What pickups for the SRV tone
- Thread starter coldshot76
- Start date
Black_Death
New member
thank you my fren.
peace,the way of life.
and im not a hippie..so i dun smoke weed or wadeva u call it.heh.
respect to u gsonique! :wink:
peace,the way of life.
and im not a hippie..so i dun smoke weed or wadeva u call it.heh.
respect to u gsonique! :wink:
Gearjunkie
New member
jem2 said:
Before you mortgage the house for a new guitar, a few things about SRV's tone. Its one of those tones that people keep chasing and come close to, but never get, probably because IMO this is one example of how the tone really is in your fingers.
That said, it's generally accepted that a few things get you closer. SRV is one of the reasons dumble amps have their mystique, but if you dont have $10,000 to spend on an amp, the biggest ingredient would be a fender (read 6L6) tube amp pushed to the point of breakup, and the heaviest guage string you can play. He was known to use a tubescreamer to push his amp, but the overdrive reallly came more from the tubes than the pedal.
There's a lot of debate about SRV's pickups on his 'Number 1', they were supposed to be wound hotter than standard strat pickups, whether accidentally or design we'll probably never know. Fender's texas specials are supposed to imitate this overwind, but contrary to what some people believe SRV never actually used texas specials.
Depending on what you're playing through, i dont know if changing your pickups will get you closer. Mahogany bodies are mid - focused, whereas the SRV strat-into-fender-amp tone is scooped and bell like. The easiest way to approach an SRV tone would probably be any neck single coil through a tubescreamer into the clean channel of your amp. There are pickups voiced to get you into SRV territory (kinman blues, fralin blues, texas specials, etc) but you may not find the nuances of the pickups showing through a practice amp, which makes it less worthwhile to spend a few hundred on a pickup change.
le_Doucereux
New member
If I don't throw in my 2 cents worth here, I think I'll die.. 
I've been a huge fan of SRV for the longest time and I own an SRV Sig Strat and play it into a Fender Blues Jnr.. It does NOT sound like SRV.. It kinda glances in roughly the right direction, but it's never ever going to get you there.. Don't waste your $$$ on it if you're trying to sound like ol' Stevie.. If you're just looking for a great guitar, on the other hand...... I must say here that my SRV Strat is still my favourite guitar.. Doesn't sound like his No. 1, but it feels and plays fantastic.. To me.. As for the Lindy Fralins, I have a set of Vintage Hots and I can't really say that they land anywhere close to his tone..
Apparently, SRV's No. 1 did not have overwound pickups.. On the contrary, its pickups were slightly underwound.. What made his No. 1 really scream was supposedly the heavy gauge strings (at least .13) and loud, loud playing volume.. His Tube Screamer was used as a clean boost to throw an already loud amp into that growling overdrive.. Oh, and I've come to believe that he used the middle pickup on his more signature tunes such as 'Pride and Joy' and 'Texas Flood' in imitation of his idol, Hendrix (if you listen carefully, the tone has the slightly hollow, clucking sound characteristic of the middle pickup tone).. His phenomenal clean sound on 'Lenny' was played on another guitar (but I'm sure you all know that by now
)..
As for the guitar woods, it is said that his guitar was a combination of a '60s neck ('62?) and a '59 body.. His signature Strat was designed by Fender with his consultation but he passed on before he ever played it.. Thus the specs on the Fender SRV Strat were, I'm guessing, supplied by him, but not necessarily in imitation of his own No. 1.. Thus the SRV Strat would not necessarily be a good option if you're looking to imitate his sound..
Personally, I won't try to get his tone, out of respect for the man and my own individuality.. Tone comes from more than just the guitar and amp..
Cheers!!
I've been a huge fan of SRV for the longest time and I own an SRV Sig Strat and play it into a Fender Blues Jnr.. It does NOT sound like SRV.. It kinda glances in roughly the right direction, but it's never ever going to get you there.. Don't waste your $$$ on it if you're trying to sound like ol' Stevie.. If you're just looking for a great guitar, on the other hand...... I must say here that my SRV Strat is still my favourite guitar.. Doesn't sound like his No. 1, but it feels and plays fantastic.. To me.. As for the Lindy Fralins, I have a set of Vintage Hots and I can't really say that they land anywhere close to his tone..
Apparently, SRV's No. 1 did not have overwound pickups.. On the contrary, its pickups were slightly underwound.. What made his No. 1 really scream was supposedly the heavy gauge strings (at least .13) and loud, loud playing volume.. His Tube Screamer was used as a clean boost to throw an already loud amp into that growling overdrive.. Oh, and I've come to believe that he used the middle pickup on his more signature tunes such as 'Pride and Joy' and 'Texas Flood' in imitation of his idol, Hendrix (if you listen carefully, the tone has the slightly hollow, clucking sound characteristic of the middle pickup tone).. His phenomenal clean sound on 'Lenny' was played on another guitar (but I'm sure you all know that by now
)..As for the guitar woods, it is said that his guitar was a combination of a '60s neck ('62?) and a '59 body.. His signature Strat was designed by Fender with his consultation but he passed on before he ever played it.. Thus the specs on the Fender SRV Strat were, I'm guessing, supplied by him, but not necessarily in imitation of his own No. 1.. Thus the SRV Strat would not necessarily be a good option if you're looking to imitate his sound..
