:rofl
If, at first you don't succeed, don't try skydiving.
Two leaps per chasm is fatal!
I have only recently started to listen to SRV`s work which I love. I also have Texas Specials in my Roadhouse Strat and IMHO I think theese are the best pickups fender has made and they nail the SRV sound. I had replaced the bridge pickup with a JB jnr, bur the Texas special will be going back in next time I change the strings.
paul
hi guys,
I'm an SRV fan from way back and have studied his recordings (studio and 100's of live shows) for some time. I have kind of moved on to other style of blues now (west-coast, jump, etc) but still enjoy Stevie.
I went through chasing his tone too... and bought a set of the original sets of Texas Specials. What I found was that they are ok for loud overdriven rockin' blues (like Pride & Joy for example), but really suck for the more subtle tones like the intro to Tin Pan Alley, Little Wing, or Lenny...they have too much muddy midrange to get the clear treble response on these recordings.
I much prefer Fralin Blues or Van Zandt Blues pickups for copping Stevie tones. If you haven't compared the Texas Specials to these you really don't know what you're missing! They are much more well-rounded pickups in general and are worth the extra cost.
Good luck!
cheers,
Sean
Texas Specials are overwound. Fender recently discovered that the pickups in SRV's #1 were underwound. I have a set of Texas Specials and did not like them much until I set them about a dimes' height above the pickguard. The pickups in my 50's Classic still sound more stratty and the neck pickup on that guitar can nail the SRV thing.
I always liked Texas Specials because of the mid range bark. They're not traditional chimey strat pickups - the do their own thing.
Thought I'd chip in my :2c
Overwound pickups will hit the front of a tube amp hard. You'll get pre-amp distortion.
I may be wrong but I think you'd get closer to the sound you're after if you have underwound pickups and turn up your amp to the point where the power section is really working.
s'all goof.
You're not wrong, curtis ; more like the opposite.
Most people don't seem to know this, but SRV's monster tone was created by pushing the amps to the limit (usually, SRV had them on 8, 9, or even 10!), which is why he blew so many speakers up. He had an account with EV and JBL and he kept having a whole bunch of speakers coming in, since the ones he previously had blew up after a few shows!
Unfortunately, most of us either don't have the money to keep changing speakers, don't have the opportunity to make as much noise or simply do not wish to go deaf, so the best compromise anybody could think of was to overwound the pickups and therefore get relatively closer to SRV's sound without causing some sort of earthquake. ;)
Just hitting the strings hard, wacking them with a big gesture of your arm just like SRV does on the El Mocambo video will get you that much closer to his sound.
Unfortunately, I haven't heard a single person being able to fool me into thinking SRV was playing. I hear the term "SRV clone" almost every day, but KWS or anybody else has never been able to duplicate SRV's sound or touch. I can always tell it's not him playing simply by the vibrato, the lack of pinching of the strings, etc...
The closest has been Chris Duarte with his Strat Magik album, but the tone's all wrong and it's easy to tell he's using really thin strings. He uses fuzz distortion and most of the songs don't sound like SRV emulation, except Letter To My Girlfriend, which is 95% a copy of what SRV played on bootlegs. If you listen to bootlegs of SRV, you'll see that what Chris plays is an exact duplicate, note-for-note, of what SRV played when he did that tune.
hey Bluetone,Originally Posted by Bluetone
Interesting... where/when did you read this? Just curious. I must have missed it.
cheers,
Sean
It's been known for a long time that SRV's pickups were not overwound, but actually underwound. I read that on countless websites, actually.
As I stated before, SRV's El Mocambo sound (and most other ones) was achieved through amps being incredibly loud, not through any kind of hot pickup.
Last edited by Strat-Mangler; 01-31-2005 at 10:25 AM.
The pickups in #1 weren't over or under wound - they were just stock pickups as reported by Fender's inspection of the guitar.
Actually, you're half-right. They are stock Fender pickups, but they were underwound. Basically, there's a certain number of turns that should have been respected by whoever made those pickups, but they didn't have counters back then, so it was done on instinct, which is why you have wildly differently wounded pickups ; some are on target, while most are either under or over the number of turns that were asked at the time.
SRV's pickups in his #1 were underwound, which is what Rene Martinez stated, if memory serves right. Fender, as far as I know, never rewounded the pickups in order to create the Texas Specials.
Forget all this gear talk. Everybody knows that the real secret to SRV's tone was the HAT.
Knowledge is the small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify. -- Ambrose Bierce
Like we never heard *that* one before, huh?
And the face:
You must have this face!:lol
I'd personally rather have the hat. :lol
Whew!, smells like someone had Chili Dogs for dinner again!
