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Jimi Hendrix Family Wants His Guitar Back, Owner Says It’s Legally His

Jimi Hendrix guitars are always a big deal, as there just aren’t too many of them around anymore. One in particular is now at the center of a lawsuit between the late guitarist’s estate an...
Jimi Hendrix Family Wants His Guitar Back, Owner Says It’s Legally His
Written by Staff
  • Jimi Hendrix guitars are always a big deal, as there just aren’t too many of them around anymore. One in particular is now at the center of a lawsuit between the late guitarist’s estate and a guitar shop owner who says the guitar is legally his.

    According to the Arizona Daily Star, Experience Hendrix, the estate of Jimi Hendrix, is suing local Tuscon shop owner Harvey Moltz.

    Janie Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s adopted sister and CEO of Experience Hendrix, says that her brother’s Black Widow guitar belongs to the family.

    “The guitar is priceless to our family,” said Hendrix. “It is one of the few guitars that came home after Jimi passed away. We just want our guitar returned safely and back where it belongs.”

    Moltz is fighting back, however, as he claims he purchased the guitar fair and square.

    From the Daily Star:

    Experience Hendrix said in its complaint that it first learned the guitar was missing in June 2014 when Julien’s Auctions — a Los Angeles firm that bills itself as “the auction house to the stars” — called to authenticate a claim made by Brian Patterson, who was trying to auction the Black Widow.

    Moltz said he bought the guitar that month from Patterson, who said he bought it previously from Sheldon Reynolds, the ex-husband of Janie Hendrix and a former member of the band Earth, Wind, and Fire.

    “My client purchased the guitar in good faith from a private seller, without knowledge of competing claims of ownership,” said Todd Jackson, the Tucson-based lawyer representing Moltz.

    But Experience Hendrix says the guitar was stolen.

    And at an estimated $750,000 to $1 million, it’s quite the axe.

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