The Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Thread

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Stevie Ray Vaughan

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan- Scuttle Buttin'

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YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Little Wing

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YouTube - Jimmie + Stevie Ray Vaughan - Cleveland Rocks - interview

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute, Final Guitar Jam

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YouTube - REMEMBERING STEVIE RAY VAUGHN

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan

[ippon20]

Flicko, nice find with the Little Wing. My wife was like....WTF?

[b-squared]

My favorite blues player.

BB

[Zack Pomerleau]

Stevie played a Les Paul?

[b-squared]

A few times. Probably emulating Jimi, his idol--who also played LPs.

BB

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YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Willie The Wimp

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YouTube - stevie ray vaughan & dick dale pipeline

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey - Look at Little Sister

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YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Guitar Lesson

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YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

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YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Number One The Real Guitar

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Stevie Ray Vaughan's Guitar Setup
This page contains detailed information on Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar setup. The information comes directly from the article "Supernova Strats" by Dan Erlewine as published in February 1990 issue of Guitar Player magazine. That issue featured Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck together in one interview as they were touring in tandem at the time. The Supernova Strats article actually contains details on Jeff Beck's setup also, but for the purpose of this page I have included only the Stevie Ray Vaughan related information.



In November 1989 longtime Guitar Player magazine repairs and modifications columnist Dan Erlewine had the chance to go over Stevie's guitars with a fine-toothed comb. He spent the day with Rene Martinez, Stevie's guitar tech and compiled a detailed report on virtually all aspects of the setup on the guitars Stevie was touring with at the time.

The guitars
Stevie's guitars were all pre- 63 model Fender Stratocasters, except for "Charley" (outfitted with the Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, it was made from kit parts at Charley's Guitar Shop in 1984). They all have names, too: Number One, Red, Butter Scotch, Charley, and Lenny. The only significant change from the stock on these Strats has been the addition of 5-way switches and a good coat of shielding paint in the control cavities. Number One, the beat-up sunburst that we all know, is Stevie's main squeeze.

Neck adjustment
With all the guitars, neck straightness (or relief) is the first thing I checked, sighting down the fingerboard. A fingerboard should either be dead flat or have a slight up-bow, known as relief, in the direction of the strings' pull. Stevie's guitars had approximately .012" of relief around the 7th and 9th frets, and then leveled out for the remainder of the board.

String gauge
Stevie tunes his guitar down a half-step and uses GHS Nickel Rockers measuring .013, .015, .019 (plain), .028, .038, and .058. On this particular day, Rene had substituted an .011 for the high E to keep down the sore fingers that blues bends can cause. Rene changes strings every show for each guitar that gets played.

Fretwire
If you're trying to evaluate action, it's nice to know what size and shape of fretwire is used on any guitar. Number One's frets measure .110" wide by .047" tall. These frets would have started out at .055" tall when they were new, and were probably either Dunlop 6100 or Stewart-MacDonald 150 wire.

String height
I measured the distance from the underside of the strings to the top of the fret at the 12th fret on both E strings. Rene Martinez describes "I set up all of Stevie's the same: 5/64" on the treble E string and 7/64" at the bass E."

Fingerboard radius
Knowing the radius of the fingerboard can help in setting up a comfortable bridge saddle height and curve. Stevie's Number One was somewhat flatter than the vintage 7-1/4" radius. Rene has refretted the neck at least twice, and in the process the fingerboard has evolved into a 9" or 10" radius in the upper register. This isn't the result of a purposeful attempt to create a compound radius, which allows string-bending with less-noting out; it just happened.

Bridge saddles
Stevie's Number One wants to break high E and B strings at the saddle every chance she gets. Rene showed me why the strings break, and how he takes care of the problem: As a string breaks out of the vintage Strat tremolo block/bridge top plate, it "breaks" or contacts, the metal directly; this causes a slight kink that weakens the string. With the bridge saddles removed, Rene uses a Dremel Moto-Tool to grind the holes edge until the lip is smooth and gradual, and any binding is eliminated.



Number One uses vintage replacement saddles (the originals wore out long ago), and they're not all alike --some have a shorter string slot than others. The high E and B strings may contact the front edge of this string clearance slot as they rise toward the "takeoff point" at the saddle's peak. The kink formed by the contact stretches into the saddle peak during tuning, and breaks right at the crown. Rene elongates the slot, again by grinding, and then smoothes any rough metal edges. Finally, he slides a 5/8"-long piece of plastic tubing (insulation from electrical wire) over each string to protect it from the metal "break points." He uses the heaviest piece of tubing he can get that still fits down the tremolo/block hole. Even with this, the high strings still cut through the plastic quickly (sometimes in one set), and when they do, the strings break. Rene plans to try a Teflon wire insulation if he can find the right size.

