1954-1990
Main Guitar: 59 Stratocaster(With a 62 Neck)
Main Amp(s): Super Reverbs & Vibroverbs
Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in the Oak Cliff Section of Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1954. He was the younger
brother of Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) and the son of Jim and Martha Vaughan. Stevie began playing
guitar (under the influence of Jimmie) at the age of eleven, and was soon playing in local teen combos.
Stevie didn't do well in high school. He would sit at the back of the classroom tired from playing music all night and
just doze off. His grades reflected this lack of interest. He also probably ditched so much school that his grades
surely suffered.
Stevie dropped out of high school in 1972 and moved to Austin to play music full-time. Doyle Bramhall, a longtime friend and songwriting partner of Stevie's, was the first one to tell Stevie that he was a good guitar player. In the early seventies, Stevie played in a band with Doyle called the Nightcrawlers. Then, during the mid-seventies, Stevie played with a popular Austin band called the Cobras.
Stevie formed an ambitious blues-R&B band in 1976 called Triple
Threat Revue, starring himself, Lou Ann Barton, W.C. Clark, Fredde Pharoah & Mike Kindred. This band evolved into Triple Threat with Stevie, Lou Ann, Chris Layton and Jackie Newhouse. When Lou Ann left in 1980 to go to the Roomful of Blues, Stevie stepped forward and renamed the group Double Trouble. On January 2, 1981, Tommy Shannon replaced Jackie Newhouse on bass.
On December 20, 1979, Stevie married Lenora (Lenny) Baily between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin. Stevie later wrote a beautiful instrumental song and titled it "Lenny".
1982 was a banner year for Stevie, who when spotted by David Bowie in Montreaux Festival was immediately asked to play on Bowie's LET'S DANCE album. He was also given studio time by Jackson Browne at Browne's Downtown Studio in Los Angeles. In addition, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble were signed to Epic Records by John Hammond, a legendary A&R man. This was the beginning of Stevie's international stardom and constant
worldwide touring.
In 1983, TEXAS FLOOD, Stevie and Double Trouble's debut album, was released and the band appeared on Austin City Limits for the first time. Meanwhile, in Toronto the El Mocambo video was recorded.
W.A. Williams Photography
In 1984, COULDN'T STAND THE WEATHER was released.
In 1985, SOUL TO SOUL was released. Stevie also produced Lonnie Mack's comeback album STRIKE LIKE LIGHTNING, playing on five of the songs.
In 1986, LIVE ALIVE, was released. Later in the year, Stevie entered rehabilitation to kick his drug problems, after
collapsing in Germany. He cut himself off from enablers (people who would supply him with drugs) and got close again with his mother, Martha. Stevie remained clean and sober for the rest of his life.
In 1987 Stevie appeared in a movie as himself. In the movie, BACK TO THE BEACH, he played a duet with the King of the Surf guitar, Dick Dale. The song they played was "Pipeline". Also in 1987, Stevie filed for divorce from Lenny.
In 1988, appearing on MTV, Stevie performed an acoustical set. And, his divorce with Lenny became final.
In 1989, IN STEP was released, Stevie toured with another master guitarist, Jeff Beck, and appeared on Austin City Limits for the second time. Both Austin City Limits performances were released years later on single video entitled LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS.
In 1990, Stevie toured with Joe Cocker, and finally recorded with brother Jimmie on FAMILY STYLE.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died on August 27, 1990 in a helicopter crash after leaving a concert with his brother Jimmie, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Robert Cray held at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. His spirit and music live on.
GUITARS
Each of Stevie's guitars had a personality all its own, so much so that Stevie named a few of them. What follows is a
description of each. This information is derived from many interviews and magazine articles. Bear in mind that some
magazine articles do not present a complete picture of particular guitars, and others are just plain incorrect. Thus, this part of the FAQ is a composite picture of what we know is true.
"NUMBER ONE"
"Number One", also called "First Wife" is the beat-up mongrel Strat that we all know and love. Constructed of a 1959 body, and (originally) a 1962 neck, it possessed a deep, dark growl of a tone that was immediately identifiable. Even though it used all "stock" Fender Strat parts, about the only "original equipment"
parts it possessed by 1990 were the body and the pickups. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez, his guitar tech, replaced the pickguard, vibrato unit, saddles and neck. Some modifications were purely cosmetic, some were functional (to derive a particular feel or tone), and others were out-and-out repairs.
