SRV AMP settings
..:::Blue§man
sound he had).
Also, I'm planning to buy his Stratocaster (not his, but artist series by
Fender), so I would appreciate if anybody has some experience regarding that
guitar...
Thanks.
Bernard M. Piller
Since I am a big fan of SRV I did a lot of research on his gear.
His "No. 1" Guitar (the beat up one with the brown body) was a '59 Strat
with a '61 or '62 neck. The pickups had extra coil wire added to them by
Stevie's guitar tech.
The "Texas Special" pickups from Fender (in the SRV and Bonnie Raitt
signature guitars, as well as in the Texas Special American Strat and
sold as an extra part) are "replicas" of these pickups, but they are not
the same since nobody knew exactly how much of which wire type was used
in Stevie's guitar.
They sound great and have a very high output but they are also quite noisy.
Stevie used Fender Reverb amps mostly, so this will be the amp to go
with. They have a very clean sound and fit the Stratocaster perfectly.
SRV used an Ibanez Tube Screamer to get his distortion and a Dunlop Cry
Baby Wah pedal.
I personally like the cleaner sound he got from his "regular" Strats
better than the shrieking of his No. 1 guitar.
Bernard
Webmaster of Texas Legend
hey, another SRV wannabee.... that's how it goes..... and the quality of the
guitar isn't any better than a regular strat... it has Texas Special
pickups....but that's it.
About the sound : good strat and a vintage amp will do a lot in combination
with a Tubescreamer, but like all the other guitarists, the real tone is in
their fingers. You can buy amps and guitars for $ 50,000 but if the tone is
missing, you won't get it.
Good luck with finding your sound.....
--
**************************************
Sven van der Maas
Webmaster of Texas Legend
**************************************
http://www.texas-legend.com
**************************************
"..:::Blue§man" <blue...@mail.inet.hr> schreef in bericht
news:anve6a$dct$1...@sunce.iskon.hr...
Webmaster of Texas Legend
hey, another SRV wannabee.... that's how it goes..... and the quality of the
guitar isn't any better than a regular strat... it has Texas Special
pickups....but that's it.
About the sound : good strat and a vintage amp will do a lot in combination
with a Tubescreamer, but like all the other guitarists, the real tone is in
their fingers. You can buy amps and guitars for $ 50,000 but if the tone is
missing, you won't get it.
Good luck with finding your sound.....
--
**************************************
Sven van der Maas
Webmaster of Texas Legend
**************************************
http://www.texas-legend.com
**************************************
"..:::Blue§man" <blue...@mail.inet.hr> schreef in bericht
news:anve6a$dct$1...@sunce.iskon.hr...
Jeremy Arnold
His amp settings are easy. Simply take an old Blackface Fender, crank
everything to 10, and you're there. Not sure about the settings he
used when he played with Marshalls. That gain sound he had came from
a combination of that, his double-wound Texas Special *prototypes*
(which were much hotter and more sensitive than the Texas Specials
that Fender actually started selling to the public and putting in the
SRV Strat), and 2 Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamers run in series. Not sure
about the settings on the stompboxes.
Oh yeah, and Stevie liked to keep all the knobs on his Strat set at
10, too, while using the heaviest strings he could possibly find,
tuned a half step down (usually .12-.53).
Jeremy
David Tannen (Bluesguy)
that
> sound he had).
Come to my website I have alot of material on SRV guitars & other
equipment.
http://www.jcdisciples.org/srvpage/guitar/index.html
--
David Tannen (blue...@jcdisciples.org)
John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who
loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Check Out: http://www.jcdisciples.org/davidtannen/index.html
JB
playing... you'll see he is constantly twiddling the knobs.
Take his performance of Say What on Saturday Night Live in '86.....
I think that's a rather bad generalisation.
Andy van Tol
Tubescreamer, heavy strings, Eb tuning, and some "life
experience".
Oh, and Turn It Way Up.
Andy
Andy van Tol
"Webmaster of Texas Legend" <sv...@nospamtexas-legend.com> wrote
in message news:FcCp9.22226$Sf5.5...@amsnews02.chello.com...
> Im glad I didnt buy that guitar..... if you play on stage,
people think :
> hey, another SRV wannabee....
Stevie Ray Vaughanabee.
Andy
TexasFlood
> Im glad I didnt buy that guitar..... if you play on stage, people think :
> hey, another SRV wannabee.... that's how it goes..... and the quality of
the
> guitar isn't any better than a regular strat... it has Texas Special
> pickups....but that's it.
I have to disagree you Sven on som points here.