Nuts
Stevie's Number One, Lenny and Charley have standard Fender-style nuts, but Rene makes them from bone. Stevie prefers the sound of bone, although for studio work he had Rene make brass nuts for Scotch and Red.

Tremolo setup
Vaughan's standard vintage tremolo uses all five springs. Rene prefers the durability of the stainless steel Fender tremolo bars. He puts a small wad of cotton at the bottom of the tremolo-block hole to keep the bar from over-tightening and becoming hard to remove if it breaks. He emphasizes the importance of lubricating all the moving parts of the tremolo system, preferring a powdered graphite-and-grease mixture (the grease holds the graphite in place where it's needed). He lubricates everything that moves: mounting screws/plate; all string "breaks" and contact points, including the saddle peaks; where the springs attach to the block and claw; the nut slots; and the string trees.

Pickup height
As a reference point I laid a precision steel straightedge along the frets for making the measurement. Stevie's pickups were raised fairly high. I measured from the straightedge to the polepiece tops: On the treble side, the bridge pickup touched the straightedge, and the middle almost touched the straightedge, and the neck pickup was 1/16" away. The bass side measured 1/32" at the bridge pickup, 1/16" at the middle, and 1/32" at the neck.

Tuning machines
We've covered about everything except tuners, and there's nothing secret here. Stevie Ray's tuners are all originals, and each has three full string winds to get the best angle at the nut

[Zack Pomerleau]

any recordings of the Les Paul beast?

[jeremy9222]

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan 'Why God Invented the Roadie'

i gotta kick outta that one rest in peace Stevie, you da man

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YouTube - REMEMBERING STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

[Jake 2112]

Thought this was cool.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?...eature=related

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[LEFTY LES]

RIP my friend. God I miss him. Imagine for a second where he would be today.

[LEFTY LES]

Originally Posted by b-squared

A few times. Probably emulating Jimi, his idol--who also played LPs.

BB

Thats right brother. Every once in a while but we all know what his bread and butter was. The reason I bought my Stratocaster was because of SRV. I saw him play a vintage white and thats the one I got!!! God it sucks so bad that he's dead man.

[stonevibe]

SRVguitar.com

[b-squared]

I couldn't begin to imagine the wonderful music he'd be making today.

I wish I'd had a chance to see him perform.

Peace, Bro--see you on the flip side.

BB

[69GTLP]

One of the greatest
Back in 95 I named my son Stevie Ray, here's a pic of me with my strat in Austin.

[KP Willits]

He was one of my heros....

[whateverlikesgadge]

This just hits ya just his use of tension, note choice and dramatic use of volume differences in his playing. Just floors me. Those double string bends are just nasty in the best way. I'd take one SRV over 1000 Steve Vais. Yep Clapton should've got on the chopper instead.............

Every chick I was ever with liked the guitar after hearing him play this.

YouTube - SRV - Texas Flood (Austin, Texas '83)

YouTube - SRV - Texas Flood (Austin, Texas '83)

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jeff Beck

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jeff Beck

[blakem]

Man..what can I say..I Love SRV...I saw him at the Worcester Centrum in Massachussetts with Jeff Beck shortly before he died..what a show!! Anyway, I remember like it was yesterday..I was working at the Colonial Theatre in Keene NH in the box office, when my friend comes in and says " Mike , Eric Clapton just died in a helicopter crash"! I was totally bummed out...I had to keep working..my friend came in a few minutes later and said "MIke , I was wrong"..I said, "What do you mean"? He said it was Stevie Ray that died.....I died on the spot...I was completely bummed...SRV was my hero..one of them besides Hendrix....a very sad day...He is missed...I hate the video at Montreaux where the crowd is booing him..what a bunch of freaking idiots...luckily Bowie was there and changed SRV's life....

[KP Willits]

This one has to be my favorite from Stevie.

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Riviera Paradise 102789 Amarillo TX

YouTube - Stevie Ray Vaughan Riviera Paradise 102789 Amarillo TX

[stryker59]

he was the man no doubt about it! i essentially learned how to play guitar by playing his albums over and over. he is missed and like BB said i wish i could have seen him live. i didnt even get into his music until after high school which was after his passing and that pains me more than anything.