Number One was obtained in 1973 in a trade-in of his first Strat, the 1963 he purchased in 1969. According to Stevie, he saw the Strat in Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, in Austin. He said
he knew that this tobacco-sunburst, used Strat was, just by looking at it, the guitar for him. The neck was an oddly-shaped rosewood D-neck, very large, which fit Stevie's large hands like a glove. The body was stamped "LF-1959", but the neck was stamped "1962". Stevie surmised that Leo Fender probably assembled this guitar from left-over 1959 production parts in 1962. It was rumored that the "LF-1959" actually meant "Louis Fuentes" and not Leo Fender. Neither was ever truly verified.
In interviews, Rene sometimes took issue as to the date of manufacture of Number One. Rene claims he has found
that the pickups are 1959, while both the neck and body are 1961. In Stevie's mind, the guitar was a factory-cobbled-up 1959, so all discussion ended there.
The guitar originally came with a stock, early-sixties style white pickguard, a right-handed vibrato unit, and 1959 pickups. It is rumored that sometime during the life of the guitar, either Stevie or a previous owner had the pickups rewound at the Fender factory. The result was a slight overwind from original, which is duplicated in the SRV Signature Strat. I cannot find proof of the pickup rewind.
Over the years, Stevie replaced the pickguard (several times) with a black pickguard and added his "SRV" initials in iridescent lettering of several styles. Rene Martinez remarked that he would prowl truck stops to obtain letters to replace the ones that wore away. Eventually the iridescent "SRV" was replaced by Letraset script-style lettering, first seen during his appearance on the "Tonight Show" in 1989. This show introduced the SRV Signature Strat prototype. Stevie was to play this prototype, but it did not sport his trademark initials. The "Tonight Show" art
department came up with this new lettering style at the last minute. These script letters are what is engraved in outline form on the SRV Sig Strat.
The vibrato was replaced with a gold left-handed unit sometime around 1977. This was the beginning of Stevie's "Hendrix period". Since Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush played a right-handed guitar turned "upside down", therefore putting the vibrato bar on top, Stevie emulated this by installing a left-handed vibrato unit in Number One. He also felt it gave him better access to the bar, but did remark that several times, during especially manic performances, it fairly well tore half his sleeve off when he got caught-up on it. Stevie normally used four or five springs in this unit, and had the pivot plate pulled tight against the body. This meant he could only push the bar, and not pull up on it.
Another significant change from stock were the installation of jumbo bass-style frets. This added to the sustain, and gave Stevie added ability to bend the strings with the enormous strings that he used. He gradually went to smaller strings as he got older, but they were still heavy by modern standards. His string sizes in 1984 were generally .013, .015-.016, .019, .028, .038, and .056-.060. In the 1970s, his high E string would sometimes go as high as a .018! By the time 1989 rolled around, Rene convinced him to use a .011 or .012 to save his fingers. His fingers would get torn up so badly that he would actually use super glue to re-attach torn callouses.
The finish of Number One became progressively more beaten up as the years went by. Stevie would pound, scrape, kick, stand on, and otherwise torture the guitar during his performances. Eventually it developed a quarter-inch gouge just above the pickguard where Stevie's manic strumming continually bashed it. There probably was not a square inch of lacquer remaining by 1990. That certainly did not detract from the wonderful sounds it made.
It is not known when the original neck was replaced. Number One had many repairs throughout Stevie's career. An early mishap can be seen on the liner photos for the IN THE BEGINNING album. Stevie had watched how his brother Jimmie would bounce his guitar off the wall, and he thought it was a cool trick. During an early performance of "Third Stone From the Sun", he recalled, he tossed Number One a little too hard. It hit the wall at a bad angle,
and severely split the headstock. The photos in the album show the taped-up headstock. Either Rene Martinez or Charley Wirz eventually repaired this damage, as Rene has said that Stevie used the original neck until 1989.
