Stevie Ray Vaughan gear
Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
£1,737
www.Fender.com
At NAMM 2004, Fender debuted a limited run of 400 Tribute Strats made by master builder John Cruz. The less well-heeled SRV devotee will still surely be delighted with the Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster, a fine guitar in its own right – sporting an inverted vintage trem, oval neck profile and overwound Fender Texas Special pickups.
Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer
£175
www.Ibanez.com
An original claimed by its owner to have been used by SRV himself recently appeared on Ebay. If you’re less fussy about authenticity you can pick up a vital component of the Stevie sound relatively cheaply in its TS-808, TS-9 or TS-10 incarnations.
Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere Mk II
Assuming you don’t have a Fender Vibratone for those Cold Shot moments, you could either rely, as SRV sometimes did, on a Dunlop Uni-Vibe, or take the plunge with Hughes & Kettner’s authentic sounding Rotosphere pedal.
Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb
£1,326
www.Fender.com
Along with an array of Marshalls and Dumbles, maxed-out Fender amps were a mainstay of classic SRV tone, and characterise his early recordings. If you can’t track down the now-discontinued ’64 Reissue Vibroverb and can’t crank a Twin or Bassman, you could always audition the Vibrolux: a 40-watt, two-channel, 2 x 10 all-tube (6L6 and 12AX7s) combo.
Jim Dunlop JH-F1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face
For Hendrixy moments, SRV used classic Fuzz Faces. Guitar tech César Diaz also built a circuit into
an old Fuzz Face which went on to form the basis of the Diaz Texas Square Face Fuzz. If you can’t find one of those, a JH-F1 Jimi Hendrix model will fuzz you up just as nicely.
Vox V845 Wah
The new version of Stevie’s preferred wah has AC power support, and its tough all-black casing houses a circuit based on the original Vox Wahs of the sixties. And you get change from £70 – say what?