Personally, I won't try to get his tone, out of respect for the man and my own individuality.. Tone comes from more than just the guitar and amp..
Cheers!!
Gearjunkie
New member
le_Doucereux said:If I don't throw in my 2 cents worth here, I think I'll die..
Good points, good to see another who digs him as much as i do
. I totally know where you're coming from about throwing in your 2 cents. I dont think a blues Junior can be called the typical 'fender' sound; SRV played a bassman and various blackfaces, which all ran 6L6s. I used to own a blues junior and i think it runs on el84s, very different sound. In any case i dont think the blues is voiced like a blackface at all - i got a better srv tone with the clean channel on mesaboogie mark 3 - which sounds very blackface, it ran 4 6L6s.
About the pickups though, we may both be mistaken:
Many SRV fans believe that Stevie sent the pickups to Fender to be rewound, and that they were over wound by accident. The amazing sound of Number One seems to support this idea, but the Fender employees who examined the guitar reported that the pickups were stock except for the shielding that had been added. - http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_history_of/stevie_ray_vaughan_part_2_his_guitars.html
I think it's the ballsy tone that cause many to think that his pickups were overwound, but they could easily be attributed to the 13 guage strings or the amps. It is true that he liked to play on the middle pickup, like hendrix did, on Pride and Joy for example, you can see it on his live in Montreux DVDs, but at the same time he often used many positions even within one song, like Lenny for example. The only reason i said to use the neck pickup is that most people dont play 13 guage strings, and the neck pickup gives you the fattest tone. (which SRV got no matter what pup position he played) I should have qualified that :wink:
snuffleupagus
New member
Actually to me to achieve the SRV tone, I use a strat with single coils, choose the 2nd position(in between Neck and Middle), hit the strings hard in a percussive manner, a little bit of drive, and wa la!Also, the chops that SRV use also plays a part in the tone.Very chunky like..you need to have control with aggression for I.E the intro chops for pride and joy...you need feel brudder...
You also need a loud amp,tube ones will do, or a good solid state amp also can...
Actually I read somewhere that SRV actually used a tokai strat once in a while, and that for one of his albums, it was actually a tokai strat that was featured in the front, but the brand name was airbrushed out...
below portion is lifted from somewhere..
GUITARS
NUMBER ONE
Acquired by Stevie in 1974 from Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, Austin, Texas. For the complete story on the acquisition as told by Ray, see The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Age: Number One was disassembled by Fender Custom Shop employees in 2003, and they stated that the neck is from December '62 and the body is a '63. So, Number One can rightly be called a '63 Strat. Pickups are 1959, which is why Stevie referred to it as a '59.
Neck size: "D" size, the largest Fender made for Stratocasters.
Neck adjustment: .012" relief at the 7th and 9th frets, leveling out for the remainder of the fingerboard.
Fret wire: .11" wide by .047" tall. Original height likely .055". No particular brand or size of fretwire - the tallest bead and smallest tang that would fit in the fingerboard without damaging it. They were not bass frets. In the early to mid-80's the fret wire was Dunlop 6100.
Fingerboard: Veneer rosewood (all other rosewood fingerboard Strats of Stevie's had slab-boards). Radius is flatter than the standard vintage 7.25" radius due to at least two refrets, creating a 9" or 10" radius in the upper register.
String height: High action for clear, ringing tone. At the 12th fret: 5/64" on the treble E, 7/64" on the bass E. Each string with three full winds on the tuning machines for best angle at the nut.
String guage: GHS Nickel Rockers .013, .015, .019 (plain), .028, .038 and .058. Stevie would use .011 E's when his fingers were sore. Always tuned down a half-step.
Saddles: vintage replacement saddles, not matched, modified to increase the angle of the string break over the contact point to reduce string breakage. The strings were also run through a small piece of plastic tubing from inside the tremolo block hole beyond the saddle contact point, also to reduce string breakage. The block/bridge top plate is also ground to elminate the sharp edge where the string contacts the metal.
Nut: Fender-style, but made of bone. (Brass nut on Scotch and Red for studio work)
Tremolo: stainless steel Fender tremolo bar (cotton at the bottom of the block hole to ease removal of broken bars). Graphite and grease lubricant on all moving parts and contact points. The lefty bar is non-original to the guitar. Stevie used all five springs on the tremolo. In photos from 1983-85 one can see a much heavier guage tremolo bar on Number One. These were made by Stevie's roadie's father. Some were straight (as in the photos from the In Session recording with Albert King) and some were bent (as used at the El Mocambo in 1983). Approximately ten of these custom bars were made either to reduce the number of broken tremolo arms (Stevie still broke them), or merely because the threads in the left-hand trem block were stripped and retapped requiring the larger gauge.
