It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:19 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 53 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Author Message
Post subject: SRV String Guage
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:07 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:42 pm
Posts: 12
EdMardell wrote:
campfirehero wrote:
Here's the GHS strings Stevie endorsed with them:

Although on the GHS page it shows the incorrect guage(ie. 6th E .050 when it was .058), the link below shows the correct guage set.

http://www.juststrings.com/ghs-1300.html

1st E
Plain Steel
.011


2nd B
Plain Steel
.015


3rd G
Plain Steel
.019


4th D
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
Hey THX Man!

I agree with you I have tried to get close to this guage and could not even think about bending or vibrating them.

I have seen that you have a Blues Delux Reissue. How do you use this amp Drive channel without the neighbours calling the Police! I have this amp but dam it is so Loud I just can drive it in my basement.

JC

.028


5th A
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
.038


6th E
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
.058


I can't imagine using a guage of that calibre. My little pudgies would be damaged for life. I have huge long hands but I need guage 9s.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:00 pm
Offline
Amateur
Amateur
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:07 pm
Posts: 131
I've heard that at one time he even used .18 guage sets of strings when he was starting out

_________________
Get away from the blind side of life - SRV

06-07 Fender Deluxe players strat.
85-89 sigma 12 string
2008 homebrew strat with dlx players body, tex sp pu's, and a custom neck
mid 60's Harmony tube amp


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:06 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:04 pm
Posts: 21
This guy thinks a Blues Junior will do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg7KRR9FBlc


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:18 pm
Offline
Amateur
Amateur
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:07 pm
Posts: 131
TriumphTune wrote:
This guy thinks a Blues Junior will do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg7KRR9FBlc


Yes! I love Steviesnacks!

_________________
Get away from the blind side of life - SRV

06-07 Fender Deluxe players strat.
85-89 sigma 12 string
2008 homebrew strat with dlx players body, tex sp pu's, and a custom neck
mid 60's Harmony tube amp


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:41 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:48 am
Posts: 2
Heavy strings are the way (that and unearthly talent!). I have played as heavy as 12's but more often on 10's. When you put 10's on a strat that's not setup for 10's problems can arise though so you may need a setup. I think it's Boomer who makes special sets that feature extra heavy low E and A strings with the other 4 being standard guages for a 10 set...that can help too. Back when he was alive I recall him endorsing Boomers.

Not a day goes by where I don't find myself wondering what if he was still with us. Stevie we miss you man!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:38 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
No offense to Steviesnacks, but the tone is a bit bright and icepicky for SRV.'s sound. No disrespect to Sreviesnacks, he's a good player, but tonally it's not there. I would up the string gauge. I used to use 12's, then 11's, now I'm down to 10's. Heavy gauge and hard attack is part of it and no pick.. The 12's and 11's were starting to destroy my hands. The tone is awesome but the damage to your hands as you get older isn't worth it. I used heavy gauge strings since the early 70's. SRV was known to use up to 13's.
Most of SRV's tone came from the man and his hands and two Tube Screamers.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:16 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 6:52 pm
Posts: 15
I have heard Stevie used 2 Tube Screamers in series.....And you don't need anything more than 40 watts if it's a tube amp, just crank that baby up!!!!


Top
Profile
Post subject: SRV Tone
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:53 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:25 am
Posts: 1
The biggest part of SRV's tone was him. His hands, his fingers, his passion. The truth is you could have his exact guitar, strings, amp, cord, pics, etc and still sound nothing like him. You are you. Embrace it. With that being said, for a good at home blues tone try a Fender Deluxe Reverb with a Strat and a Tubescreamer - that should do just fine.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:09 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:06 am
Posts: 1
Hi,

I'd suggest a lower watt amp, a Blues, Jr. You can play it "loud" without pealing plaster of the ceiling and with receiving frequent visits from your local law enforcement agency.

Try a 5751 tube, a direct replacement for a 12ax7, in the first socket. This may help in getting the tone you are looking for. The 5751's mu is 70 instead of 100, SRV kept the preamp volume low and the master volume high. I would suggest re tubing with some quality tubes, ie, not the ones the Jr was originally shipped.

