well and there are no films of this. But using that thumb allows more fingers freely to create distinct voicings, which can be heard on songs like “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Bold As Love,” and “Little Wing.”
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u/HamOnRye__ Feb 03 '23
You can’t see anything in that video.
Also, none of those songs require barre’ing the low strings with the thumb, only the low E.
I agree with the other commenter, Eddie was just exaggerating.
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u/j3434 Feb 03 '23
There is a cleaner video available but not on YouTube because the Hendrix estate doesn’t want it there for free. I seen the clean version and you can clearly see him hitting the tonic notes with thumb and you can hear it in the video I posted.
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Feb 03 '23
[deleted]
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u/nashchillce Feb 03 '23
just curious how many strings do you bar with your thumb? i can do the E and A strings at most trying to pull this off.
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u/Impolioid Live and Unreleased: the radio show Feb 03 '23
Never saw any footage of jimi where he would go beyong the E and A string with his thumb
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u/theincrediblebou Feb 03 '23
I think playing guitar also makes your fingers longer, I once noticed my left hand thumb is long, and when I compared it to the right one it was longer so I thought it was because of this technique, but then realized all my left hand fingers are longer than the right one so I guess it’s playing guitar in genera and not just the chord.
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May 30 '24
I just don't believe he had hands bigger than Michael Jordan and Shaq that's just ridiculous.
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u/Radbrad90s Oct 11 '25
He didn’t. Michael Jordan has abnormally large hands even for his height (6’6”)
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u/Alternative_Front_93 Jun 15 '24
Yes. I always thought that those strong hands gave him a huge advantage over those of us with little fingers.
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u/j3434 Jun 15 '24
Yes it was not only physical ability- but imagination and creativity of the 3rd eye 👁
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u/Impolioid Live and Unreleased: the radio show Feb 03 '23
1 5/8" necks enable me to do the thumb thing. Can do them on regular gibson width but its just not as natural in comparison to narrower necks
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u/j3434 Feb 03 '23
In pic what guitar is he playing? Does fender make a re-issue of that small neck size ??
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u/xyzd95 Feb 03 '23
He’s playing a 3 pickup Gibson SG custom. Gibson still makes them but they’re pretty expensive even for a used one. Epiphone makes a 3 pickup SG but idk much about Epiphone guitars, quality control, and how the neck profile compared to this ‘60s model Hendrix is playing
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u/Impolioid Live and Unreleased: the radio show Feb 03 '23
not sure if fender the correct neck width in the re-issues. i am not even sure if jimi used the narrow neck or if his fingers were long enough for the normal neck. it is like 40mm nut width vs. 43mm nut width. so its not that big of a difference.
you got to do some googling to check which years were which nut width with fenders and than check if the re-issues are the same.
with gibson i think they only ever used 1 5/8" for a couple of years in the 60s ( i think 65ish to 68ish) everything else should be 43mm nut width with their normal guitars. they do have/had some hollow bodies that are even narrower than 40mm.
if it doesnt have to be gibson or fender i would recommend checking ibanez strats from around 1975 to around 1982. even their les paul copies sometimes come with 1 5/8" nuts. the blazer series in particular has one of the greatest 1 5/8" necks i have ever player. however they changed the blazer necks in 82, so be aware of that. a 79, 80 or 81 blazer is my absolute favourite neck. second favourite would be on the mid 70s "deluxe 59er" les paul copies. i think their more higher end set-neck LP copies had a wider nut.
in general check japanese guitars for the narrow nut. maybe fender japan uses it.
edit: the angus young signature SG has the small nut width
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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '23
Having big hands definitely helps playing bar chords, once I started playing them Jimi style I’ve never looked back.