Fender Stratocaster 1963, Black, Mike Bloomfield

Mike Bloomfield started his musical journey in his hometown of Chicago Illinois. The blues was Mike's music of choice and he was in exactly the right place as Chicago is the birthplace of electric blues. Along with his friend Paul Butterfield, Mike would search out the clubs on Chicago's South Side that would let them come in (they were teenagers) and listen to the music. Listening turned to playing early on in Mike's life and he became an attraction at Clubs like The Checkerboard Lounge, Mel's Hideaway, Pepper's, Theresa's, The 708, and Sylvio's. Muddy Waters considered Mike as family. As far as bonafides go in the blues world it doesn't get any better than that.

This 1963 Fender Stratocaster was given to Mike by his fellow Electric Flag bandmate Buddy Miles. The guitar was given to Buddy by his fellow Band of Gypsies member: Jimi Hendrix. When Hendrix owned the guitar it had been converted to a 12 string guitar and then converted back to a regular six string. Six holes had been drilled into the body to accomodate the extra strings. When Jimi had it those holes had been filled with wooden dowels and the guitar was finished in a not so attractive brown sunburst. According to Buddy, Jimi loved the sound of the guitar and used it to record. He didn't consider the guitar to be attractive enough to play on stage though. Because of this Jimi gave it to Buddy. Buddy eventually gave the guitar to Mike and Mike played the guitar almost exclusively from the mid '70s until his tragic, and untimely death in 1981.

Mike had the guitar professionally refinished black. The doweled holes in the body can be seen under the paint in the right light. Some sort of tension system, on the headstock, was used for the sympathetic strings and there are metal remnants of that visable. The original decal wasn't harmed and remains mostly intact. One pickup, the bridge pickup, looks to have been rewound. It still has it's original pots and 3 position switch. The neck is the classic '63 Fender shape, slightly on the large side. The guitar was refretted during Mike's tenure with it and a new nut was installed. It plays great and here's a fun fact... this is one of the best sounding Strats you'll ever hear. Each position on the switch is like textbook Stratocaster tone. No wonder Jimi loved to record with it. 70's Fender hardcase.

Neck stamp: 2SEP63B Pots: 3046334