I have a '91 version of the SRV strat and it is a great guitar.
I agree that there are numerous other guitars that is as good as this one
but if someone is looking for
the tone like SRV this is a good place to start.
I once tried a '73 strat trough the same setup as I use with my SRV strat
and I was pretty amazed how close it was to that old axe.
I must say that the feel of the old strat was best but here we are talking
another price for a guitar.
Here it is a matter of how much you will spend on a guitar and how much you
actually use it.
I am sure that my SRV strat is getting better with age just as hollowbody
guitars have the ability to get.
My setup is a Fender Vibrolux Reverb Custom, a Vox 847 wah followed by a
Ibanez TS9.
Tone is a matter of taste and it can therefor be discussed over and over.
I think the tone is lying in the gear you have combined, but that the feel
of playing is in the fingers.
True that you can't buy a setup and play like SRV, but if someone ever got
the chance to play on SRV's original gear you would have the tone but
wouldn't know what to do with it because you didn't have the feeling in the
playing like SRV had.
And to what people might think when they see the SRV on my pickguard -
WTFDIC.
I don't choose things in life according to what people might think of me.
If they don't like my taste well so what - its a free world...!
So to Blue§man - go try out the SRV strat and feel it for yourself.
But remember that the tone is very much shaped by the amp and the effects
you choose to combine with the guitar.
Best regards
TexasFlood (DK) :0)
P.S. Great site you have Sven
Bernard M. Piller
> And to what people might think when they see the SRV on my pickguard -
> WTFDIC.
You could exchange the pickguard, they are not expensive.
Or, if it is just the Texas Special pickups you want and you don't need
the SRV pickguard or the lefty tremolo, you could buy a Texas Special
Strat or a regular Strat and buy the Texas Special pickups later (about
$ 150,-)
Bernard
..:::Blue§man
"Webmaster of Texas Legend" <sv...@nospamtexas-legend.com> wrote in message
news:FcCp9.22226$Sf5.5...@amsnews02.chello.com...
> hey, another SRV wannabee.... that's how it goes..... and the quality of
the
> guitar isn't any better than a regular strat... it has Texas Special
> pickups....but that's it.
>
I appreciate your appinion, and only wanna claim that playin SRV strat on
stage would be a sign of honouring Stevie.
Stevie is One and Only, nobody is fool to wannabee SRV...
..:::Blue§man
> So to Blue§man - go try out the SRV strat and feel it for yourself.
> But remember that the tone is very much shaped by the amp and the effects
> you choose to combine with the guitar.
>
> Best regards
>
> TexasFlood (DK) :0)
Think i'm gonna do it, my point is not to be another Stevie, I just want to
get closer to that sound....
raven
This is my first post to this group. I've listened to SRV's music for many
years (because it was what my parents listened to) but I know nothing about
the technical aspects of playing a guitar or guitar players in general. I
don't know if he's the "greatest", or if he's not but in my opinion he is
because I love his playing and love listening to him, simple as that. His
music is inspiring, his enthusiasm and emotion on stage was uplifting, raw
and beautiful, every note he played carries so much with it. I only have a
handful of his cds, one live DVD, I haven't read his story, I don't yet have
any imports but it takes only one song to know how I feel about this man and
to feel a whole lot of emotion in me that I can barely handle. I can't
imagine what it would feel like to those who've followed his career so
deeply as I'm sure many of you all have. I've read alot about... "just
another stevie wannabe" but what is so wrong with that anyway? I don't
understand, please explain. Personally, I think it would be a tribute to him
to want to play like him, his tone and his style instruments. And really,
what would it matter what anyone else thinks about it because it's likely
SRV who inspired someone to pick up that guitar in the first place. There
aren't enough influences like that these days.
...just some newbie thoughts, please be nice =o)
God bless
Tanna
"..:::Blue§man" <blue...@mail.inet.hr> wrote in message
news:aofahq$tor$1...@sunce.iskon.hr...
Bernard M. Piller
> ...just some newbie thoughts, please be nice =o)
No problem with your thoughts.
Have you listened to Kenny Wayne Sheperd? A kid from Louisiana, he is an
amazing young guitar player and seems to be quite famous in the US
already. Here in Europe nobody knows him.
He comes closest to SRV of all players I heared so far, both in his
playing and in his sound. He uses the same gear as SRV and he even plays
with Double Trouble from time to time.
Bernard
..:::Blue§man
"Bernard M. Piller" <ho...@herbrenner.de> wrote in message
news:aogfd1$m3qp4$1...@ID-123645.news.dfncis.de...
he made his 'Ledbetter Heights', he's OK player, but I can not feel the
blues that Stevie had. I have all three Kenny's records (correct me if I'm
wrong).
