The SECRET to Stevie Ray Vaughan TONE! (Ultimate Guide)

'SRV Inspired' Fender Squier FSR

Discover the secret behind Stevie Ray Vaughan's legendary guitar tone in our complete guide. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of his sound, providing you with a checklist to get you as close as possible to Stevie's tone.

Today, we're going to:
🎸Learn the essential elements that combined to create Stevie's awe-inspiring guitar sound.
🔥 Uncover the hidden gems behind his vintage guitar collection, including his iconic "Number One" Strat.
🤯 Dive into the mind-boggling collection of amps, including Fender Vibroverb and Super Reverb, that fueled Stevie's sonic revolution.
🎛️ Unearth the secrets of Stevie's pedalboard, featuring the legendary Tube Screamer and Vox Wah
🌟 Discuss the magic of Stevie's signature fuzz tones and mesmerizing Octavia effects.

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[DrHuhh]

Accurate observations and great playing too. Tuning a strat down a half step to E-flat changes the timbre and the feel. SRV got that from Hendrix. Play that loud enough so that the sound begins to feedback or resonate in the guitar, and you've got a different instrument. SRV's speaker cabinet early in his career was a 15" -- nowadays usually only found with bass amps -- but that gives extra depth to the otherwise bright stratocaster. Put all these together and you're almost there. Just need to play like your life depends on it.

[TheRhino]

A clean fender amp, a strat, big guage strings, a tube screamer, an old wah, and some serious practice. There you go

[MrMcflanigengaming]

Practice is the only way to SRV. his timing and articulation are from years of practice alone and with a band. Love your vids and love young dudes keeping SRV alive.❤❤❤

[inertiallychallenged]

I think one of the frustrating things (there are many) about chasing Stevie's sound is that folks buy Fender re-issue amps etc but dont realize his amps were heavily modified... speakers, transformers, etc. So, what you are buying is only shall i say, in the spirit of his tone. Plus he played insanely loud. It was intense to hear him live. So, we play at home or in our buddies garage or your average club gig and it's usually not feasible to play that loud and pedals are needed to get those sounds at manageable volumes.

[BulletsForTeeth]

I was fortunate to meet Stevie, and I've seen him play live several times in my home town of Austin, TX... You are right about Stevies hands, he was a very heavy handed player, whereas he put a lot of force into his playing, understand the guy would literally rain sweat over his guitar if that gives you any idea just how heavy handed he was. Other Blues players like Gibbons and King have a lighter touch as opposed to SRV's more aggressive approach, you can watch and listen to them play side by side and hear the difference in their techniques and tone.

As for gear, I think Stevie would try to stay as true to his tone as possible like Gibbons does today, I don't think he would cheap out using simulations.

[bradwoods]

The real secret is that a marshall plexi style amp alone will get you closer to his tone than all the tube screamers and fender amps in the world

[cutterstack]

Your playing at the end was pretty accurate! I think there’s hope for the rest of us

[StevenReznick-kksu]

Sear diaz modded the Stevie's amp, he pulled out the 2.Break the fire and put a solid state rectifier in.He also removed the speaker and put in a JBLfifteen Not withstanding that, he took the bright switch and rearranged it for a midboost.

[arustydodge]

You are an INCREDIBLE Guitarist. Well versed in so many styles. Full enjoy your abilities and chops with the Stevie Ray licks along with all of your stylings!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🎸⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[dannyllerenatv]

I think picking dynamics (from your right-hand technique) and the actual pickups themselves matter more than the string guage. Usually, a good set of low wind single coils (especially some that are mid-scooped, yes mid-scooped. That helps you get that top-end chime. Your amp and the TS will already provide plenty of mids).

[newkurosawa]

I have had a lot of success with his tone with the tone king imperial. Use an OD and the Duellist. I bought your gypsy vibe recently, really happy with it. I will be purchasing the fuzz pedals soon.

[jimmitchel]

I think one thing you may have missed is SRV's use of the Roland SDD-320 Dimension D Rack Chorus. Vertex Effects has a video on it called "The Secret Behind SRV's Tone."

[SomeKindOfMadman]

You’re a legend, Chris. Oddly enough, I like warming up with the fat end of the pick, because it’s quieter, & when I’m ready to play, I use the sharp end. To each his own, be yourself as you said.

[heyjarrod]

Yes, watching blind tests of different types of woods, or different gauges of strings, there’s never any noticeable difference.

It’s a Strat, with a couple of 15’s, a couple Super Reverbs, sometimes two tube screamers and two wahs played at the same time. switching to the right combination of pick ups, then a lot of natural ability and creativity… this would be a great start! 😝🤘🏻🎸🇺🇸

[mraggrovator]

Great video your playing and tone are something else .

[glennmartin]

Ceased modified his pups extensively. Stevie played really loud and Ceaser modified the pups to still have relatively clean tone. He worked hard to get the same pickups with the standard SRV signature Strat with Fender and finished with the Texas Specials.
He used heavy gauge string as they didn’t break as easy. He had a ferocious right hand and big bends. Tuned down to e flat to get some tension out of the strings. His whole rig was a giant treble booster.

[Stratsrule]

Put fender 59 pure vintage pickups in my strat. Got the ts9 and pride of Texas by denelctro and fuzz face. Completely transformed my sound. Not that I’m any good but love the sound

[jeffshockey]

I have always played with my picks on te side since the day i started at 14. I never knew srv played with his like that till now so thats cool. Love your vids keep up the hard work.

[viktor]

Lots of good points. The thing about the guitar pick is funny. I've done that exact same thing since my early 20s and to me it does give a completely different sound. Especially when you're strumming or even better when you're "scratching" your strings, then you can really lean into it and still get sort of a smoother sound. Usually I go for using the "wrong" edge on the pick and then I also tilt the pick about 45° to get moore of a scratchy pick sound rather than a picking pick sound.... if that makes any sense, haha. Don't know if SRV did that aswell but to me it gives a nice sound.

[jameshayward]

Really interested to learn more about attenuators. What's the difference between the type you use, amps with in-built attenuators and the little JHS one? Covering that kind of ground would be great