This was once a regular multicolor Ibanez Universe, believe it or not.

Ibanez representative Scot Schwestska recounted the birth of the guitar’s

new look in the April ’91 issue of Guitar World:

“Steve asked if we could create a finish that would make one of his Jem

Universe guitars look like the Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix burned at the

1967 Monterey Pop Festival. We knew that Frank Zappa owned the actual

Monterey Strat, so we hunted down a picture of Frank with the legendary

instrument. The next thing we did was sprinkle mineral spirits on the body

of a standard Jem Universe, and carefully started burning it to emulate the

look of the Hendrix guitar. It was like a family barbeque! We had a group of

people around to cook it in just the right places.”

He has used this guitar extensively on tour in the 2000’s and continuous to use it often as Steve really likes the sound of it. 

It can be seen in the “For the Love of God” video, and on the cover of the April 1991 issue of Guitar World.