All Along the Watchtower

This is a revised version of a video I originally posted about 5-6 years ago. I wanted to update it to be a little more accurate to how Hendrix may have approached it in the studio.

One of the changes is the intro. In the original version, I played the chords in open position, but after revisiting the track I became convinced there’s a 12-string guitar helping fill out the sound. The only 12-string I own is the double-neck SG style guitar you see in the video, so that’s what I used here. I also updated some of the backing track elements, added a touch of fuzz and tape delay to the tones, corrected some bends and ghost notes, and refined some of the lead guitar parts.

The changes aren’t drastic, but I do feel they’re a little closer to the recording. The clean verse sections were interesting to revisit as well. I found an isolated track on YouTube that helped reveal some details I wasn’t hearing before and made me second-guess myself a little less. For a while I wondered if Hendrix may have used a capo on a clean electric guitar because some of the fingerings become much easier that way. In the end, I decided against tabbing it with a capo because I kept hearing open strings that seemed to point toward standard positioning instead. I also learned after the fact that the bridge appears to have been played on a 12-string with a slide.

I used a glass slide to get as close as I could. Don’t mind my slide playing too much—I’ve always struggled with getting good vibrato using a slide. Hendrix was obviously a much better slide player than I’ll ever be.

If you’d prefer the original interpretation with the intro played in open position, here is a link to the older video.

Hope you enjoy the updated version!