Divine Life: Multi-Billionaire, Investor, Inventor, Co-Founder of Microsoft Paul Allen Adds "Rock Star" to His Curriculum Vitae
CirSeated inside the blue lounge, a plush private space within Seattle's EMP Museum, Paul Allen deftly lets loose a barrage of notes on the legendary 1968 Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock. "Hey!" Allen exclaims with all the joy, wonder, and ebullience of a six-year-old boy getting a Batman accessory belt for Christmas. "The neck on this thing is amazing! It is just so buttery, smooth, and fast to play. Wow!"
Surprisingly, it's the first time Allen has played the guitar since he purchased it in a private sale in 1993 for a reputed $1.3 million. The storied Strat is one of the crown jewels of the collection at the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum, the landmark rock and roll/pop culture museum that Allen launched in 2000. Normally the guitar is handled only with curatorial white gloves, but hey, it's Paul's guitar and it's Paul's museum.
A fine guitarist in his own right, Allen knows that guitars are meant to be played. Even cultural icons like the Hendrix Strat are, after all, musical instruments, and as such they can, and perhaps even should, be brought out and played—under the right circumstances. That's why Allen let Kenny Wayne Shepherd play the Woodstock Strat on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and at New York's Beacon Theatre as part of the Experience Hendrix Tour in 2010. That's why the good folks at EMP have kindly taken the instrument off exhibit for a Guitar Aficionado cover photo shoot and interview with Paul. We are not worthy.
"The last time I held this guitar, the original strings were still on it," Allen recalls. "They were all rusty, and the guitar was strung upside down, the way Jimi played it, left handed. This is the first time I've held the guitar in playable condition, and wow, this neck is just incredible!"
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