Pickup height: on the treble side - very high. Laying a metal rule on the frets, the bridge pickup touched the rule, the middle pickup almost touched it, and the neck pickup was 1/16" from the rule. On the bass side, bridge 1/32", middle 1/16", and 1/32" neck.
Tuners: started with original, but were replaced at least twice.
Miscellaneous: The gold-plated hardware was not added until late '85 or early '86.
Five-way pickup switch is non-original to the guitar.
Pots: stock Fender 250k. In the last tone position, a push-pull pot to cut down on hum, a dummy coil to prevent buzz, and different value capacitors to preserve the original tone.
Which neck? Prior to July 1990, the original neck from Number One was retired because it couldn't take another refret job. The original '62 neck from "Red" was put on Number One (Red's neck was changed to a non-Fender left handed neck in 1986). It was the "Red" neck (sorry) which was broken into pieces by a falling sound baffle after a show in New Jersey. After that, Number One had a new Fender neck until after Stevie died when the original Number One neck was reinstalled on it.
OTHER GUITARS
RED
Acquired in about 1984 from Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas. Red was a stock 1962 until the left handed neck was installed in 1986, and a new Fender neck installed in July 1990. The black color showing where the red has worn away is because the guitar was originally sunburst (not solid black), then repainted red, probably at the factory for a special order.
YELLOW
Stolen from Stevie in 1987 and never recovered. Previous owner was Vince Martell of Vanilla Fudge, who sold it to Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas, who painted it yellow and gave it to Stevie. The cavity had been hugely routed for four humbuckers. Charley's gave it to Stevie in early 1981 with a single neck pickup. Apparently, this is the original "Butter" guitar, not the butterscotch colored guitar listed below.
LENNY
Stevie found it in a pawn shop in the early '80s but didn't have the money for it. His wife Lenny and other friends bought the guitar for him. Brown stain on natural wood; butterfly tortoise-shell inlay in body. Had a rosewood fretboard, later switched to maple neck that Jimmie gave Stevie. It is reported that Stevie did the switch himself and used non-stock screws, screwing one through the fretboard. Said to have been a '63 or '64 model. Used to record "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise." Lenny sold at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar auction on June 24, 2004, for $623,500 (including buyer's premium).
1961 Stratocaster ("SCOTCH?")
Acquired in the fall of 1985 in either Baltimore or the Boatyard in Norfolk, it was to be a prize at a Stevie show, but Stevie bought it and they gave away some other guitar. Butterscotch-colored stock 1961 Stratocaster. Non-original pickguard made by Rene Martinez. Some articles have referred to this guitar by the name "Butter" because of the butterscotch color, but Stevie's roadie says it was the yellow guitar listed above which was called Butter. I seem to recall this 1961 Strat being referred to as "Scotch," but I am not sure.
HAMILTONE ("MAIN")
Acquired on April 29, 1984, a gift from Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), crafted by James Hamilton. Two-piece maple body, neck through the body design. Originally with EMG preamped pickups, Rene installed vintage Fender pickups. Fingerboard is ebony with inlaid mother-of-pearl. See the new page about the Hamiltone. Click here. The original active pickups were replaced (after they were damaged in the filming of the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" video) with passive pickups. It is said that Stevie didn't want to get Number One wet during the filming, and didn't like the pickups on Main, so it was used in the video.
CHARLEY
Gift from Charley Wirz of Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas, in 1984. Alder body, ebony fingerboard, maple neck and Danelectro "lipstick" pickups. Hardtail (non-tremolo), single tone and volume controls. White "trick" or "flip-flop" automotive paint which gives an irredescent blue tint depending on the light and angle of view. A hula girl sticker was applied to the back of the guitar, and can be seen in photos when Stevie plays behind his head. Seen on the cover of Couldn't Stand the Weather. In 2003, Charley's and Rene Martinez made 23 numbered limited edition replicas of this guitar, selling for $2500. Click HERE to see photos of the replica guitar. Owners of these replicas include Carlos Santana, John Mayer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. In 2005, ten more replicas were made by Rene and the former owner of Charley's, but they do not have the Charley's logo anywhere on the guitar. This guitar was originally called "Ol' White," and later called "Ol' Pearl" after the addition of the hula girl, a reference to the paint color and the hula girl.
NATIONAL STEEL
Acquired as a gift from roadie Byron Barr, the 1928 (or '29?) National Steel guitar seen on the cover of In Step. Rumors that it may have belonged to Blind Boy Fuller are unsubstantiated and unlikely. Serial number said to be 0034. Acquired from Charley's in 1981.