Stevie briefly considered retiring Number One by late 1989, when the neck became unusable. It had gone through so many re-frets and repairs that it just could not hold another re-fret, and its playability was near impossible. So, Rene swapped the neck from "Scotch", a 1963 Strat, onto Number One. This was the neck that was snapped on July 9, 1990 at the Garden State Art Center in New Jersey, when a heavy piece of stage scenery fell on several guitars. This prompted Stevie to beg Rene to try and get one more life out of the old neck. Rene ended up ordering a replacement vintage neck directly from Fender, and received (according to Rene) a 1963 copy, similar to what was destroyed in the accident. Stevie was without Number One for only one show.
Number One was originally rumored to be buried with Stevie at Laurel Land Cemetery, near Dallas. Current reports indicate that Number One actually "resides" with one of the Vaughan family members, either Jimmie or his mother. Rene Martinez swapped the original neck back onto Number One and gave it to the Vaughan family.
"LENNY"
Another readily identifiable guitar in Stevie's arsenal of axes was the brownish-orange 1963 or 1964 maple-neck Strat he called "Lenny". This was another guitar that, over the years, produced Stevie's trademark jazz-like tones on songs such as "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise".
Lenny, the guitar, is named after Stevie's ex-wife. Legend has it that Stevie found this guitar in an Oak Cliff pawnshop, but couldn't afford it. Byron Barr, one of Stevie's roadies at the time, ended up buying the guitar. Byron and Lenny presented it to Stevie for his birthday, with the agreement that Lenny
would reimburse Byron. She started a pool among friends to collect the money, but never did receive enough. In the end, Stevie repaid Byron, himself, with some cash and a leather jacket.
Lenny, the guitar, originally came with a fairly thin rosewood neck. Stevie ended up replacing the neck with a thicker non-Fender maple neck, given to him by Billy Gibbons. He kept the right-hand vibrato, and set it to both pull up and push down, unlike Number One. Lenny was also strung lighter, but only
by one step or so. He only used four springs in the vibrato.
Stevie kept the stock pickups in Lenny. These pickups were also microphonic (meaning, if you would tap them with your finger, you would hear that sound coming through the amp). These pickups, combined with the maple neck and slightly lighter strings, gave Lenny that characteristically sweet, bright, ringing tone that is immediately identifiable as a Strat. Stevie loved to use this guitar for songs played softly, and regularly finger-picked solos to even further soften the tone.
Lenny didn't change much through the years. One thing Stevie did was to add a filigree-style decal at the bridge, and
add his "SRV" initials on the pickguard. He did this sometime after 1986.
"CHARLEY"
"Charley" was a Strat-style guitar assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz in 1983. Charley Wirz was a close friend of Stevie's, and he regularly worked on Stevie's guitars in the early years. Charley owned Charley's Guitar Shop in northwest Dallas, until his death in 1984.This guitar was a gift
to Stevie, from Charley. A girlie-pinup style caricature decal was placed on the back. On the neck's heel plate is engraved "To Stevie Ray Vaughan, more in '84".
This is an all white guitar, with a rosewood neck, and a white headstock imprinted with the "Charley's Guitar Shop" logo. Charley Wirz installed three Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, and wired it using his own custom, non-Fender configuration. The guitar had a tone similar to Number One, with a little more top end, and a slightly more "bell-like" quality. Stevie liked to
play it rather clean, sometimes with an Echoplex and the Vibratone unit. You can hear it on the album versions of "Tin Pan Alley", "Life Without You" (which was written as a tribute to Charley), and "Couldn't Stand The Weather".
"RED"
Believe it or not, "Red" actually started out black. "Red" is a 1964 or 1965 rosewood neck Strat with relatively little modifications. It was originally black, but was repainted red
around 1985 by Fender with a hue later offered by Fender as a custom color.
Red later had its neck replaced with a 1964 left-handed rosewood Fender neck. The requisite "SRV" decals were added to the pickguard. Other than these changes, "Red" was basically stock. Stevie would regularly use Red on stage for "Love Struck Baby" and "Rude Mood".
"MAIN"
"Main" was the custom Hamiltone Lurktamer Strat-style guitar, built by James Hamilton of Buffalo, NY. The guitar was given to Stevie as a gift from Billy Gibbons in 1984. It has a highly figured, book-matched reddish top, bound on all edges. The
body is slightly thicker and slightly heavier than a Strat, with little contouring.
