Yes, Jimi Hendrix played an upside-down guitar, and it shaped his entire sound

Jimi Hendrix was left-handed and played a right-handed guitar strung in reverse. He did not flip the instrument upside down in the literal sense — the body stayed in the normal position — but he reversed the string order so the thickest string sat on top and the thinnest on the bottom. This meant his fretting hand (left) worked the strings in the opposite direction from a standard right-handed player, and his picking hand (right) attacked the strings from an unfamiliar angle.

This setup forced Hendrix to develop techniques that right-handed players could not easily copy. Bending strings felt different. Vibrato came from a different motion. Even straightforward chord shapes required him to think in mirror image. Rather than fight the constraint, he built his style around it — and in doing so, he created sounds that defined rock music for decades.

Key Takeaways

  • Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster with the strings reversed, making the low E string sit on top instead of the bottom.
  • He was naturally left-handed, so reversing the strings let him fret with his left hand while picking with his right, the way left-handed players typically work.
  • The reversed string setup forced him to develop unique bending and vibrato techniques that became central to his signature tone.
  • He did not invent this approach — other left-handed players had done it before — but he perfected it and made it iconic.

Why Hendrix chose a right-handed guitar instead of a left-handed one

Hendrix could have bought a left-handed guitar, which would have come with strings in the standard order and required no modification. Left-handed instruments existed in the 1960s, though they were less common and often more expensive than right-handed models. Instead, he took right-handed guitars and restrung them.

The most likely reason was availability and cost. Right-handed guitars were cheaper and easier to find, especially when Hendrix was starting out in Seattle and later in New York. Restringing was a straightforward fix — you reverse the order of the strings and adjust the nut and bridge if needed. Once he developed his technique on reversed strings, he stuck with it. By the time he could afford any guitar he wanted, his muscle memory and his sound were already built into that setup.

How reversing the strings changed his playing technique

When you reverse the strings on a right-handed guitar, the geometry of every technique shifts. String bending — one of Hendrix's signature moves — now happened by pushing the string away from the body instead of pulling it toward the body. This gave his bends a different feel and a different tone, because the angle of the string against the fret changed.

Vibrato, the slight wobble in pitch that adds expression to a note, also came from a different hand motion. On a standard right-handed guitar, a right-handed player vibrates by moving the fretting hand back and forth along the length of the neck. Hendrix's left hand did this, but from the opposite side, which meant his vibrato had its own character. His thumb position on the back of the neck also became more visible and more active than on a typical right-handed player's instrument, because his left hand was doing the heavy lifting.

Hendrix also used his thumb to fret notes on the low E string — a technique that was unusual at the time. Because his low E string sat on top of the neck where his thumb naturally rested, he could reach it easily. A right-handed player would have to stretch awkwardly to do the same thing. This thumb-fretting became part of his vocabulary and let him voice chords in ways that were hard for others to replicate.

The Fender Stratocaster and Hendrix's setup

Hendrix's main instrument was a Fender Stratocaster, a right-handed model manufactured in the 1960s. The Stratocaster has a contoured body designed to fit a right-handed player's torso, with the cutaway on the upper bout angled for the right hand to access the higher frets. When Hendrix played it upside down (strings reversed), the cutaway was now on the "wrong" side for his body position, but he made it work.

The Stratocaster's three single-coil pickups and its tremolo system — a spring-loaded bridge that lets you bend the pitch of all strings at once — became central to Hendrix's sound. The tremolo, in particular, was something he exploited heavily. Because his picking hand approached the strings from the opposite angle, his tremolo technique had a fluidity and a range that became when ready recognizable. Listen to "Machine Gun" or the intro to "Purple Haze," and you hear the tremolo doing things that sound almost vocal.

Other left-handed players who used the same approach

Hendrix did not invent the upside-down guitar. Other left-handed musicians had played right-handed guitars with reversed strings before him. Albert King, a blues guitarist who influenced Hendrix, played a Gibson ES-355 semi-hollow body with the strings reversed. Paul McCartney of The Beatles also played a right-handed Epiphone Casino with reversed strings, though he was not left-handed — he straightforward preferred the feel.

What made Hendrix different was not the technique itself but what he did with it. He took the constraint and turned it into an advantage, developing a style so distinctive that the reversed-string setup became synonymous with his name. After Hendrix became famous, left-handed guitarists had a choice: buy a left-handed guitar or follow Hendrix's path. Many chose to follow him, not because it was necessary but because it was iconic.

How to play upside-down guitar if you are left-handed

If you are left-handed and want to play a right-handed guitar with reversed strings, the process is straightforward. Remove the strings from a right-handed guitar in order (thickest to thinnest). Reverse that order and reinstall them, so the thickest string now sits on top. You may need to file the nut — the bone or plastic piece at the headstock where the strings sit — to make the string slots fit the new order, because the slots are usually sized to match the string thickness in standard order.

The bridge may also need adjustment. On a Stratocaster, the bridge has individual saddles for each string, and you can usually just swap them around. On an acoustic guitar with a fixed bridge, you might need to have a luthier (guitar repair specialist) file new slots. Once the strings are reversed and the nut and bridge are adjusted, the guitar plays like a left-handed instrument, but with the body shape and electronics of a right-handed one.

This approach works best if you are comfortable with the body shape of a right-handed guitar. If the cutaway or the overall contour feels awkward against your body, a purpose-built left-handed guitar will be more comfortable. But if you like the specific guitar and do not mind the body shape, reversing the strings is a viable option — and you will be in good company with Hendrix and other left-handed players who chose the same path.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Jimi Hendrix actually play upside down or is that a myth?

It is not a myth. Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster with the strings reversed, which is sometimes called playing "upside down." The strings were in reverse order, so the low E string sat on top instead of the bottom. He did this because he was left-handed and this setup let him fret with his left hand and pick with his right.

Why did Hendrix not just buy a left-handed guitar?

Left-handed guitars were less common and more expensive in the 1960s when Hendrix was starting out. Reversing the strings on a right-handed guitar was cheaper and easier. Once he developed his technique and his sound on reversed strings, he stuck with it even after he could afford any instrument.

Does playing upside down make you sound like Jimi Hendrix?

No. The reversed-string setup was one part of Hendrix's sound, but his tone came from his technique, his choice of amplifiers, his effects pedals, and his musical ideas. Playing the same guitar setup will not give you his sound — it will only give you the same physical constraints he worked within.

Can a right-handed player play a left-handed guitar?

Yes, but it takes practice. A right-handed player picking up a left-handed guitar will find the strings in reverse order and the body shape mirrored. Some right-handed players learn to play left-handed guitars, but most find it easier to stick with right-handed instruments designed for their hand orientation.

What guitar did Jimi Hendrix use most often?

A 1965 Fender Stratocaster in white, which he played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and on many of his most famous recordings. He owned several Stratocasters throughout his career, all right-handed models with reversed strings. He also played Gibson guitars and other brands, but the Stratocaster was his main instrument.