GIBSON ES-335
A 1958 dot-neck.
GUILD JF6512 12-STRING ACOUSTIC
Used on MTV Unplugged. and probably the same guitar Stevie used in 1985 for a benefit show, during which he played his first public acoustic set. This guitar actually belonged to Stevie's friend and personal assistant Timothy Duckworth. Timothy recalls that Stevie's hands were so strong that he accidently cracked the neck. The Hard Rock asked Stevie if they could have the damaged guitar, and Timothy said okay. I assume it is the one which has been on display at the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe for many years.
GIBSON JOHNNY SMITH
Used to record "Stang's Swang."
Unless otherwise noted above, interviews with Stevie suggest that he used Number One to record all other songs.
THE DIPLOMAT
Okay, it's a stretch to call this one of Stevie's guitars, but he definitely played it at least once. Click HERE for more info.
AMPLIFIERS
In the early 1980's, Stevie used a Marshall 4140 2x12 Club and Country 100-watt combo amp for clean tone, and his two Vibroverbs for distortion. The Marshall's test date was February 18, 1980. (I have verified the serial number from a customs/insurance equipment list from 1983). Photos from 1981 show two Celestion G12-80 speakers. It had brown "elephant" cabinet vinyl and tan basketweave grill cloth. In 1983 Stevie was preparing to go on tour with David Bowie, but at the last minute dropped out. Before he did, however, Bowie's crew took the Marshall amp and painted the vinyl black and the grill cloth grey, presumably to approximate the look of other amps which
would be on stage. Stevie's road manager, Cutter Brandenburg, recalls that after the paint job the Marshall letters would not stay on and they would catch in the guitar strings when Stevie leaned Number One against it for feedback. Some of the letters broke off, so photos show the amp with "Marshall," "Marsha" and "Marsh" before the remainder of the name was finally removed completely. All three of Stevie's roadies/techs from this era recall this amp. Once Stevie started making some money, he upgraded to larger Marshall and Dumble amps and traded this one in sometime after the spring of 1983, possibly as late as 1984. It was then owned by another Texas guitar player for many years. In May 2003, I purchased the amp. It still has the Bowie paint job and the Celestion speakers. In a 1983 interview, Stevie mistakenly suggested that this was a 200-watt amp that did not perform properly, peaking at 80-watts. It would not produce 200 watts because it was a 100-watt amp, but this amp will still rattle my windows!
1985: two blackface Fender Super Reverbs (4x10 EV's*), a 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer (4x12 with four 100-watt EV's, and 6550 tubes), another Dumble 150-watt 4x12. The 4x12 cabinets were non-angled homemade cabs. Sometimes a 200-watt Marshall Plexi- Major was substitued for the second Dumble head. Stevie had two sequentially numbered* Fender Vibroverbs ca. 1963-64, (1x15) one often used to power a Fender Vibratone (not a Leslie). The Vibroverbs and Supers had 3/4" plywood baffle boards to accomodate the weight of the speakers. The EVM's larger magnets required repositioning some of the transformers in the chassis. In the later years, the Vibroverbs had Super Reverb-style transformers. The first channel from the phase inverter tube were disconnected, and the tremolo disabled (by disconnecting the wires from the intensity control - don't try this at home unless you want to turn yourself into a light bulb). Around 1989 Stevie also took a couple of 4x10 Fender reissue Bassmans on the road, but the speakers were replaced.
*The two Vibroverbs are often referred to as "sequentially numbered" 5 and 6, but equipment lists from the early 1980's prepared by the band reveal that the serial numbers were in fact 36 digits apart. The 5 and 6 are references to the production run number found on the tube chart on the amp.
Tubes were typically Philips 6L6's and 12AX7's and GE 6550's. Mesa Boogie STR415's and STR387's were also used when they could be found.
Volume settings on stage usually started at 7 or 7.5, but would end up at 10 for "Voodoo Chile." Roadie Cutter Brandenburg recalls that Stevie would often run his hand down the bottom of the knobs, turning them all up as far as they would go.
Micellaneous studio amps forIn Step included an old Magnatone and Fender Harvard.
*One article referred to them as "EV's" another "EVM's."
PEDALS ETC.
Ibanez Tube Screamer: Stevie upgraded as new versions came out - TS-808, TS-9, TS-10 Classic. A fan reports that the chip in Stevie's pedals was probably the RC4558 chip for clean boost.
Wah-wah: Vox wahs from the '60's. Occasionally connected two together.
The usual setup in the later years was Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-10, Vox wah, vintage Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face, and Tycobrahe Octavia. For a brief time he used a Univibe. Roger Mayer Octavias were used prior to the Tycobraches. Cesar Diaz installed matching germanium transistors in the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face body to increase transistor life. Note: one of Stevie's Octavias has been on display at the Los Angeles Guitar Center for several years.
