Jimi's guitars ...

Jimi Hocking is known as a 'gun' guitarist for good reason — and some of Jimi's 'axes' are as recognisable as the man himself!

The Les Paul has always been Jimi's preferred guitar but he's spent plenty of lot of time on his PRS, his Gibson 125-T, his Yamaha AEX and (if you go back far enough) his Cimar Strat copy! Here are some of Jimi's favourite guitars with notes in his own words — and for video of Jimi putting some guitars through their paces, check out his YouTube channel!

Jimi's guitars YouTube channel

1973 Gibson Les Paul 'Gold Top'

Jimi: My main guitar for so many years! 'Goldie', originally a Deluxe, is highly recognisable to anyone who has seen me play at just about any stage of my life — I have used her in virtually every band I have ever played in. She has standard wiring; however that's a real 1959 PAF in the neck!

Her sound and playability are still the yardstick for any other solid body guitar I look at. This was the main guitar used on the infamous No Turning Back album in 1989, and again on my 2010 album Electric Mojo Machine.

1973 Gibson Les Paul 'Cherry Sunburst'

Jimi: This is the guitar that started my obsession with this model, my first Les Paul. I paid $625 for this guitar around 1983. Originally a deluxe with mini humbuckers the old faithful has seen many changes and repairs, including radical weight reduction surgery!

She is loaded with an old set of Seymour Duncan SH-1's and has a coil tap switch for the neck, a mod I had done many years ago, and still favour.

1987 Gibson SG 'Standard' (aka 'Shuji')

Jimi: When I got my first Les Paul I had a beat up SG as my backup guitar... they were considered a good budget instrument. I have owned a number of them over the years, but they lack balance. However, I like their sound and neck access... and, like a 335, they are great to sit down to play in the studio.

This '87 has the deeper neck join and a wide neck; I traded my '71 SG for it and have been very happy with it. The white finish is reminiscent of the SG LP that Les was photographed with in the 60's ... although Les did not like them one bit!

1965 Gibson ES 125-T

Jimi: This non-cutaway 125 is an absolute killer, and is one of my most important instruments. During the Give Jimi Some Love! period, I was playing in a lot of 'outside' keys for a guitar player (B, C, Ab), so I really didn't miss the cutaway.

I ended up playing her full on for some time, when a health problem had me searching for a light weight guitar with a big sound. She really challenged many of my construction preconceptions... I mean she is completely hollow but I can get everything from T Bone to Hendrix out of her! I always thought you needed solid wood for that. Somehow in my mind my the 175 and 125 are the Uncles of the Les Paul-shaped top, good balance (with a single cutaway), traditional Gibson neck and thick harmonic tone.

1996 Grubisa Telecaster

Jimi: While recording the World Gone Crazy album with the Jets, we really wanted a Telecaster. Fender sent some over but they were all 'hot rodded'. Grubisa put together this vintage replica for me from swamp ash, and rewound some old pickups, even the correct cloth wire was used internally.

The result was spectacular, a completely authentic sounding Tele. It's the first thing you hear on that album ... my Scotty Moore impersonation on 'Elvis'. I then went on to use this guitar for my first blues album Blue Guitar, the Tele through a Boss SD-1 into a little 'Goldentone' amp. I still have people ask me about the guitar sound on that record.

Grubisa Guitars