..:::Blue§man
we play and listen his music.
"raven" <tan...@telus.net> wrote in message
news:yFHq9.13742$wU3.1...@news0.telusplanet.net...
raven
> It's nice that young people enjoy Stevies music, cause he'll live as long
as
> we play and listen his music.
Thanks for the comments everyone. =o)
Nicely said Bluesman.
Yes, I have heard of KW. Sheppard, I have his first album, he's great!!
Should I get the others? A few years back I saw the Rolling Stones out here
(in Vancouver B.C.) and a young Johnny Lang opened for them. I'd heard about
him being somewhat compared to SRV, I thought he was good but don't have any
of his releases. Does anyone have any thoughts on HIS playing?
Tanna
............................................................................
....
Raise your glass for the comrades we've lost
My friend it's been a long long time
....................................................................
Play the blues brother soft and low
I don't want to go home ~ SVZ
TexasFlood
> Should I get the others? A few years back I saw the Rolling Stones out
here
> (in Vancouver B.C.) and a young Johnny Lang opened for them. I'd heard
about
> him being somewhat compared to SRV, I thought he was good but don't have
any
> of his releases. Does anyone have any thoughts on HIS playing?
I have seen him once here in Copenhagen and he really rocks.
At that time he was 17 years old but rocked like a true bluespioneer.
My absolute favourite when it comes to SRV like performers is Nanji Matsu
from Indigenous.
He is the one I have heard that have come closest to the style and feel of
SRV kinda blues.
You can download loads of MP3's at http://www.indigenousrocks.com/
If you like SRV like blues go and download his version of Red House at
http://www.indigenousrocks.com/RedHouse.mp3
Like to hear what you say of Indigenous.
Best regards
TexasFlood (DK)
raven
> At that time he was 17 years old but rocked like a true bluespioneer.
>
> My absolute favourite when it comes to SRV like performers is Nanji Matsu
> from Indigenous.
> He is the one I have heard that have come closest to the style and feel of
> SRV kinda blues.
> You can download loads of MP3's at http://www.indigenousrocks.com/
>
> If you like SRV like blues go and download his version of Red House at
> http://www.indigenousrocks.com/RedHouse.mp3
>
> Like to hear what you say of Indigenous.
>
> Best regards
>
> TexasFlood (DK)
I friend of mine from the "coyote state" told me of Indigenous a few months
back. He had gone with a friend and his daughter to the see the band live
and his daughter now wants to become a drummer. =o) I believe their drummer
is female, yes? In fact, just last night I was listening to "Eagle Heart"
from their website, was crusin' the net and just about forgot I wasn't
listening to Texas Flood. I'm not entirely keen on the vocals for Indigenous
but the instrumentals are cool! Was lookin' to buy their cd but I decided on
a few SRV SACDs instead. Can't lose, I think! =o)
Tanna
............................................................................
Werner "Soulmatic" Hammer
"..:::Blue§man" <blue...@mail.inet.hr> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:anve6a$dct$1...@sunce.iskon.hr...
of all a question of personal style. The gear ya use is following the sound
ya are a search'n for.
Basicly SRV played a Strat with thick strings (0.11)
Hendrix played f.e. thin strings 0.08
If ya play a Strat you almost have to fight for the tone. With 0.11 on top
ya still have a great punch in the high e-string but for what a price....
Your left hand is gonna be hurt.
To make it a little bit easier SRV tuned the guitar one tone down.
His amps had been modified by exchang'n the regular pre-amplifier tubes
ECC83 with ECC81 or ECC82. This tubes have a lower gain, so you get a
cleaner sound.
So ya have to play loud to get what you want.
A smaller amp works fine for this (the boys in the band enjoy it, too).
I use the tube screamer for a little distortion and eq'ing but almost for
boosting the signal from rhythm set to lead.
YAp, and it's true the rest is in the fingers....
--
See you
Werner "Werner" Hammer
Soulmatic
fine'n phunky soul stuff
http://www.soulmatic.com
SRVFan
Envoy Amp with that transtube stuff. It sounds close enough for me.
Creepy Crawl
you tune down...it's just huge. When I tuned down two whole steps I went
from a .12 to a .62---fucking massive tone.
Now that I only go to D I use .11 to a .56
Try it you'll like it!
"SRVFan" <s...@fan.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9306A4054C...@66.185.95.104...
Webmaster of Texas Legend
them later, a few years before his dead..... he played .013's in the
beginning. If you wanna have a good tone, try them.... they're also on my
strat.
Sven
--
**************************************
Sven van der Maas
Webmaster of Texas Legend
**************************************
http://www.texas-legend.com
**************************************
"Werner "Soulmatic" Hammer" <wer...@soulmatic.com> schreef in bericht
news:b09lil$8u1$1...@news.rhein-zeitung.de...
Werner "Soulmatic" Hammer
your right, i ment a half tone.
Ghee...... 0.13 's that means bodybuilding along the guitar neck :)
I use Dunlop's Big Stubbies 2.mm to kick the strings... it helps.
I Wonder which kind SRV used.
--
See you
Werner "Werner" Hammer
Soulmatic
fine'n phunky soul stuff
http://www.soulmatic.com
"Webmaster of Texas Legend" <sv...@nospamtexas-legend.com> schrieb im
Newsbeitrag news:C58W9.69$ap2....@amsnews02.chello.com...
Webmaster of Texas Legend
--
**************************************
Sven van der Maas
Webmaster of Texas Legend
**************************************
http://www.texas-legend.com
**************************************
"Werner "Soulmatic" Hammer" <wer...@soulmatic.com> schreef in bericht
news:b0bfb7$kbd$1...@news.rhein-zeitung.de...
Gagamble44
that
> sound he had).
Assuming you have a Strat w/ 3 single coils and a vintage or vintage-voiced all
tube amp "THE" sound may be closer than you think.
Stevie used no mods on the pre-amps of his amps whatsoever.One the crucial
elements of his tone was to set the preamp gain to 3 or 4,and crank the master
gain to 10 to distort the power tubes.This technique allowed him to get the
pure,unaltered (distorted) sound of his guitar throughout the entire signal
path of the amp.
By distorting the signal path in the preamp,clarity and definition are
lost,and the harmonic structure becomes reorganized,therby creating certain
dominant frequencies and overtones.Stevie wanted his guitar to sound through
his amps, the way it did when it wasnt plugged in,with as muchclarity and
balance as possible(espicially for the softer passages) and yet rrude and nasty
when called upon.When he was still playing clubs and only had 2 amps onstage,he
did not want a volume dropoff as the dynamics of his playing changed.Even when
he was playing clean soft and gentle,he was still able to achieve a great deal
of volume and presence.
Adding an Overdrive( he used several different ones during his carreer,but
took the same approach) he would use only those that were sonically
transparent.By adding a pre-pregain stage,the level was set just enough to add
enough sustain and yet not clipping the amps pre-amp signal.This approach was
used as an output boost for the pickups ,and not modification of the amps
input signal,in which most stomp boxes are generally designed for.
There alot of inexpensive overdrives on the market.The Ibanez TS9 is the most
popular( SRV used one),but others will do the job equally as well.Others are
the Maxxon OD808,and Boss OD-1.These are all under a 100 bucks..
Hope this helps,and may the spirits of those whom inspire you touch your soul
and radiate their presence outward through your expressionary melodic
renderings.
Bernard M. Piller
> I wonder if someone knew the way Stevie used to adjust his amp (to gain
> that
>
>>sound he had).
Being a huge SRV fan I can tell the following: He was using a really old
Strat ('59 with '61 neck) with an ebony fretboard (rare!) and his guitar
technician had his '50's pickups overwound with an unknown amount and
unknown kind of wire.
He mostly used Fender amps but he sometimes also used Marshalls and
other brands but he was only using the clean channel of his amps.
He usually used two (!) Ibanez tube screamers in series to drive his
amps and he also used a wah pedal and a fuzz box sometimes.
He was also using very heavy strings (.013-0.56) and had his guitar
tuned down a half step to get these strings a little more lose.
> Stevie used no mods on the pre-amps of his amps whatsoever.One the crucial
> elements of his tone was to set the preamp gain to 3 or 4,and crank the master
> gain to 10 to distort the power tubes.This technique allowed him to get the
> pure,unaltered (distorted) sound of his guitar throughout the entire signal
> path of the amp.
> By distorting the signal path in the preamp,clarity and definition are
> lost,and the harmonic structure becomes reorganized,therby creating certain
> dominant frequencies and overtones.Stevie wanted his guitar to sound through
> his amps, the way it did when it wasnt plugged in,with as muchclarity and
> balance as possible(espicially for the softer passages) and yet rrude and nasty
> when called upon.When he was still playing clubs and only had 2 amps onstage,he
> did not want a volume dropoff as the dynamics of his playing changed.Even when
> he was playing clean soft and gentle,he was still able to achieve a great deal
> of volume and presence.
> Adding an Overdrive( he used several different ones during his carreer,but
> took the same approach) he would use only those that were sonically
> transparent.By adding a pre-pregain stage,the level was set just enough to add
> enough sustain and yet not clipping the amps pre-amp signal.This approach was
> used as an output boost for the pickups ,and not modification of the amps
> input signal,in which most stomp boxes are generally designed for.
Very interesting.
I have a Texas Special Strat and at the moment I am trying to find "my
tone".
I found my Marshall tube amp's clean channel pretty suitable for the
southern blues rock I like a lot. I also have a Marshall BluesBreaker-2
pedal which has an Overdrive and a Boost feature.
The sound I liked best at high master volume was with the preamp gain
not maxed and some extra volume on the pedal (pre preamp). I also have
the treble and bass dials on the amp at 10, and the mids at 0.
With these settings I can get a pretty clean but punchy sound with the
guitar volume set to 8 and a biting overdriven scream with the guitar
cranked.
Bernard
Steve Barnes
Note the lead tone on "Tightrope". Not too many of will own a Dumble
though.
Steve
"Bernard M. Piller" wrote:
>
> He mostly used Fender amps but he sometimes also used Marshalls and
> other brands but he was only using the clean channel of his amps.
>
> Bernard
>
> --
> www.piller.at
Steve2000indeja
>though.
>Steve
On the "In Step" release -which included 'Tightrope'-SRV used the now famous
wall of amps chained together in the studio by the late Cesar(sp) Diaz. A few
different Fenders, Marshalls and at least one Dumble, a Steel String Slinger
iirc. They were all mic-ed up, recorded and blended together to give Stevie a
one-time-only tone for that album.
This legendary recording setup has been detailed in many articles in the major
guitar mags and in at least one case (in GP, I think) pix of the rig were
included.
If you want to hear Stevie through a Dumble, just listen to the' Texas Flood'
release. That album was recorded as a demo tape on a shoestring budget.
The unknown SRV and Double Trouble had impressed Jackson Browne when they
played the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 81 or 82 (where they sorta bombed with
the jazz snob audience). After their set, Browne offered to let them use his
studio in Van Nuys, CA if they ever wanted to. They unexpectedly took him up on
the offer, driving out from Texas and literally just showing up on the studio's
doorstep unannounced.
Jackson Browne and his longtime guitarist David Lindley have used Dumbles since
the 70s days when Dumble went by his real name-Howard- and modified Fenders for
them. Eventually Dumble brought out his own amp line and Browne and Lindley
each have several.
When SRV got to Browne's studio he saw a Dumble Super Overdrive Special sitting
there and for some reason decided to give it a try. History-and one of the
prime SRV tones- was created as Stevie used only the Dumble for those demo
recordings which CBS Records eventually deemed good enough to release just as
they were..on SRV's major label debut, 'Texas Flood.'
Imo, the Dumble Super Overdrives can give glorious overdriven tone. Just check
out any Robben Ford release from 'Talk To Your Daughter onwards. But Stevie
played that Dumble very clean. He might have been able to coax those tones from
a great Fender. But on 'Texas Flood' it was a Dumble Super Overdrive Special.
AFAIK, it was the only time he used a Dumble Overdrive Special as his main
recording amp.
---
Stevie often used the Dumble Steel String in his stage rig as one of his 'big
amps' -essentially slaves which boosted the tone they were being fed by his
smaller main tone amp-on his later tours a Fender Super Reverb I believe.
Part of SRVs great live sound was that he was old school. He pushed air like
the 60s guitar greats. On his last tour I saw him in a 15,000 seat arena
(co-headlining with Jeff Beck) and he was barely in the PA. His very loud and
great sound was coming mainly off the stage, Hendrix style.
I'm a huge Beck fan, but that night for most of the audience in the arena SRV
had the more killer tone. If you were down front, Beck sounded great. But Jeff
was playing more conventionally volumewise, letting the PA carry him in that
muddy sounding arena. SRV didn't leave it up to PAs or room acoustics or
soundmen.
Like Hendrix and other early greats, he cranked it UP.
----
As the wall of amps on his last studio recording (and the many different rigs
you can see on live vids such as his various appearances Austin City Limits
shows over the years) show, Stevie was always on a quest for the perfect tone.
The consistent things throughout his career were his use of his big stringed #1
Strat most of the time and usually a Fender combo as his main 'tone' amp.
Since you can usually spot Stevie on a recording quickly no matter what rig he
was using, a lot of what made him so special was in his hands and heart.
Steve