The splitter box was one input and six outputs to the amps. No preamp, but resistors to cut down the noise. With the Vibratone he used a Variac AC power regulator.
Microphones in the studio forIn Step were Shure SM57's and Sennheiser 142's. Occasional use in the studio of a Roland Dimesnsion D for extra chorusing effect.
Picks - equivalent to Fender mediums, and he played with the "fat" end. There are 17 verified variations of Stevie's custom picks, but he also used plain Fender picks, and freebies he picked up.
The following is from a customs/insurance equipment list prepared by the band in the summer of 1983:
1981 EQUIPMENT
'59 Fender Stratocaster (This is actually Number One, a '63)
2 other Fender Stratocasters, no details listed
Rickenbacker Stereo Prototype (this is the guitar later gifted to Hubert Sumlin)
100 Watt Marshall Combo Amp w/Case
Fender Vibroverbs
Uni-Vibe Univox FM-No 49.5
Echo Plex
Crybaby Wa Wa
1982 EQUIPMENT (supplemental to the above list)
Fender Stratocaster (Lenny)
Fender Stratocaster (Butter)
Tokai Stratocaster
Gibson 335
National Steel Guitar
Stratocaster (no details)
Marshall Cab
Super Reverb
Vox Wa Wa
Ibanez Tube Screamer TS 9
MXR Loop Box
You also need a loud amp,tube ones will do, or a good solid state amp also can...
Actually I read somewhere that SRV actually used a tokai strat once in a while, and that for one of his albums, it was actually a tokai strat that was featured in the front, but the brand name was airbrushed out...
below portion is lifted from somewhere..
GUITARS
NUMBER ONE
Acquired by Stevie in 1974 from Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, Austin, Texas. For the complete story on the acquisition as told by Ray, see The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Age: Number One was disassembled by Fender Custom Shop employees in 2003, and they stated that the neck is from December '62 and the body is a '63. So, Number One can rightly be called a '63 Strat. Pickups are 1959, which is why Stevie referred to it as a '59.
Neck size: "D" size, the largest Fender made for Stratocasters.
Neck adjustment: .012" relief at the 7th and 9th frets, leveling out for the remainder of the fingerboard.
Fret wire: .11" wide by .047" tall. Original height likely .055". No particular brand or size of fretwire - the tallest bead and smallest tang that would fit in the fingerboard without damaging it. They were not bass frets. In the early to mid-80's the fret wire was Dunlop 6100.
Fingerboard: Veneer rosewood (all other rosewood fingerboard Strats of Stevie's had slab-boards). Radius is flatter than the standard vintage 7.25" radius due to at least two refrets, creating a 9" or 10" radius in the upper register.
String height: High action for clear, ringing tone. At the 12th fret: 5/64" on the treble E, 7/64" on the bass E. Each string with three full winds on the tuning machines for best angle at the nut.
String guage: GHS Nickel Rockers .013, .015, .019 (plain), .028, .038 and .058. Stevie would use .011 E's when his fingers were sore. Always tuned down a half-step.
Saddles: vintage replacement saddles, not matched, modified to increase the angle of the string break over the contact point to reduce string breakage. The strings were also run through a small piece of plastic tubing from inside the tremolo block hole beyond the saddle contact point, also to reduce string breakage. The block/bridge top plate is also ground to elminate the sharp edge where the string contacts the metal.
Nut: Fender-style, but made of bone. (Brass nut on Scotch and Red for studio work)
Tremolo: stainless steel Fender tremolo bar (cotton at the bottom of the block hole to ease removal of broken bars). Graphite and grease lubricant on all moving parts and contact points. The lefty bar is non-original to the guitar. Stevie used all five springs on the tremolo. In photos from 1983-85 one can see a much heavier guage tremolo bar on Number One. These were made by Stevie's roadie's father. Some were straight (as in the photos from the In Session recording with Albert King) and some were bent (as used at the El Mocambo in 1983). Approximately ten of these custom bars were made either to reduce the number of broken tremolo arms (Stevie still broke them), or merely because the threads in the left-hand trem block were stripped and retapped requiring the larger gauge.
Pickup height: on the treble side - very high. Laying a metal rule on the frets, the bridge pickup touched the rule, the middle pickup almost touched it, and the neck pickup was 1/16" from the rule. On the bass side, bridge 1/32", middle 1/16", and 1/32" neck.
Tuners: started with original, but were replaced at least twice.
Miscellaneous: The gold-plated hardware was not added until late '85 or early '86.
Five-way pickup switch is non-original to the guitar.
Pots: stock Fender 250k. In the last tone position, a push-pull pot to cut down on hum, a dummy coil to prevent buzz, and different value capacitors to preserve the original tone.
Which neck? Prior to July 1990, the original neck from Number One was retired because it couldn't take another refret job. The original '62 neck from "Red" was put on Number One (Red's neck was changed to a non-Fender left handed neck in 1986). It was the "Red" neck (sorry) which was broken into pieces by a falling sound baffle after a show in New Jersey. After that, Number One had a new Fender neck until after Stevie died when the original Number One neck was reinstalled on it.
OTHER GUITARS
RED
Acquired in about 1984 from Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas. Red was a stock 1962 until the left handed neck was installed in 1986, and a new Fender neck installed in July 1990. The black color showing where the red has worn away is because the guitar was originally sunburst (not solid black), then repainted red, probably at the factory for a special order.
YELLOW
Stolen from Stevie in 1987 and never recovered. Previous owner was Vince Martell of Vanilla Fudge, who sold it to Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas, who painted it yellow and gave it to Stevie. The cavity had been hugely routed for four humbuckers. Charley's gave it to Stevie in early 1981 with a single neck pickup. Apparently, this is the original "Butter" guitar, not the butterscotch colored guitar listed below.
LENNY
Stevie found it in a pawn shop in the early '80s but didn't have the money for it. His wife Lenny and other friends bought the guitar for him. Brown stain on natural wood; butterfly tortoise-shell inlay in body. Had a rosewood fretboard, later switched to maple neck that Jimmie gave Stevie. It is reported that Stevie did the switch himself and used non-stock screws, screwing one through the fretboard. Said to have been a '63 or '64 model. Used to record "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise." Lenny sold at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar auction on June 24, 2004, for $623,500 (including buyer's premium).
1961 Stratocaster ("SCOTCH?")
Acquired in the fall of 1985 in either Baltimore or the Boatyard in Norfolk, it was to be a prize at a Stevie show, but Stevie bought it and they gave away some other guitar. Butterscotch-colored stock 1961 Stratocaster. Non-original pickguard made by Rene Martinez. Some articles have referred to this guitar by the name "Butter" because of the butterscotch color, but Stevie's roadie says it was the yellow guitar listed above which was called Butter. I seem to recall this 1961 Strat being referred to as "Scotch," but I am not sure.
HAMILTONE ("MAIN")
Acquired on April 29, 1984, a gift from Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), crafted by James Hamilton. Two-piece maple body, neck through the body design. Originally with EMG preamped pickups, Rene installed vintage Fender pickups. Fingerboard is ebony with inlaid mother-of-pearl. See the new page about the Hamiltone. Click here. The original active pickups were replaced (after they were damaged in the filming of the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" video) with passive pickups. It is said that Stevie didn't want to get Number One wet during the filming, and didn't like the pickups on Main, so it was used in the video.
CHARLEY
Gift from Charley Wirz of Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas, in 1984. Alder body, ebony fingerboard, maple neck and Danelectro "lipstick" pickups. Hardtail (non-tremolo), single tone and volume controls. White "trick" or "flip-flop" automotive paint which gives an irredescent blue tint depending on the light and angle of view. A hula girl sticker was applied to the back of the guitar, and can be seen in photos when Stevie plays behind his head. Seen on the cover of Couldn't Stand the Weather. In 2003, Charley's and Rene Martinez made 23 numbered limited edition replicas of this guitar, selling for $2500. Click HERE to see photos of the replica guitar. Owners of these replicas include Carlos Santana, John Mayer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. In 2005, ten more replicas were made by Rene and the former owner of Charley's, but they do not have the Charley's logo anywhere on the guitar. This guitar was originally called "Ol' White," and later called "Ol' Pearl" after the addition of the hula girl, a reference to the paint color and the hula girl.
NATIONAL STEEL
Acquired as a gift from roadie Byron Barr, the 1928 (or '29?) National Steel guitar seen on the cover of In Step. Rumors that it may have belonged to Blind Boy Fuller are unsubstantiated and unlikely. Serial number said to be 0034. Acquired from Charley's in 1981.
GIBSON ES-335
A 1958 dot-neck.
GUILD JF6512 12-STRING ACOUSTIC
Used on MTV Unplugged. and probably the same guitar Stevie used in 1985 for a benefit show, during which he played his first public acoustic set. This guitar actually belonged to Stevie's friend and personal assistant Timothy Duckworth. Timothy recalls that Stevie's hands were so strong that he accidently cracked the neck. The Hard Rock asked Stevie if they could have the damaged guitar, and Timothy said okay. I assume it is the one which has been on display at the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe for many years.
GIBSON JOHNNY SMITH
Used to record "Stang's Swang."
Unless otherwise noted above, interviews with Stevie suggest that he used Number One to record all other songs.
THE DIPLOMAT
Okay, it's a stretch to call this one of Stevie's guitars, but he definitely played it at least once. Click HERE for more info.
