When Noel Redding went to his first audition with Jimi Hendrix in London on 29 September 1966, he borrowed Chas Chandler’s Gibson ‘EB-2’ semi-acoustic one-pick-up bass guitar. The Gibson was used by Redding until mid February 1967, when he purchased his own bass guitar, a sunburst 1964 Fender Jazz bass. in London.

Noel Redding: “I used a six-string bass for a while. That made the change-over from lead easier, but I could only seem to get a trebly sound of it. Later I moved on to four-string.“ This was a Fender V1 electric bass guitar, usually referred to as a Bass V1 or Bass 6.

The Fender Jazz bass was used for the remainder of Redding’s career with the Jimi Hendrix Experience (note that in January 1968 he removed the pickup cover and rear cover that protects the bridge).

In the 1980s Noel sold his Jazz bass (at that time in rather poor condition) for UK £10,000 to collector Bob Terry, who himself sold it again a few years later.

In July 1967 Noel Redding also got a Hagstrom eight-string bass (1967), which he used for some of the Axis: Bold As Love studio recordings and also for a few of the JHE concerts during 1967.

Redding always used Rotosound Swing Bass string for his bass guitars, while Sunn was his favourite amplification system from April 1968 onwards

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Photo 1: Noel with Chas Chandler’s Gibson ‘EB-2’ semi-acoustic bass.

Photo 2: Noel with a Fender V1 electric bass guitar.

Photo 3: Noel with his Fender Jazz bass (with pickup cover).

Photo 4: Noel with his Fender Jazz bass (without pickup cover).

Photo 5: Noel with his Hagstrom eight-string bass.

Photo 6: Noel with his impressive wall of Sunn amps.

Photo 7: Noel with rare Mustang.

It was a nasty shock to learn about the sudden death of Noel Redding, who'd been living in County Cork for nearly thirty years. I visited Noel at his Ardfield home on countless occasions throughout these years to discuss various Hendrix matters/projects with him and I have wonderful memories of hanging out with Noel "at home and abroad."

Noel also generously allowed me unlimited access to details from his personal diaries – without this vital information it would have been impossible, for example, to compile a definitive gig listing for the JHE period. Thanks again, Noel....   

Noel David Redding (57) died at his home in Ardfield, Clonakilty, County Cork, Republic of Ireland, on Sunday 11 May 2003. He is survived by a son (name?) from his brief marriage to Susan Fowsby in November 1969, a sister, Vicki, and a brother, Anthony.

Noel's body was found in his upstairs bathroom on Monday evening (12 May) at around 18:00 hours by Bobby Blackwell, owner of "De Barra's" (a pub/folk venue in Clonakilty where Noel, when he had no commitments abroad, would perform every Friday night). Blackwell decided to go over to Redding's house on Monday after he had not seen the bassist after the previous Saturday and Redding failed to answer his telephone on Sunday.

A post-mortem was carried out on 13 May at Cork University Hospital in Wilton, Cork. The report concluded that Redding died from "shock haemorrhage due to oesophageal varices in reaction to cirrhosis of the liver."

Redding's body was cremated at Newlands Cross Crematorium, West Dublin, on Monday 19 May 2003.

Noel's catch-phrase at the end of a performance for over 10 years was "Thank you very much, good night, and good luck." Sadly, Noel's own luck ran out on 11 May 2003. We''l miss you, mate.