Why Stevie Ray Vaughan's Stratocaster Sounded Impossible

Comments · 233

• TH

  @Thehoser69 · 7 days ago

  I figured out his secret.<br>He didn’t plug his strat into an amp. He plugged it into his soul.

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• EN

  @engleharddinglefester4285 · 5 days ago

  He was also usually wrecked on cocaine and Crown Royal, which deadened the pain in his hands.

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• LA

  @lachlangrant1588 · 6 days ago

  Lower output pickups mean you have to drive the amp more to get the volume out of it. Having the amp on the verge of breaking up gives a very clean overdrive. This is also how Malcolm Young got his sound. Gretsch Filter&apos;Trons have a lower output than Gibson style humbuckers, but are fairly comparable with the readings from Stevie&apos;s Strat. Malcolm had to crank his amp to push it into overdrive. If you listen carefully, his sound is actually very clean. There is no distortion at all, but there is a lot of natural gain in the signal from a driven amp. Stevie did the same thing. If Stevie needed a bit more gain for a solo, he&apos;d kick in a Tubescreamer.

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• DA

  @DavidBloch-j4t · 4 days ago

  With those sausage fingers that he could play at all let alone play so beautifully is amazing .<br>Both times I was lucky enough to see him he had to keep switching out guitars because he kept breaking strings. He transitioned between guitars seamlessly. <br>RIP and thank you SRV.

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• LE

  @lez0n · 4 days ago

  Nobody mentions SRV’s massive mitts that strangled the sound out of those thick strings! I have sausage fingers and usually play bass so when I switch to guitar I tend to grip too hard and bend the notes a bit out of tune. I bet SRV had a firm handshake.

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• VO

  @Voodoo66Chile · 4 days ago (edited)

  I&apos;m a Hendrix head but one day when buying some gear I demoed it with the seller&apos;s guitar. The seller was a Stevie head and had heavy gauge strings on his guitar. At first I was intimidated but put some frustration into fretting, picking and bending the notes... Imo, it was my best playing and tone yet, my curiosity was peaked! A few days went by and made another deal, this time for the guitar I used to demo the previous gear. I loved the guitar but soon it needed a string change, I already had my usual 9s and just strung it up to have some fresh strings. <br><br>Time went by, I was feeling uninspired and kept thinking back to that day I first played those heavy gauge strings! I couldn&apos;t recall what was on them so I just decided on some 12s... It was intimidating again, but wow, the sustain was addicting, the sting of the high notes were exhilarating! Ironically I found I could play faster and cleaner, the heavier gauge offered more support for my strong attack and aggressive &nbsp;fretting technique. The first month it did wear little circular holes in my fingers, I found using string lube was a must for this type of gauge. My callous grew and hardened, my finger strength increased. Ironically I used to get pain in my left hand and finger joints with lots of playing back when I used light gauge but that completely subsided, which I find really odd!<br><br>Over the years I&apos;ve tried to go down in gauge but find anything less than 12s feel like noodles. The 12s feel like running on solid ground where 11s feel like running mud, 10s running in sand and 9s like running in snow... I just can&apos;t revert back now! I played 10s strictly for 2 months recently, trying to go down in gauge but just was uninspired again, threw on my 12s and just felt like home... <br><br>I admit there is some nuance in tone I like about the thinner strings, simply because I&apos;m a Hendrix head, he used Fender Rock&apos;n Roll 10-38s but I&apos;ve come to accept for me, like Stevie, heavy gauges work best for my technique.

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• WE

  @WendyDunham · 5 days ago

  Love your video essays! Smart, thoughtful, intelligent. ❤

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• WH

  @What_If_We_Tried · 2 days ago

  Fantastic analysis of how SRV got his sound out of his guitar / rig. &nbsp;* subscribed *

• DA

  @dannymacnevin3939 · 3 days ago

  Actually, the original neck from #1 was not on the guitar when the lighting rig fell on it in NYC. The original neck had been retired, due to the numerous fret jobs over the years. They had a replacement neck on the guitar when it got broken. The guitar now (currently owned by brother Jimmy) has the original neck back on it, and sits on display for all the world to see.

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• MA

  @markkasick · 4 days ago

  #1 was previously owned by Cristopher &quot;Run like the Wind&quot; Cross before SRV bought it.

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• BV

  @bvrunowerneck1234 · 7 days ago

  I am in love with this channel

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• ST

  @steveogee7458 · 4 days ago

  That was a very enjoyable video. Well done. ❤SRV.