Besides using heavy gauge strings tuned down a 1/2 step, SRV also used duct tape on the grill cloth in front of the speaker to block or disperse some of the higher frequencies.

Which ever amp you buy, plan on spending at least as much for the amp as you would for a guitar or new pickups, etc to improve the one you have; the amp (and the speakers it drives) have a major impact on your sound. A cheap guitar through a quality amp sounds alot better than a expensive guitar through a cheap amp. (Even SRV started his career playing a Tokai lawsuit S type guitar.)

You don't need a 100 watt or even a 150 watt amp (SRV was using a 150w Dumbles during Texas Flood onwards and also when touring), unless you are playing to very large venues or you want clean head room. A 50 watt amp distorted is equally loud as 100 watt being played clean. A 100 watt amp is only a little louder than 50W and is only twice as loud as a 10 watt amp.

Before trying to take out a mortgage on your first born child to try and buy a Dumble, consider that technique is a bigger part of any players tone. (SRV previously used Super Reverbs and had used Vibroverbs to drive his Leslies with augment his Dumble)

If intend to become a gigging Blues musician most venues will tell you to "turn it down" if you are playing a 100 watt amp. A Blues, Jr miked into the house sound system would work for most engagements, and you can get that tone of an amp playing loud and be asked back for return engagements.

(Slightly Off topic, Clapton recorded Layla through a Fender Champ that was dimed and miked.)


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: SRV String Guage
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:31 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 9:03 pm
Posts: 1222
Location: Texas
Eldorados wrote:
EdMardell wrote:
campfirehero wrote:
Here's the GHS strings Stevie endorsed with them:

Although on the GHS page it shows the incorrect guage(ie. 6th E .050 when it was .058), the link below shows the correct guage set.

http://www.juststrings.com/ghs-1300.html

1st E
Plain Steel
.011


2nd B
Plain Steel
.015


3rd G
Plain Steel
.019


4th D
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
Hey THX Man!

I agree with you I have tried to get close to this guage and could not even think about bending or vibrating them.

I have seen that you have a Blues Delux Reissue. How do you use this amp Drive channel without the neighbours calling the Police! I have this amp but dam it is so Loud I just can drive it in my basement.

JC

.028


5th A
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
.038


6th E
Pure Nickel Rollerwound
.058


I can't imagine using a guage of that calibre. My little pudgies would be damaged for life. I have huge long hands but I need guage 9s.


That actually isnt far off what i actually use. i use a smaller low e, but other wise i like that set up, I didnt every compare mine to his, and i am a big srv fan, but never analized that. His soul, and his fingers and the specail mojo of #1 made stevie's sound, listen through the differnt albums, cause in later years he used a marshall some, and a dumble head some, bit always sounded like SRV!!!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:12 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:26 am
Posts: 32
cryingstrat wrote:
blues bondsman wrote:
I play a 2004 50th ann. L/E strat with custom shop 54 pups I use a route 66 comp/overdrive pedal and an original Blues Deville 4x10 and I can get as close in tone to stevie with that set up as you can with all the other suggestions.
.


I used to have a Route 66 OD/Comp and the Liquid Chorus. I loved em both. I really miss the OD/Comp. I lost em both in a move. I should replace them.



The Compressor side of the Route 66 is more like an Overdrive/Compressor. Nothing wrong with that, but it just isn't a pure compressor.

Save your money and get a MXR DynaComp and a Digitech Bad Monkey. Both can be had for half the price of the Rt 66.

The Bad Monkey is the best Tube Screamer copy.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:41 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 pm
Posts: 2889
Gotta tell ya I tried two Bad Monkey's and sold them both on the bay.

I really like the route 66 much better and the O/D is on its own circuit, I can get all the clean boost I want by cranking the comp side and get zero fuzz, its just sparkling clean.

I very seldom use the O/D side at all.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:54 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:48 am
Posts: 6
Maruuk wrote:
Amazing how many guys are desperate to clone SRV's tone but don't do the one thing required to get anywhere near his sound. The very quirky but telling thing he did to establish his unique signature sonic magic. And it's easy, too.


So, if you know so much why don't you share?

