SRV's sound

what pedal did srv use to get his tone....clean, but still picking up hammer-ons and pull offs. if youve heard him, youll know what i mean.

There is a lot more to tone than just pedals... However... if you want to sound like Stevie, get a Strat (you don't NEED one but the single coils were part of his tone)... an amp modeler that has a decent classic tube amp on it (cheaper than buying the tube amp). Set up so your guitar sounds clean but slightly dirty then dial in just a touch of overdrive with an overdrive pedal... adjust to the sound that you specifically want... add a wah pedal to get his wah tones. Stevie also used HEAVY gauge strings (.13's) thats Stevies tone in a nutshell... i'm not 100% positive of the way he got his tone... but that's how I get his tone. Close enough for me. hope that gives you something to experiment with. By the way... a good overdrive pedal is the TubeScreamer by Ibanez...

Hello there!
As far as I know he used very heavy strings 0.12 or more and then a couple of fender amps. when it comes to pedals, he used a ibanez tubescreamer and a cry-baby wah wah (I know he used 2 wah-wah pedals in the studio and fiddled around with them in conjunction)

But most importantly he had the sound in his fingers ( I know it may sound stupid, but somehow it is true)

have fun

//Ken1

Strat, Marshall's/Fenders, and great playability. No matter what you do, unless you can play like him your not gonna sound like him.

* use heavy strings and tune down to open Eb instead of E (makes it easier to play, and keeps harp players from sitting in uninvited)
* only use the neck pickup on your strat, experiment with pickups that are hotter than stock
* if you use a tubescreamer, use a ts-808 or a newer one modded to that spec and keep the tone backed off, srv was not trebly
* strengthen your hands. srv used a lot of hand/finger strength
* if you can afford it, get a dumble amp :-) (or a two rock or a fuchs...)
* try 15" speakers. srv used some fender amps with 15s instead of 12s.
* watch srv video. there's a bunch available.

Amps: Super reverb, vibroverbs, marshalls for clean
pedal: 2 tube screamers, low gain and high level
guitar: 62 strat, with 59 pickups that were over strun
tad of compresson...
tune flat
the rest is just playing hard

There was a thread about this a long time ago and i posted a detailed desription of his equipment, but what you might find most helpful was a post i left with my multi-fx settings to get a texas/blues (stevie ray vaughan) type sound

Here's the thread http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9391&page=1&pp=7

my setting are on page 4 (please ignore my atrocious rendition of Lenny, that was recorded a LONG time ago after i had only been playing for about 2 months)

He also used an Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer. Sometimes he would use multiples or a TS-9 with a TS-808.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by: Ken1As far as I know he used very heavy strings 0.12 or more and then a couple of fender amps
//Ken1

Yea I hear a lot of bands use heavier strings because you get a higher quality tone which makes sense. I use lights because of the playability but eventually I'll man up and get some heavier strings

Stevie ray vaughan experimented different amps throughout his musical career. He is known as the king of tone. His musical ability and the tone we hear is the experience and the music he called texas blues.
The most frequent effects that srv just is an old ibanez TS-808 tubescremer distortion box and a cry baby wah-wah pedal. You can get the exact spec for ts9/808 at analogman.com(check this website).
The 2 most favorite amps srv used: The blackface 1967 super reverb amp and tweed 1959 bassman.(you can find any of these ressiue amps at almost any music stores.
I am also a great fan of srv and i love to play his music.
MY GEAR FOR SRV(IN PROGRESS).
Amps: 1967 blackface ressiue super reverb amp
soldano slo 100 head(overdrive and distortion)
marshall cabinet
guitar: custom made: swamp ash body, vintage modern maple neck(one truss rod) kinman avn pickups single coil(best pickups for strat).heavy strings.13'' up is what srv used. later in life, he used .10' and up or .11' up. i personally prefer .10' up. The thickness of the strings contribute a whole lot to the sound.The thicker the warmer and sustain, the lighter dull loss of sustain.
effects: TS9/808 SPEC tubescreamer 2( treble boost)
RMC 3 wah pedal
Analog fuzz face(distortion combination with wah)
Digital delay(digitech)
Flanger
I have learned that the basic step in achieving great tone is the use of less effects, a good guitar and a tube amp. I necessary do not use noise gates.
Eventhough, you have the exact gear srv used you may not able to get the exact tone . It's all in emotion, the style and so many things that come to play to achieving the tone that we call srv tone.
His style of music reflects jimi hendrix ,albert collins and many more.
:)

First, you gotta' train your fingers to only let out good tone into your guitar.

Then, once the good tone gets into the guitar, then onley use strings, amp, picks, and pedals that don't get in the way and squash the tone.

Then, make sure you let the good notes escape from the guitar, and mute the bad ones.

Peace,
-Rico

Originally Posted by: audioanimalFirst, you gotta' train your fingers to only let out good tone into your guitar.

Then, once the good tone gets into the guitar, then onley use strings, amp, picks, and pedals that don't get in the way and squash the tone.

Then, make sure you let the good notes escape from the guitar, and mute the bad ones.

Peace,
-Rico

My god...brilliant...i could not agree more!! :)

The quote above is really nice. It states a really good fact about tone and music production. Start with a good sound run it through effects that sound nice and you get a good tone. Start with a bad sound and run it though effects and you'll get a bad tone.


Now to the point.
To get SRV's tone you should:
-Think about getting similar picks and equipment (YES! picks!)
-The equipment isn't that important, if you gave SRV different equipment his tone would still ring through.
-tone is in the fingers and pick.
-try it, hit an open string with the pick listen to the sound, then angle the pick a little and hit that same open string. The pick angle changed the tone ever so slightly.
-to get SRV's tone you have to work carefully to hit the string the exact same way he does. Which can take a very long time to accomplish.
-The reason changing pick angle and power works is because different angles make certain frequencies within the note louder, therefore changing tone.


(sounds like BS doesn't it)

"-The reason changing pick angle and power works is because different angles make certain frequencies within the note louder, therefore changing tone. "

Yep.

Try seeing how many ways you can play the same note.

Pick it hard
Pick it soft
Pick with your fingers
Bend into it
Release a bend to it
slide up to it
slide down to it
Pinch pick it it
Fast vibrato
Slow vibrato

You can play kick'ass blues with just a couple of notes if you master using all those techniques to make different "tone".

Notice how many different ways Stevie could just hang and wail on one note and get different "tones" out of it.

Peace,
-Rico

I saw him in Charlotte in the 80's. He opened for Huie Lewis and used a old fender with 4 tens (quad reverb?) Had a plexie glass box around the amp with at least on hole in it and a mike stuck in the hole. I'm sure it was on 11.