AMPLIFIERS
In the early 1980's, Stevie used a Marshall 4140 2x12 Club and Country 100-watt combo amp for clean tone, and his two Vibroverbs for distortion. The Marshall's test date was February 18, 1980. (I have verified the serial number from a customs/insurance equipment list from 1983). Photos from 1981 show two Celestion G12-80 speakers. It had brown "elephant" cabinet vinyl and tan basketweave grill cloth. In 1983 Stevie was preparing to go on tour with David Bowie, but at the last minute dropped out. Before he did, however, Bowie's crew took the Marshall amp and painted the vinyl black and the grill cloth grey, presumably to approximate the look of other amps which
would be on stage. Stevie's road manager, Cutter Brandenburg, recalls that after the paint job the Marshall letters would not stay on and they would catch in the guitar strings when Stevie leaned Number One against it for feedback. Some of the letters broke off, so photos show the amp with "Marshall," "Marsha" and "Marsh" before the remainder of the name was finally removed completely. All three of Stevie's roadies/techs from this era recall this amp. Once Stevie started making some money, he upgraded to larger Marshall and Dumble amps and traded this one in sometime after the spring of 1983, possibly as late as 1984. It was then owned by another Texas guitar player for many years. In May 2003, I purchased the amp. It still has the Bowie paint job and the Celestion speakers. In a 1983 interview, Stevie mistakenly suggested that this was a 200-watt amp that did not perform properly, peaking at 80-watts. It would not produce 200 watts because it was a 100-watt amp, but this amp will still rattle my windows!
1985: two blackface Fender Super Reverbs (4x10 EV's*), a 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer (4x12 with four 100-watt EV's, and 6550 tubes), another Dumble 150-watt 4x12. The 4x12 cabinets were non-angled homemade cabs. Sometimes a 200-watt Marshall Plexi- Major was substitued for the second Dumble head. Stevie had two sequentially numbered* Fender Vibroverbs ca. 1963-64, (1x15) one often used to power a Fender Vibratone (not a Leslie). The Vibroverbs and Supers had 3/4" plywood baffle boards to accomodate the weight of the speakers. The EVM's larger magnets required repositioning some of the transformers in the chassis. In the later years, the Vibroverbs had Super Reverb-style transformers. The first channel from the phase inverter tube were disconnected, and the tremolo disabled (by disconnecting the wires from the intensity control - don't try this at home unless you want to turn yourself into a light bulb). Around 1989 Stevie also took a couple of 4x10 Fender reissue Bassmans on the road, but the speakers were replaced.
*The two Vibroverbs are often referred to as "sequentially numbered" 5 and 6, but equipment lists from the early 1980's prepared by the band reveal that the serial numbers were in fact 36 digits apart. The 5 and 6 are references to the production run number found on the tube chart on the amp.
Tubes were typically Philips 6L6's and 12AX7's and GE 6550's. Mesa Boogie STR415's and STR387's were also used when they could be found.
Volume settings on stage usually started at 7 or 7.5, but would end up at 10 for "Voodoo Chile." Roadie Cutter Brandenburg recalls that Stevie would often run his hand down the bottom of the knobs, turning them all up as far as they would go.
Micellaneous studio amps forIn Step included an old Magnatone and Fender Harvard.
*One article referred to them as "EV's" another "EVM's."
PEDALS ETC.
Ibanez Tube Screamer: Stevie upgraded as new versions came out - TS-808, TS-9, TS-10 Classic. A fan reports that the chip in Stevie's pedals was probably the RC4558 chip for clean boost.
Wah-wah: Vox wahs from the '60's. Occasionally connected two together.
The usual setup in the later years was Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-10, Vox wah, vintage Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face, and Tycobrahe Octavia. For a brief time he used a Univibe. Roger Mayer Octavias were used prior to the Tycobraches. Cesar Diaz installed matching germanium transistors in the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face body to increase transistor life. Note: one of Stevie's Octavias has been on display at the Los Angeles Guitar Center for several years.
The splitter box was one input and six outputs to the amps. No preamp, but resistors to cut down the noise. With the Vibratone he used a Variac AC power regulator.
Microphones in the studio forIn Step were Shure SM57's and Sennheiser 142's. Occasional use in the studio of a Roland Dimesnsion D for extra chorusing effect.
Picks - equivalent to Fender mediums, and he played with the "fat" end. There are 17 verified variations of Stevie's custom picks, but he also used plain Fender picks, and freebies he picked up.
The following is from a customs/insurance equipment list prepared by the band in the summer of 1983:
1981 EQUIPMENT
'59 Fender Stratocaster (This is actually Number One, a '63)
2 other Fender Stratocasters, no details listed
Rickenbacker Stereo Prototype (this is the guitar later gifted to Hubert Sumlin)
100 Watt Marshall Combo Amp w/Case
Fender Vibroverbs
Uni-Vibe Univox FM-No 49.5
Echo Plex
Crybaby Wa Wa
1982 EQUIPMENT (supplemental to the above list)
Fender Stratocaster (Lenny)
Fender Stratocaster (Butter)
Tokai Stratocaster
Gibson 335
National Steel Guitar
Stratocaster (no details)
Marshall Cab
Super Reverb
Vox Wa Wa
Ibanez Tube Screamer TS 9
MXR Loop Box
Since u ask abt pups only, i think u shld noe that he used v low output pups. so fender selling texas special pups is a gimmick to replicate his tone, given that they r alot hotter than wat stevie actually used. N i read somewhere that pups actually contribute not as much to the tone as wat pple think.
Other factors u need, a cranked fenderish tube amp pushed by a TS-808 type of pedal. Of course heavy gauge strings n some voodoo child with little wings
Other factors u need, a cranked fenderish tube amp pushed by a TS-808 type of pedal. Of course heavy gauge strings n some voodoo child with little wings
Gearjunkie
New member
you can add to that question, his live tone or his recorded tone? i think his overdriven tone is much harder to imitate than his clean tone, and its more his signature than anything else.
I've used texas specials and kinmans (blues) which have gotten into the ballpark, but the other parts of your setup probably have more effect on getting there.
I've used texas specials and kinmans (blues) which have gotten into the ballpark, but the other parts of your setup probably have more effect on getting there.
le_Doucereux
New member
Oooh.. Didn't know that.. Always thought that he died before they finished the guitar..
Yup.. I realise.. I'm hoping to acquire a '59 Bassman someday, though it may piss the hell outta my neighbours..
There's a whole lot of 'voodoo' surrounding the whole topic, so we may never actually know who's right and who's wrong.. I have my own theories but they're just that, theories.. Only Stevie'll know for sure.. Or his techs.. Haha!!
Ditto, man.. Good to see we can have a civilised discussion on this topic, too.. I've seen things get really ugly on other forums.. Hehh.. Kids.. Lol!!
Interesting thing: I became a big fan of SRV's only after I bought my SRV Strat.. Quite frankly, I didn't really know who he was the day I bought the guitar..
I was trying a Clapton signature but didn't like it so I randomly spotted the SRV and thought, hell, I'll give it a shot.. Loved the tone and feel (not to mention the fat, FAT neck) so much I got it.. Only after that did I discover SRV.. I've since changed out the pickguard in deference to the man and his music simply because my own chops just don't cut it.. 
Haha!!
snuffleupagus
New member
Sorry bro edder bro, i beg to differ, because SRV was not ignorant of his tone...
actually SRV worked quite closely with his tech over the years to achieve the sound he wanted...He also used the effects that one of his major influences(jimi Hendrix) used in order to get a sound similiar to his for some songs...
SRV was also a fan of hendrix who tried dissecting his idol's tone and style of playing and I guess saw it as his inspiration in the style he employed with his guitar...so...aren't we all also fans with theories?some take it a bit too far, but ....
excerpt from Bill Crawford
Stevie Ray Vaughan idolized Jimi Hendrix. He got goosebumps when he listened to Hendrix. From the time he was 13 years old, Stevie played Hendrix music, and played it well. He caught hell from some blues purists for being a Hendrix fan. "Some of the distance that people put between playing music and playing Hendrix music is kind of strange to me," Stevie once explained. "Granted, it's hard to play... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
Stevie wanted something more than just to play like Hendrix: He wanted to be Hendrix. For a Halloween gig at the Austin Rehearsal Complex in Austin, Stevie dressed up like Hendrix, wig, blackface, and all. At one point, Stevie told Austin's Joe Gracey that he had been taken over by the spirit of Hendrix - "literally." Stevie often wondered if he would die young, like Hendrix
heheheheh
actually SRV worked quite closely with his tech over the years to achieve the sound he wanted...He also used the effects that one of his major influences(jimi Hendrix) used in order to get a sound similiar to his for some songs...
SRV was also a fan of hendrix who tried dissecting his idol's tone and style of playing and I guess saw it as his inspiration in the style he employed with his guitar...so...aren't we all also fans with theories?some take it a bit too far, but ....
excerpt from Bill Crawford
Stevie Ray Vaughan idolized Jimi Hendrix. He got goosebumps when he listened to Hendrix. From the time he was 13 years old, Stevie played Hendrix music, and played it well. He caught hell from some blues purists for being a Hendrix fan. "Some of the distance that people put between playing music and playing Hendrix music is kind of strange to me," Stevie once explained. "Granted, it's hard to play... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
Stevie wanted something more than just to play like Hendrix: He wanted to be Hendrix. For a Halloween gig at the Austin Rehearsal Complex in Austin, Stevie dressed up like Hendrix, wig, blackface, and all. At one point, Stevie told Austin's Joe Gracey that he had been taken over by the spirit of Hendrix - "literally." Stevie often wondered if he would die young, like Hendrix
heheheheh
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
great, lets get back to playing and write some majik!
Similar threads
- Locked