I find at low volumes the Fender Super Champ XD does a remarkable job capturing the basic tone, without even having to load a TubeScreamer in front of it, with it's two 6V6 tubes at bedroom volume. Then, spend time learning his songs note for note, and study his vibrato and attack. His strings made a big difference at the volume he was playing, but won't be a huge difference at bedroom volumes. The ones that make the biggest difference in tone are the big three. When Stevie would hit that big open E, it was the size of that that made it sound like a piano. The top three don't make such a huge difference.

Stevie's approach was to really, really learn the songs from the founders. Remember, Stevie sounded more like Albert King then anyone else. He was always trying to capture Alberts tone, so start there. Add a little Hendrix in, and wahlah!

Stevies fingers add to his tone because he spent so much time learning how to really milk a note for all it was worth, even if it was two in a double stop. Big wide vibrato and grind on it for all it's worth. Learn the basic blue phrases and make them part of your vocabulary. Worry less about his tone and more about his songs and you'll sound much more like him then just matching his amps.

I own a '66 Super Reverb and it captures his clean tone well, and even to a certain extent his grinding tone when I really turn it up, but you can't use that at home.

Also, I think the Blues Jr. is way off base. It's an EL84 tube. To capture any of the tone Stevie had, you have to have 6L6 tubes at stage volume or 6V6 tubes for anything less (home/bedroom). I personally don't think the Blues Jr comes even close... I like Steviesnacks too but his tone isn't anywhere near Stevies.

Finally, the 5751 in the V1 position is a myth perpetrated by Dan Torres. Stevie used a 5751 in his Dumble V1, but not in his Super Reverbs or his VibroVerbs. Stevie's clean tone (ala Lenny, Tin Pan Alley) were his Super Reverbs. Stevies Growling Tone were his VibroVerbs. The Dumbles dind't even come into play until In Step. Read Cesar Diaz's article in ToneQuest and he goes into good detail regarding what he did with all of Stevie's amps.

Older Fender Champs at home sound really good to at reasonable volumes.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:17 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:56 pm
Posts: 4033
Location: 16 Miles North Of The Red River
A very important thing for all of us axe-slingers to remember:

THE TONE IS IN YOUR HANDS!

I can play through anybody's rig and still sound like me (especially if I'm allowed to tweak and twiddle the knobs on the amp/effects/etc.)...and if someone uses my rig, they're not going to sound just like me, they're going to sound like themselves using my rig.

I have distinctive equipment and tone, and it's easier for me to get the tones I want by using my own rig...but 90% of the tone is in your mitts, hombres!
My rig is as follows:

1962RI Fender Stratocaster (w/Vintage Vibe SP90 pickups)
199? MIM Fender Telecaster (w/Mighty Mite P90 in neck position)
1980 G&L F100
Various Lee Oskar & Hohner harps thru a 1940s Astatic A200 Microphone

Boss TU2 Tuner
Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer (reissue)
MXR Phase 90 (vintage block logo)
Boss RT20 Rotary Ensemble
Dunlop JH2S Jimi Hendrix Classic Fuzz
Dunlop Crybaby Wah
Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive
DOD FX40B EQ
Rocktron Short Timer Delay
Rocktron Hush
Morley ABY (for channel switching)

1963RI Fender Vibroverb amp (brownface)

8)


Last edited by Screamin' Armadillo on Thu May 15, 2008 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:13 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2007 5:09 pm
Posts: 88
Didn't matter what Stevie played through, it always sounded like Stevie.
Originality is what sells- that's what made SRV- SRV.
If you mimic Stevie's style, technique, timing, etc- you will sound like him no matter what you play through. Be prepared for people to label you as; just another SRV copy.

Image

You won't need a 100 Watt amp cranked. A good tube amp and some kind of overdrive pedal will help. The heavy strings will give you a better tone, but that's up to you. I have heard local bands sound like Double Trouble and the guitarist used medium guage not SRV guage.

SRV was able to do Jimi's songs very well,
because he had a heavy hand like Jimi.

IMO- Be Original
Good Luck on your quest.

_________________
Keep Jammin'
#1StratMan


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 53 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: