Jimi Hendrix estate sues guitar shop for possession of a vintage Hendrix instrument
Tuscon, AZ music store Rainbow Guitars has come to possess a very special item: a
Black Widow guitar, an example of the only guitar model ever offered by the Acoustic Control Corporation, a company far better known for
amps. This one was a rare left-handed model, and to ice that cake, it was once owned by
Jimi Hendrix.
The alleged provenance is this: the guitar was given by Hendrix to his adopted sister Janie, who married Earth, Wind and Fire/Commodores guitarist Sheldon Reynolds. Hendrix either gave Reynolds the instrument, or he obtained it in their divorce settlement (this is unclear and online sources differ). Reynolds sold the guitar to one Brian Patterson—named by some sources as a “business partner” of Reynolds’—who in turn sold the instrument to Rainbow’s Harvey Moltz.
There’s a missing piece to that provenance claim—before selling the instrument to Moltz, Patterson endeavored to sell the instrument through Julien’s Auctions of Beverly Hills, CA, which provoked a lawsuit
last year by Experience Hendrix, the business entity run by Hendrix’s family in an endeavor to keep control of the guitarist’s legacy. Now it’s Moltz who finds himself being sued by Experience Hendrix. Via the
Arizona Daily Star:
Rainbow Guitars owner Harvey Moltz says he paid $80,000 last year for the Black Widow guitar. But in an Oct. 2 complaint, the company that runs Hendrix’s estate claimed Moltz is not the rightful owner of the guitar and asked a Pima County Superior Court judge to direct him to return the guitar and pay damages.
Jimi Hendrix estate sues guitar shop for possession of a vintage Hendrix instrument