"Main" featured a neck-through-body design, unlike any other guitar Stevie owned. This resulted in the pickups actually being mounted on the neck, itself. The neck shape is similar to that of a Gibson Super 400, and was practically the same width as Number One.
It has an ebony fretboard, with "Stevie Ray Vaughan" inlaid in pearl across it. Pickups are active EMG with an onboard preamp. The guitar has a jangly, jazzy tone that was beefed-up by the active onboard electronics. Stevie regularly used Main on stage for "Couldn't Stand the Weather" and "Cold Shot".
"SCOTCH"
"Scotch" was a semi-mongrel 1963 Strat, a sort of a dark cream-colored ("butterscotch") body with a rosewood neck, and a "tiger-stripe" pickguard custom-made by Rene Martinez. Stevie favored this Strat once Number One began having serious neck problems. A notable change to this guitar was the installation of a brass nut, rather than the bone nuts that Stevie used on his
other guitars. In late 1989, Stevie swapped the neck from Scotch onto Number One, and installed a left-handed neck onto Scotch. Stevie regularly played this guitar on "Leave My Girl Alone" on stage, and it was well on its way to becoming the "replacement" for Number One.
"THE YELLOW ONE"
That wasn't really it's name, but this Strat didn't really have a name. Yet, it had a very distinctive tone that is worth noting.
This was a yellow 1959 Strat that was originally owned by the lead guitarist from Vanilla Fudge. Charley Wirz once again worked his magic to resurrect this guitar from the graveyard. By the time Charley received it, the body was hollowed out to accept four humbuckers. Charley removed the humbuckers, and fashioned a new pickguard in which he placed a single Fender Strat pickup in the neck position. Stevie placed his "SRV" stickers directly under the strings, where normally the other two pickups are installed. Not only was this a distinctive looking guitar, but it had a very unique, "ringing" sort of tone due to the hollowed-out body. This was supposedly the guitar played on the album versions of "Honey Bee" and "Tell Me". It was stolen in 1985 and never recovered.
NUMBER ONE'S SETUP
Here is the setup info for Number One, circa early 1989. This information was gleaned from several sources, including interviews with Stevie and Rene Martinez. Some important technical info is from the GUITAR PLAYER REPAIR GUIDE by Dan Erlewine.
This data is specifically from Number One. Stevie's other guitars were set up similarly to Number One, but they were not identical. Number One generally had the heaviest strings and highest action.
Neck Statistics
Nut: Standard bone Fender-style nut Relief: .012" around the 7th and 9th frets, level for the remainder of the board. Strings: Tuned to Eb GHS Nickel Rockers measuring .013, .015-.016, .019, .028, .038, .056-.060 Sometimes uses .011 or .012 on high E to save fingers Strings changed before every show Fretwire: Dunlop 6100 or Stewart MacDonald 6150 wire. String Height: Distance from the underside of the strings to the top of the fret at the 12th fret 5/64" on the treble E string, 7/64" at the bass E string
Fingerboard: Due to re-frets, fingerboard developed a compound radius Radius: Approx. 10" radius past 12th fret Tuners: Originals, each with three full string winds
Body Statistics
Vibrato Unit: Fender vintage-style, left-handed, not original. Stainless steel replacement bar. Lubricated with graphite/grease mixture at pivot plate; all string contact points, including saddle peaks; block and claw; nut; string trees
Saddles: Fender vintage-style, not all original. All edges that contact strings are ground smooth and radiused. Plastic tubing slipped over strings and positioned over saddle "break points"
Pickups: Original Fender single-coil, rewound. Pickup body routing painted with metallic shielding paint. Pickup heights, measured to polepieces from straightedge laid on frets:
Treble side - bridge PU 0", middle PU - almost 0", neck PU - 1/16"
Bass side - bridge PU - 1/32", middle PU - 1/16", neck PU - 1/32"
"She's a 59 stratocaster. I've always called her my first wife. And she don't talk back to me, she talks for me. She don't scream at me, she screams for me."
-- Stevie Ray Vaughan
Information above is courtesy of the SRV FAQ.