Knowledge is the small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify. -- Ambrose Bierce
I guess I'll be in the minority, but I think SRV had a great guitar face and I know that it hurt when he did those bends. He also had 5 springs at the back of his #1, so... talk about tension!
Can you please point us to a reference that confirms these statements... I've just never heard this claim. In the guitar mag where they show pics of the Fender crew examining SRV's #1 with Jimmie Vaughan they don't mention an under or over wind on the pickups - if it's on countless websites it should be easy to find.
IMO, SRV's tone wasn't JUST loud amps... it's a combination of factors.... most important was his playing style.
cheers,
Sean
I have other things to do in my spare time than to hunt down statements. If I happen to find a source by chance, I'll link it, no problem. If you absolutely want one however, you're more than welcome to take some of your precious time (instead of mine) to look for one. I read that statement in a magazine as well and I won't start looking through my entire collection of guitar mags just to find a quote to satisfy your personal curiosity. I can understand being careful about something stated like this on a message board of all places, but I frankly don't have the time to dedicate to this task. You can always find a source online. It should be easy to find. ;)
Hmmmm,... Strange. From where I stand, I don't ever remember stating that *just* loud amps will get you to SRV's tone land. I did mention his technique and a lot more factors make up his sound.
I would strongly recommend *reading* my posts before making statements like this.
Strat-Mangler, no need to get your knickers all in a twist. I certainly didn't mean to offend you.
A google search for "SRV underwound" doesn't show anything that supports your theory. I'd love to confirm this one way or the other, so if anyone can show a reference to Stevie having underwound pickups in his #1 I'd be interested. Thanks.
From what I've read (which isn't everything I'm sure), there are lots of conflicting reports on what pickups were in #1. It's even claimed by some that Van Zandt rewound them, but who knows.
cheers,
Sean
In the issue of Guitar Player where they took apart #1 - they simply said the pickups were stock and had not been messed with at all. I'm also too lazy to try and find a link.
I don't know anything about SRV's rig but I think the sound has to do more with heavy strings (.011-.052 for me), heavy pick and heavy handed playing than anything else. At least it seems to work for me when I'm going for that kind of sound.
Nah...All you need is a hat, and one of these:
And the face:
You must have this face!:lol
Then play Albert King, Lonnie Mack, and Hendrix licks with extreme emotional intensity and viola! :hee
The hat and the mega-fart face do help some.
And tuck yer' pants into yer' boots. Velvet when available.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
DELETED
Velvet pants or velvet boots?
For the Velvet Jones look?
Ya know, a lot of people would figure, if you have to ask you aren't cool enough to deserve an answer.
But I'm not one of those snobs.
Pants= Velvet (Velour's okay too)
Boots= some variety of reptile skin
Good luck in your quest.
Hope this helps.:yay
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
i gotta go with mangler on this one. SRV would sound like SRV on an ibanez playing through a crate. ive been studying SRV and moving up in string gauges etc but the technique he had is what made him special. im working on getting all the notes down first and then ill work on the style. i dont wanna copy SRV, i just hate people that play bad covers...especially stevie ray stuff.
I have to agree with you, itbepopples. Listening to half-assed SRV covers at a Blues bar is enough to make me wanna leave. A half-assed cover sounds worse than a good Nirvana cover, IMHO. :lol
No, dude, I'm going for the Velvet Jones look! Didn't you read my post?
Or maybe a cross between Elton John and the Village People with a touch of Boy George thrown in.
And if YOU have to ask...
can you tell me what issue that is. i'm in school for guitar right now ad i'm sure they have it in the library. if u can tell me what issue it was (if u know) it'll save me the trouble of looking thru 20 years orth of magazine covers to find it.
I read some stuff on the SRV site that said he did not use Texas specials, apparently he used stock ones and this was supposedly verified by Fender.
I also know he used an elaborate array of amps that were usually cranked up.
He also used a tube screamer and a long (very) cord that apparently acted like a treble boost.
Add fat strings and big strong hands and attitude.
Probably because Texas Specials didn't come out until he was dead.
However, he did work with Fender to create them, and they were wound to replicate his big big tone with little little strings. Which they kind of do.
I understand. However, if people get satisfaction from owning certain types of gear (for whatever reason) then I say "Good for them!"
Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.
--Albert Einstein
:rofl
HAHAHA, Fezz! I use that pedal all the time. It's in between the Buddy Holly pedal, and the Kurt Cobain one in my rig.
I had a Trini Lopez pedal once, but I lost it in a poker match.
Good one Fezz, as usual. Stratmangler, there is much truth in what you say.
where's the bandana switch?
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Behind the one that activates the decrepid boots effect.
i still dont get how SRV could pull of the fashion stuff. if i saw ANYONE wearing that stuff i wouldve said hes either a 70s street pimp or a poor, salvation army shopping blind man!
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